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Mouse of My Heart: Picture Book
Collects fifty-six poems and stories by the author of Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny and includes entries arranged under such themes as Love and Friendship, Bedtime, For a Rainy Day, and Nonsense.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 15, 2001
1 person is currently reading
115 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Wise Brown
396 books1,227 followersMargaret Wise Brown wrote hundreds of books and stories during her life, but she is best known for Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny. Even though she died nearly 70 years ago, her books still sell very well.
Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading.
She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them.
She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper.
Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.
Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading.
She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them.
She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper.
Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 16, 2015
3 stars for the stories and poems but 4 stars because the illustrations are beautiful. My favorite story was "The Flying Mouse".
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March 22, 2015Sweet pictures, but the stories did nothing for me.
March 25, 2023
Fifty-six poems and stories, some unpublished are found in this special book by Margaret Wise Brown, wonderfully illustrated by Loretta Krupinski. It's full of "silly" and nature, lots of children and animals. For a great read-aloud, for enjoying with your own children. Published in 2001 altogether, but many will be familiar because they were published in the fifties. It's a great one if you can find it to add to your anthologies.
February 1, 2018
When I was little, we had a book of short poems and I loved having it read to me at night. Something about getting little glimpses into a story was intriguing to me. And various pictures spread across the pages - it made me curious as to what the words said about them. This book reminds me of my childhood.
Ages: 2 - 6 #bedtime
Cleanliness: mentions gnomes and has a picture of a horse with wings. The word "Goodness!" is used. The word "breast" is used regarding a swan.
**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it! Visit my website: The Book Radar.
Ages: 2 - 6 #bedtime
Cleanliness: mentions gnomes and has a picture of a horse with wings. The word "Goodness!" is used. The word "breast" is used regarding a swan.
**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it! Visit my website: The Book Radar.
January 18, 2008
work review
A MWB treasury - rhymes, poems, stories - a real wealth of very usable material for storytimes to dip into... some would translate well for felt board. Divided into sections: big and little, adventure, bravery, love and friendship, bedtime, happiness, belonging, for a rainy day, nonsense, colors, nature. Terrifically appealing illustrations.
A MWB treasury - rhymes, poems, stories - a real wealth of very usable material for storytimes to dip into... some would translate well for felt board. Divided into sections: big and little, adventure, bravery, love and friendship, bedtime, happiness, belonging, for a rainy day, nonsense, colors, nature. Terrifically appealing illustrations.
September 15, 2008
Poems. Cute. Not what I need for Book Time, so I'm not going to read it all now. And since I'm more interested in other books, I don't think personally it's worth reading all of, either. Great pictures though!
May 22, 2010
Margaret Wise Brown inspires the child in me. I esp. love the images and sounds in A BUG'S POEM: "A striped sky / Striped with grass / Where green-striped / Grass-striped / White clouds / Pass"
August 15, 2014
These are charming and Krupinski's illustrations are truly wonderful. Notable for me was Brown's retelling of The Ugly Duckling and the accompanying pictures.
January 28, 2014
This is a beautiful book of poetry, from a great author. We have really enjoyed it.
August 21, 2014
Reading to Lil
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews