Welcome to metomi.com, your online source of great reads and activities for children! Join us as we laugh and learn about some absolutely marvelous mice! We like Maisy and Angelina Ballerina too, but there are other equally interesting (although lesser known) tiny tailed friends. Meet an interesting lady who lives with twenty-five mice (!), a mouse whose love for cookies sets in motion a fun chain of events, and a little mouse who learns to appreciate who he is. Happy Reading! And if you're interested in more great children's books, please visit our Children's Library!
Title: Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse
Author/Illustrator: Leo Lionni
We just recently discovered Leo Lionni. One of the parents in one of the family forums we visit recommended this wonderful children's author and illustrator. Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse was published in 1969 (4 decades ago!) but remains a great children's read - a timeless story with beautiful illustrations. We meet Alexander, a mouse who lives by myself in a human home that does not welcome him. One day he discovers Willy the mechanical mouse and through the magic of story befriends him. Alexander starts to wonder whether it would be better being mechanical than real, and at a critical point in the story he is actually presented with the choice. Fortunately he realizes that it isn't so bad being what he is after all (a great lesson for both young and old ;) ). We have already borrowed a few more Lionni children's books during a recent trip to the local library, and look forward to enjoying them!
Title: If You Give A Mouse A Cookie
Author: Laura Joffe Numeroff
Illustrator: Felicia Bond
We have enjoyed many of the children's books in this series. This one remains a favourite. There is something delightful about the linking of a seemingly small act to so many other events (makes us at metomi.com stop and think about the things we do that influence other people and events too)! And the illustrations are fitting and fun, the crazy combination of everyday things and an active imagination! If You Give A Moose A Muffin (love the sock puppets) and If You Give A Pig A Pancake (with a nice touch of sticky syrup!) are two other great books in this children's book series which we have enjoyed!
Title: Mrs. Brice's Mice
Author/Illustrator: Syd Hoff
There is just something about Mrs. Brice and her twenty-five mice that keeps us reading this children's book over and over! We meet Mrs. Brice, an elegant lady who keeps company with twenty five little mice, of which one in particular is the precocious one - full of personality and pep. We follow the group on their everyday adventures, whether on a stroll, or at the supermarket, and are thoroughly entertained. When they buy "the finest cheese" we are convinced. And when the piano is playing, we can hear the music and see the mice dancing! A short and humourous childhood tale that is a pleasure to read!
Title: Wemberly Worried
Author/Illustrator: Kevin Henkes
Meet Wemberly, a young girl mouse who frets about anything and everything (a very thorough worry-wart)! Despite reassurances from her parents and her very hip grandmother that she has nothing to worry about (we love granny's motivational messages!), Wemberly continues her worrying. We as readers start to worry too about Wemberly too, until her first day of school, when she meets a young lady not so different from herself. And we are cheering for Wemberly when for the first time we see her not worry quite so much. A cute book, great to soothe the worries of any children you know ;). Kevin Henkes has written a number of children's books, and seems to have a particular fondness for mice...if you like Wemberly, you may also want to meet Lily, Wendell, Oscar, Chrysanthemum...
Title: Mouse Paint
Author/Illustrator: Ellen Stoll Walsh
We very much enjoyed this sweet, smart and short children's book about three playful white mice. Wary of the housecat, but determined to have fun, the mice discover three pots of paint (our children asked whether the cat left them out there for the mice - interesting observation!) and proceed to have a wonderful and educational time learning about colours while having all sorts of fun getting messy. The simple colour lesson amuses the younger child but the humour is definitely enjoyed by the older child as well as grown-ups (we love that the mice leave a portion of the paper untouched and white!). Although we suspect the housecat is much less amused with it all...;).
