Mary and the Mouse, The Mouse and Mary
by Beverly Donofrio
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Book Summary Information
Author: Beverly DonofrioIllustrator: Barbara McClintock
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-08-28
ISBN: 0375836098
Number of pages: 32
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade
Book Reviews of Mary and the Mouse, The Mouse and Mary
Book Review: You've got a friend
Summary: 5 Stars
Eventually I'm going to turn violent. I can see that now. For years I've been able to keep my feelings for Barbara McClintock pent up inside. I've bided my time. When her name is mentioned in my proximity I hardly so much as blink. Yet knowing myself as I do, if Ms. McClintock doesn't garner herself some pretty HUGE illustration awards in the next year or so I AM GOING TO BURST!!! I will be seen chasing frightened parents around my children's room screaming garbled sentences. I will crouch like a savage beast in the nooks and crannies of the library then SPRING onto my unwary prey, forcing them to check out as many McClintock books as their arms can reasonably or unreasonably hold. Do you see my problem? And adding additional heartache to it all, she keeps churning out magnificent books. ARG! Just when I thought I could get over the heartbreak of not seeing Adele & Simon win a Caldecott (tears were shed, my friends) here she is putting her pen to paper alongside author Beverly Donofrio so as to create the utterly charming, "Mary and the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary." It's enough to break my heart. At the very least I'm going to try to convince YOU to buy this book.
Two lives run parallel to one another within a single home. Upstairs there is Mary who lives with her mother, father, sister, and brother. Within the walls of the house there is also a mouse that lives with her very own mother, father, sister, and brother. As we watch, both Mary and the mouse go to school, learn the same things, and one night they both drop some cutlery while cleaning up after dinner. This tiny event means that through a mouse hole Mary sees the mouse and the mouse sees Mary. They'd love to talk but Mary has been warned off of mice, and the mouse has been warned off of humans. Still that doesn't stop them from dropping cutlery each night and waving to one another. Time goes on and the mouse and Mary grow up. Mary has a daughter named Maria and the mouse has a daughter called, simply, Mouse Mouse. They happen to live in the same house, and one night Maria drops her books when Mouse Mouse does the same. The difference? After a little time both Maria and Mouse Mouse become brave and meet one another so that they can whisper a loud and happy, "Goodnight!" before going to bed
First of all, Ms. McClintock doesn't really have an equivalent. Oh sure, I've heard the comparisons to Kate Greenfield but let me let you in on a little secret here. Greenfield? She was fine, but McClintock is better. I'm sorry! I know that that would be considered heresy in certain parts of the country and that I'd be pelted with large chunks of rotten fruit if I were to declare it too loudly, but I seriously believe that Ms. McClintock is the better illustrator. Consider the evidence before your very eyes. First of all, praise be to Schwartz and Wade for knowing enough to pair McClintock and Donofrio together on this story. Since the artist normally works in a world of delicate lines and tiny details, I firmly believe that nobody could have complemented this tale better with her imagery. Miniscule details are one advantage, but there's also the fact that Ms. McClintock had the wherewithal to know how to mirror her two separate worlds. I loved watching how McClintock chose to break up the panels. Sometimes you'll have two long pictures on one page, showing the child and her mouse equivalent on one side and two different but similarly aligned images of the same sort on the other. Other times there are full two-page spreads that do the same thing. And then SOMETIMES McClintock switches everything about and will put the mouse on one page and the human on the other in a very different manner. A good illustrator knows the importance of keeping the reader's eye moving up and down, back and forth about the pages and Ms. McClintock does just that.
McClintock also had to solve a very big problem before she started illustrating this book. Since we're dealing with two generations of children, how do you handle the fashions and trends of the past versus the present? Do you forget about that sort of thing entirely? Do you make the book historical (ala the aforementioned "Adele and Simon") and, again, not worry about it too much? No, Ms. McClintock took a trickier and more rewarding path. Mary and the mouse live in the late 60s/early 70s. When the two go off to college, theirs is a world of bellbottoms, classic Volkswagen bugs, and fringe-wearing pop singers. I loved comparing houses too. Mary grows up in a classic two-story brick home. Her daughter Maria, in contrast, grows up in a one-story house that utilizes a lot of glass and natural stone. And when Maria goes to school she is obviously in the present day... but not so much that this book is going to age poorly. Even when she chooses to contemporize her settings, McClintock has a natural affinity for classical images.
Now a more peculiar part of what I liked about this book was the appearance of the mice themselves. Most illustrators avoid accurate representations of mousey feet because they look... well, they look a bit unappealing. With their long soles and tiny toes at the end, mice have really really weird tootsies. McClintock wasn't afraid to show `em like they were, though. I was delighted to see this too. The only other time I've ever seen mouse feet done correctly in a picture book was in Minnikin, Midgie and Moppet Mouse Story by Adelaide Holl as illustrated by the horrendously talented Priscilla Hillman. But then, that's just me.
I should be a good girl and not forget to compliment Ms. Donofrio on her story as well. A writer who, at this point in time, is perhaps best known for her memoir Riding in Cars with Boys, I wasn't quite sure where the author was taking this story as I read it. Just glancing at it I was surprised at the idea of abandoning the first pair of children and picking up with their own offspring. Particularly when you consider that the last we hear of the original Mary and the mouse, they've simply grown up and started families. There seems to be a lot of regret on the part of the older generation. I did like the fact that their children are really the ones to break down barriers and say hi to one another, perhaps even to someday be friends, when their parents did not. Lest you start thinking that this is some didactic treatment of "overcoming prejudice" and the like, allow me to reassure you that the lesson here is subtle. Far more obvious is Donofrio's smart wordplay and efficient use of her sentences. It allows for a book that is very touching, even when there isn't an abundance of weepy sentiment going on. It is spare, crisp, clean writing.
Some people have compared this book to Mary Norton's The Borrowers, when viewing the tiny household items that make up the mouse homes. I'm not entirely certain the comparison is fair, but it's probably the best there is out there anyway. With its beautiful illustrations, thick paper, and sublime watercolors I'm just utterly charmed by the pairing of Donofrio and McClintock. Perhaps if we are all good little librarians and parents and dutifully buy this book in droves then maybe we'll be lucky enough to have another pairing of these two women in the near future. Hey, man. A girl can dream.
Summary of Mary and the Mouse, The Mouse and Mary
MARY LIVED IN A BIG HOUSE with a very little mouse. The mouse lived in a little house inside of a very big house, with Mary. Even though Mary has been warned to stay away from mice - and Mouse has been warned to steer clear of people - the two can't help but peek at one another. Side by side, they grow up, go to college, get married, and have children of their own - Maria and MouseMouse. And then one day, Maria and MouseMouse do something surprising . . . something their parents never did. They actually come nose-to-nose and speak to one another!Mice, Hamsters, Guinea Pigs & Squirrels Books
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