Module 2: Mouse Soup

Book Summary:

Mouse Soup, by Arnold Lobel, is a story about a mouse who gets captured by a weasel. The weasel plans to use the mouse for soup, but Mouse distracts the weasel by telling him stories.

APA Reference:

Lobel, A. (1977). Mouse Soup. New York: Harper & Row.

Impressions:

I have avoided Mouse Soup the entire six years of my teaching career. A colleague of mine associated it with a bad experience during her first year of teaching where the entire second grade was forced to read Mouse Soup, leaving students and teachers with no free choice to select their own books or design their own reading lessons. So, even though this book was floating around my classroom library every year and circulating amongst my students, I never gave it a chance until now.

Verdict: I really liked it!

It’s not that my colleague thought it was a bad book. In her brilliance she knew that a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching reading does not work. While Mouse Soup was appropriate for some second-graders, it was too high-level or too low for others.

Fast-forward many years to now, when I finally pick up Mouse Soup for a grad school assignment. In my dismissiveness of the book, I didn’t realize it was written by Arnold Lobel, the creator of the Frog and Toad series, some of my absolute favorite books! On their own, I love them, but as a teacher I had great success with Frog and Toad. They are great books for the struggling readers who want to be seen with chapter books, like the “smart kids,” and the fact that it’s a little series gets them to at least read three books. That’s a huge victory in some cases!

So, of course I loved reading Mouse Soup. The main thing I love, as with Frog and Toad, are the illustrations. They are simple, not vibrantly colored, but they are sweet and emotive. This is a good example of a book where the illustrations do some of the work of telling the story.

I also really enjoy Lobel’s writing style. Mouse Soup is a minimalistic story, kind of like how a mouse is a mini animal, but the story is also silly and provides opportunities for making simple inferences, with the aid of the illustrations.

On the cuteness scale, it ranks high, both in story and illustrations. It’s just so cute. Cute is important! 

Professional Review:

Note: This is not a review of the 1st edition of the book, published in 1977. It is possible that it is a review of the 1992 video by Churchill Entertainment, Mouse Soup. 

Tiffany Torbeck (Children's Literature)

A weasel gets much more than he bargained for when he captures a clever little mouse and tries to make mouse soup. The mouse explains to the weasel that mouse soup is better with stories and proceeds to tell four: Bee and the Mud, Two Large Stones, The Crickets, and The Thorn Bush. Each story is funny and entertaining on its own, but when the mouse tells the weasel that what he needs are the title ingredients, the reader will know that the weasel will get just what he deserves. The read along is narrated by Lobel himself with a lovely introduction and concluding statements. The cadence is perfect for new readers and most readers will be able to keep up just fine. Background music and sound effects fit perfectly with the text and really do add something to The Crickets story, since readers can experience just how annoying ten crickets can be. This is a wonderful set for libraries and classrooms. 2008, HarperFestival/HarperCollins, $9.99. Ages 5 to 8.

(PUBLISHER: HarperCollins (New York:), PUBLISHED: [2008] c1977.(HarperCollins (New York:), PUBLISHED: [2008] c1977.))

Torbeck, T. (2008). [Review of the book Mouse Soup, by A. Lobel]. Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database. Retrieved from http://www.clcd.com/#/bookdetail/1/1/PjooKnpPkoHOlqnn/bdrtop

Library Uses:

I would use this book in my school library much as I did when I was a teacher, with reluctant/struggling readers. I would use it to introduce reluctant/struggling readers to easy chapter books and easy books that they wouldn’t consider “baby books.” It could also be used like that in the public library. Maybe there could be a read aloud type of reoccurring activity for younger elementary kids, but not the Storytime ages of birth through five.

Module 1: The Rainbow Fish

Book Summary: The Rainbow Fish is about a beautiful fish whose friends have named, "Rainbow Fish." Unfortunately, Rainbow Fish is really into himself and instead of hanging out with the others, he spends his time swimming back and forth for attention.

One day Rainbow Fish is asked by a little fish to give the little fish one of his shiny scales. When Rainbow Fish refuses, the other fish decide they are done feeling inferior and proceed to ignore Rainbow Fish. Lonely Rainbow Fish thinks, "What good were the dazzling, shimmering scales with no one to admire them?"

Rainbow Fish seeks the help of a starfish who directs him to a wise octopus. She advises him to give away his shiny scales.

"You will no longer be the most beautiful fish in the sea, but you will discover how to be happy."

Rainbow Fish hesitates, but finally gives away his shiny scales and is left with only one. However, with this gesture, he gains many friends and is no longer lonely!


Impressions: This book reminds me of Leo Lionni's writing style and the themes in his work--simple messages of sharing and acting for the greater good. So, I was surprised when I learned that the book is controversial. Some feel the message is, "mutilate yourself for others." I am not in support of that message! Some people considered it "Marxism for Kids" (Costello, 2012). Well, call me a Socialist, then; I love Leo Lionni and, to me, the Lionni-esque-Rainbow Fish presents a pretty decent message. I interpreted the message as: freedom and happiness can be attained through prioritizing friendship over physical possessions, including physical beauty as in this case.

This is why I interpreted that message out of my reading of the book. My first wrinkle appeared two years ago, an open parentheses on the left side of my lips. In the mirror, I obsess over it at least once every day, rubbing whole bottles of creepily-named lotion on the line (Kiss My Face's Underage) and lamenting whatever it is I did (laugh too much? smile too much? gnaw on the insides of my lips too much when I have anxiety, which is always... that's actually probably it) to cause a fine line to appear.

Truth is, aging happens. Plus, I have choices. I have considered plastic surgery... wait, maybe I am pro-mutilating myself for others??? No! Okay, stopping myself right there. Truth is I should stop obsessing over my open parentheses and spend that time laughing and enjoying my friends and family. Thank you, Wise Octopus!


More sophisticated impressions:

The Rainbow Fish, by Marcus Pfister, is a good children's book, in my opinion. The fish characters are personified, so the plot is believable. People can tend to feel superior to others when they possess something of higher value. People sometimes show off.

There story contains a "major dramatic question", but it emerges slowly, not until Rainbow Fish meets with the octopus.

There exist tension and clear conflict. Rainbow Fish likes to show off his shiny scales instead of hanging out with the other fish. When he refuses to share his shiny scales, he is abandoned by the other fish.

The style and language of the book are the most simply executed elements. It is evident that the author chose to focus on the lesson and in doing so, presented the message simply and very straight-forward, which, if the book was any longer, would have made it start to get boring. This also shows that the theme is perhaps overly didactic. However, overall, it is an enjoyable book for younger children, and contains vibrant illustrations and interesting media (the shimmering scales).


Professional Review:

Review by School Library Journal

Pre-School-Grade 1 

Children will be immediately drawn to this book that features an iridescent, metallic-looking main character whose "scales were every shade of blue and green and purple, with sparkling silver scales among them.'' Adult suspicions of the gimmick overwhelming the story quickly fade as the plot unfolds: none of the other fish will have anything to do with the Rainbow Fish, who always swims by superciliously and refuses to give away any of his special garb. He is lonely and without admirers until a wise female octopus advises him to give away his scales. Rainbow Fish then discovers that sharing brings happiness and acceptance. The delicate watercolors of underwater scenes are a perfect foil to the glittering scales that eventually form a part of each fish's exterior. This is certainly a story written to convey a message, but in its simplicity, it recalls the best of Lionni*. Besides, what three-year-old doesn't need reinforcement about sharing? --Ellen Fader, Westport Public Library, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

*(Bold and enlarged font=my addition) I swear I didn't read this review before writing my impressions!!!


Library Uses: As a school librarian, I might use this book with Pre-K through 1st graders in a unit on friendship towards the beginning of the school year.


References

Costello, P. R. (2012). Philosophy in Children's Literature. Lanham, Md: Lexington Books.

Fader, E. (1992). Book review: Preschool & primary. School Library Journal, 38(11), 75.