Cat & Mouse by Ian Schoenherr.

Cat and Mouse play together, wrestling over a paper umbrella.  The text follows a nursery rhyme, changing into Hickory Dickory Dock, and then returning to the original rhyme.  As Mouse gets the best of Cat time and again, will they end up as enemies or friends?

The lively illustrations bring the old-fashioned text to vibrant life.  Both animals are captured with attention to minute details, but then are made wide-eyed and action filled to great comic effect.  Families who have kittens or cats will recognize Cat’s movements and body postures as being purely feline.  Mouse is much more human than Cat.

Enjoyable, laugh-out-loud nursery rhyme fun.  This book will work well for groups of children, and is ideal for use in story times or classroom units.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Mimi by Carol Baicker-McKee.

Mimi is a little pig who has two great friends, her stuffed animal Bunny and her roly-poly bug Frank.  When she tries to share some of her breakfast banana with Frank, he isn’t there!  Mimi goes on with her day, heading to the library for story time, playing at the park, taking a nap, waking up cranky, blowing bubbles to improve her mood, and finally heading for bed.  Through all of that, there is no sign of Frank anywhere.  Until Mimi climbs into bed and feels something strange crawling on her!

The illustrations are what got me to pick up this book.  Baicker-McKee combines fabric, clay and paint to create three dimensional tableaus that are eye-catching and interesting.  Her text is equally successful and child-friendly with every-day events at the center of the story.  The quiet tone of the text perfectly suits the style of the illustrations.  Both parents and children will know that they are in a soft, sweet childhood story here.

While the story is sweet, there are no saccharine overtones here.  Just a gentle story that toddlers and preschoolers will enjoy and relate to.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.