Details
Synopsis
Knowing that he must satisfy their curiosity, an old mouse agrees to show three young mice the "monster" at the top of the stairs.
| Size | | Height: | 12.3 in | | Width: | 8.8 in | | Thickness: | 0.2 in | | Weight: | 14.4 oz |
Industry Reviews
As in his Guess How Much I Love You, McBratney spins an ample, emotionally ripe tale out of a familiar, even slight premise. A wise old mouse lives with his three young mice in the corner of a cellar, and at bedtime he asks them what they'd like to do the next day. One night, all three clamor to see "the dark at the top of the stairs" where the "monster" lives, and the old mouse, who knows that "sooner or later all young mice will try to see the dark at the top of the stairs," agrees to take them. Perfectly capturing the edgy glee and derring-do of a trip to dangerous territory, McBratney builds the suspense with each well-chosen word. When the four finally reach the door at the top of the stairs, a glimpse of the shadow of a seemingly gigantic cat sends them scurrying ("bumpety-bump and slippity-slide and tumble-thump") back down the staircase, "where they landed in a wriggle and a heap before making a dash for warm, safe, wonderful home." In his picture book debut, Bates provides endearing depictions of these (at least temporarily) bold mice; his compositions and mouse's-eye perspectives create enticingly eerie shadows and angles. Rendered on textured surfaces, his crayon-pencil art at times has the feel of needlepoint, sweetly balancing the shivers in this tale. Ages 4-7. (Mar.)
Lopate
PreS-Gr 2 McBratney follows up his cozy, warm Guess How Much I Love You (Candlewick, 1995) with a real change of mood. Though their wise old mentor tries to entice them outdoors to play, three young mice insist on seeing what lives behind the dark at the top of the stairs. Its single word "MEOW" sends them "bumpety-bump and slippity-slide and tumble-thump" all the way back down. Bates gives readers a mouse's-eye view of the adventure: topped by a towering door, the huge stairs loom above a shadowed, cobwebby, cluttered cellar lit in dim, ominous blues and grays. Like Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury's We're Going on a Bear Hunt (McElderry, 1989), this book invites youngsters to venture out into the unknown, offering the reassurance of a haven at the end, and the exhilaration of a mad scramble to get there. John Peters, New York Public Library
Lopate
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