Mousekin's Christmas Eve
Edna Miller ~ Prentice-Hall, 1965
Having never heard of Ms. Miller before, I first read her name on Loganberry Books, the web presence of a little independent book shop in Ohio. As I've mentioned before, their "Most Requested" section is sooo much fun to wander through on a cold and wintry Texas morning like today. The first time I ever set eyes on one of her books was this one a few weeks back at a library sale. Very, very simple story with a nice warm ending, apparently Mouskin's multiple literary adventures have a bit of a cult following for those kids born in the 60s and beyond.
So there's this mouse see, and when the house he lives in gets vacated, he must brave the snow and the chill in search of a new place to ball his fir.
It was when he had stopped for a moment to catch his breath and warm his toes beneath his fur that Mousekin first saw the great blue circle of light. It covered him and it colored him. He jumped aside with a start. In jumping, he found himself in a circle of bright red. Then yellow and green surrounded him. Lavender and gold glistened on the snow. The white world had vanished and there was color all about him.
Well, you can guess what it was that Mousekin stumbled upon, and the lucky family that ends up receiving this wee creature for the holidays would, I'm sure, be surprised and delighted to find a rodent curled up by the sheep in their crèche. Though the thought of a mouse climbing all over your Christmas tree might give some folks a shiver, the sentiment is sweet and vaguely religious, and the naturalist drawings a delight. I'd let this little mouse in my house for Christmas for sure, even if he did have to face the New Year exterminator eventually.
5 comments:
Oooh. I like that illustration. I don't remember this book, but I've enjoyed looking at many of your posts and taking a trip down memory lane. Books from my youth are some of my most treasured items. Thanks for sharing.
I found this blog through a link, and found it very interesting. I'm with PaperTigers, blog and website, and yesterday's blog entry was by Janet who had short piece about her first pre-literate book. Thought you might be interested in clicking on it and leaving a comment on your first pre-literate book: http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/
Edna Miller published a lot of poetry, which she illustrated, in early 1960's Jack and Jill magazine. Mousekin was a repeat feature. You wouldn't remember--you are sort of vintage. I'm just flat-out old.
Loganberry Books is one of my favorite book sites. Their "stump the bookseller" feature helps folks find the names of children's books that they can't remember. I was pleased to see this post on Mousekin and Edna Miller. I recently read "Mousekin's Thanksgiving," and it was the first time I had seen anything from Ms. Miller either. Her illustrations are lovely.
Karma Wilson must has based her book, "Mortimer's Christmas Eve" after this one. They look almost identical.
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