Mouse Calls

Mouse Calls is an example of how the illustrations in a picture book help drive the narrative. This is a delightful, carefully planned poem-story by American Anne Marie Pace, cleverly written with a lively beat and good pacing. The combination of woodcut prints and digital collage by Vancouver artist Erin Kraan are pleasing and colourful.
The image in the mouse’s telescope on the title page portends a serious weather event, and Mouse is appropriately alarmed. It embarks on a journey through the animal world to warn others of the danger - mammals, insects, birds, reptiles and fish. The other animals take up the task to alert everyone else:

Mouse calls Moose.

Moose calls Goose.

Goose calls Dog

and Hog

and Hare.

After every four-page spread, there is a pause - a two-page picture of the increasing number of animals gathering in a cave for shelter.

Pace pays attention to the rhythm and rhyme of her words and to the mechanics of writing. She completes each sentence with a period. The animals are also well-mannered members of the forest community. Lamb calls Grouse, and Grouse calls Louse. Then all the friends call…“Thank you, Mouse!”

The animals all have busy lives, and Erin Kraan shows them engaged in their tasks: the frog is knitting, the mare is playing the fiddle, the parrot is enjoying a cup of coffee, while the skink lifts weights. Most pages show two animals on each page, with full-page pictures inserted to vary the format. Kraan uses soft hues of bright blues, yellows and purples, as well as slightly muted greens and browns. The impending storm begins with a few blueish-white raindrops which increase in number as it gets nearer. The lines cut into the wood add depth to the art.

Mouse Calls can be used to teach children to identify animals, to give them a good example of rhyming and rhythm and to teach them about friendship and cooperation. It will be a positive addition to a family collection or the library in a daycare.