18. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

Bibliographic Citation:
Numeroff, Laura. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Illustrated by Felicia Bond. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1997. 32p. ISBN 978-0064434096

Awards/Selection Lists:
California Young Reader Medal
Colorado Children's Book Award
Buckeye Children's Book Award
Nevada Young Readers' Award
Georgia Children's Book Award

Format Examined:
Paperback

Annotation:
A boy shares a cookie with a mouse. The mouse asks for a glass of milk, which sets off a circular chain of events leading back to another cookie.

Personal Reaction:
This is a circular story which represents cause and effect relationships through the tale of a boy who gives a mouse a cookie, followed by a glass of milk, a straw, a napkin... all the way back around to another cookie. The author uses if/then statements to lead the reader through each step of the story. The format of the book encourages participation through a dialogic reading experience. The illustrations use soft colors and shading, almost like that of a coloring page, to support the text with details in the pictures on each page. 

Age Recommendation:
I would recommend this book for children 3-5 years of age.

Themes/Issues:
Sharing, cause and effect, circular story

Early Literacy Skill Value:

Letter Knowledge:
Letter knowledge is not a direct focus of this book.

Narrative Skills:
The circular story invites the listener to become part of telling the story through guessing what the mouse will need next to go with each thing that the boy in the story provides. Trough the process, children learn to make connections between items in the story.

Phonological Awareness:
Phonological awareness is not a direct focus of this book.

Print Awareness:
The illustrations support the text on each page. Sentences are divided into sections on the page to correspond with matching illustrations, which work together to show that printed words have meaning.


Print Motivation:
The circular story invites children to become involved in guessing what will happen next. This fosters interest in the story, making this book an enjoyable experience that children will want to be involved in again.


Vocabulary:
Children are exposed to words that are related to the cause and effect relationship between items in the story. 

Author/ Illustrator Website:
Author website: http://lauranumeroff.com/ ; http://www.mousecookiebooks.com/
Illustrator website: http://www.mousecookiebooks.com/