...I can't believe it's that time again! Well, it isn't that time again actually, seeing as I'm writing this a day early on account of tomorrow evening's Seussical Adventure (Xander's very first real theatrical experience, complete with intermission and I'm sure many, many trips to the restroom and water fountain...and I promise to post pictures...)
This week I read a fantastically strange book entitled Mrs. Marlowe's Mice, by the father and son creative team Frank and Devin Asch. Mrs. Marlowe is a comely feline librarian, who resides in what appears to be 1930's Manhattan...When cats wore suits with art deco pins and gloves, and pocketbooks. Mrs. Marlowe has a deep secret in her fussily clean apartment (that we learn smells of lavender)...she is harboring what appears to be several hundred mice in various tweed suits and jaunty hats. Mrs. Marlowe's guests do not go unnoticed by the Feline KGB (or the team of Good Cat, Bad Cat, or Fat Cat, Thin Detective Cat...) and they soon investigate her vermin-filled apartment...is Mrs. Marlowe a benefactress or a cruel carnivore who likes to tease her meals? This little wood paneled dream-like book keeps readers on the edge of their seats...intrigue! Interrogation! Tea! Meow!
What's really wonderful about this book are the illustrations. The cats are not cartoon or typical picture book cats, they are realistically rendered and wear authentic fashions of the apparent time period. The drawings really look like photographs...and children usually love suspenseful situations involving animals, throw in a human-like quality in the animals, and they're enthralled. I wholeheartedly suggest this book for ages 5 and up, and trust me, I have read/looked thru a ton of picture books since my last Tuesday Picture Book Review.
Wednesday (hopefully!) I will review our experience at Seussical the Musical, and let you know how many times we went to the water fountain during the evening...
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