MISS MOUSE TAKES OFF

“My trip, by me, Miss Mouse.” The ever-cheerful rag mouse first introduced in Miss Mouse’s Day (2000) here accompanies her youthful owner on a plane trip with Mum. Bright illustrations and a simple text keep the narrative focused on those events that are most meaningful to small children: checking in the luggage, sending belongings (including Miss Mouse!) through the X-ray machine, the excitement of takeoff, and then the inevitable boredom of a long flight—relieved by a newfound friend in the row in front. Brightly colored sequential panels illustrate the progress of the trip and are particularly effective when depicting the cramped confines of the plane’s interior, where one seat’s space intrudes into the next. Although the text is nominally in Miss Mouse’s voice, the voice of her owner, a feisty, blond preschool-age girl, occasionally breaks through, as when the little girl leaves Miss Mouse in the bathroom: “Miss Mouse? / MISS MOUSE! / MISS MOUSE! / WHERE IS MISS MOUSE?!? / Here I am!” This moment of great tension illustrates Ormerod’s near-perfect understanding of the relationship children have with their inanimate friends: the little girl moves effortlessly in and out of her toy’s identity in a manner that may be somewhat disorienting to an adult reader but makes perfect sense to a child. An entirely successful illustration of an experience common to many small children right down to the effervescent end, in which our intrepid travelers, stripped down to short sleeves and sandals, wonder, “Will she be waiting for us?” Of course: it’s “Granny!” (Picture book. 2-5)