Book Review: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff

Book: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (If You Give... Series)
Author: Laura Joffe Numeroff
Illustrator: Felicia Bond
Published: First Published in 1985
Publisher: HarperCollins
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
Rating: 5 Stars
Tags: Favorites, Children's Book, Picture Book, Library Book, 2018

Goodreads/Amazon

Synopsis: If a hungry little traveler shows up at your house, you might want to give him a cookie. If you give him a cookie, he's going to ask for a glass of milk. He'll want to look in a mirror to make sure he doesn't have a milk mustache, and then he'll ask for a pair of scissors to give himself a trim....

The consequences of giving a cookie to this energetic mouse run the young host ragged, but young readers will come away smiling at the antics that tumble like dominoes through the pages of this delightful picture book.

My Review

Recently I was thinking back on the different books that I loved growing up. Admittedly, there were a lot, and the more I searched, the more I found. So, I checked some out from my public library. I loved going to the library as a child. It was one of my favorite parts of the week. Every week my mother and I would go to our public library, return the previous week's books, walk around the shelves, and then check out another big stack of books for the week.

While there were a lot of books that I really enjoyed as a child, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie has always been one of my favorites. And, rereading it, I can see why. This book is a lot of fun, and brings back a lot of memories. I usually don't like it when I get library books in, not to pretty condition, but it made me smile to see all of the little smudges and tears in this one. It was a reassurance that this book, this story, is being well loved- like how I loved the copy at my library when I was a kid.

Even coming into this book as an adult, it was fun to read about the little mouse's shenanigans, and the little boy struggling to keep up. The story was very kid like, fun, and almost whimsical in a way. But throughout the whole story was the underline theme of friendship, which was fun to read through the actions of the characters. Numeroff's writing and Bond's illustrations together make a wonderful story that will not only entertain children, but will help put a goofy smile on older readers as well.