Nancy Willard

A mouse hiding under Grandmother's hat causes quite a commotion at her surprise birthday party, in a tale with rhyming verse and full-color illustrations.

The Mouse, the Cat, and Grandmother's Hat

Sarah Sammis

The Mouse, the Cat and Grandmother's Hat is the story of a birthday celebration gone horribly pear shaped when a mouse crashes the party.

Nancy Willard's rhymes mimic the pattern of "The House that Jack Built" but spares the endless repetition that the original does. There's just enough of the meter to build on the expectations of one event coming together with another to cascade into something out of control.

The bright illustrations by Jenny Mattheson help bring Willard's story to life. The work later on with the family on the table and the birthday cake sprung to life and rolling out the door makes my children laugh.

The Mouse, the Cat and Grandmother's Hat is a short, easy to ready picture book where you will want to spend time admiring the artwork after you're done reading the story.

The Mouse, the Cat, and Grandmother's Hat

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