Goodbye Mousie

by Robie H. Harris, Jan Ormerod (Illustrator)

Overview

One morning a boy finds that his pet, Mousie, won't wake up. The truth is Mousie has died. At first the boy doesn't believe it. He gets very mad at Mousie for dying, and then he feels very sad. But talking about Mousie, burying Mousie in a special box, and saying good-bye helps this boy begin to feel better about the loss of his beloved pet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689871344
Publisher:	Aladdin
Publication date:	11/01/2004
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Robie H. Harris is an author, specializing in books for children. She was born in Buffalo, New York.

Jan Ormerod (1946–2013) was an award-winning author who grew up in Western Australia. As a child Jan drew constantly, and she eventually went on to attend art school and study drawing, painting, and sculpture. During her career Jan published more than fifty books, including Sunshine, Lizzie Nonsense, Water Witcher, and Maudie and Bear. Her work, which resonated with young children and adults alike, won many prestigious awards and received much acclaim.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Publishers Weekly, starred review Immensely reassuring.

Kirkus Reviews Not since The Truth About Barney has there been such an affecting and satisfying story about the death of a pet.

New York Times Book Review Harris writes clearly and matter-of-factly about death.

School Library Journal An excellent choice to help young readers deal with loss.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly, starred review Immensely reassuring.

Kirkus Reviews Not since The Truth About Barney has there been such an affecting and satisfying story about the death of a pet.

New York Times Book Review Harris writes clearly and matter-of-factly about death.

School Library Journal An excellent choice to help young readers deal with loss.

From the Publisher

Harris (It's Perfectly Normal) and Ormerod (Miss Mouse Takes Off) admirably and successfully tackle a child's first encounter with death, through the loss of a beloved pet. "When I woke up this morning, I tickled Mousie's tummy. But Mousie didn't wake up," says the unnamed narrator, a preschool-age boy. Author and artist both possess an acute sense of the boy's emotional trajectory. After his first outpouring of grief and anger (which Ormerod depicts in a stunning facial close-up), the boy focuses on preparations for Mousie's funeral, busily filling the coffin with mementos and then decorating it with "wiggly stripes." But his composure crumbles when he discovers a piece of toast missing from his plate: "Where did it go? Did it die too?" Acceptance finally comes after he and his parents bury Mousie, and it is authentically childlike: "So, maybe someday, I'll get another mouse," the boy says, stretched across the floor and contemplatively dawdling with Mousie's exercise wheel. "But not just yet." The artist's fluid pencil lines underscore the vulnerability of the boy and the poignancy of his story. Uplifting details (the boy's mouse slippers, a stuffed mouse toy) offer a glimmer of hope, and the solidity at the heart of her characterizations especially in the portraits of the narrator seeking comfort from his parents will be immensely reassuring to young readers. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 2-An honest and ultimately comforting look at the death of a pet. When Mousie doesn't wake up one morning, his young owner at first refuses to believe that the animal is dead. After listening to his father's gentle comments, the boy finally realizes the truth, reacting first with anger, then with sadness, and then with questions about why the mouse died. With the help of his parents, the youngster places his pet in a shoebox, tucks an old T-shirt around him, and then carefully chooses several special items to keep him company. He tapes the box shut, decides that it looks too plain, and decorates it with swirling painted lines. Outside, after he and his parents bury the shoebox, he cries a bit and then says good-bye to his friend. By the final double-page spread, he has found some closure and acknowledges that Mousie won't be coming back. He thinks about getting another mouse, "But not just yet." Told from the boy's point of view, the straightforward story genuinely captures the voice of a young child, and accurately reflects a natural grieving process. Set against pleasing buff-colored backgrounds, the artwork, done in black-pencil line and watercolor washes, echoes the emotional nuances of the story. Featuring soft lines and subdued shades, Ormerod's understated art suits the subject matter, and the pictures express the child's changing feelings without upstaging or overpowering them. An excellent choice to help young readers deal with loss.-Joy Fleishhacker, formerly at School Library Journal Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

A little boy's pet mouse dies, and he and his family cope, in this gently done true-life tale by a team that has such an elegant grasp of the workings of the minds and hearts of children. A little boy fiercely denies that his pet mouse is dead, despite his father's remonstrations, and then he gets mad at Mousie, and finally sad. The boy and his parents put Mousie in a box with some of his favorite things-carrots, a piece of jam toast, and a toy or two-and make a headstone for him out of driftwood. Readers can hear the boy working things out for himself, that Mousie won't ever come back, that grief and longing are what he feels. And in the last frame, where he plays with Mousie's wheel and a toy mouse while wearing his mouse slippers, he thinks about getting another mouse-"But not just yet." Ormerod makes her images from a close-up, child-high perspective, with a fresh, clean palette: her headshot of the child bawling wildly at the realization of the truth of Mousie's demise is touching and tender, as is the gentle comfort of his father. Not since The Tenth Good Thing About Barney (1971) has there been such an affecting and satisfying story about the death of a pet. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews