Maestro Mouse: And the Mystery of the Missing Baton

by Peter W. Barnes, Cheryl Shaw Barnes (Illustrator)

Overview

Maestro Mouse, the world's greatest conductor, makes an unfortunate discovery when he takes the stage to lead his orchestra—his baton is missing! The children in the concert hall rush to search for it in section of the orchestra, learning about each instrument as they go along. Will they find the lost baton in time for the concert to begin?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781621570363
Publisher:	Skyhorse Publishing
Publication date:	05/07/2013
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

About the Author

Peter and Cheryl Barnes are the author/illustrator team behind many books featuring animal characters that teach children about history and government, including the bestselling House Mouse, Senate Mouse, which teaches how Congress makes our laws, and Woodrow, the White House Mouse, about the White House and the job of the president. Peter is a journalist and broadcaster who reports on public policy issues in Washington D.C. Cheryl is an illustrator with a background in architecture. They live in Alexandria, Virginia, have two grown daughters, and are very proud grandparents of Tristan James Joyce.

Editorial Reviews

When Maestro Mouse loses his baton, a group of young concertgoers conduct a search through all the sections of the orchestra. The Barneses, whose mice have previously explored U.S. history and the workings of our federal government, now turn their attention to Washington, D.C., culture, setting this new story in a slightly altered Kennedy Center. (The exterior is Carnegie Hall in New York City; the inside a clear representation of the Center's Concert Hall and vast corridors, though the bust of Kennedy has been replaced by one of Beethoven.) This well-meant introduction to a symphony orchestra is hampered by awkward language and unskilled illustrations. The lost-and-found story is written in rhyming fourteeners--a verse pattern that requires unnaturally lengthy lines and is difficult to write smoothly or read aloud comfortably. The conductor's facial features differ from page to page, his shirt buttons occasionally change orientation, and, on one page, he's lost his boutonniere. Section by section, mouse children, differentiated by their clothing, scurry through the orchestra seeking the baton. Usually the illustrations follow the text, but the larger stringed instruments don't appear until three spreads after their mention in verse. Scott Hennesy and Joe Lanzisero play the same premise more skillfully in The Cat's Baton Is Gone (2012). Audiences can skip this amateur hour at the National Symphony. (notes for parents and teachers, matching game, facts, a page for a written response) (Informational picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews