Mice Skating by Annie Silvestro (review)

Lucy the mouse loves to play outside in the winter, but her friends Mona, Millie, and Marcello would rather stay warm in their burrow until the spring. Nothing Lucy says can convince them to come outside, and her attempts at bringing winter fun inside are all miserable failures—her snow cones and icicles melt too fast, and the indoor snowball fight just makes a mess. Lucy is determined, though; she can't let her friends miss out on the joys of winter, especially ice skating. Fortunately, it turns out that all they need is a little extra encouragement in the form of knitted caps to keep their ears warm to get them out onto that frozen pond. White's watercolor, colored pencil, and gouache illustrations are invitingly cozy in an earth-toned palette that evokes the indoor and outdoor pleasures of winter weather. Dialogue-driven text offers plenty of opportunities for storytime performance, and Marcello's cheese puns ("Tired of being prov-alone?") will have readers-aloud and listeners alike giggling. Small blocks of text make this an attractive text for new readers, as well—perfect for shared reading over hot chocolate after a winter romp. SS