How to use this Page

.

There’s a Mouse Hiding In This Book! (Tom and Jerry)

by Benjamin Bird

Capstone Young Readers             8/01/2014

978-1-62370-125-3

Age 4 to 7          32  pages

.

“This Tom and Jerry interactive picture book holds a surprise on each page! Where is Jerry hiding? On the title page, on the back cover, or somewhere in between? Little readers will howl with delight each time they open the covers and try helping Tom find the mischievous mouse. Perfect for story time. A light, quirky “meta-fictional” picture book series using the well-known, timeless characters of Tom and Jerry. Young readers will whoop with delight at the story and artwork, but parents and caregivers will also appreciate the humorous and gentle introduction to the process of reading and the parts of a book.”

Opening

“LOOK. That no-good mouse Jerry is ruining my book! Come on, help me catch him.”

The Story

Tom, the cat from Tom and Jerry™ is trying to write a book. Problem is Jerry, the little grey mouse from the cartoon duo, is wreaking havoc on every page. Tom is out to catch the little villain—wait, Jerry the villain. Well it seems Jerry is the troublemaker and Tom is only trying to write a book. Your role, should you choose to accept it, is to assist Tom in capturing Jerry. Your job: just do what Tom tells you to do and be very fast. That’s it!

Review

I laughed aloud when reading There’s a Mouse Hiding in this Book! First, there is the history of Tom and Jerry going after each other, every Saturday morning, and poor cat Tom never getting one over on Jerry, the resourceful mouse who loves tormenting Tom. As hard as Tom tries, whatever he tries, it returns to him twice his intended result. For example. Tom has Jerry cornered immediately after you join in the chase. Entering the dark mouse hole, you cannot see a thing, but you know Jerry is in there. Listening closely, you can hear him breathing. The light pops on. Run! Run! Run! It’s not Jerry . . . it’s that big bulldog, and he has huge canines. Quickly, quickly, turn the page!

That might have been too close for comfort, but Tom is not discouraged. Stick with him and you’ll find a surprise inside every spread, but will you ever find Jerry? There’s a Mouse Hiding in this Book reminds me of Press Here, the picture book with colored dots on every page, the number of which changed depending upon what you did in the previous spread. Shake the page and the dots fall out. Slide the book to the right and the dots on the left move to the right. There is a review of Press Here here.

Instead of moving around dots, Tom is trying to catch Jerry by setting up traps. Tom carefully sets mousetraps then you turn the page to see Jerry trapped, but instead, something goes wrong, terribly wrong. Tom needs you to do something quickly to get him out of this mess. The surprises are hilarious. Kids of all ages will laugh aloud until their stomachs ache. I know, because I did. To further tickle your funny bone, There’s a Mouse Hiding in this Book is one book from a series of, currently, 4 books.

If your child likes the Elmo series, Please Do Not Open this Book, by Jon Stone or Press Here by Herve Tullet, your child will like There’s a Mouse Hiding in this Book! I also think parents who grew up with this Saturday morning comic duo will also love this book. Just seeing these characters was a delight. For the best experience, buy or borrow the physical copy of There’s a Mouse Hiding in this Book rather than an eBook.

There is nothing better than actually turning those pages, slowly lifting until colors appear and then, even slower, looking for Jerry, but he is not on the page. Tom is there and he is yelling for your help. Laughing you take your time, looking at the mess Tom created by not thinking things through, and then you comply. Will there be another surprise? Will Tom be building another mouse-catching trap? Can Tom draw Jerry out from his hiding place?  Will Jerry finally appear in the book, ready to goad Tom as only Jerry knows how to do? There is only one way to find out. Get your hands on a copy of There’s a Mouse Hiding in this Book, and be prepared to laugh yourself silly.

.

THERE IS A MOUSE HIDING IN THIS BOOK. Text and illustrations copyright © 2014 by Turner Entertainment Company. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Capstone Young Readers, an imprint of Capstone, North Mankato, MN.

.

The series (L to R) A Cat Is Chasing Me Through This Book! — Don’t Give This Book a Bowl of Milk! — This Book Is Not a Piece of Cheese!

.

Learn more about this Tom and Jerry™ series HERE.

Pre-Order any of the series at Amazon—B&N—BookDepository—Capstone—your local bookstore.

.

Turner Entertainment Company website:    http://www.turner.com/

Capstone Young Readers website:    http://www.capstoneyoungreaders.com/

.

.