Whose Mouse Are You?

Robert Kraus poses some leading questions and skillfully guides "Mouse" to answers that culminate in a decidedly satisfying ending. Mouse's experience unfolds with the validity and charm of a nursery rhyme, and his reaction to one of childhood's harsher experiences will add gayety and meaning to any story hour. The result is a happy picture book, illustrated by Jose Aruego with wit, tenderness and joyful ingenuity.

A lonely little mouse has to be resourceful in order to bring his family back together.

In a series of delightfully imaginary achievements, "nobody's mouse" transforms himself into the beloved hero of his mother, father, sister, and brand-new baby brother. In their very first collaboration, now celebrating its 30th anniversary, Robert Kraus and Jose Aruego give charm and validity to one of childhood's more difficult experiences. Tender and catchy, Robert Kraus's rhyming text, combined with Jose Aruego's large, vibrantly clever illustrations, makes for a storytime classic. This happy picture book is brusting with wit, tenderness, and joyful ingenuity.

Publishers Weekly

Also celebrating an anniversary--its 30th--is Whose Mouse Are You? by Robert Kraus, illus. by Jose Aruego. Minimalist art and memorable text are more than the sum of its parts: "Whose mouse are you?/ Nobody's mouse./ Where is your mother?/ Inside a cat," it begins forlornly, but reverses into a joyful ending, with the mouse reuniting his far-flung family and gaining a new brother. (S&S, $17 40p ages 3-7 ISBN 0-689-84052-7; Sept.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Robert Kraus, New Yorker cartoonist and cover artist, created numerous classic picture books for very young children, including Leo the Late Bloomer and Milton the Early Riser.

Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey have illustrated many books together — he draws the outlines and designs the pages; she paints the illustrations. Aruego, a native of the Philippines, was a lawyer before becoming an illustrator, and now lives in New York City. Dewey was born in Chicago and also lives in New York City.