My Best Friend

May 1, 2020

PreS-K-The joke is on Mouse as he introduces readers to his best friend, Giant Owl. Mouse narrates how the pair have been "buddies ever since Giant Owl brought me to live at the tree," while the illustration depicts a stormy night with lightning bolts and a yellow, beady-eyed owl with Mouse in his clutches flying toward the reader. Illustrations continue to belie the text as Mouse's tales of their games of chase (and Mouse's narrow escape), Owl's generosity with food (to fatten up Mouse), and his birthday present (a cage) will amuse readers who will be wise to Owl's true intentions to dine on the mouse. A variety of illustration layouts, some full-page spreads with color-saturated backgrounds, along with vignettes and white pages of text keep the story visually dynamic. Owl's expressions will amuse readers, as will Mouse's innocent depiction of Owl as a benevolent friend. VERDICT An additonal title featuring a cheerful mouse who thinks his best friend is an owl, though the brightly-colored illustrations tell a different story.-Ramarie Beaver, formerly at Plano Public Library, TX

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2020
An owl and a mouse are really close friends--kind of. Mouse and Giant Owl have lived together ever since Giant Owl caught Mouse--er, brought Mouse to the tree, where Giant Owl is generous with the doughnuts. The thing is, while Mouse appreciates the friendship, some alone time would occasionally be nice, yet Giant Owl seems always to be around. Mouse reasons this is "because Giant Owl loves me so much." It must be why Giant Owl gives great birthday gifts like a house (read: cage) equipped with its own lock, whose key Giant Owl carefully holds onto. Then, after a sleepover, Mouse wakes up in an unidentifiable, dark, round space. Giant Owl's nowhere to be seen--by Mouse, that is. However, hilarious illustrations show readers exactly where Giant Owl is and what's going on. Giant Owl's on a branch, battling severe dyspepsia and making wretched gastrointestinal noises before letting out an otherworldly belch (printed in oversized type that takes up a page). As a result, Mouse blasts out of Giant Owl's roiling innards and, still clueless, thanks Giant Owl for the rescue. This riotous tale is truly a hoot, owl or no. The wittily dry narration, simply expressed in Mouse's sweetly na�ve voice, is comically adorable, and the colorful, very expressive mixed-media illustrations serve the rollicking shenanigans perfectly. Here's a book to make best friends with--but be careful on those sleepovers. (Picture book. 3-6)

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April 15, 2020
Grades K-2 Adding a fresh page to the annals of obliviousness, Mouse?depicted as a rotund white figure in the cartoon illustrations, with a red nose like a matchstick and a fixed grin?burbles on about what a great friend the owl who swooped down to the rescue one stormy night is. After all, we have so much fun! We play chase together . . . and sometimes Giant Owl nearly catches me. Why, Owl not only plies Mouse with donuts, but even supplies a house (a cage)! How thoughtful is that? Young audiences will have no trouble discerning silent, predatory Owl's real intentions, and be unsurprised when, one morning, Mouse wakes up in a strange, dark place. But in contrast to the more permanent fates that cap Jeanne Willis' Tadpole's Promise (2005), Jon Klassen's I Want My Hat Back (2011), and like naturalistic fare, Hodgson elects to dish up a cozier resolution: You saved me! You're my best friend in the whole world. Well, maybe.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)