Anatole

Shannon Williams

Anatole By Eve Titus Reading level: Ages 5 and up Grade K plus Paperback: 32 pages Publisher: McGraw-Hill 1956 Language: English
 * Bibliographic Information:**

Eve Titus was born July 16 1922 in New York City. She is a children’s writer who is best known for her stories centered on mice characters; Anatole, a mouse from France and Basil from Baker street, a Victorian mouse, are the two most famous. These two famous mice have been depicted in motion pictures based on Titus’ books. She has been honored with many nominations and awards for her work including the Caldecott Honor Book awarded she received for both __Anatole__ and __Anatole and the Cat.__
 * Author Bio:**

Anatole is a French mouse who provides for his family by taking cheese from the houses of humans with some of his other mouse friends. When Anatole overhears a woman speaking about how much she dislikes mice for nibbling at her food, he becomes extremely upset. Trying to earn back his honor, Anatole makes a plan. He sneaks into the Duval Cheese Factory and samples each kind of cheese. He then places notes with comments and suggestions such as, “good” “ ‘specially good” “No good, needs more grated onion” and signs his name. The Duval Cheese Factory takes the suggestions and makes the best cheese in all of Paris. They would like to thank Anatole, but they are unable to find out who he is.
 * Summary:**

The illustrations in “Anatole” by Eve Titus work hand in hand with the narrative and dialogue to portray the story. This is especially important for very young readers who rely on illustrations to gain full understanding of the plot, characters, and theme. In the beginning of the book, the illustrations depict the Paris setting perfectly. Many young children are not familiar with different areas of the world and the strong pictures give them insight into where the main characters are. Further, as the plot thickens and Anatole is looking for ways to make humans appreciate mice, the illustrations clearly illustrate his plan to write notes and place them in the cheese to help the cheese factory improve their recipes. The illustrations also provide ample evidence for prediction, which is a skill that all young readers should be working on during read-alouds and individual reading assignments. The illustrations in “Anatole” clearly work with the text to aid the child in comprehension, prediction, and other essential reading skills.
 * Literary Element Analysis:**

“Anatole” by Eve Titus is a wonderful book for young children to hear during a read-aloud at school or one-on-one with a teacher or parent as the language can be a bit difficult, but the plot and storyline are appropriate and engaging to young readers. The main character’s strong and friendly personality is portrayed effortlessly by Titus and draws in the reader, and keeps them engaged through a suspenseful plot. The children will learn age appropriate lessons about responsibility and good moral values while having fun. I think that “Anatole” is a must for all young readers.
 * Book Review:**

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