If+You+Give+a+Mouse+a+Cookie

Lauren Rollins
Written by: Laura Numeroff Illustrated by: Felicia Bond
 * __If You Give A Mouse A Cookie __**



**__ Bibliographical Information __**

Original Publication Date: 1985  Publisher: New York: Harper & Row  ISBN: [|0-06-024586-7]  Hardcover Price: $13.31  Type of book: Fiction

**Author Biography:** Laura Numeroff was born in 1953 in Brooklyn, New York. Since she was little she had always wanted to be a writer but before she graduated High School she changed her mind and decided to follow in her sister's footsteps and go into fashion. She went to college to study fashion design at Pratt University but later learned that her real love was still writing and illustrating children’s books. Her first nine books she wrote and illustrated herself. She had also written an autobiography called //If you Give an Author a Pencil.//

**Summary:**  //If You Give a Mouse a Cookie// starts with a boy sitting outside eating cookies in front of his house when he sees a mouse and offers him one. After he offers the mouse a cookie he then wants a glass of milk; after he gives the mouse a glass of milk the mouse asks for another favor and this scenario occurs throughout the entire book. The mouse always finds the need for something new after the little boy gives him what he has already asked for.

**Book Review:** //If You give a Mouse a Cookie// is a great book to use in the classroom when you reach the unit on prediction. Each page can lead to a prediction on what the mouse will ask for next. The author made it interesting and keeps you wondering about what the mouse will do next; this helps keep the children focused and able to pay attention during the book. The illustrations help the students comprehend the plot better and make it easier for those that struggle with reading.

**Analysis:** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The illustrations in this book are critical to the story. It is especially important in helping children who still struggle with reading to understand the story. This book is useful in teaching a unit on predictions and by having pictures that depict the plot so well it helps students better understand the unit on prediction and helps them to practice using supporting evidence through illustrations, not just words. The second page of the book the mouse asks the boy for a glass of milk after he gets the cookie. The picture then shows the mouse standing on the sugar jar with his hands on the rim of the milk cup and the mouse is looking into the cup. This is a great page to stop and asking the students what they think the mouse is thinking. The way the picture is drawn it is clearly shown that the mouse looks like he is going to have trouble being able to drink out of a cup so large and it suggests that he might need an alternative way to drink the glass of milk. This opens the door to have children predict what the mouse might ask for next. This also forces the students to be able to use more than just the words from a text to support an idea or prediction about the book; they now realize that using illustrations as evidence can be just as supportive as textual evidence.

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