Book Review: 'Mouse and Mole, A Perfect Halloween' by Wong Herbert Yee

✰✰✰✰½ Mouse and mole are the very best of friends, but they are also opposites. While Mouse likes Halloween; Mole does not. For Mouse, Halloween is full of fun and adventure. There is so much to do like decorating, carving pumpkins, and scaring friends. On the other hand, Halloween is scary and frightening for Mole. Fortunately, there's one activity that's not too scary. Both Mouse and Mole decide to enter the Halloween pumpkin carving contest. Both pick out the perfect pumpkin, but who will win? And how will they get their pumpkins home? After all, the road will be dark and scary. When Mouse realizes that frightening Mole wasn't such a good idea, she comes up with a plan to help her friend by reading a Halloween story.

The Bottom Line: This Early Reader contains four chapters for beginning readers in Grades 1 & 2. This gentle series highlights the theme of friendship. In this book, Mouse helps Mole overcome his fear of Halloween so they can enjoy the holiday together. In fact, my favorite part of the book was when Mouse reads a Halloween story to Mole; it's like there's a book within a book. The gouache and litho pencil illustrations feature soft, earthy tones perfect for Autumn. Enthusiastically recommended for beginning readers everywhere.

Details: Mouse and Mole, A Perfect Halloween written & illustrated by Wong Herbert Yee. Hardcover published by Houghton Mifflin in 2011. 48 p. ISBN: 978-0-547-55152-4