If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Author Laura Numeroff
Illustrator Felicia Bond
Series If You Give...
Genre Children's literature

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is a children's book written by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond. Described as a "circular tale,"[1] it is Numeroff and Bond's first collaboration in what came to be the If You Give... series.[2]

Plot

From If You Give a Mouse a Cookie


A boy gives a cookie to a mouse. The mouse asks for a glass of milk. He then requests a straw (to drink the milk), a mirror (to avoid a milk mustache), nail scissors (to trim his hair in the mirror), and a broom (to sweep up his hair trimmings). Next he wants to take a nap, have a story read to him, draw a picture, and hang the drawing on the refrigerator. Looking at the refrigerator makes him thirsty, so the mouse asks for a glass of milk. The circle is complete when he wants a cookie to go with it.

Origin

Author Laura Numeroff has often said in interviews that the idea for the story came to her during a long car trip she took with a friend from San Francisco to Oregon. She narrated it as they drove and later wrote it down. The manuscript was passed over by nine publishers before being taken on by Laura Gerringer, a publisher under the Harper and Row (now HarperCollins) imprint, who immediately thought of Felicia Bond to illustrate it.

Art

From If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

The text was interpreted by illustrator Felicia Bond to show the increasing energy of the mouse, with the little boy being run ragged by the end of the story. The art was praised by School Library Journal for its "meticulous attention to detail",[1] and was executed with vibrant colors of blended pencil in a complex process of layering red, blue, yellow and black on separate sheets, which were then assembled during printing.

Bond describes rushing to get the sketches done before leaving town with her boyfriend and that the energy of the mouse evolved from that excitement. She has mentioned on numerous occasions that the little boy in the book was her boyfriend, Stephen Roxburgh, as a child.

Popular culture

From If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie[3] quickly became established as a popular favorite and is today considered a contemporary classic. A series of sixteen titles[4] followed. They have been translated into more than thirteen languages. The If You Give... series has garnered numerous awards, and their popularity is witnessed by their consistent presence on The New York Times Best Seller List.

Charles Schulz created two Peanuts strips[5] about If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and in 2000 Oprah Winfrey chose If You Give a Pig a Pancake as one of her favorite things in 2000.[6] She also included it on her list Oprah’s Favorite Things from A-Z in that same year.[7] "If You Give a Moose a Muffin" was the answer to a question on Jeopardy!. The books have been adapted into plays for children's theaters across the country.[8][9] [10] [11][12] The Bronx Zoo in New York featured the art in their Children's Zoo for one year and the artwork has been used to create murals in the wings of children's hospitals. The series has fans of all ages from all over the world including Japan, where an entire Tokyo city bus was painted with images of Mouse. Mouse also made it to the White House; in Laura Bush's Celebration of American Authors at the 2001 Presidential Inauguration Felicia Bond and Laura Numeroff were among those honored for their If You Give... series,[13] and the former First Lady writes that the Bush family cat India's favorite book was If You Take a Mouse to the Movies. A bronze sculpture of her sleeping on the book is included in the George W. Bush Presidential Library.[14] First Lady Michele Obama read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie on the White House lawn during the 2009 Easter Egg Roll.[15]

Mouse's popularity inspired many subsequent books, and an animated adaptation by Amazon in 2015.

If You Give... Series

See mousecookiebooks.com
From If You Give a Pig a Party

Compilation Editions If You Give... Series

Awards and Recognitions

Book Award & Year
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Alabama Children's Choice Book Award, K–1 (1986–87)[18][19]
California Young Reader Medal (1988)[20]
Colorado Children's Book Award (1988)[21]
Georgia Children’s Picture Story Book Award (1988)[22]
Nevada Young Readers’ Award (1988–89)[23]
Buckeye Children’s Book Award, K–2 (Ohio) (1989)[24]
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award (1994)[25]
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award (1994)[26]
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Blue Chip Classic Award (1994)[27]
If You Give A Moose A Muffin Children’s Choices (IRA/CBC) (1992)
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award (1998)[28]
If You Give A Pig A Pancake Oppenheim Platinum Award (1999)
IRA Children’s Choice (1999)
Oprah Winfrey named If You Give a Pig a Pancake her "favorite book for children"
Listed on Oprah Winfrey's "Oprah’s Favorite Things from A-Z"
If You Take A Mouse To The Movies NAPPA Gold Award (2000)
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award (2001)
IRA/CBC Children’s Choice (2001)
If You Take A Mouse To School Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award (2003)[29]
If You Give A Pig A Party Quill Award (2006)
From If You Give a Pig a Party

The book series was also awarded an Honoree "Laura Bush Celebrates American Authors" in 2001 plus Presidential Inauguration "NEA Teacher’s Picks Books to Read Across America" in 1999.


Selected translations

Adaptations

A pilot for a potential streaming series was created by Amazon Studios.[30]

References

  1. 1 2 Jones, Trev (May 1985). "Numeroff, Laura Joffe. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (review)". School Library Journal 31 (9): 80.
  2. If You Give... series - list of all If You Give...
  3. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, first collaborative work written by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond
  4. If You Give... illustrated by Felicia Bond
  5. Charles Schulz features If You Give a Mouse a Cookie in Peanuts, The Essential Guide to Children’s Books and Their Creators, Anita Silvey (Houghton Mifflin, 2002) ISBN 0-618-19082-1
  6. "...written by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond is the perfect gift for the little ones in your life. "It just thrilled me," Oprah says."
  7. Oprah’s Favorite Things from A-Z - If You Give a Pig a Pancake
  8. Kreiswirth, Sandra (September 13, 1991). "Van Johnson to Star in 'Show Boat'". Daily Breeze (Torrance, CA).
  9. Silk, Chris (June 11, 2010). "Review: Naples Players Create Chaotic Fun with 'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie'". Naples Daily News. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  10. "Reading Rainbow: Season 10, Episode 2. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (19 Oct. 1993)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  11. Cherry, Nanciann (September 29, 2005). "Diversity Rules: Comedies and a Folk Tale Featured on Area Stages". Toledo Blade. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  12. "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie & Other Story Books" (PDF). Theatreworks USA. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  13. Laura Bush read If You Take a Mouse to the Movies to the children over the holidays.
  14. India "Willie Bush, the family cat's favorite book If You Take a Mouse to the Movies
  15. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie on the White House lawn
  16. New York Times Best Seller List If You Give a Dog a Doughnut
  17. If You Give a Child a Book, HarperCollins book donation program
  18. Alabama Children's Choice Book Award, now named Alabama Camellia Children's Choice Award
  19. Renaming of award
  20. California Young Reader Medal
  21. Colorado Children's Book Award
  22. Georgia Children's Picture Storybook Award
  23. Nevada Young Reader's Award
  24. Buckeye Children's Book Award
  25. Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
  26. Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
  27. Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Blue Chip Classic Award If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
  28. Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award If You Give a Moose a Muffin
  29. If You Take a Mouse to School Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Awards
  30. "Watch If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Season 1 Episode - Amazon Video". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 2016-01-20.

Further reading

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, February 03, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.