A Mouse Called Wolf, by Dick King-Smith

Time for another Read Aloud Thursday which is hosted by Amy at Hope is in the Word. To glean ideas from others as to what books might make some great read-alouds for you and your family, hop on over and check out what reading experiences other people are sharing about.

I read A Mouse Called Wolf with Bookworm1 (age 4 1/2) a few months back, actually, but am just getting around to talking about it. It's written by Dick King-Smith (who you might be more familiar with as having written Babe which was then turned into a full-length film.) King-Smith is apparently something of a prolific writer and after we read A Mouse Called Wolf I went to the used bookstore in town and snatched up several other of his titles as we liked this one so well.

A Mouse Called Wolf is an easy read. If King-Smith's books are all written in the same fashion (and I can't say yet) then I would say that these books makes great first read alone books. The text is large, there are illustrations scattered throughout the book, and the characters in his books are mostly of the animal variety. If your child likes animals like my Bookworm1 likes animals, then these books are sure to be hits!

In A Mouse Called Wolf we are introduced to Wolfgang Amadeus Mouse who is called "Wolf" for short. He is the runt of the liter but his mother expects great things of him and so she gives him a great big name to live up to (and into.) Wolf is kind of embarrassed by his name (as you might imagine) and never really makes the connection to who he is named after. However, Wolf does discover that he possesses a rather peculiar gift for a mouse. That is: Wolf can sing. And mice don't sing!

The elderly woman who owns the house that Wolf lives in discovers his talent one day and the two become good friends, despite the fact that Wolf can speak no English and she can speak no Mouse. They share a love of songs and music which is pretty much what the book is all about. It's cute, friendly and fun. We read it in two sittings because Bookworm1 would ask me to "read another chapter!" at the end of each one finished. I consider that a successful read-aloud experience.

We both heartily recommend A Mouse Called Wolf and I personally am looking forward to exploring more of King-Smith's works in the months and years to come. We have a nice little stack to choose from now so we'll let you know what we think when we get to them!