Charlie and Mouse

Charlie and Mouse are two brothers who have four different little adventures divided into 4 small chapters in this boisterous picture book. There is gentle humour in each chapter where you get a peek inside this American family particularly at the brothers’ relationship. They get up to kind of ‘normal stuff’ which is great. They don’t have super powers, don’t hate each other they just rub along together and this is a snapshot of their brotherhood.

The Lump story will resonate with any family where there are early risers versus trying to catch up sleep parents.

The Party has a lovely repeat in it which will appeal to readers-there’s also opportunities for some cultural discussions as there are words more usual in America than the UK so this would definitely raise some discussions. The Rocks chapter ends with lots of humour and, again, has some repeating ideas so the book would be great for beginner readers because it has a really supportive structure. The size of the book makes it appealing in terms of fostering independent reading too. I’ve not come across many picture books in chapter form so it’s great to see. Seeing the brothers get up to things, their underlying fondness for each other and a big dose of cheekiness makes for an entertaining read.