The Subway Mouse

Have a five year old autistic child who loves all things infrastructure. This book was a perfect find. He enjoyed the story but was fascinated by the pictures

The illustrations are wonderful and three dimensional.The story is inspiring as the good natured mouse named Nibs heads out on his own down the complex train tunnels to find the end (outside). I love that this story of dark tunnels is not scary. I read this book to a young child who adores trains. We travel the Boston T train often and we once saw a Boston T train mouse down on the tracks. I was wearing the Library copy out so I purchased it!

I love all the books of Barbara Reid. This is a heartwarming story that you should not listen to the opinions of others when you have a dream. And lots of amazing illustrations!

My son's favorite book

I know this might sound a bit crazy, but... I use this book with my English IB Literature students (Grade 11 and 12 ). I read it to them like it's "story time". Afterwards I give them a week to write a 1000 word Literary Analysis Essay on the book. Many have commented that it was only AFTER trying to write the 1000 word essay on "The Subway Mouse" that they truly understand all of the elements of Literature. In the story, there is a hero ( Protagonist ), a helper, an Antagonist. There is a quest, there are clear and simple themes... Everything that makes for solid LITERATURE can be found in "The Subway Mouse".

The artwork in this book is wonderful. As others have mentioned, the artwork is plasticine with found objects incorporated which gives it a bit of a 3D-ish effect. The story has been related by others accurately, so my only note would be that both Nib and Nola abandon their respective families for the lure of Tunnel's End, and at one point Nib and Nola get chased by a threatening gang of mice (don't worry, they escape), and there is a section where they are ready to give up when the challenge gets rough (the tunnel is seemingly endless) -- so it's a bit tense for the toddler set.The book has a decent sized font, and not that many words per page, so I'd say it's ideal for the Age 3-5 age group. More importantly, I'd say your child needs to be at the point of understanding how an adventure-style narrative develops, where there is a middle part of the story where the rising action takes place, leading towards some turning point before the conclusion. At almost 3 years, my son is a bit young for this book, he doesn't expect an upcoming resolution to Nib and Nola's adventure through the tunnels, so he doesn't know how to enjoy the suspense. Excellent book for the preschooler through Kindergarten.

My 2 year old son LOVES this book. We read it all the time and love pointing things out in the pictures and always catch him looking at the illustrations. We have read literally all the board books for kids and were ready for something a little more. He loves all the collections that Nib has and as a child can relate so well to all the small things that matter. We stumbled upon the book in the library and I simply adore everything about this book. We live in te city so when were in the subway were always wondering if Nib is around and if we're out and he drops some food. Obviously being 2 he doesn't care he will pick it up and eat it so now we say we will save it for Nib. I wish I knew of more stories like this with such beautiful illustrations and simple loving characters and plot. My son lights up in joy when he presents this to me for us to read together.

The illustrations in this story are unique in form and inivite the reader to turn the book's pages. The richly textured illustrations make the author's words come alive in three dimensional effect. Children will enjoy the storytelling from the mouse's point of view of life on the subway track. The plot takes the protagonist on an adventure from the security of his mouse burrow to the uncertainity of "Tunnel's End". Each character he meets along the way is portrayed realistically through vivid dialogue exchanges and accompanying images. However, the overuse of simple and choppy dialogue clouds the plot line. As you read, the question "Will he make it to "Tunnel's End?" lingers in your mind and sustains interest.

Great book and fabulous illustrations.

Barbara Reid's books are amazing, and this is another great one. Beautiful artwork and my 3 year old son loves the story.

My 2 year old loves this book! He will listen to the whole thing again and again. We love the clay pictures!

My granddaughter enjoyed it, even though she has not experienced a subway before.

The book itself is literally one of the worst written kids books ever. If you read the story, you wouldn't purchase it...and we are big Barbara Reid fans!