I have a confession before I share any more about this book, I was a Girl Scout until my freshman year in high school and then I've been a troop leader for 13 years with one or two of my girls at a time, in various roles. So, just the front cover of this book tugs at my heart.
Mouse Scouts by Sarah Dillard is cute story about a scouting troop made up of mice. The mice just bridge from one level of scouting to another and now have a new scout leader, Miss Poppy. Miss Poppy isn't as warm and fuzzy as their initial leader, she goes by the handbook a bit more. Violet and Tigerlily are the main characters and best friends. The whole troop is excited to earn their merit badges and begin with a badge about gardening. I found the mice approach to gardening quite interesting and practical given their physical size. If you garden, you can imagine the problems that might arise. As each problem arises, I was happy to read the mice were positive and cooperation helped them solve their gardening struggles.
This book may not catch the eye of boy readers in my classroom but each year I seem to have a cluster of girls who participate in scouting that will find this book enjoyable. I do love the transitional reader format; picture support, larger font, appropriate white space, ten chapters and an epilogue. In between several chapters, the reader discovers pages that resemble a Scout handbook which just made me chuckle because they mirror many of my own experiences. I thought for my readers it was a great way to weave in nonfiction reading in a fantasy book. There are three books total and I can't wait to see how my students respond to this classroom library addition.
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