The Mouse Who Reached the Sky

PreS-Gr 1—What exactly is up in that tree, out of reach? Readers will have a chance to immediately make guesses with the help of a die-cut shape in the sturdy cover that reveals a shiny red orb. Mouse thinks it's a marble that she would like to have. Being too small, she recruits her friend Mole, who thinks the object is a balloon, and then Rabbit, who is sure it's a ball. Teamwork is needed, so on a vertical foldout page, Mole stands on Rabbit's head and Mouse balances on the tip of Mole's nose. They stretch and wobble and still aren't able to reach, but their crash-landing manages to dislodge a harvest of fruit from the tree. "Look what we can do when we help one another!" is the solid message. Between the bold, mixed-media illustrations and the opportunity to turn the story into a game (which animal is right? How can they work together? What do you think it is?), there is plenty here to hold children's attention.