are going to a party.
Far from home,
Squeak sees that Pip
has left their gift behind.
Oh, no!
Squeak is mad.
Pip is in a pickle.
They are late already,
and deep snow is
everywhere!
How will Pip and Squeak
ever find
the perfect present
for their friend Gus?
ARTIST'S NOTE
Some time ago I had a vision of a mouse (or two) scurrying over the snow, seeing things from a mouse's point of view. A series of images took shape, but no words. I began to imagine the mice as siblings: Pip, the timid younger brother, and Squeak, his take-charge sister. But where did they come from, where were they going, and why? It took years to find out. Such is the danger of coming up with the pictures BEFORE the story, but that's the way my brain works. Eventually, with time and distance, these shy, stubborn mice told me their tale themselves. I made the illustrations with ink and acrylic paint on Artistico "Extra White" 300lb hot press watercolor paper.
PRAISE
A Junior Library Guild Premier Selection
This appealing picture book profiles the winter journey of mice Pip and Squeak, as they go from their home in a mailbox through a rural landscape buried under snow, to the birthday celebration of their forest friend, Gus. The briskly succinct text manages to hold its own with alliteration, repetition and even a touch of wordplay. But as with many books for the very young, the bright pictures do much of the heavy lifting. The action-packed, mixed-media paintings are big and bold, with a nimble handling of color, texture, perspective and momentum. The lap set will delight in the escapades of the intrepid rodents as they traipse like trapeze artists across a clothesline and scale a snowman as if it were Mount Everest. One minute, kids will feel superior to Pip, who mistakes the snowman's carrot nose for cheese; the next, they will hold their breath as the little fellow tumbles off the side of the snowman. Rest assured: This soon-to-be popular offering ends on a happy-albeit surprising-note.
- Kirkus Reviews
