This gorgeous book follows Mouse on a new adventure—from the woods, down a gently flowing river, to the open sea—to visit an old friend. Detailed illustrations feature many plants and animals to identify, and the atmospheric, rhyming text winds down to a peaceful conclusion perfect for bedtime.
Taking place over the course of twenty-four hours, this gently rhyming story tracks the changing environment of the river’s banks, the shift from day to night, pleasant weather to rain and back again, and introduces a whole new cast of friendly characters who wave to Mouse on the way, including beavers, water voles, and waterfowl aplenty.
Mouse travels by a willow grove, a riverside town with a lock, a river island, a reed bed, the estuary, and the river mouth before finishing the journey on the shore of the open sea.
Illustrated by Alice Melvin, who has spent hours drawing directly from nature to make the book, Mouse on the River is sure to win over readers with its charming characters and intensely detailed scenes.
Reviews
The appeal is in the minutely detailed objects on the winding shores: boating equipment, homes, plants, and animals. Movable flaps allow readers a glimpse at the well-stocked interiors of a boathouse studio, a houseboat, stores, and other places as Mouse drifts by… Melvin’s sketchier style makes [Mouse and the other small critters] scruffier cousins of Beatrix Potter's creations… Multiple reads will be necessary to spot the dozens of items found throughout and inventoried on the final page… Happy hours ahead on this river!
— Kirkus Reviews
Contributors
Alice Melvin
Author
Alice Melvin is an award-winning illustrator and product designer who lives and works in Scotland. Melvin is the creator of Mouse's Wood, which won the 2022 GOLD Junior Design Award for the Best Pre-Schooler Book 3-5yrs. It was both a Daily Telegraph and Observer Children's Book of the Year and has over 180,000 copies in print across sixteen languages. Follow her on Instagram @alicemelvin.