When a clever and resourceful mouse looks for a safe place to settle down, she learns that home is wherever you make it. A story about friendship, hospitality, and building from the award-winning and bestselling Michael Hall, creator of Red: A Crayon’s Story and Perfect Square . On a chilly morning, a mouse finds something remarkable: a warm and welcoming fire. So, she builds a stove to mark the spot. When a fox chases the mouse but suddenly stops, she builds a floor on the patch of ground where she is protected. Soon, it seems as though the mouse has everything she needs for a house. But there’s one thing missing: friends! House Mouse  is a deceptively simple story about hard work, creativity, and sharing from a master of layered, yet accessible picture books. Michael Hall’s signature bright, bold mixed-media artwork will catch the eye of the youngest readers, as will the busy mouse’s tool collection and construction work. House Mouse  is playful and surprising and shares a powerful message about friendship, empathy, and hospitality. A must-have for fans of Mo Willems and Eric Carle.  K-Gr 2—With the graphic minimalism of a simple group of shapes or the squiggle of a line, a house mouse creates a space that evolves into a house for all. Where she finds the warmth and welcome of a fire, she adds the column of a stove "to mark the spot where the chilliness wasn't." Where the ground seems protected from a fox, Mouse builds the area for the house's floor. Simple text and action verbs accentuated with font changes and angular placements of text invite investigation of images and action each time Hall's triangular Mouse pulls out a hammer from her tool pail and adds to her house. Rain falls in a heavy sheet, rectangular drops that never touch the area of her home's floor, and observant Mouse builds a rooftop that shapes her "peaceful, dry house." A knocking alerts Mouse to build a door, a door she opens to welcome strangers—travelers add their own ingredients to the mix of soup for dinner. Now "it was a welcoming place and the house mouse wanted everyone to know it." As Mouse stands bearing a flaming torch to light the way in the final frame, educators may find a teaching moment about metaphors. VERDICT A suggested first purchase for all libraries, this simple book is a timely addition to titles that encourage social emotional learning as it presents a step-by-step transformation that echoes safety with an enduring welcome and empathy for newcomers.—Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano I.S.D., TX “It begins with a house, or perhaps with a warm, welcoming flame, or perhaps with the intrepid journey of a mouse who travels over a hill, across a river, and into an asparagus patch to find a home. . . . Gentle, straightforward text and onomatopoeia recount the mouse’s efforts to envision what could be before it is there . . . A thoughtful tale for engineers young and old.” - Kirkus Reviews “When a mouse discovers a ‘warm and welcoming’ flame in an asparagus patch one cold day, she makes the first in a series of life-changing decisions. . . . The construction theme is a natural for Hall, who builds his images from simple, bright-colored shapes . . . As readers appreciate Hall’s graphic inventiveness, they can also ponder how much comfort and company a hearth can provide.” - Publishers Weekly “With the graphic minimalism of a simple group of shapes or the squiggle of a line, a house mouse creates a space that evolves into a house for all. . . . This simple book is a timely addition to titles that encourage social emotional learning as it presents a step-by-step transformation that echoes safety with an enduring welcome and empathy for newcomers.” - School Library Journal (starred review) “With the graphic minimalism of a simple group of shapes or the squiggle of a line, a house mouse creates a space that evolves into a house for all. . . . This simple book is a timely addition to titles that encourage social emotional learning as it presents a step-by-step transformation that echoes safety with an enduring welcome and empathy for newcomers.” - School Library Journal (starred review) “It all begins when a tiny mouse finds something remarkable in a wild asparagus patch. . . . The soundscaping elements . . . will lend themselves brilliantly to read-alouds, child participation, and dramatization . . . This is a sweet, original, well-structured story about how leading with our warm, welcoming impulses will serve and protect us all.” - Booklist “A story of perseverance and hospitality, Hall’s latest follows a hardworking mouse and her home-building journey. . . . Hall’s use of onomatopoeia and geometric shapes (a triangle for the mouse’s body; rectangles for the house’s frame and floor) naturally emphasize and extend the construction theme. Vignettes highlighting the protagonist’s industriousness are interwoven with double-page spreads depicting cutaway and interior views of her cozy home. . . . This tale