🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop
- 👂 Listening Comprehension — Following a story — keeping track of characters, events, and cause-effect relationships — builds the listening comprehension that transfers directly to reading comprehension once children decode independently.
- 🌈 Imagination & Creativity — Entering a book's world — imagining the setting, characters, and events — exercises creative and narrative thinking that enriches pretend play, story creation, and the ability to generate original ideas.
- 🌍 World Knowledge & Background Knowledge — Nonfiction and information-rich picture books build background knowledge that accelerates reading comprehension — children who know more about the world understand more of what they read across every subject area.
- 🎵 Phonological Awareness — Books with rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, and wordplay directly develop phonological awareness — the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in language — which is the strongest single predictor of reading success at school entry.
Mouse’s First Fall by Lauren Thompson
Illustrated by Buket Erdogan
From the Preschool Book
“Mouse piled the leaves high-
One leaf, two leaves, three leaves, lots of leaves!
‘What a big pile,’ said Minka. ‘Let’s jump in!’”
About the Preschool Book
Mouse, with the help of his friend Minka, experiences fall for the first time in this preschool book by Lauren Thompson. Mouse and Minka discover fall leaves of varying shapes, sizes, textures, and colors in their fun romp outdoors. Mouse also experiences the joy of running through the twirling leaves, piling them up, jumping in them, and even hiding in the leaves. With action on every page, Mouse shares his experiences with readers of all ages.
From the Reviewer – Shelley Frost
Mouse’s First Fall is a fun way to welcome fall with preschoolers. The adorable illustrations will attract their attention from the first page. Action words abound in this story, making it difficult for preschoolers to sit still. They’ll itch to rush into a fall leaf adventure of their own.
Age Appropriate Text Full of Action
Thompson keeps the text simple yet engaging, using action-filled words to propel the story.
Mouse’s First Fall takes a break from the rhyming patterns that so many preschool books use. Even without rhyming words, the text of Mouse's First Fall maintains a fun preschool tone. This preschool book also employs dialogue between Mouse and Minka, which you don’t always see at this level. The text makes
Mouse’s First Fall a great choice for story time with one preschooler or many.
Detailed Illustrations Add to Story
Beautiful, bold colors grace the pages of
Mouse’s First Fall. Soft edges make the illustrations friendly for preschoolers. While the illustrations are child-like, they also contain little details such as veins in the autumn leaves and swirls showing the path of the leaves as they fall. Leaves of different shapes and colors, some multi-toned, set the tone for this book. The texture of the illustrations give the appearance of being a real painting on a canvas. The illustrations in this preschool book capture the essence of fall while maintaining its appeal to preschoolers.
Fun Fall Activity Inspiration
Mouse’s First Fall will inspire many a fall adventure for preschoolers. Just as Mouse explored his fall surroundings, preschoolers will revel in digging into the fall leaves of the neighborhood. While it may not be their first fall, preschoolers develop immensely throughout the year. Each fall they will look at their surroundings with new eyes and a better understanding of the world.
Mouse’s First Fall is a great launching point for fall fun in your own neighborhood and beyond.
More Fun with Mouse
Mouse’s First Fall is only one of many adventurous tales by Lauren Thompson. Mouse explores different holidays and seasons in the other preschool books. Preschoolers will enjoy following this familiar character from adventure to adventure.
Book Details
Title:
Mouse’s First FallReading Level: Baby-Preschool
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Language: English
ISBN: 9780689858376
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The most valuable library habits to establish: regular weekly or biweekly visits (consistency builds library culture), allowing the child to browse and choose their own books (autonomy builds reading identity), attending library storytime programs (builds community and exposes children to books they wouldn't find independently), and returning books on time (teaches responsibility). A library card obtained in the child's own name — even a parent-supervised card — creates a sense of personal ownership over the reading experience.
