Mr. Maxwell's Mouse by Frank Asch, Devin Asch, Ill. NY: Kids Press, 2004.

ISBN 1-55337-486-X. Q5/4P.

            This tongue-in-cheek picture book is has a great message about seeing all living creatures worthy of careful consideration. Illustrations are done in ink with dark striking hues.

-Christina Gendron

 

Asch, Frank (2004). Mr. Maxwell's Mouse. Tonawanda, N.Y.: Kids Can Press Ltd. Illustrated by Devin Asch. ISBN:  1-55337-486-X.  

 

Mr. Maxwell’s plans for a congratulatory and special lunch are challenged by a talkative mouse that interrupts Mr. Maxwell’s first bite until the final surprise. 

 

Illustrations were “rendered in Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter.”  Black, white and grey are the primary colors used with hues of blue, brown and green. 

 

Rating:  4Q/4P

 

MWood

 

Artwork Discussion 2

 

 

 

 

Mr. Maxwell’s Mouse by Frank Asch and Devin Asch

 

 

 

 

      The opening cover of the book provides a skyline of a city reminiscent of Amsterdam, Prague or many other European cities.  A car from the nineteen thirties or forties is crossing a bridge and Mr. Maxwell is entering a restaurant with cat gargoyles protruding from the building.

      Mr. Maxwell enters the Paw and Claw restaurant and the colors of the book change from shades of black, white and grey to those same colors complimented by various hues of brown, blue, mauve and green.  The colors work well with the artwork and the copyright page indicates the illustrations were “rendered in Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter.”

      The text of the book encompasses one fourth of the page and is written to the left or right of the picture book that measures 11 by 9 ½.  Mr. Maxwell or the mouse character’s picture are large and often cover the majority of the page.  The drawings are realistic down to the stitching on the sleeve of Mr. Maxwell’s shirt and the fur on his paws.  The book emphasizes the main character, Mr. Maxwell and the mouse using size to portray their character while other characters are small in comparison.  In Stewig’s book, Looking at Picture Books, he asks the question, why has the “artist arranged the composition in a particular way?”  In his discussion about the visual object, this book characters (Mr. Maxwell and the mouse) can be categorized under dominance.  The cat’s face is large, detailed, strong and menacing as he is served his live mouse on toast.  On another page, the plate with the knife and fork in Mr. Maxwell’s hands are ready to slice the mouse on toast while the mouse tries to attempt Mr. Maxwell with a distraction.  I think the size of the illustrations make the story more powerful, or scary, but definitely lifelike.  This type of illustrations is different than other books that I have seen and read, but it works well with this unusual story.

 

References:

 

 

Asch, Frank (2004). Mr. Maxwell's Mouse. Tonawanda, N.Y.: Kids Can Press Ltd.

 

 

 

Stewig, J. (1995). Looking at Picture Books. Fort Atkinson, WI: Highsmith Press.

MWood

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asch, F. (2004). Mr. Maxwell's mouse. Illustrated by Devin Asch. Toronto, ON:  Kids Can Press.

 

Artwork: Digitally-produced in Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter

 

ISBN-13: 978-1-55337-486-2

In an updated David and Goliath story, Mr. Maxwell, a nattily-dressed executive cat, celebrates his promotion at a favorite restaurant, the Paw and Claw, which results in his matching wits with the live mouse he is served on a silver platter. The computer-generated artwork is formal, dark, and richly indicative of a bygone era, a perfect match for this tale which blends polite and clever conversation with a touch of violence.

 

Curricular connection:  Literary analysis (text-to-text connections) 

Subjects: Battle of wits; Outsmart a larger opponent

 

Theme: Using wits instead of brawn, the smaller of two opponents can be victorious.

Category: Fiction

Age Level Recommendation: Upper Elementary

 

Rating: 4Q/4P

 

 AAS 5-4-08

 

TOP TEN Mr. Maxwell's Mouse, by Frank Asch and Devin Asch (ill.). Kids Can Press, Tonawanda, NY, 2004. 1-55337-486-x

Summary: Mr. Maxwell, a well-to-do cat, orders a live mouse as a celebratory luncheon at his favorite restaurant. The mouse cleverly tricks Mr. Maxwell into letting him escape.

Analysis: This is delightful dark humor, poking fun at the talking-animal tropes common in children's picture books. Both cat and mouse are scrupulously polite and well-bred, fitting the 1920s-esque setting. The mouse asks if he might say a prayer before he is eaten and suggests a wine that would go well with the meal. After tricking Mr. Maxwell into cutting his own tail instead of his lunch, the mouse sends him a beautifully-written apology for the inconvenience. This is a perfect book for older readers who will understand what the book is lampooning and be amused by the dark humor rather than scared or disturbed.

Illustrations: digitally-rendered acrylic-style illustrations in standard picture book format. Text is in dark sidebars. This skirts the boundary between picture book and illustrated book, but it would really be missing so much without the illustrations (for one thing, the text first specifies that Mr. Maxwell is a cat about 3/4 of the way through, and it's not supposed to be ambiguous!).

Rating: 5Q/5P

Curricular connections: Great free reading for 5-10th graders, especially those who like a touch of the macabre.

 

--SLH