Away in a Manger...With a Mouse

Mortimer’s Christmas Manger

Written by Karma Wilson

Illustrated by Jane Chapman

Simon & Schuster, 2005

32 pages

Fantasy

            While looking for books I found this cute little mouse looking at me on the shelf, so I picked up this book and found that the mouse was Mortimer.  This book is about Mortimer’s search for a new home.  He is tired of living in the wall where it is cold and dark, so he goes on the hunt for a new place to live.  One day he sees a new thing in the living room and decides to investigate.  He finds a nativity and moves in, but what he does not know is why this thing appeared and how it is going to change his life in the end.  This is a great book for Christmas. Read it to your family, and let a new Christmas tradition begin.

            The cartoon illustrations are done in bright acrylic paint.  The use of color throughout the book is wonderful.  Each page has a warm color base which is a nice contrast to all the white paged books I have been reading.  The deep green of the Christmas tree is wonderful; it makes me smell the needles already.  The text is laid out on top of the illustrations with small vignettes on some of the pages.  The font is a nice size, so no one will have to strain to read this book.

            After reading this book I realized it would not be suitable for a public classroom.  With this in mind, it did give me a chance to consider the applications in a Christian or private school curriculum and how to integrate it into their plans.  This book could be used for a lesson in Religious history to talk about the meaning of the manger and why it is such a strong symbol of Christmas (as much as the tree).  This book could be used in a Character education class to teach acceptance of all no matter what.   A language arts lesson on punctuation would be good because this book has a good bit of punctuation and dialog from just the mouse.  This book has not won awards at this time.