Mousekin Takes a Trip

The Mousekin series of books by author/illustrator Edna Miller are books that children will love and adults will treasure. They are worth tracking down (many of them are out of print, unfortunately). In "Mousekin Takes a Trip", little mousekin finds himself going on a roadtrip by accident and lands in the desert. Luckily, he finds many friendly creatures and plenty of water and food to drink (from the cacti that grow in abundance). However, mousekin realizes the desert is not really his home, and tries to find his way back home to the woods. The illustrations are beautiful - they capture the simple beauty of the changing landscapes, be it the woods filled with woodland creatures or the stark landscape of the desert, with its unique animals and cacti. The mousekin stories are told with simplicity yet one learns so much - my daughter got to learn about animals that hibernate and those that don't, animals that eat mice vs. those that eat plants/insects, and many more. These stories somehow remind me of a simpler time, where people took time to really appreciate the beauty of nature.