Unforeseen Consequences! If You Give A Mouse A Brownie by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond

IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A BROWNIE,

HE'S GOING TO ASK FOR ICE CREAM TO GO WITH IT.

And since ice cream is not a finger food, Mouse is going to need an spoon to handle the drips. And while the ice cream is left waiting, he's going to start drumming on the table with that spoon.

DRUMMING WILL GET HIM SO EXCITED,

HE'LL WANT TO START A BAND!

And we're off, in a rollicking new entry in the series, as unforeseen consequences kick in while the brownie is forgotten.

The always cooperative kid rushes to create a stage, with a portable music player and a flashlight for stage spotlights for the super-star mouse. Together they make tickets for the show and go outside to post posters for a Rock Concert.

One thing leads to another, as clouds roll out to rain out the concert. The Mouse folds a left-over poster into a boat and sets jolly sail in the flood. But then he notices he's wet and chilly, and the boy offers him a ride home in his warm pocket, stopping by the store for some munchies. Back home, he hangs Mouse's damp overalls on the clothesline as the clouds begin to melt away and the sun comes out.

THE CLOUDS WILL REMIND HIM OF ICE CREAM.

AND CHANCES ARE, IF YOU GIVE HIM SOME ICE CREAM,

HE'LL WANT A BROWNIE TO GO WITH IT.

Chocolate gets its chance, in Laura Numeroff's ninth in series, If You Give a Mouse a Brownie (If You Give... Books) (Balzer and Bray, 2016), the ninth and newest in the best-selling If You Give a Mouse series, with charming artwork as always by Felicia Bond. This reunion is felicitous, with Bond's signature pen-and-ink and colored pencil illustrations that have made these books so popular. Mouse plays a typical toddler character, jumping from one activity to the next, while the boy hustles to provide whatever is needed for the adventure--which always comes full circle to a cozy conclusion. Numeroff and Bond are as clever a pair as ever, and this story is a natural as a read-aloud or for a beginning reader--with just one problem. If you read this book, you're going to want a brownie to go with it!