If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

Title: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Author: Laura Joffe Numeroff
Illustrator: Felicia Bond
Type: Picture Book
Grade Level: K-1
Rating: 5 out of 5

If you give a mouse a cookie then you better be prepared for a busy day of following his orders.  A silly story of a boy who offers a mouse a cookie and the adventures that ensue.

I challenge you to find someone who didn't love this book as a child.  It is a classic that every child loves and every adult has fond memories of.  It is a simple book but the little mouse is so funny and endearing that you can't help but love his demanding character.  Plus the illustrations are excellent.  They are simple like the text but really make the book.  The cause and effect nature of the book establishes a pattern in the book that according to Tunnel and Jacobs is a sign of a well-written book.  (If this happens then this will happen, when this happens then this will happen, etc.)  It makes the pattern of the book predictable and comfortable for children to follow.

You could read this book to your students simply for an enjoyable read or you could also incorporate some sort of activity along with it.  You could teach your students about cause and effects relationships with the mouse being an excellent example.  You could talk about the chain of events leading from one thing to another and even do your own type of activity with it.  There is a whole series of If You Give books like If You Give a Moose a Muffin and If You Give a Pig a Pancake, so if you have a reluctant reader who enjoyed this book there are several more similar to it that they can enjoy.