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If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

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This article is about the picture book. For the television adaptation, see If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (TV series).
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
AuthorLaura Joffe Numeroff
IllustratorFelicia Bond
LanguageEnglish
SeriesIf You Give...
GenreChildren's literature
Publication placeUnited States
Media typeHardback

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is an American children's picture book written by Laura Joffe Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond, first published in 1985 by Harper and Row. Described as a "circular tale",[1] illustrating a slippery slope, it is Numeroff and Bond's first collaboration in what came to be the If You Give... series.[2]

Plot

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From If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

The entire story is told in second person. A boy gives a cookie to a mouse. The mouse asks for a glass of milk. He then requests a straw (to drink the milk), a napkin and then a mirror (to avoid a milk mustache), nail scissors (to trim his hair in the mirror), and a broom (to sweep up his hair trimmings). Next, he wants to take a nap, have a story read to him, draw a picture, and hang the drawing on the refrigerator. Looking at the refrigerator makes him thirsty, so the mouse asks for a glass of milk. The circle is complete when he wants a cookie to go with it.[3]

Art

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From If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

The text was interpreted by illustrator Felicia Bond to show the increasing energy of the mouse, with the little boy being run ragged by the end of the story. The art was praised by School Library Journal for its "meticulous attention to detail",[1] and was executed with vibrant colors of blended pencil in a complex process of layering magenta, cyan, yellow, and black on separate sheets, which were then assembled during printing.

Bond describes rushing to get the sketches done before leaving town with her boyfriend, and that the energy of the mouse evolved from that excitement. She has mentioned on numerous occasions that the little boy in the book was her boyfriend, Stephen Roxburgh, as a child.

Awards & recognition

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If You Give a Mouse a Cookie won a number of awards following its release, including the Alabama Camellia Children's Choice Book Award (1986-87),[4] Georgia Children's Book Award (1988), Buckeye Children's Book Award (1989),[5] Nevada Young Readers' Award (1989),[6] California Young Reader Medal (1988),[7] Colorado Children's Book Award (1988).[8]

Additionally, it was a nominee for the Nebraska Golden Sower Award in 1987, the Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award and Kentucky Bluegrass Award in 1988, and the Grand Canyon Reader Award in 1989.[8]

In 2006, Numeroff won the Milner Award for her work on If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.[9] The book was inducted into the Picture Book Hall of Fame in 2015.[8]

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From If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie[10] quickly became established as a popular favorite and is today considered a contemporary classic.[11] In 1993, the book was featured on Reading Rainbow.[12]

Charles Schulz created two Peanuts strips about If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.[13] In 2000, Oprah Winfrey chose If You Give a Pig a Pancake as one of her favorite things.[14] She also included it on her list Oprah's Favorite Things from A-Z in that same year.[15] "If You Give a Moose a Muffin" was the answer to a question on Jeopardy!.

The Bronx Zoo featured the art in its Children's Zoo for one year. The series has fans of all ages from all over the world including Japan, where an entire Tokyo city bus was painted with images of Mouse.

The book has also made it to the White House. In Laura Bush's Celebration of American Authors at the 2001 Presidential Inauguration, Felicia Bond and Laura Numeroff were among those honored for their If You Give... series.[16] The Bush family writes that their cat India's favorite book was If You Take a Mouse to the Movies.[17] A bronze sculpture of her sleeping on the book is included in the George W. Bush Presidential Library.[18] First Lady Michelle Obama read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie on the White House lawn during the 2009 Easter Egg Roll.[19]

The book itself was featured in an episode of Kino's Storytime,[20] and appeared as part of a "Mail Time" segment on the Blue's Clues episode "Blue's ABCs".

In the movie Air Force One, a captured President warns the Vice-President via phone about negotiating with the terrorists holding him hostage by saying, "If you give a mouse a cookie..." She responds with a knowing look, "...they're going to want a glass of milk."

Selected translations

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  • Souris, tu veux un biscuit? (1986, French, ISBN 0-590-71710-3)
  • Kekse für die Maus im Haus (1987, German, ISBN 978-3-551-08240-4)
  • 如果你給老鼠吃餅乾 (1993, Chinese (Traditional), ISBN 957-632-197-2)
  • Si le das una galletita a un ratón (1995, Spanish, ISBN 0-06-025438-6)
  • אם תיתן עוגייה לעכבר (1997, Hebrew, ISBN 965-286-420-X)
  • Se dai un biscotto a un topo (1997, Italian, ISBN 88-384-8007-9)
  • もしもねずみにクッキーをあげると (1999, Japanese, ISBN 4-265-06641-0)
  • 要是你给老鼠吃饼干 (2005, Chinese (Simplified), ISBN 7-5324-6639-6)
  • Если дать мышонку печенье (2012, Russian, ISBN 978-5-903497-87-4. However, it was published at least as early as 1991 in the children's magazine Трамвай (The Tram))

Adaptations

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An animated series adaptation of the same name was released on Amazon Prime. It debuted as part of Amazon's 2015 Pilot Season before the If You Give a Mouse a Christmas Cookie holiday special was released on November 25, 2016.[21] The show's first season was released on November 7, 2017, with Numeroff and Bond serving as executive producers.[22] Singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb provided original music for the show.[23]

The books have also been adapted into plays for children's theaters.[24][25][26][27][28]

If You Give... Series

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Following the success of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Numeroff and Bond have worked together on several other books that now make up the If You Give... series:[29]

  • If You Give a Moose a Muffin (1991)
  • If You Give a Pig a Pancake (1998)
  • The Best Mouse Cookie (1999)
  • If You Take a Mouse to the Movies (2000)
  • If You Take a Mouse to School (2002)
  • If You Give a Pig a Party (2005)
  • Mouse Cookies and More (2006)
  • Merry Christmas, Mouse! (2007)
  • Time for School, Mouse! (2008)
  • If You Give a Cat a Cupcake (2008)
  • Happy Valentine's Day, Mouse! (2009)
  • Happy Easter, Mouse! (2010)
  • If You Give a Dog a Donut (2011)
  • Happy Birthday, Mouse! (2012)
  • It's Pumpkin Day, Mouse! (2012)
  • If You Give a Mouse a Brownie (2016)

References

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  1. ^ a b Jones, Trev (May 1985). "Numeroff, Laura Joffe. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (review)". School Library Journal. 31 (9): 80.
  2. ^ If You Give... series—list of all If You Give...
  3. ^ Snetiker, Marc (November 20, 2015). "A deconstruction of 'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,' or how millennials became millennials". EW.com. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
  4. ^ "Archive of Winners 1980—Present" (PDF). Alabama Camellia Children's Choice Book Award. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  5. ^ "Past Nominees & Winners – Buckeye Children's and Teen Book Award". bcbookaward.info. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
  6. ^ "Nevada Library Association - NYRA Past Winners". nevadalibraries.org. Retrieved 2025-02-06.
  7. ^ "California Young Reader Medal Nominees and Winners List" (PDF). California Young Reader Medal. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff". LibraryThing.com. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
  9. ^ "Previous Recipients - The Milner Award - Student Voted". The Milner Awards. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
  10. ^ "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff". Childrensbooksguide.com. Archived from the original on June 19, 2016.
  11. ^ Storypath Summary "contemporary classic in children’s literature"
  12. ^ "Reading Rainbow" If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (TV Episode 1993). Retrieved 2025-02-05 – via m.imdb.com.
  13. ^ Silvey, Anita, ed. (2002). The Essential Guide to Children's Books and Their Creators. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 50–51. ISBN 978-0-547-34889-6.
  14. ^ "Oprah's Past Favorite Things Less Than $25". Oprah.com. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
  15. ^ Oprah's Favorite Things from A-Z - If You Give a Pig a Pancake
  16. ^ "CNN.com - Transcripts". transcripts.cnn.com. Archived from the original on 2024-09-29. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
  17. ^ "Biography of India". georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
  18. ^ "India "Willie Bush, the family cat's favorite book If You Take a Mouse to the Movies" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-02-14. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  19. ^ If You Give a Mouse a Cookie on the White House lawn
  20. ^ Benzel, Jan (1994-06-05). "TELEVISION; Classic Storybook Characters Live Televisually Ever After". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
  21. ^ Getzler, Wendy Goldman (November 4, 2016). "Amazon Studios to bow original holiday kids specials". Kidscreen. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
  22. ^ Dickson, Jeremy (September 7, 2017). "Amazon unveils fall slate for kids originals". Kidscreen. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
  23. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (2018-06-06). "'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie' Returns to Amazon with New Lisa Loeb Tunes". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
  24. ^ Kreiswirth, Sandra (September 13, 1991). "Van Johnson to Star in 'Show Boat'". Daily Breeze (Torrance, CA).
  25. ^ Silk, Chris (June 11, 2010). "Review: Naples Players Create Chaotic Fun with 'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie'". Naples Daily News. Archived from the original on May 21, 2015. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  26. ^ Cherry, Nanciann (September 29, 2005). "Diversity Rules: Comedies and a Folk Tale Featured on Area Stages". Toledo Blade. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  27. ^ Graeber, Laurel (2008-04-18). "Spare Times: For Children". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
  28. ^ Times, The New York (2006-07-21). "Children's Events". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
  29. ^ "Books in series If You Give..." HarperCollins. Retrieved 2025-02-05.

Further reading

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  • Shepherd-Hayes, Deborah (1994). A Guide for Using If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and If You Give a Moose a Muffin in the Classroom. Huntington Beach, CA: Teacher Created Materials. ISBN 1-55734-531-7.
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