Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories
Children’s picture books

SHIP IN A BOTTLE

Andrew Prahin

A valiant mouse sets sail in her ship in a bottle to seek a better life in this gentle allegory about refugees and immigration.

All Mouse wants to do is eat gingersnaps, lie in the sun, and enjoy her ship in a bottle. All Cat wants to do is eat Mouse. This is a problem.

So one day, Mouse sets off in her ship in a bottle in search of a new home. But the great big world is a scary place for one small mouse. As she sails downriver, she faces grabby seagulls, selfish rabbits, and stormy waters before finally finding refuge in a park on the shores of an enormous city, where she is welcomed by friends of all shapes and sizes. Readers will cheer Mouse's quiet perseverance on her epic journey as she seeks a tiny spot to call her own.

Andrew Prahin is the author of the picture books Elbert, the Curious Clock Tower Bear and Brimsby's Hats. He lives and works in Chicago. Learn more at andrewprahin.com. Follow him on Twitter @AndrewPrahin.

Available products
Book Published 2021-06-01 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

Comments

This simply told, sweet, gently humorous story will have great appeal for young readers/listeners, and Mouse is a quietly charming heroine kids will earnestly root for. Delightful, pastel-colored cartoon illustrations beguile, competently suggesting place, atmosphere, and emotional heft; their varied presentation in full spreads and softly outlined panels very ably drives the text... Time spent in this bottle is time well spent indeed.

Gently situates a refugee story in picture-book form... The simple prose has both a cadence and formality that echoes folkloric tones. Prahin uses color wisely throughout, casting Mouse's time with Cat in dark shades of blue and gray, while her journey is filled with pastoral greens, shimmering cerulean, and pops of pink and yellow; paneling is also effectively structured, allowing for close-ups of the various critter interactions and zooming out to show teeny tiny Mouse taking on the big world... Could spark discussion among youngsters about whom we decide to care about and why, and what truly makes a home.

Prahin renders engaging characters and dreamlike backdrops in a palette of verdant fresh greens, pale blues, and touches of old rose. The ship-in-a-bottle charms (it's like a small, seaworthy caravan), and Mouse is a poised hero... It's a pleasure for readers to be there when she can stretch out in the sun at last.

Prahin gives little ones a thrilling adventure in miniature with this mouse-centered tale