Opposite Styles

Town Mouse and Country Mouse - by Susanna Davidson

Publisher: Usborne books

Copyright Date: 2013 (new edition) 

Pages: 24

The hard thing about finding the copyright for this book/tale is because it is an Aesop tale and there is really no original author to note. These tales were told down from generation to generation based on oral stories. 

This book is a reading level for students from kindergarten to the third grade. This book falls under a few different genres. It is classified as a fable, myth, and folktale. 

Summary

In this book there are two different mice. A mouse that lives in the town and one that lives in the country. They are cousins and the town mouse goes to visit his country cousin every now and then for the peacefulness. Both of these mice have their differences and the country mouse wonders if living in the town will be a better for him.

Book Usage

I would use this book in helping students understand comparisons. This book does a good job at looking at both the country and the town. I would get students to choose two places that are different and brainstorm different attributes of each. As a creative side to this I would get them to draw and color each place and then be able to present their creativity to the class. This helps them to gain confidence when it comes to talking in front of people.

                                       <3<3<3                  <3<3                        <3                              No <3

Rating System
Theme	If the theme is well developed and the message is portrayed very clearly.	The theme makes sense; however, it could be more developed.	The message is hard to find in the story and there isn’t much of a theme to go off of.	There isn’t a theme at all.
Plot	The plot is very well developed and everything flows smoothly.	The plot has a few gaps, but the story still is capable of moving along.	The plot has gaps that makes it hard to move the story along.	There is no plot in this book.
Characters	All the characters are developed well in the story.	There is more detail that could be added to the characters.	Characters are very poorly developed.	Characters aren’t developed at all.
Setting	The setting is described in detail and is necessary for the story to make sense.	The setting is described alright and still is needed to help the story make sense.	The setting is described alright, but it isn’t needed to help the story move along.	The setting provided is not necessary for the story to occur.
Illustrations	The illustrations are very detailed and help move the story along.	The illustrations are good, but don’t help the story move along.	The illustrations aren’t the best.	There are no meaningful illustrations at all.

Theme <3<3<3 - I gave the theme of this story three hearts because the theme and moral of the story comes off well and is a very easy book to take main thoughts out of.

Plot <3<3<3 - The plot of this story moves smoothly and even though it is a fiction folktale, the progression of the story can be related to everyone.

Characters <3<3<3 - The characters in this story, both mice, are described well and act according to where they live. They fit in well with their surroundings and are developed a good amount.

Setting <3<3<3 - In this story there are two main settings and those are in the town and in the country. They are things that are easy for people, humans, to understand even though the main characters are mice. 

Illustrations <3<3<3 - The illustrations get three hearts because they were well drawn and they helped the story move along in a clear manner. They weren't confusing or out of place.