Brett, J. (1994) Town Mouse, Country Mouse. New York, NY: Putnam Publishers

Brief Annotation: Two mice couples—one from the country and one from the city switch places for a day. While the mice move away to find a better life, they realize the life they like best is their life at home.

Genre: Folktale, Picturebook
Grade Level: k-3
Readers who will like this: Readers that like detailed pictures with lots of borders.
Response/Rating (1-4): *** I really enjoyed the artwork in this story, the borders and side panels in the pictures told a story all on their own which paralleled the main plot. The story itself was nice, but not particularly compelling.
One question you would ask before a read aloud: Have you ever wanted to trade lives with someone?
Reading strategies connection: I would use a Venn diagram strategy (Tompkins 129). with this book. Students could use a Venn diagram graphic organizer to help illustrate the things town mouse and country mouse have in common and the ways in which the mice differ. It would be interesting then to have students expand on this to make more general comparisons between town (city) and country.