THE OUTERMOST MOUSE written by Lauren Wolk, illustrated by Kristen Adam, read by Daisy Guevara

I’ve been a fan always of Lauren Wolk’s novels and was delighted to see she’s carried her gift of words and appreciation of the natural world into THE OUTERMOST MOUSE. With the aid of illustrator Kristen Adam, they evocatively picture the life of a little mouse who adores the natural world around her as well as the Outermost House in which she lives with an elderly man. But when the sea creeps closer, she raises alarms to the creatures around her. “But the gulls flew away, as gulls are apt to do…fish swam away, as fish are apt to do.” Wolk’s refrain adds to the gentle rhythms as the sea encroaches, the man leaves, and “the world lifted the house and set it afloat in the rolling waves, the mouse along with it.” The mouse, “smart and strong, and brave enough” lashes her tail to a spindle and sails away into a new adventure. Daisy Guevara reads the audio, appreciating the musicality of the lyrical writing. She imbues the mouse with sighs of comfort and then worry as the sea approaches and finally pluckiness and adventure as she “rides that house like a sailing ship.” You can find a link to the book and audio in the purchase button below.