Kate Summers

"Milly and Tilly" is a variant of Aesop's Fable, "The Town Mouse and Country Mouse." The retelling of the story follows the basic plot of the original fable. The town mouse visits the country mouse, only to be disappointed by the simple, yet generous meals the country mouse had to offer. The town mouse suggests they go to the town mouse's home for a fine feast, but their dinner goes awry as they are attacked by the house cat. The country mouse realizes better to have simple meals in peace show more rather than fancy ones in chaos.

The additional dialogue, narration, details of Milly's and Tilly's homes become too involved at some points of the story - such as the roots of a big, old tree where Tilly lives and the many rooms of Milly's doll house - but ultimately the descriptive language, sensory imagery created, plus the rich, detailed illustrations work to give the reader a sense of how different Milly's and Tilly's lives were. Those differences strengthen the message that it is much easier to live a simple, stable life rather than a materialistic, crazy one.

This book is appropriate for ages 7-9, and works for reading alone or with another person. However, it might be too long for a read-aloud. show less

A country and city mouse visit eachother and learn about eachothers similarities and differences.

old-fashioned mouse story. i hate mice. could never read a mouse book to a kid.

Long for storytime, story of town mouse/country mouse.