Author: Kevin Henkes
Genre: School / Weddings / Manners / Animals / Aspirations
Year Published: 2006
Year Read: 2017
Series: Mouse Books #9
Source: Library
Content Rating: Ages 4+ (Some Rude Behavior)
Buy on: Amazon // Book Depository
Now, it has been a long time since I had read a book
from Kevin Henkes’ famous “Mouse” series since I had so many
other children’s books to get through over the years. Many of the books from the “Mouse” series had an everlasting place
in my childhood nostalgia as I used to read these books when I was little and I
was surprised that there was a newer book from Kevin Henkes’ “Mouse” series called “Lilly’s Big Day” which seems to be a conclusion of a sort to
Lilly’s story!
Mr. Slinger, Lilly’s teacher, is about to get married
to Ms. Shotwell, the school nurse and he excitedly tells the class about this
big news. Lilly is excited about this
news as well as she believes that Mr. Slinger will ask her to be the flower
girl at his wedding. However, when Lilly told her parents about the big news,
her parents tried to explain to Lilly that just because Mr. Slinger is having a
wedding, does not mean that Lilly will automatically become a flower girl in
Mr. Slinger’s wedding. But Lilly still believed that she will become the flower
girl in Mr. Slinger’s wedding and when Mr. Slinger finally told Lilly that she
will not be the flower girl at his wedding and that his niece Ginger will be
the flower girl, Lilly was upset by this.
But Mr. Slinger assured Lilly that she can be Ginger’s assistant and
help her get through the wedding.
Will
Lilly help Ginger get through the wedding and will she still be the center
stage of the wedding?
Read
this book to find out!
Wow! You know
it has been so long since I had read a “Mouse”
book from Kevin Henkes and I
have not heard anything about Lilly and her adventures for many years now. So, imagine my pure delight when I finally
sat down and picked up a “Mouse”
book that featured Lilly again and I was able to read more of her adventures in
this cute and amazing book! I loved the
way that Kevin Henkes made this book
seem like a finale to Lilly’s story (although, this might or might not be the
final book featuring Lilly since I am not sure if Kevin Henkes is still writing books featuring Lilly) as we get to
see Mr. Slinger finally getting married and seeing most of the characters
featured in other “Mouse” books such
as Chester, Julius and Victor make their appearances in this book. I also enjoyed the scenes of Lilly imagining
herself as the flower girl, even though Mr. Slinger had not said anything about
Lilly being a flower girl as it shows that Lilly is in her own little world which
was entertaining to watch. It also shows
how some children in real life would occasionally get their expectations for an
event a bit too high and not think things completely through once they start
imagining themselves in situations that they normally would not be able to
participate in. I also like the fact
that Kevin Henkes actually
progressed the characters much further in their lives in this book as we get to
see Mr. Slinger get married and we see Lilly slightly maturing as a character, despite
her need to be a flower girl. Kevin Henkes’ artwork is as always
adorable to look at as the mice characters look so cute and I loved the fact that
we get to see these mice characters performing human activities such as
planning weddings in a humanized way! I
especially love the appearance of Ginger herself as she is possibly the cutest
character in the story with her pink dress and her small smile that shows up on
each page!
Overall, “Lilly’s
Big Day” is a truly fantastic book in Kevin
Henkes’ famous “Mouse” series
and I hope to read more from Kevin
Henkes “Mouse” series in the near future!
I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is
nothing inappropriate in this book, unless parents think that Lilly’s bratty
behavior might be a bit troublesome for smaller children.
* 2007 Charlotte Zolotow Award Nominee for Highly Commended Title
* 2007 Wisconsin Library Association Outstanding Book Award
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