In her debut picture book for children based on the story of a real house and storm in Cape Cod, Mass., in 1978, author Lauren Wolk, renowned for her middle school novels Wolf Hollow, Beyond the Bright Sea, Candle Island, and more, joins forces with illustrator Kristen Adam to introduce kids to a small-but-mighty protagonist.
“At the tip of the beach, where the land slipped away, sat a little cottage called the Outermost House. / An old man lived there. / So did a mouse.” So begins Wolk’s poetic narrative enhanced by Adam’s exquisite illustrations, which capture the majesty, intricacies, creatures, and varying weather systems along the ocean’s shoreline.
The Outermost Mouse loves her life. The man who owns the Outermost House keeps things in good order and comfortable for both occupants. But the Outermost Mouse begins to worry when she notices that each day the waves are slowly washing away the shoreline, and a storm is brewing. Though she bravely attempts to stop the encroaching water—she builds barricades of sand and shells—they are washed away, and she goes home, unsure of what the morning will bring.
The next day when the owner of the Outermost House decides to leave while he still can, the Outermost Mouse knows she’s on her own. Will she be able to withstand the storm’s crushing ferocity? If so, how? As she looks around at all the treasures in the house, she is overcome with a desire to save them. However, she can’t as “the wind and the water and the whole might of the world lifted the house and set it adrift in the rolling waves, the mouse along with it.”
What happens to the Outermost Mouse is the sweet and hopeful conclusion to this charming celebration of the natural world where new beginnings are possible after calamity strikes. Young children and their parents and caregivers are sure to enjoy this book again and again as it highlights the beauty of one part of God’s creation and engages them with a gripping adventure. (Dutton Books for Young Readers)
About the Author
Sonya VanderVeen Feddema is a freelance writer and a member of Covenant CRC in St. Catharines, Ontario.