Ship in a Bottle

by Andrew Prahin (Author) Andrew Prahin (Illustrator)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

A valiant mouse sets sail in her ship in a bottle to seek a better life in this gentle allegory about refugees and immigration.

All Mouse wants to do is eat gingersnaps, lie in the sun, and enjoy her ship in a bottle. All Cat wants to do is eat Mouse. This is a problem. So one day, Mouse sets off in her ship in a bottle in search of a new home. But the great big world is a scary place for one small mouse. As she sails downriver, she faces grabby seagulls, selfish rabbits, and stormy waters before finally finding refuge in a park on the shores of an enormous city, where she is welcomed by friends of all shapes and sizes.

Readers will cheer Mouse's quiet perseverance on her epic journey as she seeks a tiny spot to call her own.

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ALA/Booklist

Prahin gives little ones a thrilling adventure in miniature with this mouse-centered tale. 

Kirkus

Time spent in this bottle is time well spent indeed.

Publishers Weekly

Prahin (Elbert, the Curious Clock Tower Bear) avoids distractions in this story that, like the river it features, flows steadily forward. Mouse wants to lie in the sun in peace, but she lives in a house with a cat who wants to eat her. One day, she resolves to act. Climbing into a ship-in-a-bottle with some gingersnaps, she waits for the cat to tip it out the window and into the river that runs below. New friends initially prove merely gingersnap-interested, and foul weather overtakes her, but she faithfully rides the bottle and the river while looking for a safe new home. Prahin renders engaging characters and dreamlike backdrops in a palette of verdant fresh greens, pale blues, and touches of old rose. The ship-in-a-bottle charms (it's like a small, seaworthy caravan), and Mouse is a poised hero, as when she introduces herself to a chipmunk despite the fact that she's sopping wet and out of food: "Mouse drew herself up nice and tall. 'I don't have any gingersnaps.' " It's a pleasure for readers to be there when she can stretch out in the sun at last. Ages 3-7. Agent: Paul Rodeen, Rodeen Literary. (June)

Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

* Prahin masters the story's execution on every level . . . Entertainingly spot-on. —BookPage, starred review 

Gently situates a refugee story in picture-book form . . . The simple prose has both a cadence and formality that echoes folkloric tones . . . Could spark discussion among youngsters about whom we decide to care about and why, and what truly makes a home. —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781984815811
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication date
June 01, 2021
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV002180 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Mice, Hamsters, Guinea Pigs, etc.
JUV039250 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Emigration & Immigration
JUV041020 - Juvenile Fiction | Transportation | Boats, Ships, & Underwater Craft
Library of Congress categories
Mice
Animals
Picture books
Ship models in bottles

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