The Subway Mouse, by Barbara Reid

Click here to buy on Amazon

Title: The Subway Mouse
Author: Barbara Reid
Illustrator: Barbara Reid
Published: 2005 by Scholastic, Inc.
You Should Love it Because: 
Again, the illustrations! The bright, full-page spreads are created with Plasticine (like modeling clay, but better). In this book, she also uses found objects to embellish the pictures. It is a sweet story about a mouse named Nib, who lives in the subway. He loves to hear stories, and has a big dream of leaving his tunnel. The reader joins him as he faces his fears and follows his dreams.

True Story: I don't remember how I came upon this book, but I do remember the first time I stopped to actually look at the pictures. I was completely engrossed--I couldn't even follow the story because I was so attracted to the pictures. Each page, I found myself curious about how she created the pictures--they are so full of detail and texture. Once I had my own classroom, I made a point to use the book with my kids and make sure they all had time to examine the pictures up close.

Classroom Connections: I have used Barbara Reid multiple times as an Author/Illustrator study. Most recently, I used her style of illustration with an after-school club. We took time to examine her books (see links below for her bibliography) and her style. She also has provided multiple videos on her website which  show how she creates her pictures. We watched each of these and then used Play-Doh to create our own pictures. I do not recommend using that--it was way too moist and was difficult to spread on the paper. I did not have access to Plasticine, though, so we made do. The videos can also be found on her website, which is listed below.

For Further Reading:
Barbara Reid's Website
Specific Link to her video tutorials
GoodRead's page about Barbara Reid