Matt Novak Book Mouse TV

Book Description
In this updated version of the popular turn off TV book, the mouse family is up at night, glued to the TV. But there is many a squeaky squabble because all ten mice favor different channels. History, mystery, how-to, where-to, comedy, drama, sports ... This viewer-friendly romp shows how, one night, they all get happy with new favorites they'd hardly imagined.
Awards

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

PARENT'S CHOICE FOUNDATION PARENT'S CHOICE AWARD

Reviews
FROM PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"Whenever the mouse family gathered around their TV, they could never agree on what to watch," opens an understated text that Novak ( Elmer Blunt's Open House ; The Last Christmas Present ) quickly fleshes out with acrylic paintings amusingly jammed with pleasing particulars. The first illustration--revealing 10 rapt mice around the TV--is followed by 10 pages of paneled art showing sequences from each mouse's favorite channel. Novak uses this structure to parody a range of television fare--including adventure, comedy, mystery, game and how-to shows--and lets kids create their own story lines for the wordless plots. But the clan's preferred pastime is interrupted when the television goes on the blink one night. "What do we do now?" asks a baffled Papa, but the answer is quick in coming. The clan plays games, makes crafts, sings, dances and performs experiments. And best of all, when Papa reads to eight tiny mice tucked into one bed, "there were no commercials." Novak's deft humor ensures a subtle delivery of his worthy message. Ages 3-6.

FROM SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
(PreSchool-Grade 2)

The mouse family can't agree on what to watch on TV. Papa wants adventure, Laszlo loves history, Hilda prefers how-to shows, and so on through 10 channels. As the creatures announce their preferences, screen-shaped panels depict samples of their favorite genres. On Emily's page, for example, 16 small screens show a wordless detective mystery; Melba's scary viewing includes 9 scenes, among which are a mouse mummy, mouse ghosts haunting a cat, and a mouse encircled by mousetraps. One night, the TV doesn't work, and the rodents find ways to get the same kinds of entertainment without it. Instead of watching scary shows, they make scary faces. And without the TV, the family enjoys each activity together...with no commercials. The cartoon illustrations are delightful, and children will love identifying the mouse-related humor in many of them. The cleverest aspect of the message is that TV-watching is never condemned or criticized. The pictures depicting the different channels look much too interesting for that. Instead, Novak gently, and quite successfully, shows that there are countless ways to enjoy oneself as an active participant rather than as a passive viewer.
Steven Engelfried, West Lynn Library, OR

FROM BOOKLIST (Ages 4-8)

Here's the perfect picture book for pint-size couch potatoes. Everybody in the mouse family loves TV, but no two of the mice like the same thing. Their arguments, loudest during commercials, always wake the baby. Then one day the unthinkable happens--the TV breaks down. But surprise, surprise. The mice find lots of active ways to satisfy their interests, and "best of all. . . there were no commercials." The jacket design, a big TV screen, introduces the book's first double-page spreads, which are filled with mice parodying programs--game shows ("Get the Cheese"), science programs ("It's a Frog's Life"), and more. The spoof is grand; nobody will miss the unapologetic dig at the medium; and for children inclined to be more literal, there's plenty of broad comedy in the fetchingly rendered mousecapades. Stephanie Zvirin

FROM KIRKUS REVIEWS

All ten mouse family members are TV addicts, but each prefers a different kind of program. Papa likes action, but Mama wants comedy; spectacled Pinky favors science, but Sally loves music and Elmer watches game shows. Meanwhile, in screen-shaped frames, Novak lampoons the subspecies of each type--Laszlo's history in nine periods (cave-mice chased by a beach-toy dinosaur, a pig-pulled chariot, a turtle-tank war, mice on the moon); Melba's scary features (a mouse mummy, ghosts, and extraterrestrials); etc. Arguments crescendo during commercials (like real ones, these rival the programs in ingenuity). Then the TV fails, so the mice--now joining together--engage in activities that they have hitherto only watched: They explore, make things, sing, put on a play, and at bedtime Papa reads an adventure story. ``And best of all, there were no commercials.'' In a hundred and some frames, Novak outlines TV's offerings (excepting sex and, save in very mild forms, violence), giving a comically incisive visual summary of each in his cartoony illustrations. Delightfully imaginative, with dozens of witty details to discover and share in the deftly drawn art. (Picture book. 4+)