My 9-year-old and I were captivated with Tobin’s journey to save his “pinkling” (newborn mouse sibling). This timeless tale about friendship and what it means to be brave is a beautifully written debut novel for middle-grade readers.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me an advanced copy of this book to read and review.

This book was so cute ! Journey Beyond the Burrow , is about two sibling mice and the main characters friend. The book is all about them trying to save their baby sister from a hungry spiders. On the way to rescue the baby mice they meet a snake that helps them on their journey.

This book is such a great book. This book is meant for middle grade readers but anyone would want to read this book. I'm giving this book a rating of 5 mice.

I really enjoyed this! It was surprisingly action packed but also very cute and full of engaging characters. Perfect middle-grade animal adventure story!

In Rodentia there are many rules to obey to make sure as a mouse you stay safe. Tobin is a weather scout and he knows all the rules and has always been one to make sure he obeys the rules. Tobin is out scouting and sees that a big storm is coming, but going back in to give his report although important isn't what everyone wants to know about. Today is the day his parents are having a new pinkling and that is what everyone wants to know about and Tobin doesn't really want to deal with all that.

He desides to sneak out his window, something he isn't allowed to do, and go find Wiley his friend so they can watch the weather. While they are doing that Tobin's little sister comes to get him because the pinkling has been born, but Tobin prefers watching the weather with Wiley. They decide on a plan, that they could quickly go see the pinkling and then go up to the lookout and watch the storm. While doing so they are the only ones up in the lookout when the storm hits. Lightening strikes a tree close to their home and changes their whole world.

The tree comes crashing down right next to their burrow and Tobin, Wiley and Talia watch as some scary large spiders break into their home. They are trying their best to hide from them but they watch in horror as the new pinkling is taken. So now it's up to Tobin, Wiley and Talia to break the rules of the burrow and go on an adventure to rescue the little pinkling.

Along the way Tobin and the gang make some unlikely friends because they all had a common enemy, the huge hunter spiders. Tobin learns that sometimes rules are just a guideline to follow when you know you must adventure out past the boundaries.

This was such a cute mouse adventure story! I loved all the characters and there was lots of great lessons to learn about putting aside differences and working together for a common goal. Or following through on a promise even when others wanted you to break it.

I would highly recommend this for young readers as well as adults who enjoy a fun middle grade story.

With thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for an early copy in return for an honest review.

I'll be honest, I thought this was going to be a cute and fluffy animal story. But it was so much more, in the best possible way! Unlikely alliances, vicious villains, keep you on the edge of your seat adventure, and so much excitement. The book was filled with fantastic imagery (so many passages would be excellent to use in teaching kids descriptive writing) and I would love to read more about what Tobin, Talia, and Wiley get up to next.

Note for educators: An amazing writing assignment to do with this book would be to have students write a story from the perspective of a mouse, or another equally small creature.

Journey Beyond the Burrow will keep you turning the pages long into the night. The story follows a young mouse who goes on a heroic journey with his friend and sister. They encounter creatures of all kinds, creating heart-pounding action until the very end.

The vivid descriptions allow you to see the world through the eyes of a mouse. There are a few moments that may be rough for younger readers (mention of death of baby mice, extremely scary spiders, and a few gory details). I would definitely recommend this book to kids on the upper end of middle grade, but with that being said, kids who aren't fazed by the way the animal kingdom works shouldn't have a problem with this.

There are some great themes of perseverance, camaraderie, and teamwork throughout the story. When the group of mice team up with some unlikely allies, it shows that not everything is as it seems on the outside and that help can come from the most unexpected places if you give someone a chance to show you who they really are on the inside.

With incredible creatures, a unique point of view, and unrelenting action, this is an awesome book for middle graders!

Tobin, a young mouse, is a weather scout. It's his job to be aware of signs of danger in the sky and the scents of the forest to alert his colony of upcoming bad weather. He's also a big brother to little Talia and a baby on the way. He's also got to have all the Rules of Rodentia memorized. His mother lost a baby the year before, so a lot is weighing on his mind when a big storm approaches and knocks a tree down, creating a bridge from the other side of the river for ferocious enemies and unexpected allies alike. When Tobin's newborn sibling is kidnapped, he embarks on a quest to save the little one.

This would be a fun read for any middle grade animal lover! Tobin is an easy protagonist to relate to; he's a smart older brother, who cares a lot about his little siblings and his parents. I appreciated that this book touched on sensitive topics, like miscarriage and how it can affect an older sibling, while not becoming overly sad or heavy so that it's still a fun adventure for kids.

Content warnings: a lot of spiders (with a lot of description of their bodies and movements) and snakes; discussion of stillbirth.

This is a sweet and exciting adventure that follows three young mice as they set out on a quest to rescue their newborn sibling from the evil giant spiders who have stolen it. It's a fairly upbeat story focused on the mechanics of the journey overall, though it does also have themes of developing confidence, learning to think outside the rules, and trusting your friends. The mice meet a variety of creatures, some nice and some scary, so wildlife-lovers will be well-served, and I very much enjoyed that with the exception of the spiders, there was some nuance in the depiction of predators, who are just trying to survive themselves. This would probably be a tricky read for an arachnophobe, as it's got quite a lot of intense description of the spiders and borders on too scary in places! But it's a lovely addition to the animal adventure genre, and would definitely be great for fans of Redwall, The Squirrel Squire, and the Warrior Cats books.

Haven’t you been there? When you do something on the edge of should/shouldn’t and everything goes awry? Tobin the Mouse is in such a predicament. But while on the wrong side of should Tobin sees baby brother stolen and in his journey beyond the burrow he finds strength, friendship—even with a dreaded enemy—love and maybe even manages to save the world. It is a lovely book that kept me reading and made me love the four protagonists. Each had their journey of discovery beyond the burrow. Thanks to the author and Harper Collins for the advance review copy of this book.

My reason for reading this book was to see if it was something my students would enjoy. I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did. It is an easy to follow storyline with characters with which you can identify. I enjoyed the theme of developing friendships outside of one's normal realm of individuals. It reminded me a bit of Redwall but for a younger aged audience.

This book gripped me from start to finish! Superb writing; detailed, well-developed plot with adventurous twists and turns. Characters you will root for. Makes the whole nature scene come alive. I will never look at a mouse (or snake! Or spider!) the same way again! Highly recommend. Would love to see more from this author.

Journey Beyond the Burrow takes you on a tail-tingling adventure as three mouselings fight to save their pinkling (baby) whose been stolen by a band of Aracni. If you are expecting a cute and cuddly adventure, this story is not for you. Every chapter pulls you deeper into the dangers lurking beyond the mouse colony. For parents who enjoyed Redwall, or Mrs. Frisby & the Rats of Nihm, I found the story held some of the nostalgia, but skipped some of the more lengthy descriptions, choosing instead to masterfully weave those into the action. I found the story hard to put down.

This book surprised me! I thought it would be a cute little journey with some light action and lots of cuddly references. Now, don't get me wrong, it had lots of cute critters and descriptions like "a hare's leap away" that really brought us down into this tunneling, towering world of the mice. And there was terrific imagery that put us right into those little mice bodies on their big adventure across the creek into unknown lands.

BUT, don't let the cute cover make you think that's all this book has to offer. So much more! This story had fierce action, creepy tension, bloodthirsty villains, and lives at stake! The cliffhanger chapters had us gasping for "one more!" And the laugh-out-loud moments provided much-needed comic relief to break up the rollercoaster ride.

I read this with my 10-year-old, but one night my 13-year-old listened in, borrowed it, and finished it in two nights (one of which he was up too late, thank you very much, Rina...). All three of us thought it a fun adventure and we'd love to read more!