Another Mouse Adventure by one of my favorite illustrators.

I wasn't aware that these books are also available in English until I came across this one on NetGalley. I'm very glad they are, because I know several people that love illustrated children's books and these are certainly among the best. Torben Kuhlmann is a brilliant illustrator, but he's also a great storyteller. This was awesome.

It's about a bright and adventurous mouse that is super excited about the upcoming "biggest cheese fair the world has ever seen". The little guy is literally counting the days. He uses a human pocket watch and a calendar to keep track of time. Finally the big day arrives, and our hero is starting his journey.

When he arrives at the venue of the fair in Bern, though, everything is already packed up and to his horror he learns that he missed the fair by one day. The little mouse is super disappointed, of course, and tries to find a way to turn back time.

Turning back clocks doesn't have the desired effect, though, so he asks a watchmaker how time actually works. The watchmaker explains to him how the measuring of time works but must concede that he can't answer his questions about time itself.

But someone else that once worked at the patent office in Bern knew a thing or two about the topic and so our little hero visits the place.

"The physicist and later winner of the Nobel Prize Albert Einstein worked here from 1902 until 1909."
The name seemed familiar to the little mouse. There were a few more sentences about Einstein's life, but he skimmed through them. When he got to the last sentence however, his eyes began to sparkle. "Einstein's work changed forever our concept of space and ..." He had to look at the last word again just to make sure. Then he whispered it out loud: "... time!"

In the patent office's attic he finds a copy of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity and starts to do his own calculations.

From this point on we enter the realm of science-fiction and in a plot that resembles the one of 'Back to the Future' our little hero ends up in the wrong year and finds that he doesn't have the technology to get back to his own time. Unless he knew someone that would be able and willing to help him.

This was so much fun. And super adorable to boot. If I were a child I would ask, no, pester my mother to read it to me every evening. With 128 pages it isn't exactly a short book either, so one would likely read this over several days and there are new things to discover on subsequent rereads. Even as an adult, I'm not rating this seen through the eyes of a child or whatever. No, I genuinely loved it.

The only quibble I have is that the resolution was a little abrupt. I would like to have seen our two heroes going at the time travel problem for a little longer. But it almost makes up for this by dedicating the last few pages to the life and work of Albert Einstein and by explaining some of his theories. These however will be difficult to understand for children. Hell, they are difficult to understand for me. Even though Kuhlmann does a fine job explaining them, those parts are certainly for a later point in the lives of the young readers. But in some ways, that's actually rather cool. Imagine years later you pick up the book you loved as a child and there's something else to discover. Something that changed the way we see and understand the world around us. I reckon there's going to be a whole new level of admiration. And maybe curiosity?

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world. ..."
Albert Einstein

Bottom line: This was fun, adorable, educational, and brilliantly illustrated.

The (German) book trailer: https://youtu.be/8PdUerMAP8I

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Einstein is an absolutely amazing book to educate children about Albert Einstein through the tale of a little mouse.
The illustrations in this book are absolutely stunning and some of the best I have ever seen!
The mouse is living in Bern and awaiting the biggest cheese festival to occur in the world. But when the mouse arrives at the cheese festival, he finds he missed it by a day! The mouse is very disappointed and very puzzled as he used his pocket watch and calendar to count down the time to this spectacular event. Yet he's arrived a day late!
The mouse goes on a journey of trying to rewind time so he can go back to the time of the cheese festival.
I loved where he meets Einstein and how the plot unfolds. This book is truly mesmerising and fascinating for both children and adults! Children will fall in love with this book and find so much to see in each and every illustration!

Two thumbs up and 5 stars. Here we have a children's book that educates kids about science topics and is artistically illustrated. The mouse is seeking a way to turn back time one day to attend an important event. In his quest, he discovers a scientist who was interested in the same idea. My mother read me to sleep every night till I was in junior high school. I would lay in her arms in my bed and follow along as she read to me. This book makes a perfect candidate for that parent/child bonding. The illustrations are by the author and are pen/ink and watercolors that are skillfully aged to appear from Einstein's time. They are gorgeous. You need this book. My thanks to the author and NetGalley for a complimentary copy.

I never imagined myself reading (and loving) a fiction story , one whic can be read for children and adults in equality, about Eintein's theories haha
I am a person of humanities and social science areas, but I discovered myself as an enthusiastic of Every little curiosities from other areas, like Phisics, Genetics and other stuff like that involving maths and theories which I find difficult to understand. However, this book made me get the main thing about the most famous theory about space and time and I was completely surrendered by the story. Well done =)

Great story, beautiful illustrations. I hadn't read another one of Kuhlmann's books so I really wasn't expecting the gorgeous level of detail. I love the small pocket watch and how it's a detail that younger readers may overlook but older readers would appreciate. The little nuances in the art and the story are wonderful and I can really see this book inspiring many children to learn more about Einstein.

What a wonderful little book. I was firstly attracted by the illustrations but the story lived up to the wonderful pictures. It is a story of time, it is for children but as an adult I loved it and would recommend it for any age group.

The story was cute, had humour and told a great story of time. The illustrations enhanced the story and are absolutely beautiful. I can't imagine having one without the other. Young or old, who wouldn't want to read this book as it is a joy!

All I can say is it is fantastic and should be read by all.

This is such an adorable book and one that would be perfect for those children who are interested in science. There are a few big words (filigree/electromagnetism) but not more than 4 or 5. These words would be a way to keep exploring the topic for them. The story starts with a question a lot of children might have asked and is explored in a way a child might "What is time?" and "Can we go back in time by turning a real clock back?" The approach works perfect for young readers who are inquisitive because it talks about the science in a simple way but also in a way that allows them to think and ask more questions.

The artwork throughout the story was amazing. I really appreciated that rather than try to use words to explain some steps in the little building of the mouse's time machine, they used pictures.

Thank you, NetGalley and NorthSouth Books for the chance to read this book!

Great book. I enjoyed reading it. My son loves anything to do with physics so he also found it good to read.

Einstein, as its title suggests, introduces children to the scientist through the life of a time traveling mouse. It's well written and fanciful enough to hold a child's attention while still presenting a lesson. This book would make a nice addition to an upper elementary teacher's classroom library or as an assigned reading for history/science.

This book is simply beautiful. The artwork tells as much of a story as do the words. Being able to see the progression of time in the frames of the images added so much to the story. The story begins with a little mouse gearing up to go to the cheese fair only to learn he was a day late. He explores the venue and expands his search for answers to the question of time, what is it, really? He finds himself in the attic of the patent office where Einstein once worked. Now the learning and real adventure begin. Great book for young minds, helping them to visualize complex theories. Great book!

This whimsical tale of a mouse, a cheese festival and a patent clerk, will tell young readers plenty about time and motion. I don't want to give away the story, but anyone can enjoy the detailed and complex clocks and contraptions we meet. If you took HG Wells's The Time Machine and had fun with it, you might get something like this. If you were a mouse.

The adventure is good for anyone from about six to twelve and parents will have a chuckle too. There's more text to read than in the earlier book I read, Moletown. And a potted bio and physics lesson at the end. Enjoy.
I read this ARC from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.

Absolutely stunning illustrations throughout this children's story of a time travelling mouse just trying to make it to the cheese festival.

This was a creative way to introduce children to Einstein. I loved the pictures and the journey of the mouse. But it was a bit long and wordy. I think that the book would be more interesting and keep the attention of the audience (children) a bit better if it had been a bit shorter and a bit less technical. I did really enjoy the summary of Einstein at the end and the opportunity for kids to learn more about what Einstein discovered, as well as his biography. I think this would be a good addition for an upper elementary or middle school class that is learning about Einstein. Younger kids might enjoy the mouse but I think the book would have to be broken up into several shorter reads.

I love this book! The illustration was beautiful and I like how the book included a little bit of introduction on the theory of relativity and a bit of who Einstein was. It's perfect for a kid to enjoy a good story and maybe get interested in a bit of science in the process.

Einstein is a delightful story of a cute mouse seeking to turn back time in order to attend a cheese festival he missed. The story has a science hook behind it which introduces the reader in a fun way to the work of Albert Einstein. The illustrations are wonderful!

This is the most wonderful children’s book I’ve read in ages. In fact I’m thinking about getting a hardcover for my husband after it is released. The illustrations are delightful. The story is engaging. I will seek out more of this author’s books.

Lovely illustration book, perfect for 8-10-year-olds. Thanks to NetGalley for giving an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The illustrations in this book were beautiful! The story seems engaging. I would be interested in seeing the others in this series.

After the initial pages, I found myself not connecting with the story or characters, so I decided to pass on this book. Did not finish. The pictures were beautiful.

This is one of the oddest, most charming books I've read in a while! It works as a picture book, a book for young readers, and could even be used to introduce relativity to middle and high school students.

Einstein isn't coming out until September 7th, but if you like Torben Kuhlmann's mouse adventures, you'll want to put this one on your list.
Let's start with the gorgeous illustrations. Oh, my word! Kuhlmann illustrates in a style that reminds me of Brian Selznick (The Inventions of Hugo Cabret, Wonderstruck, and The Marvels).

Einstein is the story of a mouse who has been looking forward to a Cheese Festival for a long time. He keeps track of the days on his calendar so he won't miss it. But he does, by one day. How did that happen?

With the help of a mouse clockmaker, he tries to go back to the previous day but ends up 80 years off! There, he meets the real Einstein and giving him riddles to solve, figures out how to come back to the present.

I really liked that the book walked you through how the mouse came up with (his) solution.
I loved the illustrations - this is a gorgeous picture book to read to younger children as an adventure story (with some paraphrasing)
I enjoyed the science content and the explanations at the back of the book (some of which went over my head!)