Out, Mouse!

Finn, an older gentleman, who lived somewhere within the subscription area of The Dublin Reporter, lived in a tiny cottage. He wasn't aware of it, but he made a rookie error. He set out his breakfast so it would be ready when he came back from his morning walk.

When he returned, a pair of mice had moved in, enjoyed his breakfast, and made a considerable mess.

A handy reference guide gave him a "Never fails" method to evict the unwelcome pests. All he needed to do was write a polite letter suggesting a better place for the mice to live! Genius!

Although the mice don't talk to Finn (of course), he could tell by the results of his first letter, that he had some hard-to-please rodents.

This book is charming and fun from beginning to end! Finn's efforts to tamp down his impatience while writing the letters is as funny as his efforts as a real estate agent.

If you don't laugh while reading this book, you have never tried to please a friend, a relative, a spouse, or a child, while trying to remain reasonable.

Out, Mouse! Would make a wonderful gift for children of any age (as a book to read aloud to them, or for them to read to you), for any adult looking for a place to live, or as a house-warming gift. It's a story to read over and over, and become a family or personal favorite!

I give this book three cheers, and 5/5 stars!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an e-copy of this book!
#OutMouse #Netgalley

This was absolutely adorable! Finn is determined to find a new place to live for the mice that have moved into his cottage. I adored the mice and Finn and their almost found family vibes. I loved this so much!

I loved reading this amazing little book and I am sure this book will stay in the memories of any person, any kid who reads it for a very long time. Based on Ireland folk story, this book is about an old man writing letters to a couple of mouse whose company he did not enjoy much and like a gentleman, he decides to persuade them to leave his house by searching new houses for them and enticing them for the new houses through his letters to them. I would recommend this book to middle school and primary school kids. The drawing prompts listed at the end of the book is a cherry on top of a delicious cake.

Sooo I got this book as an ARC to read to my three year old daughter as it’s listed underu children’s fiction. The book was very long for her attention span and didn’t have any pictures to keep her engaged. HOWEVER, even though my daughter probably stopped paying much attention after laughing so hard at the name ‘Professor Dunderbutt’, I kept reading the book and LOVED it for myself! I will definitely try it again with my daughter when she is older. There are prompts at the end of the story about imagining your own pictures and drawing them, so definitely stick to the 6-9 year age category… or maybe just 6 years+ because I greatly enjoyed it. I would still recommend it if you are looking to get it for a child because they will just grow into it! The story is that cute! I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy.

This story is a super cute tale of a man writing letters to the mice living in his house because he wants them to leave. It's a silly tale that pairs great with the comedic narration from the audiobook. The writing is witty, the story is imaginative, and is (in my opinion) reminiscent of the nonsensical style of Lois Sachar's storytelling in the Wayside School stories.

Out, Mouse! is a short and humorously appealing children's story by Valerie L. Egar. Released 6th April 2021 by Whistle Oak, it's 78 pages and is available in paperback, ebook, and audio formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is such a whimsical story with imagination and heart. There are very few characters and a simple story format which builds up to a funny ending with an ironic twist. It would make a superlative read-along book with lots of opportunities for funny voices and sound effects.

The audiobook version is expertly narrated by Paul Collins. The narrator has a pleasant and warm voice for narration and is easy to understand and listen to. The narration runs just over 35 minutes.

Five stars for both the audio and print versions. Well done and fun for all ages.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This was my first book to read by this author and I can't wait to read more! The characters are amazing and the story flows so well. Really cannot recommend this one enough!!

Finn, an older man, lived in a tiny cottage where some unexpected guests moved in: some mice. A reference guide gave him a "Never fails" method to evict the unwelcome pests. All he needed to do was write a polite letter suggesting a better place for the mice to live.
This is such an imaginative story and I could not have enjoyed it more. The story line has an expected cuteness that appeals to young children and adults as well.

“Out, Mouse!” by Valerie L. Egar takes an old wives' tale and expands it into a charming early reader set in rural Ireland. As explained in the author’s note there is a folk belief that a surefire method of ridding your house of mice is to write the rodents a letter explaining why a different place is better suited to them. In this story, a bachelor named Finn writes a series of letters to the mice he sees scurrying around his humble house. After each letter we see Mr. and Mrs. Mouse’s reaction as they investigate each of his suggestions and find them lacking. Although Finn tries to be very courteous he grows increasingly impatient with his uninvited house guests. His recommendations for new homes get more creative, such as a local lighthouse or ancient castle. The ending manages to be both very satisfying and comical. In addition to the author’s note there is an invitation for young readers to share their own illustrations based on different scenes in the book. Teachers may find this book useful as a fun way to teach the parts of a letter in a writing lesson.

This is a cute story based on an Irish Belief that if you want to get rid of rodents, you just have to ask them politely to leave, in a letter. It is a fun story about two fussy mice living in Finn's Cottage. Finn tries to relocate the mice to several different spots, but they keep coming back. He eventually decides that maybe he needs to be the one to move. A cute story that made my grandson laugh out loud. We did a read/listen where he followed along with the text while listening to the story. At first he was disappointed that there were no "pictures", but when he got to the end, he changed his mind. The back pages included a page called "Did You Imagine Pictures As You Read The Story". We went through it again and talked about what we pictured on each page. Of course, his sister wanted to draw them. The audiobook was narrated by Paul Collins and I thought it was a perfect fit. He is a new narrator to me and even though I have now listened to this story several times, I have not tired of its reading. I definitely recommend this one to early readers. I can definitely see this one being used in a classroom art lesson.

I also listened to this in audiobook form, but I do like looking at the written text whenever possible (as well).

In any format, this story is truly adorable and a treasure for children. The main character doesn't want mice living i his house, so he takes the approach of asking them nicely to leave. In a series of letters, he offers them suggestions about where they might live, and he points out all the wonderful things about each possible location.
The mice visit the locations to decide, for themselves, were they might want to live. I won't spoil the ending, but you won't be disappointed. I would definitely recommend this for young children or just children-at-heart!

Snickertales! Delightful. Looking for a story to captivate? Look no further. “Out, Mouse” will take curious listeners and young readers on a refreshing journey. There is nothing like a well-crafted jaunt through the lens of rather picky mice. The opportunities for extension: art, story-telling, predicting, telling tales. The story is bright, the artwork sublime, and, if you’ll excuse me, I have a letter to write for a persistent set of house “guests.”

I like short stories very much. This one was so fun to read and I reckon this would be a great success among kids/scholars or adults who have trouble reading, or just readers like me who enjoy a nice funny short story to relax on a Sunday afternoon.

It will also be nice to have a second part so we can know what happens next with Finn & Company,