• Age: 3 to 7
• Grade: p to 2
• Reading age: 3 to 7

The post office is closed, and that means it's time for Mr. Postmouse and his family to take a vacation. Of course, he'll need to bring along a few parcels --- “a postmouse's rounds are never done!” --- as he and Mrs. Mouse, Milo, Lulu and Pip set off on an around-the-world tour. Doing whatever it takes to reach their destinations (including traveling by hot-air balloon, cruise ship and camel!), the intrepid mouse family treks from the forest to the sea, the desert to the ice field, finding adventure, new discoveries and animal friends at every far-flung stop. And all along the way, Mr. Postmouse never misses a delivery!

The pages of this humorous, playful follow-up to Mr. Postmouse's Rounds from award-winning author and illustrator Marianne Dubuc overflow with clever details. The simple story of the mouse family's trip is used to transport children from one fantastically imagined place to the next. Perfect for encouraging visual literacy, this picture book will delight readers and prereaders as they explore it again and again, searching the busy artwork for something new and unexpected, including the cross-section drawings that allow a peek inside the animals' homes and the many stories-within-a-story appearing in every spread. The scenes provide a terrific introduction to the concepts of community and neighborhoods, as well as modes of transportation. This book would make a whimsical lead-in to a life science lesson on animals' habitats, or to discussions about the world's cultures and geography.

Marianne Dubuc studied visual arts and graphic design before beginning her career as an award-winning author and illustrator. In Front of My House, originally published in French as Devant ma maison , is her first book to be published in English. Marianne lives in Montreal, Quebec.

Marianne Dubuc's profile page

• Winner, Best Books for Kids & Teens, Canadian Children's Book Centre

Best enjoyed as part of an intimate shared reading experience ...

CM Magazine

Endlessly charming, this is a book to be read again and again ...

Canadian Children's Book News

This one's playfulness invites repeat readings, and like Mr. Postmouse, it delivers consistently.

Kirkus Reviews

Great for vocabulary development, text-to-text connection, stamina-building, and storytelling ...

School Library Journal

... colorful and appealing ...

Booklist Online

... snippets of illustrated community life act like surprises which add humour and interest to the page ...

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