• Age: 3 to 7
• Grade: p to 2

King Mouse finds his authority in question when his subjects find crowns of their own. A gentle and humorous modern fable about imaginative play and kindness in the tradition of classics like Little Bear and Frog and Toad.

A sweet, thoughtful tale of friendship, sharing and play, King Mouse begins when a mouse comes upon a tiny crown in the grass. The mouse puts the crown on his head, and when a bear subsequently comes upon him and asks if he's king, the mouse responds "Yes."

This diminutive monarch settles into his new role very comfortably . . . until a snake comes upon a crown and claims she is queen. The mouse is not amused, especially when one by one the other animals find crowns and claim they are royalty too. But when the bear can't find a crown, King Mouse make a most surprising decision.

This inspired collaboration between an award-winning author and debut picture book illustrator Dena Seiferling is quietly profound in its simplicity and has the feeling of a modern classic.

Cary Fagan is the author of eight previous novels and five books of short stories, including The Student, Great Adventures for the Faint of Heart, and A Bird's Eye. He has been nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Writers' Trust Fiction Award, the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction, and has won the Toronto Book Award and the Canadian Jewish Book Award for Fiction. He is also an acclaimed writer of books for children, having won the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, the IODE Jean Throop Book Award, a Mr. Christie Silver Medal, the Joan Betty Stuchner—Oy Vey!—Funniest Children's Book Award, and the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People. Fagan's work has been translated into French, Italian, German, Dutch, Spanish, Catalan, Turkish, Russian, Polish, Chinese, Korean and Persian. He still lives in his hometown of Toronto.

Cary Fagan's profile page

DENA SEIFERLING est une autrice et illustratrice d’albums qui jouit d’une grande renommée. Elle est également artiste de feutrage à l’aiguille et titulaire d’un baccalauréat en beaux-arts et en communication visuelle de l’Université des arts de l’Alberta, où elle travaille maintenant comme enseignante. Elle a signé les illustrations de La souris qui devint roi, album finaliste au Prix littéraire du Gouverneur général.

DENA SEIFERLING is a highly acclaimed picture book author and illustrator and needle-felt artist who graduated with a B.F.A. and Visual Communications Degree from the Alberta University of the Arts, where she now works as an instructor. She is the illustrator of King Mouse, which was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award, and its companion book Bear Wants to Sing. The Language of Flowers marked her exquisite debut as both author and illustrator.

Dena Seiferling's profile page

• Short-listed, Vancouver Children's Literature Roundtable - Sheila Barry Best Canadian Picturebook of the Year Award
• Short-listed, Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design – Children
• Short-listed, Governor General's Literary Awards - Children's Literature - Illustration

One of the New York Public Library's Best Books for Kids 2019

PRAISE FOR King Mouse:

“Each page is riotous and breathtaking.” --STARRED REVIEW, Quill & Quire

“Graceful and perceptive in both illustration and text, the timeless theme is particularly pertinent today.” --STARRED REVIEW, Kirkus Reviews
“. . . Seiferling creates striking, silvery graphite spreads to illustrate this story. . . . Fagan develops with dry wit the story of the crowns and the way they skew the animals’ judgment, ending the tale on a wistful, affectionate note.” --Publishers Weekly
"The quiet resolution is extremely satisfying [and the art] exude[s] an air of fantasy that perfectly complements this gentle, relatable story" --School Library Journal
“Highly recommended for classroom, public or personal libraries. This book would make an excellent read-aloud with many possibilities for follow-up projects and discussions.” --Resource Links
“In addition to being a quiet browsing book or a one-on-one reading experience, King Mouse would make a lovely read-aloud for storytelling. Highly Recommended.” --CM Magazine