Lulu The Broadway Mouse

Title: Lulu The Broadway Mouse

Author: Jenna Gavigan

Publisher: Running Press Kids

ISBN:  9780762464616

Review:

Lulu, Lucy Louise is what her mother called her, is a mouse that lived in a very large Broadway theatre. She longed to be on the big stage. She wss surrounded by a demanding mother, hard working father and three brothers she referred to as hooligans. She took part in various theatrical activities, like sewing costumes, being an understudy and other duties as needed. No mouse had ever performed on Broadway, but she believed that someday it would happen when humans weren’t afraid of mice. Her family worried she’d be set up for disappointment, and that a regular person would be scared to see a mouse on the stage.

When Lulu read as an understudy with her good friend Maya she knew all of the lines. But soon Maya would be leaving. When her replacement Jayne arrived, she and Lulu become good friends. They both disliked Amanda, the star, who was mean, rude and she had to eat a special diet due to various food allergies. As Jayne and Lulu prepared for the next big performance, and the just-in-case, things were getting worse with Amanda. She seemed to be meaner than usual. On one particular night, right before a performance Amanda had become sick from bad salmon her mother prepared. It was time for Jayne to shine but she wouldn’t do it alone, she wanted to have Lulu very close to help her just-in-case she forgot her lines. But with one slip up Lulu was exposed. The whole audience gasped at her tiny prescence. The two winged it and were surprised at the audience and all of their family and friends behind the scenes reactions. What do you think happened?

This lovely tale of dreaming big and following your heart has a lot of life lessons young readers can use. This fast read would be great for a classroom read-a-loud or for family reading time. Parents and teachers can open up dialogue on how to be kind to one another because other people have fears and doubts about themselves too. Relatable characters create a story that is warm and heartfelt.

Courtesy of Media Masters Publicity