Awards

The Pennsylvania Center for the Book celebrates outstanding books, authors, and literary achievement through four signature awards: The Baker’s Dozen: Thirteen Best Books for Family Literacy, The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, The Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize, and Pennsylvania Great Reads from Great Places. Together, these programs recognize excellence in family literacy, children’s poetry, graphic novels, and books that reflect Pennsylvania’s rich literary heritage. By honoring exceptional literary works and connecting readers with engaging and meaningful stories, the Pennsylvania Center for the Book promotes lifelong reading, literacy, and a love of literature across the Commonwealth and beyond.

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Brave as a Mouse

By Nicolo Carozzi
Published by Random House Studios, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, 2021
Young Readers

Inside a quiet house, a friendly mouse approaches a goldfish bowl and asks the fish inside to play. Together they enjoy the day, until three creeping cats threaten to put a stop to their fun. Determined to save the fish, the mouse leads the cats on a chase and secures some time to recruit some fellow mice and make a quick escape. The brave mice lead their new friend the fish to a safer home, avoiding “cat-astrophe.”

Brave as a Mouse cover

Pennsylvania Center for the Book Awards

Baker's Dozen 2022 Winner

Book Activities & Discussion Ideas

Tips for Using with Children

Shadow play is a fun activity that extends this story. Find a wall or surface where shadows can be seen, and use hands or cut out shapes to create shadows of the cats on the wall. Children might like to re-tell the story using the shadow puppets. The mice in the story had to use teamwork to help the fish escape. Looking back at the story, what different things did the mice do to help each other?

Tips for Using with Families

The pictures in this story help to build suspense and excitement for young readers. Adults can pause on each page and prompt children to look closely for shadows, figures, and other indications that the cats are nearby. Adults can ask children to predict what they think will happen next in the story. On the pages with the illustration of the pantry, how many mice do they see in the shadows? In what ways were the mice brave? Why did they want to help the fish?