Secret Valentine
Secret Valentine
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Houghton Mifflin
Annotation: After getting a fluttery feeling while helping Mouse make valentines for each of their friends, Mole sends her a series of notes and gifts, signing them "your secret valentine."
 
Reviews: 6
Catalog Number: #150379
Format: Perma-Bound Edition
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Copyright Date: 2017
Edition Date: 2017 Release Date: 12/26/17
Pages: 1 volume (unpaged)
ISBN: Publisher: 1-328-74059-5 Perma-Bound: 0-605-99621-0
ISBN 13: Publisher: 978-1-328-74059-5 Perma-Bound: 978-0-605-99621-2
Dewey: Fic
LCCN: 2012041660
Dimensions: 23 cm.
Language: English
Reviews:
ALA Booklist

As Valentine's Day draws near, Mouse and Mole keep quiet about the funny, butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling that each has for the other. They make Valentine cards for all their friends and deliver them together. When Mouse receives a note and gifts from her "Secret Valentine," she is baffled. Who can it be? Readers will guess his identity long before she does, but that's part of the book's appeal. Charming ink-and-watercolor illustrations brighten every page. The gentle, simply written tale unfolds in four chapters, followed by two pages of instructions for making Valentine cards. A pleasant entry in the Mouse and Mole series.

Horn Book

The seventh Mouse and Mole book celebrates Valentine's Day in four chapters. As the friends prepare for the holiday, they start feeling fluttery and awkward around each other. Cozy scenes in litho pencil and gouache add extra warmth and expressiveness to the simple sentences, while the picture clues help new readers follow along. The book concludes with step-by-step instructions for making a valentine.

Kirkus Reviews

Mouse and Mole are best friends, but with Valentine's Day coming soon, each has a peculiar feeling of butterflies in the stomach when thinking of the other. Could their relationship be changing in this season of love? As Valentine's Day nears, Mouse and Mole get together to decorate cards. Mouse is good at making a list of friends and writing the words, while Mole's specialty is cutting out paper hearts and sprinkling glitter over glue to create a sparkly message. When the buddies go out to deliver the cards, Mole forgets his hat and tells Mouse he'll catch up. Then during lunch, Mole must go find the waiter to alter his order. After each absence, Mouse receives a surprise from her "secret valentine." While she tries to find out who it is, Mole creates a most romantic gift, with chocolates, rose petals and an invitation to the Valentine dance. Mouse comes home to discover it and its special message just in time. Yee masterfully builds delicious anticipation throughout the four chapters. His spot illustrations in litho pencil and gouache not only evoke scenes of tender friendship, but also cue readers on the pacing and the new vocabulary they are encountering. Rush out and treat newly independent readers to this heartwarming tale that brings a satisfying end to the arc of Mouse and Mole's relationship. (valentine instructions) (Early reader. 6-9)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In their seventh outing, Mouse and Mole are seriously in love, even if Mouse doesn-t know it yet. When Mouse receives a -secret valentine,- her head is so much in the clouds that she walks into a lamppost. And she-s so busy trying to determine the identity of her admirer that she doesn-t pay attention to the butterflies she feels whenever she-s with Mole. After a romantic dinner and a rendezvous befitting a rom-com, the two animals seal their love with a dance. Yee creates a punchy story arc over the story-s four chapters and charming pencil and gouache spot illustrations. This romp of an early reader acknowledges that a first crush can feel every bit as momentous as a more long-term love. Ages 6-9. (Dec.)

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2 Mouse lists friends to make cards for for Valentine's Day, realizes that Mole is her best friend, and gets "a funny feeling inside-like butterflies in her stomach." As Mole takes out art supplies, he thinks, "Valentine's Day is about love " and experiences "butterflies in his stomach" and a flushed face. Mole teaches Mouse how to cut a heart shape from paper and enhance letters with glue and glitter, and Mouse writes words on the cards. While she receives anonymous valentines and wonders who sent them, she wishes that Mole would ask her to the Valentine's Day dance. She discovers an invitation that someone has placed beneath rose petals in a box of chocolates, asking her to be at the party at four. When she arrives, she discovers that Mole is her "secret valentine," and "together, they stepped out onto the dance floor." Detailed pencil and gouache illustrations set the stage and capture the action. Directions for making a valentine are included. This heartwarming, early chapter book unfolds with perfect pacing, and every word advances the plot, provides information, or delivers humor. A delightful addition. Laura Scott, Farmington Community Library, MI

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ALA Booklist
Horn Book
Kirkus Reviews
Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)
School Library Journal
Wilson's Children's Catalog
Word Count: 1,744
Reading Level: 2.9
Interest Level: K-3
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 2.9 / points: 0.5 / quiz: 162540 / grade: Lower Grades
Lexile: 480L

Valentines Cards
Mouse traced a heart on the frosted windowpane.
   "Valentine's Day is coming!" she squeaked.
   Just thinking about it warmed Mouse from ear to tail.
   "I'd better make a list of our friends," she sighed. "Mole is below, waiting to make valentines."
   Mouse nibbled the end of her pencil.
   "Let me think . . . there's Brown Rabbit, White Rabbit, and Squirrel," she wrote.
   "Skunk, Porcupine, and--Turtle, too." Mouse twirled her tail.
   "It seems I'm forgetting someone?
   Silly me!" she giggled.
   "I left out my best friend!"
   Mouse added Mole to the list.
   She drew a heart next to his name.
   Mouse got a funny feeling inside--like butterflies in her stomach.
   Downstairs, Mole was getting ready to make valentines. Mole rubbed his snout.
   "Let me see . . . We will need paper and pencils, scissors and glue."
   Mole laid everything out on the table.
   "Valentine's Day is about love," he sighed.
   Mole felt his face flush. He was thinking about his neighbor upstairs, Mouse.
   Mole got a funny feeling inside--like butterflies in his stomach.
   Tap-tap-tap.
   A knock on the door made Mole jump. "Come in, Mouse," he said."I have been waiting."

Mouse stepped into Mole's hole.
   "Are you feeling okay?" she asked. "You look a bit flushed."
   Mole's cheeks turned redder still. "I was busy fetching stuff to make valentines," he explained.
   "So, what's the plan?" Mouse wondered.
   Mole took a piece of pink paper and folded it in half.
   He drew a curvy line in pencil.
   "That looks like my tail," giggled Mouse.
   "Do not be silly!" chuckled Mole.
   He cut along the line with scissors.
   Snip, snip, snip!
   "Presto!" Mole unfolded the paper.
   "Why, it's a heart!" Mouse exclaimed. "You are too clever, Mole!"
   Mole laid the pink sheet on a red one. "Pencil the message here," he said.
   Mole cut out more heart shapes.
   Mouse thought of things to say. She nibbled the end of her pencil. On one card
   Mouse wrote: BE MINE.
   On another she put: TOO COOL!
   "How many do we need?" Mole asked.
   Mouse peeked at her list. "Six will do."
   "A half dozen it is!" agreed Mole.
   Mouse squinted at the red paper.
   "These pencil lines are hard to read."
   Mole handed Mouse a tube of glue.
   "Trace them over with this, Mouse. I will be right back."
   Mole returned with a jar of silver glitter.
   He sprinkled it all over the red sheet.
   Mole tipped the paper up and gave it a tap-tap-tap. The glitter that didn't stick to the letters slid off.
   Mouse clapped her paws in delight.
   "You are not only clever, Mole, but artistic as well!"
   Mole blushed a valentine red.


Excerpted from Secret Valentine by Wong Herbert Yee
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Rosy-cheeked Mouse and shy Mole share their secret valentines and feel butterflies in their bellies in this delightful addition in the award-winning Mouse and Mole series. Wong Herbert Yee creates just the right combination of sweetness, humor, and heart with his words and images for this early reader audience. Readers will be smitten and swooning with this tender and funny book in this artful and accessible series. As an added bonus, learn how to make a valentine to share in the back of the book!


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