ALA Booklist (Mon Nov 06 00:00:00 CST 2023)

"It was a cold, wintry night, / and all through the house, / Not a creature was stirring . . . / Except a small mouse." Loosely based on Clement C. Moore's poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas," this highly simplified version features a little mouse as the only creature stirring before Santa's arrival. While Santa decorates the tree, the mouse nibbles at a plate of cookies before sliding into a little mitten to sleep. Then someone asks, "Who ate my treat?" While the ending is a bit weak, the text serves as a familiar narrative vehicle for the art. Ehlert connects with viewers through attention to the illustrations' clean lines, geometric shapes, and the highly individual juxtaposition of colors that is the keynote of her style and a dramatic visual element in the cut-paper collages, found after her death in 2021, which became the basis of this picture book. Page turning becomes part of the fun, and die-cut elements add an appealing, interactive touch. A playful picture book that offers a familiar Christmas story and striking, distinctive art.

Kirkus Reviews

Mouse explores a house filled with Christmas spirit before helping himself to a little sweet treat that might have been intended for someone else.In this tale that follows the format of " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas," Mouse notes seasonally significant changes around his house. There are new wreaths, a poinsettia, and a plate of delicious cookies, which Mouse samples before snuggling into a mitten to sleep. But Mouse realizes he may have bitten off more than he could chew when Santa bellows, "Who ate my treat?" While festive, the narrative is slight, more list than story, and the rhyme occasionally scans awkwardly. We get only a quick glimpse of Mouse's tail early on and no actual mouse sightings until near the end, which may be confusing for younger listeners. If the story is a bit lackluster, the art is anything but. In quintessentially Ehlert style, elaborately edged collages, uniquely shaped pages, and intricate die-cuts burst with yuletide cheer. A sharply crimped Christmas tree adorned with shiny foil decorations is perfect for the holiday season, while a bold and dynamically cut snowflake is a visual and tactile delight. At times, the graphic collages bolster each other so that a gently rounded snowman looking at a smiling crescent moon creates a layered, three-dimensional feel.Despite the ho-hum story, the merry art will keep little readers engaged. (Picture book. 2-8)

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

With the bold visual force of traffic signals, die-cut spreads from the late Ehlert are splashed with super-saturated reds, magentas, and greens in this memorable update of “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” A decorated wreath with zigzag edges first opens onto words in large white type: “It was a cold, wintry night,/ and all through the house,// not a creature was stirring...// except a small mouse!” Big, bold forms accompany the familiar-sounding text—a hand-cut snowflake represents “new-fallen snow,” and other lines accompany images of a snowperson, a pine