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1981 Japanese picture book
Seven Little Mice Go to School (ねずみのでんしゃ, Nezumi no Densha; Mouse Train) is a 1981 picture book written by Haruo Yamashita (山下 明生, Yamashita Haruo) and illustrated by Kazuo Iwamura. The English version was published in 2011 by NorthSouth Books.
The main characters are a set of septuplet mice and their mother; the latter must coax the former to attend classes. She makes a “mouse train” to get the children to go to school. The group repels a snake that is in their way.
Ieva Bates of Ann Arbor District Library reviewed the book for School Library Journal. She argued the work is “clever” and that it “should have broad appeal.”[1]
Hazel Rochman of Booklist wrote that the book is “Both sweet and scary” and that various aspects “will appeal to children”.[2]
Publishers Weekly gave a positive review, stating that there is “understated elegance” and that despite the book’s age, “it holds up.”[3]
Kirkus Reviews argues that the book does not have enough humor, and that the pieces of artwork “add little narrative heft to the slight story.”[4]
A book starring the same characters, Seven Little Mice Have Fun on the Ice (ねずみのさかなつり), was published in English in 2022. Kirkus Reviews praised the “adorable and expressive” mice and stated that children would “likely” desire the book, though the review states: “it’s bit of a pity the children aren’t given individual personalities.”[5] Catherine Callegar of the Gay-Kimball Library in Troy, New Hampshire wrote in a review in School Library Journal that it “is a welcome addition to any library”, citing the drawings that “are just right for the text.”[6]
Another book with the same characters, Seven Little Mice Go to the Beach (ねずみのかいすいよく, Nezumi no Kaisuiyoku; Mice swimming in the ocean) was first published in Japan in 1987.[4] The book was also translated into English by NorthSouth, with the translation published in 2012. Reviewer Martha Simpson praised the “delicate, quietly humorous” and “meticulously detailed” artwork while she felt the ending “will leave readers underwhelmed”.[7]
