A New Friend (The Adventures of Sophie Mouse)

The media could not be loaded. My 4yo daughter has always loved books. We just started Sophie Mouse: a New Friend as our first read-aloud chapter book. It is a definite change as it's a lot more text and the illustrations are fewer and in black and white. But, the story is imaginative and engaging. I read 2-3 chapters as she's settling into bed/falling asleep, and she has been loving it. If you're looking to start read aloud books, this has been a really positive entry for us. I also like how there are so many in the series, now we can have this routine for awhile and eventually she'll be reading them on her own.

Adorable story with cute illustrations. My daughter read it pretty quickly on her own towards the ends of first grade and I would say she is an average to slightly above average reader. Would also be great to read aloud to younger children.

We were new to this series and it did not disappoint. My seven year old loved the story and has read it again several times since. It was very easy reading for her but not too simplistic. I appreciated the sweetness and wholesomeness of the Sophie storylines.

This seems to be marketed as a “girl” book but my little boys love it too! Especially this first book being about making friends with a snake. I love the theme of not judging a person by their appearance or your assumptions about them. The chapters are just long enough to practice good listening and just short enough to read a few at a time. The simple pictures are sweet.

Yay for Sophie Mouse! I completely agree with the review written by Dallas Mom: "It's . . . nice to find a chapter series that is not filled with modern characters with bad attitudes. There are some good series out there, but so many are junky and mindless. This has a classic, timeless quality." My thoughts exactly! I just read this in 3 sittings to my 6 year old girl and 4 year old boy. It not only was a hit with the kids, but I loved the message and the positive children role models.Sophie and her friend Hattie have some reservations about the new student at school (a snake) but learn to make friends with him, in this very charming, gentle, positive, easy to read, beginning chapter book. Some of the other modern beginner chapter books have been disappointing in their characters and messages. Thank you for writing books that let our children be children.My children both asked me to order the next book in the series, so off I go . . . My only regret is that I didn't know it was a book about the first day of school; would have made a great choice for my annual back to school book gift for my daughter. Now I have to find another one. This series is definitely going into our gift repertoire for birthdays.

A great book for first grade girls! If you are looking for a book for your first grader to begin reading chapter books on this is a great place to start!

This is a sweet little early chapter book. Lots of pictures for emerging readers. It looks super girly but my son likes the Sophoe books and they are pretty gender neutral.

C.S. Lewis once declared that he loved reading books about "animals in clothes" when he was a little boy, and I can happily say that I relate to that statement - and now, my seven year-old daughter does, too. "Sophie Mouse" is very a sweet series with the most adorably illustrated animal friends. Sophie, her friend, Hattie (a frog) and their new classmate, Owen (a snake) are a fun little trio - and this story is a great way to kick-off the introduction to their happy world. The author and illustrator collaborated to write something smart and funny - the vocabulary words hidden throughout were a delight to this English-major mama's ears - while also maintaining an innocence that is so often lost in books aimed at this age range. If you're looking for snark and sassiness, akin to something like "Junie B. Jones," this series isn't it. But if you're like me - hoping that somewhere there are still writers who care about making the world a bit more sunshine-y and friendly for young readers out there - then these books will hit the spot. Thank you, Ms. Green, for creating Silverlake Forest and its cheery world of woodland inhabitants. A+!