Mickey Moonbeam

by: Mike Brownlow

Published by: Bloomsbury

Reviewed by Jamie Driggers

Mickey Moonbeam is excited to meet his pen pal Quiggle for the first time. When a distress call indicates that Quiggle may not make the meeting, Mickey hops into his spaceship to rescue his friend. What ensues surprises them both.

Mickey Moonbeam is chock full of fun, especially for the six-year-old boy who dreams of rocket boots. The language sparks the imagination with word combinations like "super-zippy-hyper-fast," but doesn't overdo enough to annoy the parents reading aloud. The illustrations are lively, bright and imaginative. And though I'm sure in my adult brain that technologically the story's solution would never work, it makes perfect sense to the intended audience who ask for Mickey Moonbeam again and again.

This story has a nice read aloud quality with no clunky sentences and plenty of room for dramatic reading. Kids are also happy just to page through the book to see the illustrations and make up their own version of the story. For my three to six-year-old crowd and their read-aloud mama, we give it eight thumbs up.

Armchair Interviews says: Mike's other recent picture books include THE BIG WHITE BOOK, I'VE GOT NITS!, LITTLE ROBOT RABBIT, and BOUNCING BABIES.