Author: Daniel Pinkwater
Illustrator: Adam Stower
© Date: 2012-2015
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Pages: 73
Chapters: Yes
Illustrations: Yes, all page layouts have an illustration
Publisher Recommended Age: 5-9 years
Bonus Activities at End of Book: No
Summary from Book 2: Behind Nick and Maxine’s tall apartment building is a secret little backyard with a cute little house. Mrs. Noodlekugel lives there with a talking cat named Mr. Fuzzface and four mice who do not see very well. Nick and Maxine are so lucky—Mrs. Noodlekugel is their babysitter.
The mice make a terrible mess with cookie crumbs at tea, and Mrs. Noodlekugel decides it’s time to take then downtown to get fitted for eyeglasses—and she takes Nick, Maxine, and Mr. Fuzzface along.
A ride on the bus, a visit to the oculist’s shop, and a bite to eat at Dirty Sally’s Lunchroom—it’s an exciting trip! But most amazing is meeting a strange old alley cat who has a surprising connection to Mr. Fuzzface!
Note: This review is done from memory. I originally read this awhile ago.
In the spirit of sleep, this one is currently a brief.
Page Pig Thoughts: Page Pup and I giggled through Four Blind Mice and Drooly the Bear, and we found the first Mrs. Noodlekugel okay. The style of this story made me think that it was older than it really is. I found the writing and storytelling a bit choppy, but the silliness of the stories was still entertaining and made these worth reading. We enjoyed the silliness of mice getting eyeglasses, cats with “face” names, and the Nesselrode pie orders…which I suppose means that we liked the Four Blind Mice best.
I found the first story a bit confusing (see Items of Interest #2) and could have lived without reading it. The children did something their parents didn’t want, but that was okay. Added to now the woman that they weren’t supposed to bother is their baby-sitter. The first one was not as silly as the other two. While it explained a few things, it does not seem critical to understanding the others.
Family Unit: Nick and Maxine live in an apartment with their mother and father.
Mrs. Noodlekugel lives with Mr. Fuzzface (cat that she taught to speak), four farsighted mice, and Oldface the cat joins the mix. Captain Noodlekugel is out to sea and frequently gets lost.
Items of Interest:
- Mr. Fuzzface the cat has proper English, but his father, Oldface, has much rougher language skills because he learned to speak from sailors.
- Book 1 – Nick and Maxine’s parents tell them that they should not bother the old lady who lives in the tiny house surrounded by large apartment buildings. Nick and Maxine figure out how to get to the house and visit the woman, Mrs. Noodlekugel, anyway. Nick and Maxine tell their parents that they visited the old woman. Their parents say that they had expected that would happen and Mrs. Noodlekugel is their new babysitter.
- Four Blind Mice (Book 2) – Mrs. Noodlekugel takes Nick, Maxine, and Mr. Fuzzface along to get the mice fitted for eyeglasses. Mr. Fuzzface is unhappy about being forced to ride in a cat carrier on the bus while the mice get to ride strapped onto Mrs. Noodlekugel’s hat. They eat at a diner with a monkey waiter. Mr. Fuzzface turns out to be a railroad hero and Mrs. Noodlekugel was a railroad engineer. Mr. Fuzzface is upset that his father left his mother to raise seven kittens by herself and wants to bite him. An alley cat helps the gang find the four blind mice when they wandered out of the diner. The alley cat turns out to be Mr. Fuzzface’s father, Oldface, and he had been taken aboard a ship and unable to write. Mr. Fuzzface and Oldface wind up having a loving reunion once they understand what happened to each other.
- In Drooly the Bear (book 3), Nick and Maxine go to stay with Mrs. Noodlekugel for a few days while their father competes in the speed-knitting world championship and their mother cheers him on. Captain Noodlekugel comes home from sea with Drooly the Bear. He had traded an Inuit for his boat and his bear. Captain Noodlekugel has plans to become an animal trainer. Drooly the Bear is content sleeping in Mrs. Noodlekugel’s gardens and doesn’t have an interest in being trained. Captain Noodlekugel decides to go back out to sea and Drooly will be a sea bear instead. Mrs. Noodlekugel says that is a good plan.
Other Books in Series (At Time of Posting):
- Book 1 – Mrs. Noodlekugel
- Book 2 – Mrs. Noodlekugel and Four Blind Mice
- Book 3 – Mrs. Noodlekugel and Drooly the Bear
