I love books...

...especially children's books. I already have a collection of them- I say they're for our future children, but really- they are for me.

So when I became the book buyer for my last job- it was like a dream come true. And after awhile, I realized that I had some inside hook-ups on finding out-of-print books.

My favorite book as a child was "Mouse House". We would go to the library all the time, and I would always get it. My mom told me that while staying at my grandma's while something was being done to our house, she got that book for me so that I would be entertained long enough so that she could leave me & loo-loo so she could run an errand.

Neither of us could find it, even with my hook-ups. Do you know how many kids books are titled "Mouse House"? Lots. So I gave up.

A few weeks ago I was searching the Wee Wonderfuls website looking for a photo of a doll she had made that I wanted to show my mom. She is always buying old books and going to the library and blogging about her great finds. In looking through her archives- I found this post, about the illustrator Adrienne Adams. Click it!

Okay- there it is! My favorite childhood book! I screamed "MOM! I FOUND IT!" Of course she thought I meant the doll, and was confused as to why I was so excited. The she came over and saw what I had found. I clicked on the photo so I could see who the author was. I googled it, and found an old library copy on Alibris. A week later, I had my fav book back in my hands, back in my life.

I climbed into bed that night to read the book. It was a lot longer than I remembered- no wonder my mom picked that one to keep me busy!

The book is about a little girl that receives a red brick mouse house, complete with Mr. & Mrs. Mouse- but becomes bored with it because the toy mice don't move or play. Then a real baby mouse from her pantry goes looking for a new house for his family because the broken flower pot they live in is too small for family. It's very cute, very old fashioned, and published in 1953.

Now I really want to make a mouse house play set for me. Every detail is covered by the amazing illustrations- it would definitely be a project.

Worth every minute though...