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Little Mouse Saves The Day (A First Comic for Brand-New Readers): TOON Level 1 (TOON Books)

Little Mouse Saves The Day (A First Comic for Brand-New Readers): TOON Level 1 (TOON Books)

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Author(s)

Jeff Smith

Publisher Name

TOON Books

Genre(s)

Age Range

Release Date

June 03, 2025

ISBN13

978-1662665455

ISBN10 or ASIN

What’s that in the closet—a robber? A monster? A CAT!? This book about overcoming fears is the highly anticipated follow-up to Eisner award-winning author Jeff Smith's Little Mouse Gets Ready and is both a perfect read-aloud and a book that kids can begin to read on their own.

In Eisner Award-winning author Jeff Smith’s Little Mouse Gets Ready, the plucky, pint-sized hero triumphed over buttons and tail holes and the tricky problem of getting dressed. His adventures continue in Little Mouse Saves the Day, when he returns to face his biggest challenge yet: bedtime, an open closet door, and the mysterious shadow within. It could be anything…and there’s only one way to know for sure.

Editor reviews

2 reviews

A SUPER introduction to the graphic novel format

August 17, 2025 (Updated: June 30, 2026)

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

4.0

Little Mouse is somewhat reluctant to go to bed because he is having so much fun pretending to be Super Mouse, but listens to his mother when she comes to turn out his light. As he sits in the darkness, he can see a shadowy figure in the closet from his bed. He pulls the covers up (always a good defense against monsters!)as he debates with himself what the thing might be, but then asks himself what would Super Mouse do. He jumps out of bed, runs to the closet, and screams! Oh, but it's only a ball with a baseball cap on it. His mother comes to his aid, and congratulates him for saving the day before telling him to go to bed.

Good Points

This very early graphic novel, but the author of the venerable 1991 Bone series, is a good introduction to graphic novels for younger children and includes information on how to introduce this format to beginning readers. Toon Books publishers three levels of early graphic novels to helps support emerging skills. This is a level one, with limited text on each page.

Smith's illustrations have a classic comic book feel to them, and Little Mouse is very cute in his red cape. Since most of this takes place in a dark room, it's interesting to see how so many details can be included on such a dark background. Now that I think about it, the Bone books are often set in a dark forest!

Graphic Novels are very popular with older readers, so it makes sense that there are book in this style for younger ones. The Holms' I'm Grumpy is a board book that is great for introducing the skills needed to decode this format. Since children love a series, I hope to see more of Little Mouse in the same way we see lots of adventures for Shashkan's Pizza and Taco, Clanton's Narwhal, Runion's Owly, and Ferry's Fox and Rabbit.

Karen Yingling, Staff Reviewer #1 Reviewer 2477 reviews

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engaging early comic

May 26, 2025 (Updated: June 30, 2026)

Overall rating

5.0

Plot

5.0

Characters

5.0

Writing Style

5.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

5.0

LITTLE MOUSE SAVES THE DAY is a sweet graphic novel/comic for budding independent readers. Little Mouse is going to bed when he notices something in the closet - or, rather, someone! He musters up his courage and flips on the light to discover it was just a ball with a hat sitting on top. Luckily, Little Mouse has saved the day, and he and his mother remove the hat and close the closet door so that he can get to sleep.

What I loved: This is a cute and very relatable story for young readers, who will understand the trouble of shadows at bedtime. The clear and easy-to-follow plot are great for readers who are gaining independence. Adding to that, the story uses limited panels, brief speech bubbles, and a focus on the illustrations to tell the story. This is perfect for independent readers who are just beginning to gain confidence.

The story moves fast, and it is an easily digestible length, with a large font that makes it easy to read. The images themselves are fantastic with full color and an expressive Little Mouse - they really tell the story with minor aid from brief text. This all adds up to something young readers can enjoy exploring as they move towards independence in reading longer texts.

Final verdict: LITTLE MOUSE SAVES THE DAY is a fantastic early comic with a relatable story that will allow young children to read independently.