The Subway Mouse

Anne Hutchings, a former elementary-school teacher-librarian with the
Durham Board of Education, is an educational consultant.

This latest book from acclaimed author/illustrator Barbara Reid has all
the elements of a classic quest story: good versus evil, a journey on
which the hero encounters a variety of seemingly endless and
unconquerable tests, inner strength, and an ending in which goodness of
character prevails.

Nib lives with his large extended family in Sweetwater, below the
platform of a busy subway station. His days are spent foraging for food;
his evenings are his favourite time, for it is then that the old mice
tell tales about Tunnel’s End, a remote and dangerous, yet beautiful,
world. As Nib grows up, he continues to dream of Tunnel’s End. But he
eventually grows disenchanted with his dull, grey, noisy life below the
subway platform and decides to follow his dream.

Arriving in Sugardrop, Nib meets Lola, a spunky girl mouse, and
together they journey on. Weary, hungry, and beset by a gang of robber
mice, they are ready to give up when “a light breeze” and “a soft
light” signal Tunnel’s End! Tunnel’s End is indeed “more
dangerous than Nib had imagined,” but it is also “more beautiful
than he had dreamed.” Nib and Lola build a home there, raise a family,
and live happily ever after.

Barbara Reid has supplemented her trademark Plasticine illustrations
with actual subway trash. Children will enjoy picking out familiar
objects in Nib’s collection: a button, shiny penny, straw, Sunmaid
raisin box, ribbon, balloon, Coffee Crisp wrapper, and so forth. The
contrast between these colourful treasures and the dirty grey of the
mice’s home emphasizes the dreariness of Nib’s life in the subway
station. Similarly, the dull, monochromatic palette of the subway tunnel
through which Nib and Lola travel on their way to Tunnel’s End
reinforces the danger and futility of the journey on which they’ve
embarked. The muted blues and greens of the moonlit world at Tunnel’s
End and the bright colours of the animals and flowers reflect Nib’s
joy at finding his dream.

As much poetry as prose, this lovely story would be a perfect choice to
share with preschool and primary-grade children. It would also be a
wonderful way to introduce junior- and intermediate-grade students to
the quest stories of authors such as Lloyd Alexander, Susan Cooper, and
others. Highly recommended.