If You Give a Mouse an iPhone

Gr 1–2—The second "plugged-in parody" imitates the look and pattern of Laura Numeroff's popular cumulative mouse tale with the substitution of an iPhone for a cookie, as chatty Applesauce receives time from a young friend on a mobile smart device and subsequently gives it his sole attention. Single dimension, cartooned images with bold colors feature the mouse—"He won't hear a word you say," "won't have the slightest idea what's happening"—as he walks along, oblivious to surroundings or life-threatening dangers. Falling from a roller coaster, freeing all creatures at a wild animal amusement park, falling from a cliff into the ocean, or riding a dolphin to a remote island, Applesauce remains absorbed with the phone and tap-tapping away, ignoring his friend until the battery…runs…out. Speech bubbles continue a mostly one-sided conversation between the mouse and his remarkably calm friend. References to Minecraft, screen time, outlets, and chargers might take the vocabulary above its intended audience, but the dangers of Applesauce's tech-obsession are visually clear. Worth a discussion for any age, this offering is a suitable general purchase for all libraries.—Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX