I think most people won't realize was a book before it was adapted by Disney into a film. Firstly, the illustrations which were done by Garth Williams (he also did Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web) are fantastic. They portray Bernard and Miss Bianca very differently from the movie version because their characters are almost entirely different. In fact, everything apart from there being talking mice who form a secret society that help humans was changed. Bianca is portrayed as a rather vacuous female content with her lot in life but Bernard makes her see herself in a slightly different light. The movie is the exact opposite where Bernard is full of timidity and it is Bianca that draws him out of his shell and shows him what he is truly made of. The film is about the rescue mission of an orphan girl named Penny from a truly horrific woman (who reminds me of Miss Hannigan from the musical Annie) while the book is about the rescue of a Norwegian poet from an impenetrable castle. The essential feeling of the two storylines is the same but if I had to choose between the two I'd probably go for the movie on this one (but you should still check out the beautiful illustrations).

Another month is behind me, and another handful of books read toward various 2015 challenges. As a quick recap, my challenges this year are:

1) A personal challenge created to help me read down my own collection;

2) A challenge from Into the Forest, a fairy tale group I belong to on Goodreads

3) A challenge to read as many source materials for Disney movies as possible and

4) Just for the fun of it, a challenge to see how many of the books I read happen to fit with the criteria of this challenge.

From my personal reading challenge, I was reading books about "my current obsession." As I'm getting to "that certain age" (34), questions about whether to tackle parenthood have been on my mind for more than a solid year. This month, I read two books relating to this topic:

The Prenatal Prescription by Peter W. Nathanielsz - A book about the impact a mother's prenatal choices will have on her child for life. An informative read, but probably not the most outstanding book on the subject.

Maybe Baby: 28 Writers Tell the Truth About Skepticism, Infertility, Baby Lust, Childlessness, Ambivalence, and How They Made the Biggest Decision of Their Lives by Lori Liebovich - That is one godforsaken long subtitle. I would have just subtitled it 28 Writers on How They Made the Biggest Decision of Their Lives. Cumbersome title aside, this was a solid collection about all of the above. I always feel as if I learn more about big decisions by reading personal accounts than self-help books.

I really wanted to squeeze in a book about the "working mom" vs. "stay-at-home mom" debate, but I had to cram in a book for book club instead. :/

From my Into the Forest Reading Challenge, I read

1. A book by a favorite author that you haven't read yet - Bound by Donna Jo Napoli. Bound is a retelling of the Chinese version of the Cinderella story. I used to devour DJN books, but then abandoned them for 10 years or so. It was nice to go back. 

For this 2015 Reading Challenge I read ...

A popular author's first book - Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

A Pulitzer Prize Winning Book - Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

A book you started but never finished - The Bible

A book published this year - The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds (haven't written my review yet)

A book from an author you love that you haven't read yet - Bound by Donna Jo Napoli

For Disney Source Materials, I read ...

The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

The Rescuers & Miss Bianca by Margery Sharp and

The Fox and the Hound by Daniel P. Mannix

My theme for the month of May is "Take Me Away" -- fantasy, sci-fi, historical, or travel books -- anything that takes me far afield from my current 2015 South Dakota reality.

Although I wasn't particularly keen to read this book (and its sequel) for my Year in Disney Movies project, I found myself pleasantly surprised.

This is written in that perfect children's classic, read-aloud way -- except, unlike many middle-grade authors, Margery Sharp has the discipline not to headhop, instead breaking character perspectives into short sections within chapters. It inserts funny commentary or asides that add to an overall tone of warmth, dignity, and importance without ever wandering too far from the story or characters.

Like all books I end up falling unexpectedly in love with, it is the characters that do it for me in this book. I love the portrayal of Bernard as a humble "pantry mouse" who nevertheless manages the capture the heart of the genteel house pet, Bianca. I like that Bianca's sheltered existence and wealth do not make her snobbish, even as she is sometimes baffled by the things she encounters outside her "porcelain pagoda." And I love that, rather than get distracted by the half-baked plot of rescuing a Norwegian prisoner (I never did figure out why this particular prisoner was worthy of rescue but not the others?), the book focuses instead on the relationships between the three very different mice -- Bernard, Bianca, and the course pirate, Nils, and the way they have to learn to live and work together in close quarters and under dangerous circumstances. Despite the overall warm and cozy tone of the book, stark moments of darkness keep it from ever becoming too saccharine -- such as the bones of prisoners the mice encounter on the way to the Black Castle, or a cat's almost sexual pleasure in tormenting Miss Bianca.

These are the most human mice I have ever met, and I'm glad this project pushed me to ride across the Norwegian countryside in the back of a prison supply wagon and cross treacherous waters guided by a map covered with bonnets with them.

Slightly dated, but completely charming! 

Besides having two similar mouse characters and a rescuing plotline, this barely resembles the 1970s Disney cartoon.  A third (and quite pivotal) mouse character is completely missing from the film as well as the chilling and unforgettable Black Castle Prison.  I loved how it was never quite clear WHEN this story was taking place and yet the various settings were so vividly described.  Who can ever forget the Head Jailer's quarters with walls covered with impaled butterflies? Reading this aloud with my daughter was really such a delight.  It was a bit slow to start, but really ramped up quickly and near the end we really couldn't put it down.  I find that so many more books start with a bang and peter out so I was delighted to experience the reverse.  Definitely try to find a version with illustrations by Garth Williams!