Anatole

Eve Titus's Anatole is a very French picture book for 5 year olds about a mouse who wants to earn his cheese with his head held high.

What happens

Anatole lives near Paris with his wife Doucette and their six children. (Paul and Paulette, Claude and Claudette, Georges and Georgette. Lovely to say out loud!)

One night, hunting for leftovers, he overhears what people think of mice. Dirty paws. Villains! Where is his pride? His HONOUR?

So he fills a briefcase with little signs and cycles to the Duval Cheese Factory. All night he nibbles his way along the tables, pinning a verdict on every cheese. After all, who knows more about cheese than a mouse?

It's a joy to read aloud. Bits of French are sprinkled through (Voilà! C'est la vie!) and they're easy to guess. Anatole takes himself SO seriously that small children find him very funny. There's nothing scary in it, and the fun is being in on a secret nobody at the factory has worked out.

What to read next

If they love a proud little mouse with a clever brain, Eve Titus also created Basil, the mouse detective. In Basil and the Big Cheese Cook-Off he's off to Paris, where somebody is threatening a famous cheese competition. It's a chapter book, so a nice step up.