So as you may have read in my intro post, Sophie here is what got me back into kidlit. Just look at that art and those characters. How can you not read that? Everything looks so nice.

Premise

We follow the everyday adventures of Sophie Mouse, as she meets new friends and struggles with the emotions that come with being an eight year old kid.

Characters

Sophie Mouse

Sophie is a very nice kid. Perhaps the nicest kid in all of chapter book kidlit. She goes to school and likes to paint. Most books end with her showing the painting she made that book. Many books reference her finding colors in nature to paint with, from flowers and berries and whatnot. Sometimes they’re even the premise of an entire book. She’s a really good painter too.

So why is she not boring and perfect? How can Poppy Green write 20 books about her? It’s because of all the times she’s not nice (and some of the times she is). Sometimes she’s scared or jealous or adventurous. Sometimes she just does interesting things or helps out. She lives her life and that’s about it. And it’s interesting and you want to see her succeed. Maybe because she’s so nice.

Hattie Frog

Hattie is Sophie’s best friend. She’s also a very nice kid, but her thing is being cautious. This lets Hattie pair very well with Sophie, as Sophie’s more adventurous attitude gives Hattie pause, but also gets Hattie out of her shell a bit.

Also she wears glasses. And has a big sister named Lydie that seems cooler and never shows up much.

Owen Snake

I’m not sure why Owen is here. He doesn’t really do anything, and he’s been around since book 1. Sometimes he picks up stuff with his tail? He wears a hat? He’s not even like, the token boy character in this series. He’s not in it enough for that. He just…exists.

If you’re Poppy Green, please tell me why Owen exists past book one. I’m genuinely curious.

Winston Mouse

Winston is Sophie’s little brother. He’s portrayed as annoying by Sophie, because he always wants to tag along on her adventures. Later on, Sophie realizes Winston is handy with tools, and changes her opinion of him. He shows up in the series quite a bit, even being the focus of a few books.

Mr. and Mrs. Mouse

Sophie’s dad is a handyman who designs and builds houses. Sophie’s mom runs the local bakery and is very good at making baked goods. Like Redwall “I want to eat these and try making them.” levels of very good. Like, “Maybe I’ll just eat this page.” levels of very good. They’re both very in the background most of the time, especially Sophie’s dad. Sophie’s mom has been the focus of a few books, running a booth at the local festival and entering a baking contest.

Mrs. Wise

Sophie’s school teacher. Sophie’s school is shown a lot, but her teacher tends to stay in the background. School is where Sophie learns some things and sees her friends and other classmates. Another part of her normal kid life.

Pippa Hedgehog

This is Pippa, the best character in any kidlit series ever, bar none. Pippa lives rent free in my head. She has the cutest character design in The Adventures of Sophie Mouse and the best reasoning to never show up in the series. As a hedgehog, she hibernates for over half the year. In book 6 they accidentally wake her up on a snow day, and they hang out for one day and then she goes back to sleep. They say they’ll see her again in Spring, then she doesn’t show up again for 3 more books, where they say they haven’t seen her since the previous Winter and she’s about to hibernate again.

Thankfully the Green gods decided to grace me with her presence in the most recent book 20, after a ten book drought. I hope this blessing continues.

She’s one of Sophie’s friends, by the way. She might actually be even nicer than Sophie, if that’s possible.

Series Breakdown

Here’s a brief summary of each book. Basically spoiler free. You can read any of the books in any order.

(1) A New Friend : Sophie’s new classmate is a snake, which traditionally eat mice. Sophie is afraid, until she learns that not all snakes eat mice.
(2) The Emerald Berries : Sophie learns about a green berry deep in the scary part of the woods that would be great for painting with. She invites her friend Hattie to come along. Despite the dangers, they find the berries, and something more.
Note: A lot of reviews I’ve read from parents don’t like this one, because Sophie goes on a “dangerous” adventure and nothing bad happens to her and she’s fine. But a lot of parents would tell you that Junie B. Jones and Ivy and Bean are bad role models for kids, so what do they know.
(3) Forget-Me-Not Lake : Sophie wants to play with her friends in the lake, but can’t swim. Her friends help her find a way to overcome her trepidations.
(4) Looking For Winston : Sophie’s brother Winston is not invited to build a fort with her. He gets lost when he decides to build a fort for himself, and Sophie learns that maybe her brother isn’t as bad as she thinks.
(5) The Maple Festival : Sophie’s mom runs a booth at the local festival, but struggles to attract customers. Sophie must decide between having fun at the festival or helping her mom out.
(6) Winter’s No Time to Sleep : Sophie meets a new friend while playing in the snow. Sophie doesn’t realize she’s the best character in the series, and sends her back to secondary character hibernation.
(7) The Clover Curse : Sophie learns about a curse at school, and suffers a run of bad luck. She eventually breaks the curse, but wonders if it was real, or just a series of coincidences.
(8) A Surprise Visitor : Sophie meets a bird who injures their wing. She helps them back to health, then the bird friend leaves and is never seen again.
(9) The Great Big Paw Print : Sophie and friends find giant tracks in and around the town. They soon find the source of their problem is bigger than they think.
(10) It’s Raining, It’s Pouring : Sophie’s class makes things that float for a class experiment. Winston makes a full-on real boat that works.
(11) The Mouse House : Sophie’s sometimes friend Ellie Squirrel gets a dollhouse for her birthday. Sophie’s jealously takes hold as she hangs out with Ellie for all the wrong reasons.
(12) Journey to the Crystal Cave : Sophie finds a cave and a new bat friend. She decides both are better left alone and we never see the cave or her bat friend again.
(13) Silverlake Art Show : Sophie starts a local art fair. Her jealously strikes again as the townsfolk find other people’s entries more interesting than hers.
(14) The Great Bake Off : Sophie’s mom is encouraged to enter a baking contest, which she needs Sophie’s help for.
(15) The Missing Tooth Fairy : Sophie loses a tooth, and is distressed when the tooth fairy doesn’t show up.
(16) Hattie in the Spotlight : Sophie helps her shy friend Hattie prepare for the lead role in a local play.
(17) The Ladybug Party : Sophie helps her new ladybug friend setup for a surprise party. Along the way, she forgets what she needs to do, but manages to bring it all together in the end. Her ladybug friend is so happy, they never show up again.
(18) The Hidden Cottage : Sophie and friends discover a cottage in the forest. They are excited to make it their own, but it looks like someone might actually live there.
(19) The Whispering Woods : Sophie and friends go camping, but forget camping might be scary.
(20) Under the Weather : Sophie is jealous of her brother getting sick and missing school. She quickly changes her tune as she finds out that being sick isn’t as fun as she thought.

Cool Stuff

Here’s a list of fun things I personally found cool:

• Sophie’s does a super cute stick drawing of Pippa in book 9 that’s mostly made of straight lines:
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• When Sophie’s mom looks at the scores in the Bake Off in book 14, they cut the text right before they show the scores, so that when you turn the page the entire next page is the scoreboard. They do it TWICE since there’s two rounds. This is as high drama as you’re gonna get, people.
• Book 6 uses a snowflake for the spine marker, instead of the normal flower mark.
• Continuity. Boy is there a lot of continuity for a chapter book series. The best kind, which is the kind where you don’t have to have read previous books, but if you have, there’s some fun nods there. Sophie references the events of past books a lot, but makes sure to briefly explain what happened to the reader.

Conclusion

The Adventures of Sophie Mouse is very good fun, but don’t let the “adventures” part fool you. It’s more slice-of-life than danger and fantasy. If you’re a fan of chapter books, amazing art, or wholesome stories, (or Pippa) Sophie might be for you.