Masks

1994 Six paper masks from G.P. Putnam's Sons as a promotion in connection with Jan Brett's Town Mouse/Country Mouse

The back of each mask identifies its character's name and offers apt quotations and commentary, which I show below. See also, on an advertisements page, stickers that reproduce in smaller format the four mice masks.

Mr. Town Mouse

"Chirrup"

"This country life is just the change I need. I can't wait to taste fresh blackberries."

Mr. Town Mouse finds out that while he's looking for wild blackberries, somebody is looking for him.
Mrs. Town Mouse

"Squeaky Squeak"

"I want to see wildflowers for a change. It would be nice to hear spring peepers."

Mrs. Town Mouse is enchanted by the beautiful country, but does she know it can be dangerous too?
Mrs. Country Mouse

"Squeak, Squeak, Squeak"

"I've always wanted to live in a grand house and sleep in a bed covered with satin."

Mrs. Country Mouse finds lots of beautiful things in the town house, but she can't relax and enjoy them.
Mr. Country Mouse

"Chir, Chir, Chir"

"Cheese is what brings me to the town house. I'm ready to sample cheddar cheese, blue cheese and swiss cheese."

In the town house, Mr. Country Mouse finds that he can smell the cheese, but it is not so easy to eat the cheese.
The Owl

"Hoot, Hoot, Hoot"

"I'm on the lookout for little mice, a mousey snack tastes really nice."

"Owl spies the mice, but just as he's ready to swoop down, something happens. Why does he always just miss his chance?
The Cat

"Meeow-Meeow"

"Sauces and ham, it's hungry I am! Mice in my stew, wait till I catch you!"

Cat loves to chase mice in his town house, but lately everything is going wrong. These new mice lead him into one disaster after another.

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2015 Le petit Théâtre de La Fontaine: 8 Fables a Jouer Masqués. Agnes de Lestrade and Gloria Pizzilli. Tirage No. 1. Paperbound. Paris: Seuil Jeunesse: Éditions du Seuil. $23.91 from Stars and Stripes Bookstore through Amazon.com, May, '16.

There are eight masks here, two to a page, ready to fall out of the die-cut page and be worn. They are: lamb and dog; crow and hare; tortoise and lion; wolf and fox. The masks come with a fine book of eight fables and twenty good scripts of parts to play. The masks themselves are colorful, dramatic, well conceived, and well constructed. My prizes go to the fox, wolf, lion, and hare. This is a wonderful use of La Fontaine's fables! I will keep the whole set with the books.

Crow and Hare
Lamb and Dog
Tortoise and Lion
Wolf and Fox

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