Going On the Reading Adventures With Mooty

I saw an ex-colleague talking about these books with her friends on Facebook and they mentioned that they had read these books as children. 

I have never read these books myself so my curiosity was piqued. The next thing I knew, I had borrowed all five of them home from the library for Baby to read them.

When Coco was at Baby's age, she had finished reading all the Harry Potter books available in print.  She had gone on to thick and wordy children's literatures such as The Secret Garden and The Outsider and was scavenging the house and rummaging my cupboard for books to read. At P4, she was reading the study guide for Jane Eyre. The only books that threw her off were Hamlet and Volpone that were in Shakespearean language. 

I had tried to get Baby to read wordier children's books in vain. The only book she was willing to read on her own accord was Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes which was recommended by her P1 English teacher to the P4 pupils. I simply told Baby that her English teacher had recommended the book (without the part on P4 pupils) and she read it without a qualm. She even enjoyed it. Unfortunately, her good experience with the book strangely did not manage to whet her appetite for similar books.

I began to accept that Baby is a different child from Coco and that not every child progresses in reading in the same way. 

I decided that the love for reading is more important than the progress in reading age, so I made up my mind to be happy to borrow picture books for her. If these are the books she wants to read, so be it. After all, I enjoy these books myself!

These Mooty books are very simple books meant for young children aged before or up till 6. Simple words and simple structures generally.

Each book consists of two stories eg. Book Five has Mooty Falls In Love and Mooty Has a Son so they make for very quick and simple read. 

 

Book One actually features the local context ie. Mooty and the Satay-man. It fosters a familiar tie with the local reader. 

 

The other title is Mooty and Grandma which is the introductory story, and it represents the common fear and detest for a mouse by a grandmother in a candid way.

 

Book Two is about how Mooty Moves Out to find a place where he belongs, and there is a display of wit and courage in the next story Mooty Saves a Life.

 

In Book Three, Mooty Goes to School talks about the importance of literacy and mathematical skills in a simple manner ie. Mooty felt inferior that his younger friends could read, write and count but he could not, but his diligence was greatly rewarded when he worked harder than his friends who had a headstart.

 

After studying comes play. The next story Mooty Plays Hide-and-Seek is an educational story about how lizards' tails would grow back themselves after they drop off.

 

Book Four incorporates the space elements in which Mooty goes to space ie. Mooty and the Spacemen and Mooty the Space-Mouse.

 

 

The easy-to-understand storylines coupled with cute illustrations make for an enjoyable read. In fact, Baby liked the books so much she did not want to return them immediately after finished reading them. I am happy with these books because they open my mind to be more accepting to having Baby read simple books.

It appears these books have a Chinese-translated version as well but I will do well with developing Baby's love for reading for now.