Do you want to be my friend? asks the little mouse, and hopefully follows a tail, finding at the end of it a rather unfriendly horse. But there's another tail, and another, and a strange, long, green one, too, that follows the mouse on his quest for a friend.

Each page of this ingenious picture book contains a surprise. Its only text is on the first page, but the exciting pursuit of a friend for the little mouse lends itself to improvisation by both the reader and the young child -- another brilliant idea from Eric Carle, the creator of The Secret Birthday Message and The Mixed-Up Chameleon.

Notable Children's Books of 1971 (ALA)
Children's Books of 1971 (Library of Congress)
Honor Book, Book World Spring Book Festival 1971

• Eric CarleanimalsJuvenile fictionpicture bookStory Book