Publishers Weekly
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Lindström's story stays light and funny all the way through-then ends with a shaft to the heart. Mouse is a very old dog, and the girl who narrates takes him out. "'Can I take Mouse for a walk?' I ask, and I'm always allowed." As they walk, the girl searches for ways to show Mouse tenderness. "Sometimes he looks up at me and... I maybe say something like 'old man' in a very nice voice, not my usual one." Lindström draws childlike figures in pencil, and colors them with gentle shades of warm orange and leaf green. Once they reach the park, the girl opens her knapsack and they have a picnic: "It's the usual, and Mouse helps himself to mine, too, while I look carefully at a particular cloud." They make their way back, and the girl hands Mouse over to his owner. The page turns. "I wish Mouse was mine," the girl says wistfully. It's a rough moment. Yet readers know that the title tells the truth; the way Mouse looks longingly after the girl on the final page proves it. Ages 3-6. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A white child takes an old dog for a walk in this Swedish import (by way of New Zealand). This graceful picture book by author/illustrator Lindstrm catches at the heart in small ways as the unnamed narrator relates a quiet story of taking Mouse, an old, fat dog with "ears as thin as pancakes," for a walk. Mouse is not the narrator's dog, so first the child goes to Mouse's owner's house and asks to walk him, and "I'm always allowed." Lindstrm's double-page spreads feature backgrounds in soft, frescolike colors that enhance the winsome small figures of the child and dog (and the dog's expressions are delightful). No marked adventures occur; the child and dog walk very slowly to the park, Mouse eats his (and the child's) lunch while the child "look[s] carefully at a particular cloud." On the way back, it gets windy, and "we seem to be standing still but I think we're moving"the wry, gentle narrative voice leads readers along as if it's walking the old dog. When the child delivers Mouse back to his owner, heartstrings are gently tugged. "I wish Mouse was mine," states the child, who walks away bravely, while Mouse's snout in the window on the final page echoes the child's longing. A poignant tale tenderly executed in both illustrations and words. (Picture book. 3-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Every day a girl takes Mouse the dog out for a walk. At story's end, we learn that Mouse belongs to someone else ("I wish Mouse was mine"). Longing for a pet is a common picture-book theme; less common is one that concludes with the disappointment of such yearning. Throughout this Swedish import, Lindstrvm's subdued, naive-style paintings emphasize the girl's devotion to Mouse. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.