Delightful.  Little children need to appreciate that whining about a bad day is ineffective and annoying, and this is such a fun way to learn the lesson of the title.  The 'worse' thing is always being almost eaten by a predatory animal, but those parts of the story are shown through comical illustrations, not spelled out in words, so the young reader will giggle proudly each time he sees the hawk, snake, etc. get stymied and the mouse walk away clueless. ( )

Sparse text, but an excellent example of irony: the mouse complains of his bad luck, while the audience knows how he has actually escaped death along the way home. I'd love to moralize at the parallel of our lives and God's sovereignty, but I've so far restrained myself. It's a fun story.

A great way to teach a young child that things can get worse. A predictability to the common phrase. The pictures must be admired through the reading; without them the story makes no sense. A great book! ( )

Alternating bad news / good news. A mouse is on his way home and as bad things keep happening to him (tripping, falling, etc.), the reader keeps seeing -- in the illustrations-- how things could have been MUCH worse, as all the predators (cat, hawk, snake, fish, and fox) who spy the mouse are silently foiled at his every small mishap. Could be used as a writing prompt for young students construct a connected narrative with causation. ( )