Mimi &
The Gold Baton

From author Cheryl Olsten, a modern fable about inclusivity, ambition, and following your heart.

A modern fable that reminds us all that there is room on the stage for everyone.

In a centuries-old music shop brimming with instruments lives a most unusual musical family—a family of mice. Having grown up among the eloquent sounds of violins and a stately grand piano, Mimi wants nothing more than to lead an orchestra and become a mousetro. Unfortunately, Mimi’s brash and biased brothers are not very encouraging. “Girls can’t be mousetros,” they sneer. In spite of her brothers discouraging words, she finds the courage within to pursue her dream. Emboldened by a chance encounter with a real maestro and recalling a secret from her mother, Mimi eventually conducts a very different kind of orchestra—one where everyone is invited!

A modern picture book fable about inclusivity, ambition, and following your heart, Mimi and the Golden Baton will have children ages 3-6 cheering as she takes on risks and defies the naysayers. Through her quest to become a moustro, Mimi finds an unlikely orchestra, symbolizing musicians of all stripes coming together.

Mimi and the Gold Baton reminds us all that there’s room on the stage for everyone!

After all, even a mouse needs to be heard.

Available From the Following Retailers and Everwhere Books Are Sold

Download printable constellations, Leo, Pegasus, and Orion. Get out your crayons, connect the dots, color, and begin to see the amazing patterns created by the stars above.

About the Illustrator
Paolo D’altan

I was born in Milan, Italy, where I work and live with my family (human and feline). When I was little, my father designed planes for my brothers and myself, and our “American aunt” gifted us our portraits on huge sheets of paper, which definitely had some influence on us; I was always drawing abstruse cartoons with my brothers. When I think of the illustrations from my childhood and adolescence, what comes to mind is an exhaustive, though not exactly chronological, list of colorful illustrations of underwater life, famous illustrators from Italy and elsewhere, and cinema in general. I thought I’d become a cartoonist, and for years, I drew only in black and white. After studying the classics in high school, art school introduced me to colors, and from then on, I haven’t stopped experimenting with diverse, expressive possibilities through traditional and digital techniques.

After studying classically and teaching myself fundamentally, I approached color by studying illustration in the fantastic setting of Castello Sforzesco in Milan. I have been working for advertising agencies in Italy, magazines, publishers, and illustrating children’s books and classic novels, affirming myself as one of the leading Italian illustrators. My work has been featured in both Italian and international exhibitions and selected and awarded in illustration annuals. I have served as President of the Italian Association of Illustrators.