Vancouver, British Columbia Jul 29, 2026 (Issuewire.com) - Concluding its five-day run on June 21, the fair brought together 1,700 exhibitors from 82 countries and regions, with Mice and the Ice Capade featured at Explora Books’s booth as part of its international exhibition catalog. Celebrating its 40th year, BIBF, the world’s second-largest book fair and Asia's premier international publishing event, focused its activities on the global exchange of knowledge, inclusive narratives, and the enduring role of children’s literature in cultivating shared reading across generations. Within that setting, Mice and the Ice Capade contributed a story rooted in creativity, community, and the joyful possibilities of making something meaningful from what is already at hand.
The story follows a family of field mice who, after months of collecting rice for winter, arrange a “Rice Capade”: a parade and ice-skating celebration crafted from materials sourced and reused from their surroundings. Clothing is sewn from rags; scraps are transformed into skates and sleds, and simple natural materials become decorations and instruments. When the celebration reaches the frozen lake, families gather beneath the full moon to skate, sing, and share food together.
With its primary AABBA rhyme scheme, the poem aims to be read aloud for storytelling and rhythmic enjoyment. Its steady cadence carries readers through preparation, celebration, and the quiet satisfaction that follows a day shaped by shared effort and imagination.
Through the mice’s preparations, the book presents resourcefulness as creative rather than restrictive. The celebration is built not from abundance but from practical knowledge, cooperation, and the willingness to imagine new uses for familiar things. In doing so, the story presents community and ingenuity as experiences worth celebrating in themselves.
Following a long career as a special education teacher in Missouri, Smith published Mice and the Ice Capade at age seventy-seven. Her experience in literacy and childhood learning informs the book’s accessible verse, playful structure, and emphasis on participation and discovery. Those qualities make the story suited to classroom reading, family read-alouds, and independent exploration by young readers.
The 40th BIBF featured over 1,000 cultural events throughout Beijing and launched its first IP Licensing Zone, highlighting the fair’s ongoing commitment to stories that engage diverse readers in various ways. Within that environment, Mice and the Ice Capade offered a reminder that imagination, collaboration, and celebration can emerge from even the simplest materials.
Mice and the Ice Capade is available through Amazon and other major digital bookstores.
About Explora Books
Explora Books is a book marketing firm located in the heart of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The company specializes in self-publishing and marketing, taking pride in its exhaustive research and creative strategies that provide wider avenues for aspiring authors to gain recognition for their works. Explora Books aims to guide authors through the complexities of self-publishing, offering convenient solutions to navigate this process. The firm fosters and redefines creativity and innovation, setting new industry standards. Explora Books is dedicated to empowering authors globally.
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