Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 2nd Jun 2026 - Written predominantly in an AABBA rhyme scheme, the children’s poetry book follows a community of mice who transform winter field scraps into a neighborhood celebration after months of storing rice for the cold season. Determined to reward their hard work, the mice organize a “Rice Capade”—a parade and ice-skating festival built entirely from repurposed materials gathered from their surroundings.

Rags become gowns and suits, rubber scraps are fashioned into skates and boots, cardboard is repurposed into sleds for the youngest mice, and cattail stalks are turned into flutes. Grandma prepares rice puddings, cookies, and savory dishes from a campfire oven while floats decorated with rice, nuts, and fruit glide across the frozen landscape. Beneath the full moon, the community gathers to skate and sing alongside the music of the frogs.

The book’s poetic structure reinforces its playful storytelling. The rhythmic AABBA rhyme scheme gives the verse a read-aloud quality designed to engage young listeners, while the imagery of moonlit skating scenes and handmade parade floats lends itself naturally to visual imagination and shared reading experiences.

At its center, Mice and the Ice Capade highlights cooperation, creativity, and resourcefulness. By transforming ordinary objects into something joyful and communal, the story emphasizes the value of collective effort and imaginative problem-solving.

Carley Smith spent her career as a special education teacher in Missouri and published Mice and the Ice Capade at age 77 as her debut book. A lifelong writer of poetry, Smith drew on decades of experience supporting literacy and language development in classroom settings while crafting the book’s rhythmic and accessible verse.

Explora Books will feature Mice and the Ice Capade at Booth 5A.B14 during the 2026 Beijing International Book Fair. The book is also available on 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.