Janis Ian's lyrics (commissioned for an album called Harbour of Songs for the 2012 Olympics) make an ideal debut picture book and cautionary tale upon which to build illustrations by Ingrid and Dieter Schubert (The Umbrella).
Ian's story of a tiny mouse who pines for adventure brims with his overlooked treasures, such as "a jack-in-the-box who popped every Sunday at five o'clock" (imagined as a cat's head in the Schuberts's illustration) and a clown with "a frown that was deafening," pictured on a bicycle. A glorious image of the "motion of the ocean" depicts the moon and its reflection as if they're the mouse's double vision, and a catfish (with a literal feline head) serves as figurehead on the prow of the ship. When the tiny mouse discovers that his captain is a cat, he jumps overboard, luckily making a safe landing and finding love. Sheet music and a CD recording round out this lovely package. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness