A human's trash is a mouse's treasure, isn't that the expression? In this charming addition to the Five Nice Mice collection, Japanese artist Chisato Tashiro (Five Nice Mice and the Great Car Race) brings her exquisite painterly sensibility to the city dump.
The five nice mice are properly introduced: Nibble ("has no idea where his other blue sock is"), Teeny ("never without her green bracelet"), Bon Bon ("always wears his favorite yellow scarf"), Whisk ("the mouse with a knot in his tail") and the red-bowed Abby ("sometimes a little vain"). Early on, cats are established as the enemy, and two very big ones have just moved into the old building where the mice live. The mice search and search for a safer home, until they find "an extraordinary mountain" of cast-off armchairs and clocks, cans and lampshades: the city dump. Delighted, they decide to build a house. A big red chair, overturned, makes an ideal roof, a clock makes a nice pantry and kitchen. The afternoon nap room is perfect: "And when they were finished, the light shone through the glass balls and filled the room with soft, magical light." They even build a Ferris wheel with old bicycle tires! A "MMMEEEOOOWWW!" shatters their newfound harmony, but only temporarily. The poor cat is caught in some twine, the compassionate mice gnaw him free, and in return he becomes their loyal "watch cat."
Children will marvel at the ingenuity of the mice, and revel in the enchanting details of the splendid mouse-house that any creature would love to inhabit. --Karin Snelson, children's and YA editor, Shelf Awareness