Charley Mouse Cleans House is a delightful and enchanting picture book by Curious Creatures series author/illustrator Katerina Gorelik.
Charley Mouse lives in a cozy teapot and "loves cleanliness and order." Thus, Charley adores her job tidying the homes of the other residents of the Wild Wood and the Magical Forest. Readers follow Charley as she travels from house to house, starting with the Mole family's burrow, moving on to Mr. Snail and the Frog's swamp, and finishing with the Gingerbread family's cinnamon chalet. Cross sections of each house allow readers to peek inside and see how the characters live: spooky decorations fill Madame Witch's Baba Yaga-like home; the Unicorns' house is filled with rainbows, sparkles, and fluffy pink. The immersive, full-page illustrations include search and find items along with plenty of opportunities for observation and reader-led storytelling. Some visual and narrative irony may go over the heads of little ones--Mr. Wolf's house is overflowing with the meat of his butchered neighbors--but Gorelik's book is sure to provide an entertaining read that will be returned to many times. --Michelle Anya Anjirbag, freelance reviewer