THE MOUSERY

Beautifully crafted artwork lifts a pedestrian rhymed text in this tale of two grumpy old bachelors who change their ways. Beneath the empty hood of a rusty abandoned car, Slice and Sliver have created a comfortable, cavernous nest, warmed by a quart-size oil-can stove and lined with hanging strips of newspaper. Through falling snowflakes, each different and looking like cut paper, come four shivering “mousekins” in ragged, patched sweaters. Reluctantly admitted through the headlight entrance, their delight and astonishment, as well as their industry in building up the fire, melt the codgers’ hearts, leading to an open-door policy that soon sees dozens of scurrying new residents. Making every whisker, ear, berry, twig, torn bit of playing card, and fragment of newspaper distinct, Cyrus creates a set of sharply focused, increasingly busy scenes as the residents of the mousery huddle down cozily or leap exuberantly out into the snow. Children who pass up the cutesy verses—“How darling they were, / with their soft downy fur, / curled up in an untidy row”—to linger over the illustrations will be well-rewarded. (Picture book. 5-7)