CHARLIE MUFFIN'S MIRACLE HOUSE

Charlie Muffin, a mouse farmer, taxidermist, and tinkerer, finds his calm, orderly existence in turmoil when Merry Day, a high-spirited, determined young lady, challenges him to breed a green mouse. He’s fallen in love with her at first sight, so he gives it a try, certain he is doomed to failure. When he succeeds they get married, and honeymoon by entering the green mouse in a championship show. Filled with King-Smith’s trademark gentle wit, this story is reminiscent of Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot, without the slapstick. Charlie is an adult who will appeal to children, with his silly inventions and that somewhat macabre hobby of stuffing dead animals. The love story is delightfully satisfying. (Fiction. 10-12)