MOUSE, LOOK OUT!

Newcomer Waite offers a tale of mild suspense. A mouse scampers and scurries through an abandoned house, where a mournful wind is blowing, heightening the drama. Unbeknownst to the mouse, a cat is following, and moving in. Every stanza—“And up the giant steps,/with scrabbling and scratching,/a little mouse was struggling./Then slinking up behind,/a shadow came lunging”—is followed by a refrain: “MOUSE, LOOK OUT!/THERE’S A CAT ABOUT” that ought to inspire hearty choruses at story hour. In the end, a dog that materializes to thwart the cat. Waite’s story is sweet but negligible; what will keep readers flipping the pages is Burgin’s illustrated tour of the deserted house—the artwork naturalistic and detailed—and the modestly menacing cat lurking in the shadows, all stealth and determination. (Picture book. 5-7)