  | Full Text Reviews: Bulletin for the Center... - 01/01/2008 Paul Mouse has essentially exiled himself from the rest of the mouse world, as exposure to cheese makes his fur fall out, his tail curl, and his bottom turn blue. However, when Paul and his friends/roommates (Sandra, a plastic Christmas angel and the Tinby, a small, mute, armless creature) visit a posh restaurant, they discover a hideous human practice: humans apparently love to eat “mouse noses on toast.” Horrified, Paul and his friends join forces with his fellow mice (including a hippie mouse named Larry who’s eager to agitate) and a friendly dog named Rowley Barker Hobbs to put a stop to the serving of this gruesome dish. Though the group’s attempts at radical action fail, they do lead the rebellious rodents to a supposed “mouse nose abbatoir,” where they learn that the “mouse noses” are actually clever fakes made out of marzipan by cunning and well-paid mice. This odd and offbeat British import evinces a certain weird charm, and the absurd yet dry humor (“It took a lot for the Tinby to lose its cool, but something about the plate of mouse noses on toast pushed it over the edge”) will appeal to its middle-grade audience. Unfortunately, the characters, while often amusing, are fairly one-note, and the story is slender and random, with the book’s ending particularly feeling flat and abrupt (Paul decides that his allergy, while embarrassing, need not hold him back from enjoying the mouse-nose factory’s Cheddar Mountain). Roberts’ black-and-white drawings are helpful in picturing some of the silliness and entertaining in their own right (the Tinby, for example, is depicted as a beady-eyed, plaid sort of oval household implement with legs). Readers who like a little more substance to their mouse-capades will be better off with Graham Oakley’s church mice, but kids looking for something quirky and quick will find this a breezy read. JH - Copyright 2008 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Booklist - 12/01/2007 Paul Mouse is allergic to cheese; whenever he touches it, his bottom turns blue, his hair falls out, and his tail curls up like a question mark. When he and his roommates—Sandra, a Christmas tree ornament; and Tinby, a mute, metallic creature—decide to go out for a posh meal, they are horrified to learn that the eatery’s most famous dish is mouse noses on toast! Soon a whole group of mice organizes a protest, demanding that the dish be removed from the menu. Short episodes, quirky characters, and humor that focuses on bodily functions will make this a popular choice for readers just beginning to enjoy chapter books. Roberts’ delightful, black line drawings appear in every chapter, breaking up the text and clarifying some of the more illusive characters, such as Tinby. With a surprise ending that’s sure to please, this will attract fans of Frank Asch’s Mr. Maxwell’s Mouse (2004) and work as a lead-in to Dick King-Smith’s more difficult Three Terrible Trins (1994). - Copyright 2007 Booklist. Loading...
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