PHOTOGRAPHER MOLE

Mole’s fine portraits and photographs of family gatherings and special events hang in every home and office in his quaint, 19th-century, English-looking country town. While everyone thinks his work is excellent, Mole’s unsatisfied and can’t quite understand what’s missing. Much to the dismay, chagrin, and disappointment of his loving and caring neighbors, Mole temporarily closes his shop and leaves town to do some soul-searching. In his absence, much happens that isn’t captured on film—the Sheep Jubilee, the Bulldog Reunion. Finally, upon his return, Mole is eagerly met by his friends the Porcupines, the Rabbits, and the Lawyer Swans, and descends from the train with a new bride-to-be, thus adding the missing detail to his life. This story of inner loneliness illustrated with full-page paintings in ink, watercolor, and oil wash, reflects an era of cobblestone streets, rolling green hills, red clay-tiled roofed cottages, and a menagerie of characters dressed in period clothing. The notion of balancing a successful career with family and home may be lost on youngsters; however this historical vignette is quite pleasing and intriguing all the same. (Picture book. 5-7)