CHRISTMAS MOUSELING

A mother’s tender love and concern for her newborn is the theme of this sweet Christmas story with a well-written, traditional structure and inventive illustrations. As Mother Mouse carries her newborn mouseling through the snow-covered fields searching for a safe haven, she meets several animals: a sheep, a dove and a cow. Each one offers its home to the mice, because the animals are leaving “to see a king.” A repeated refrain of blowing wind, flying snow and sneezing mouseling causes each borrowed home to blow apart, so the two mice eventually follow the other animals toward the star and the stable. There they borrow a corner of the Christ Child’s blanket and receive a kind word from another mother with a newborn. Hartung’s illustrations provide a properly appealing Mother Mouse, who carries her baby out into the world in a sling made of a seed pod. Many pages use large snowflakes layered over the panoramic views, and the repeated refrain is creatively incorporated within the illustrations along pastel blue swirls to indicate the whirling winter winds. (Picture book. 2-7)