MOLE AND SHREW STEP OUT

The two appealing creatures introduced in Mole and Shrew (1991), now neighbors and firm friends, attend a ball. The invitation is for Shrew, who, in her excitement, exclaims that ``Everybody who is anybody is invited''; then, realizing that Mole is in distress because, without an invitation, he must be ``nobody,'' she invites him to go with her—in ``a black tie and tails.'' Bumbling Mole spends the day assembling a remarkable get-up featuring a lizard's tail and a kite's, among other things, and is the laughingstock of the ball. Embarrassed, he leaves, joined by Shrew: ``It's a very stuffy ball anyway...I'd rather be with you.'' Kids will enjoy the amusing wordplay in the endearingly foolish Mole's exchanges with his perky little friend; Ormai brings them both, and their cozy, well-appointed woodland homes, nicely to life. (Picture book/Young reader. 4-8)