BRAVO, LIVINGSTON MOUSE!

Livingstone Mouse (1996) returns to the scene in a musically themed adventure. A gathering of woodland creatures preparing for a dance performance are nothing but tangled feet (or slithery knots in the case of the snakes) because they ain’t got that swing. Then Livingstone Mouse comes to the rescue with a little rhythm, in a cheery tale that doubles as a modest natural-history lesson. An evening of dance is scheduled in the forest, but as Livingstone comes across the performers, he finds problems, problems, problems: the foxes are trotting on each others toes; the snakes turn the twist into a sheepshank; and the centipede can’t get the clog dance right (“he keeps tripping over his boots”). In each instance, Livingstone politely mentions, “I think your rhythm’s off.” The artists tell him, in so many words, to mind his own P’s and Q’s; but their coaches agree with Livingstone, and he gathers them in his wake as he proceeds from one debacle to the next. The mouse and the coaches form Livingstone Mouse and His Insect Band to provide the necessary ingredient to make the dance a success—the beat. While the story has a pleasing progression with rhythmically repeating sequences, it also manages (in its own droll way) to convey an introduction to an entire company of animals that one might encounter in the woods, as well as a couple of sharply drawn, unusual insects: a cicada and a katydid. Cole’s (The Wacky Wedding, 1999, etc.) artwork is perfectly silly, with lots of commanding two-page spreads in forest greens that make clear the laughable situations Livingstone has found. And a-one, and a-two, keep that rhythm Livingstone. (Picture book. 4-8)