In The Big Mouse Party, Cecilia Squeakly, a bright-eyed mouse dressed stylishly in orange balloon pants, a blue shirt, and sporting a crossbody bag big enough to transport a strawberry, “has a sudden – and slightly silly – desire to throw a party.” As co-party planners, she taps Micah Mousely, who sports a jaunty yellow neck cravat, and Molly Mousely, in a billowing skirt and blouse.

The outfits matter because readers are invited to seek and find these characters on every page. That is not an easy task, as Mouse City is populated by many, many mice, as well as some characters who seem a little out of place, such as a bathing octopus, and a briefcase-toting shark. But it’s all good fun, so why ask why? 

There’s an echo of Richard Scarry’s famously bustling world of busy town books. In Scarry’s books, anthropomorphized animals show how different jobs keep a community running; The Big Mouse Party offers budding event planners a few tips of their own. 

Young readers may be too enchanted by the richly illustrated pages to linger on the text, though they will have fun mouthing the sounds included in comic book-style speech bubbles, like the “Om‑Nom‑Nom” of a satisfied mouse munching on a giant slice of party cake.mRb