Reviews

A marzipan pig, lost behind the sofa, is eaten by a mousewho consequently knows loneliness. The mouse looks to a clock for love, and when she leaves, the clock, in turn, knows emptiness. The owl who has eaten the mouse falls in love with a lit taxi meter, and so on, as each being or object is transformed by its encounter with another. Coming full cycle, a new marzipan pig arrives in the mail and is eaten by the upstairs mouse, who is not eaten by the owl. Instead, she goes dancing all night on the Embankment, wearing a pink hibiscus-petal frock. Exploring the same themes of love and its redeeming power as in The Mouse and His Child, Hoban incorporates humor and adventure in this short, fable-like story. Blake's charcoal-and-ink drawings charmingly illuminate the text. Ages 7-9. (May)

Gr 2-4 Hoban has created an offbeat tale wherein the title character makes only a brief, catalytic appearance. The marzipan pig has fallen, unnoticed, behind the sofa, and is eaten by a mouse. The pig's sweetness and his thoughts are transferred to the mouse, then to the owl who eats the mouse, starting a chain of events which comes full circle by the story's end. This is an odd little piece with quirky moments (the owl, for example, falls in love with a taxi meter), yet not without humor, and while some readers may find this a bit on the treacly side, fantasy fanciers may find merit in Hoban's evocative prose. Frequent black-and-white sketches, somewhat murky, neither help nor hinder the text. Kathleen Brachmann, Highland Park Public Library, Ill.