Mabel and Me: Best of Friends

K-Gr 2—A mouse narrates this story about its relationship with its human best friend, Mabel. While wandering through a vaguely European city and discussing their friendship, they encounter a famous French photographer and a famous Spanish ballerina. Each adult tries to befriend Mabel but is dismissive of the "strange little creature thing" with the "scrawny, hairy rodent legs." The confused mouse indignantly defends its supposedly maligned friend, Mabel. When at last the child explains that the mouse was the target of these comments, it laughs "'Oh, Mabel, you are my BESTEST, BESTEST friend because you always say the CRAZIEST things!'" The language is humorous and vibrant, the illustrations are charmingly quirky and full of movement, and the page design is dynamic, but the behavior of the characters is somewhat disturbing. The adults are rude, and the mouse is delusional. Mabel never stands up for her friend and is prepared to hurt the mouse's feelings by explaining the mix-up. As the story opens, the two find themselves unable to explain the reason behind their friendship. As the story closes, readers will still be wondering, too. A strange and unsatisfying tale.—Heidi Estrin, Congregation B'nai Israel, Boca Raton, FL