MI29: Mouseweb International to the Rescue!

Gr 2–4—Four mice are having a ball sliding on their soapy feet in the sinks of a public bathroom at London International Airport. Their fun comes to an abrupt end when the youngest, Florence, dressed in her pink fairy outfit, gets trapped on a sticky rodent pad and carried off to the exterminator. Her rescue by their father, Windsor, reveals that he is not the simple cheese tester they had always thought him to be. In fact, he is a spy with Mouseweb International, an organization designed to support people who need help. With some mouse-sized high-tech gadgets, Windsor and his children help a girl get the medical assistance she needs. The exposition gets a little heavy handed, and the plot development is foreshortened toward the end, but on the whole, the story hangs together with good dialogue and several exciting adventures with classic rat villains. Scattered throughout the book are simple but appealing illustrations of each character and the evil rats. This offering is not quite as clever the "Geronimo Stilton" series (Scholastic), but its fans will most likely enjoy another mouse story.—Gretchen Crowley, Alexandria City Public Libraries, VA