Kirkus Review

Spreading the love and magic of books and friendship, one mouse at a time. Astrid, a small brown mouse, hurries to her first day at Maple Street Mouse School, where her teacher asks the students to introduce themselves. All the students and their families live and work in businesses along Maple Street, but when Astrid introduces herself, the students and teacher say she's either fibbing or very imaginative. Could Astrid's mom really be an astromouse who brings moon cheese home? And, in the evenings, do Astrid and her dad truly swim in a tropical lagoon and eat supper on a mountaintop? One by one, the students visit Astrid in her home, the Book Nook, and soon understand that the books in Astrid's home open the doors to an imaginative world of pirates, monkeys, dinosaurs, medieval times, and more. One student still refuses to believe that Astrid's mother is an astromouse, but, at show-and-tell, Astrid's mom explains that reading books about space as a kid made her want to be an astromouse, and now she is one. Illustrations feature adorable mice against vibrant backgrounds with just the right amount of detail. Be sure to "read" the endpapers, which, in the beginning, show the human version of Maple Street, then detail the mouse version at the end. A delightful homage to the inspirational power of books that also asks readers to be kind to new friends. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.