GINGERBREAD MOUSE

When a branch crashes into Mouse's home, she must search for new digs. Peeking through the window of a human's abode, she spies the perfect replacement: a gingerbread house. Half the fun of Bratun's (Jack and the Leprechaun) book is looking at the furnishings Mouse rigs up out of matchboxes, bottle caps, candy and the like. The clever, mouse-size bric-a-brac and cute, costumed mouse recall Cyndy Szekeres's settings—except for the addition of a few less convincingly rendered humans. Kids who like dolls and miniatures will savor this cheery offering, especially when Santa arrives and bestows upon the heroine a more permanent home, in the form of a handsome Victorian dollhouse. Ages 6-up. (Oct.)