Three Blind Mice

Cauley's richly illustrated text offers the ``complete version'' of the popular nursery rhyme, and begins with three bold mice--fully endowed with the gift of sight and eager for adventure. Along the way they become three cold mice, three glad mice, three starved mice, three scared mice and, as everyone knows, three blind, tail-less mice. Luckily, however, the farmer's wife's knife doesn't end the story, for these plucky heroes meet a chemist who gives them a dose of ``Never Too Late to Mend.'' The trio matures into three wise mice, ``and soon their tails began to grow, / And their eyes recovered their sight, you know.'' The rodents themselves are thoroughly winning--slightly pudgy but very dapper--and the world they inhabit has a warm, golden glow. It's almost impossible not to sing the verses; a simple score is provided at the back of the book. A sweet addition to Cauley's collection of illustrated nursery rhymes ( Old MacDonald Had a Farm ; The Owl and the Pussycat ). Ages 4-8. (May)