Destined to delight dollhouse aficionados, this imaginative tale by a debut author introduces a Maine woman who spends her days decorating dollhouses with furniture, rugs and other miniature objects—all of which she makes herself. Miss Renée then buys plastic dolls to live in the houses, though the dolls "were dull and didn't do anything." But when Miss Renée's barn blows down in a storm, its inhabitants, a cache of frisky mice, move indoors—and before long the dollhouses acquire much livelier occupants. Peterson's (The Orphan Seal) sometimes staid pictures are at their most playful as they show the mice, now dressed in tiny doll outfits, pitching the plastic dolls out the window, cavorting in the "secret drawer" where Miss Renée keeps her chocolate, and partying all night; meanwhile, she and her lazy cat lie awake, unable to sleep with all the noise-making. At last, Miss Renée builds a small sailboat (named The Good Riddance) to carry the mice on a trip around the world, only to discover that she misses their "squeaky singing and pittery-pattery dancing" and that her houses look less beautiful with no one to use them. Kids will be as tickled as Miss Renée at the return of the diminutive crew, who, sporting costumes from all parts of the globe, unload their cargo of wood and fabrics from various continents—enough to keep the miniaturist busy for quite some time. A jolly and jaunty escapade. Ages 4-8. (Nov.)
