The Mouse Before Christmas

In Turner’s homage to Clement C. Moore’s “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” a mouse is indeed stirring—Mouse Santa, who introduces readers to a mouse family via his Christmas Eve visit. As “the other mice dozed/ in their little mouse beds,/ While dreams full of cheesecake/ danced in their heads,” squeaky urgings can be heard when Mouse Santa commands the eight rosy-cheeked beetles pulling his diminutive gift-laden sleigh. After a smooth landing, not on the roof but on the snowy ground, he squeezes through a crack in the wall “and into the mousehole,/ with presents for all”—including, of course, plenty of cheese. Løvlie’s mouse-centric setting features a thimble vase, a thread spool side table, and tiny stockings lined up on one smallish bough, making for a cozy and festive Christmas Eve read. Ages 3–7. (July)