Lucy and the Gift-Wrapped Guests

An enterprising girl named Lucy owns and operates a resort hotel with the help of Liz and Izzy, energetic twin mice who like to juggle in their off hours. When the town's greedy mayor informs Lucy that he wants her land, the girl refuses to give in. Soon a loud, obnoxious alligator checks in, announcing that some of his friends will be arriving later. Before long the raucous gators drive the other guests away, and a distraught Lucy calls her faithful mice to the rescue. Relying on their superlative juggling skills, Liz and Izzy dispatch the invaders in comic fashion, but not before the gators confess that the mayor sent them to force Lucy out of the hotel. Told in rhymed verse that is sometimes clever but occasionally forced, Stadler's zany tale is a satisfying amalgam of sophistication and wide-eyed innocence. His humorously detailed pictures--especially those featuring the juggling mice and the jovial gators--are sure to tickle young funnybones. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)