Even second bananas sometimes have their day. Louise Cheese is a little girl with big dreams. She longs for her parents to be movers and shakers. She yearns to dress up and be glamorous like her sister Penelope. And when the time comes for the kids in Louise’s class to try out for the school play, she is convinced that she will win the lead role. Instead, she is horrified to discover that her mousey best friend Fern has been given the part while Louise is relegated to being a mere mouse. The resulting spat between friends is resolved when Louise discovers that she can still play an important role in the play, even if it’s not the one she initially envisioned. A perfect pairing to Kevin Henkes’s Lilly’s Big Day (2006), this book presents a protagonist with whom many a mini-diva will be able to identify from page one. Goode’s liquid lines and sympathetic characters give the text the pop it deserves. Charming from endpapers to endpapers. (Picture book. 4-8)
