Moustro Provolone welcomes Horace and Morris into his new chorus, but Dolores, the sparkplug of the trio introduced in Horace and Morris, But Mostly Dolores (1999) doesn’t make the cut—perhaps because she belts out “notes no one had ever heard before.” Is she angry? And how—but after discovering that playing alone while her buds are at practice isn’t much fun, she pens an appeal so eloquent—“Who tells a bird she shouldn’t be heard? Singing is just what birds do! So please take my word—I’m a lot like a bird. I have to sing out loud and true!”—that the Moustro is compelled to put it to music for the chorus (and Dolores) to sing. Walrod differentiates each member of her nearly identical, all-rodent cast with small identifying accessories, but uses wide gestures and big dialogue balloons to capture both Dolores’s outrage, and her larger-than-life personality. Though Horace and Morris are largely placeholders here, fans will welcome the triumphant return of this adventure-loving threesome. (Picture book. 6-8)
