THE PURPLE RIBBON

A young field mouse grows and changes in a less-than-satisfying story about family. Spring asks her GranDora if she can have a family heirloom, a purple ribbon. She gets an explanation that heirlooms connect them to family members who have left and a list of names of those who have moved on or were eaten by a variety of animals. A comment like this would seem to be a foreshadowing of the dangers ahead. Now older, Spring, who will soon have mice of her own, is now wearing the purple ribbon as she collects seeds. A storm carries her away from GranDora’s house and she must deliver her babies in an abandoned car. Each chapter from this point shares a short story of how Spring and her four young mice live in the car, yet each chapter has little connection to the next. The mice do have a short run-in with a cat and a short separation from each other that causes their mother to go for GranDora. At the end, the mice basically walk their way back to GranDora’s home. Moranville’s title and theme and Alter’s soft pencil pastels raise hopes for a heartwarming family tale. Without a satisfying climax, the last chapter falls entirely flat. Little to pull readers along. (Fiction. 6-9)