Tad, a mouse, wants to help the other animals on the farm. Each time he offers, though, he’s told he’s too small. Only slightly discouraged, he decides to try again tomorrow when maybe he’ll be bigger. He arrives home to find all his friends locked out and hungry. Only a small mouse can squeeze through a crack to let them in. It’s certainly not nice of him to eat part of a pie while his friends watch hungrily through the window, but he does let them in to share the rest of the pies. Roddie’s story is one everyone has heard before, but Lavis’s sweet, pudgy critters in oversized watercolor illustrations would win anyone over. Nothing new, but not bad. (Picture book. 2-7)
