THE SHARING PARTY

It’s fall, the apples are ripe, and Max Mouse, eager to have an Apple Party, plans to pick some from a tree in the clearing.

When Max and his friend Henry Hedgehog arrive, the apples are gone. To make matters worse, they discover that their friend Rico Dormouse took them all and doesn’t plan to share them. He picked them all by himself and, for that reason, claims the rights to them. Dejectedly, Max shuts himself into his home. His other friends join forces, deciding that they can have a party with other treats, such as pancakes and apricot lemonade, and they gather the ingredients to do so. Rico apologizes for his greed and shares his apples, so everyone gathers together for an apple pancake party. Much about this story is excessively sweet and sentimental. Many of the animals’ names are cutesily alliterative; Max sprinkles sugar on pancakes at their party and calls it Friendship Powder (“with friendship powder, everything we eat together tastes even sweeter”); the animals sing a song about how sharing is “fun to do”; and sobbing Henry must be convinced that he has something to contribute to the party. The illustrations of these anthropomorphic creatures in muted shades also tend toward preciousness; the animals are all diminutive with button noses (or beaks). Even the book’s title typeface is exceptionally bouncy and cute. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.5-by-17.4-inch double-page spreads viewed at 94.2% of actual size.)

A mawkish, unremarkable story.