THE MOUSE IN BEETHOVEN'S HOUSE

Young Melody Mouse and her family share a wall with the noisy classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven in Chow’s debut illustrated children’s story.

Mr. Beethoven is banging loudly on a piano in the next room, and Daddy Mouse complains his family never gets any peace and quiet. Mr. Beethoven can play angrily, sadly, and joyfully. Moonlight Sonata and Für Elise are some of Melody’s favorite piano pieces. One day, Mr. Beethoven doesn’t respond to a knock on the door; the composer soon explains to his visitor that he can’t hear him, and Melody realizes Mr. Beethoven is deaf. The next day, Melody tiptoes across the room and climbs the piano, where she sees Symphony Number 9 and then falls from the piano into a coat pocket. Mr. Beethoven wears the coat, with Melody inside it, onstage to conduct his symphony. Melody loves the music from the clarinets, strings, trumpets, timpani, and singers: “Wrapped up in the swirl of the music, Melody’s heart filled with hope and joy.” Illustrator Reyes shares a dramatic, wordless two-page spread of Mr. Beethoven and every orchestra member and singer. As an introduction to Beethoven and his work, this is a useful book; Melody Mouse’s adventures, with their full-color cartoon-style images, will likely be more engaging to a small child than a more straightforward Beethoven biography would be. However, some real-life details, such as that Beethoven composed on the floor on legless pianos, don’t appear here; instead, he sits on a bench at a more conventional piano. It also would have been interesting to see more of Vienna, where all the characters live.

An engaging, kid-oriented look at a legendary composer and his work.