MOLE AND SHREW

When Mole's tunnel leads him inadvertently to the back of Shrew's medicine cabinet, the first result is some whimsical repartee in the manner of A. A. Milne, in the course of which Mole explains that he's been crowded out of his own home by an overabundance of relatives. Shrew isn't welcoming, but she is polite; she feeds Mole and tries to find him a new home. To her dismay, he settles right next door, happens in for the next two meals, and borrows a number of her belongings. But by day's end she is as charmed as the reader will be when, defying expectation, Mole brings her flowers and invites her to dinner. Ormai's cozy illustrations of the animals' domestic arrangements nicely reflect the story's warm good humor. (Picture book. 4-8)