CLARIS

The fourth title in the Claris Collection features a Christmastime crime.

Claris the Parisian mouse is delighted to be in New York City with her feline pal, Monsieur, and their human family—though the child in the family is called “the Brat” and she lives up to the name. While this moniker may be off-putting, the rhymed verse peppered with French phrases largely focuses on Claris and her escapades in the big city. The rather cloying tone seems aimed more at adult fashionistas than child readers, as designer name-dropping abounds, and Hess uses her background in fashion illustration to depict Claris getting all gussied up to go shopping. While she and the family await their driver, the très chic rodent spies homeless mice shivering in the cold and begging for food. Their plight weighs on Claris as she heads to Cartier, but her attention soon shifts to the titular holiday heist: While in the glamorous shop, she and Monsieur see another pet, this one in a carrying case, swipe a ruby ring. They pursue the thief and reclaim the jewelry before the person who brought it to the shop notices it’s missing. The book ends with Claris giving aid to the homeless mice, though this subplot seems forced and superfluous to the rest of the book. Claris and Monsieur’s human family presents White; there are some characters of color in the background.

Not one to hurry to swipe off the shelf.