MUNCUS AGRUNCUS: A Bad Little Mouse
By
Nancy Watson doesn't do anything new with her stereotypically mischievous mouse after turning him loose in a human's house--Muncus simply ""tromps"" in the pies, floods the bathroom, and ""dribble(s) his ice cream, both peach and vanilla"" on "". . . someone's lace pillow,"" then scoots off--and her singsong, frequently halting rhymes manage nothing more imaginative than the pairing of cannister and bannister or paddle and skedaddle. Daughter Wendy gives Muncus a rakish outfit and a splashy watercolor backdrop and she shows us his capers from some odd, original angles, but even she can't give him a personality or his tiresome capers a plot.