LITTLE MOLE, PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR!

Unexpected visitors interrupt Little Mole one cold winter night.

“Snuggling into her warm bed,” Little Mole hears knocking and discovers Frog, freezing on her doorstep. Just as Little Mole ensconces Frog on her sofa, she hears more knocking. One after another, her woodland friends arrive, seeking shelter from the snow. Wearing comfy nightcap, bathrobe, and slippers, unflappable Little Mole welcomes Squirrel, “shivering in the snow,” Badger, “soaked to the skin,” and cold Mama Chickadee and her babies. Then there’s more banging on the door, and Wolf unexpectedly bursts in, threatening to eat everyone. Fortunately, Badger orders all to attack Wolf, who’s quickly restrained and tethered. Unfazed, Little Mole brews her special soup just in time for more winter visitors. The repetitive device of Little Mole’s woodland friends arriving seriatim does not prepare readers for Wolf’s dramatic entrance unless they have observed his dark shadow ominously lurking outside, arousing suspicion. Watercolor illustrations use line and color to relay the cozy details of Little Mole’s warm, well-stocked burrow, in marked contrast to the dark, snowy, frigid outdoors. In the face of Wolf’s sinister snout and fangs, the friendly, familiar, readily identifiable shapes of Little Mole and friends prove reassuring.

A deceptively simple tale guaranteed to tickle wee readers