The Marzipan Pig

March 31, 1987
A marzipan pig, lost behind the sofa, is eaten by a mousewho consequently knows loneliness. The mouse looks to a clock for love, and when she leaves, the clock, in turn, knows emptiness. The owl who has eaten the mouse falls in love with a lit taxi meter, and so on, as each being or object is transformed by its encounter with another. Coming full cycle, a new marzipan pig arrives in the mail and is eaten by the upstairs mouse, who is not eaten by the owl. Instead, she goes dancing all night on the Embankment, wearing a pink hibiscus-petal frock. Exploring the same themes of love and its redeeming power as in The Mouse and His Child, Hoban incorporates humor and adventure in this short, fable-like story. Blake's charcoal-and-ink drawings charmingly illuminate the text. Ages 7-9.

January 1, 2017
When Mary receives a dollhouse inhabited by toy mice, she is disappointed to find that there are no real mice living in it. Then mouse Bonnie, youngest of a large family overflowing its broken-flowerpot home, discovers the Mouse House. Happily-ever-after ensues--realistically. Godden's unmistakable voice shines through, and Adams's illustrations are old-fashioned but lively, perfect for this small-scope but satisfying adventure.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2016
Godden's unmistakable voice shines through in this lesser-known work, first published in 1957. Young Mary is disappointed, when she receives the gift of a Mouse House a homemade dollhouse inhabited by toy miceto find that there are no real mice living in it. Then a little mouse named Bonnie, youngest of a large family overflowing their broken-flowerpot home in Mary's cellar, goes on a nighttime adventure in search of a more spacious abode and discovers the Mouse House. Happily-ever-after ensuesrealistically. The story's details are chosen with precision, and Godden gets the balance just right in her portrayal of her mouse characters: they act both like real mice (shredding the contents of the Mouse House to make a cozy nest) and people (two of Bonnie's sisters make dolls out of silk flowers). Adams's illustrations are old-fashioned but lively, perfect for this small-scope but very satisfying adventure. martha v. parravano

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2016
This existential love story, first published in 1986, is much closer in tone to Hoban's Mouse and His Child than to Bread and Jam for Frances (rev. 12/64). When a mouse eats a long-lost candy pig with a philosophical nature, the mouse ingests its marzipan sweetness, sweetness, sweetness. She suddenly feels a longing she never felt before and falls in love with a grandfather clock. When an owl eats the mouse, the sweet longing is transferred, and he falls head over heels for a taxi meter. The lovesickness keeps passing from one entity to another until a mouse in a pink hibiscus-flower dress eats a second marzipan pig, this one with no experience of life whatever, thus breaking the pattern. Hoban gives each sufferer here an individual personality, grounding the story so that what might have been bizarre or pretentious is matter-of-fact and affecting. Blake's watercolors are understated yet so expressive they make an owl's love for the glowing light of a taxi meter or a worker bee's kindness to a dying hibiscus flower entirely believable. martha v. parravano

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)