LIBRARY MOUSE: A FRIEND'S TALE

In the sequel to LIBRARY MOUSE, Chris Sorensen recounts Tom's unusual friendship with Sam, the reclusive library mouse and petite author. Sorensen's even, welcoming delivery moves at a suitable pace for young listeners to follow. Without Kirk's illustrations, however, Sorensen's narration faces an uphill battle to bring the story to life. Constrained by the short text of the picture-book form, Sorensen isn't given much detail with which to create lifelike characters, and he is unable to convey the parts of the story that are given only in the pictures themselves. While Sorensen presents this unadorned tale with admirable warmth, in the end, it lacks spark. One might consider purchasing the printed book to look at while listening to the audio. C.A. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2009]