DOCTOR DE SOTO

It does say on the sign outside his establishment that animals dangerous to mice will not be admitted. Yet, on one fateful day, Mrs. De Soto prevails upon her husband, Dr. De Soto the dentist, to admit a bandage-wrapped fox. The buzzer is pressed, and Fox is in! What is a mouse to do when a fox imagines a delicious dinner of mouse after the dental work is complete? Stanley Tucci delights in bringing the scheming fox and the clever De Sotos to life. Dr. De Soto’s directives as the surgery proceeds are clipped; the descriptions of Fox’s despicable character matter of fact. Fox’s voice is sickly, and his sotto voce pangs of conscience slimy. Tucci also accentuates Steig’s remarkable language—for example, the secret formula that might “permeate the dentine”! A.R. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2011]