Ship in a Bottle

Cat and Mouse live in the same house, and things are good, with a few exceptions. Mouse wants to eat gingersnaps, and Cat wants to eat Mouse. Mouse wants to lie in the sun, and so does Cat. After eating Mouse, that is. So Mouse loads up the ship-in-a-bottle on the mantel with gingersnaps, rolls out the window into the river, and sets sail for a new place to live. She encounters storms, gingersnap-stealing seagulls, and stomach-rumbling hunger before settling into a quiet home, surrounded by new friends. Plot summary isn't the way to appreciate a picture book, of course. Author-artist Prahin's perfectly simple story achieves its greatest impact through some of the clearest, most colorful, and loveliest images I've seen in a while. (Ages 2 to 7) —James (from the Madison Books newsletter; we love this one too!)