Town Mouse Country Mouse

Jones's charmingly illustrated, engagingly straightforward work retells the beloved Aesop fable about two mice who discover that indeed ``there's no place like home.'' As in her earlier peep-hole books, two-inch openings in the center of alternate pages offer tantalizing glimpses of things to come and provide cheery ``backward glances'' at the malcontent mice. With the finely wielded lines of her elaborate pen-and-watercolor art (somewhat reminiscent of John O'Brien's work, though less stylized), Jones opts for a warmer and lighter take on the tale than the cool-toned opulence found in Jan Brett's 1994 rendition. The full-bleed pictures are jammed with amusing details, beginning with a cozily crowded Town Mousehole into which peers a hopeful kitty (while a sign by the lair's exit warns, ``Look left Look right Every night''). Ages 4-8. (Mar.)