cover image The Green-eyed Mouse and the Blue-eyed Mouse

The Green-eyed Mouse and the Blue-eyed Mouse

Bob Gill, Phaidon, $14.95 (28p) ISBN 978-0-7148-4887-7

In this squat, spare picture book about two mice learning to trust each other, which Gill (What Colour Is Your World?) created in the 1960s but is only being widely published now, Noah (the green-eyed mouse) and Rafaella (the blue-eyed mouse) spy each other—well, each other's eyes—through a die-cut hole in the pages. Gill builds suspense through the mice's exchanges ("Who are you?" "Who are you?" "I'll tell you if you'll tell me first." "Why should I tell you first?") as each supposes the other to be various threats. "Rafaella had never seen a green eye before and she imagined it belonged to a child catcher, or a traffic warden." Arch asides provide more laughs: "Finally Rafaella realized that unless she did something soon, this book would not have a happy ending." Gill's b&w line drawings are reminiscent of Thurber drawings, and the dashed-off look may not have wide appeal. This reductive approach, though, keeps the focus on the mice's fears and their need to make a leap of faith, making them all the easier to identify with. Ages 3–6. (Nov.)