A NEW HOUSE FOR MOUSE

A mouse's eyes are bigger than her stomach—and her meal is bigger than her house, too—in this chipper paper-over-board picture book featuring die-cut holes that grow larger with each spread. When a big red apple appears outside her hole-sweet-home, Little Mouse is eager to make a meal out of it. But, as the sizeable fruit won't fit into her modest dwelling, she sets off to find a new home for herself and her hefty harvest. However, each new larger die-cut hole the mouse happens upon is already inhabited by a content owner with no room to spare. Luckily, her search makes Little Mouse hungry, and as she takes time for a few nibbles of apple, makes the fruit a little less cumbersome. By the time she sees a hole that looks just right, she's actually right back where she started, and with an apple that can now fit inside her home with her. The simple wanderings of a rodent on a mission make the perfect plot for these die-cut pages. Horacek's (When the Moon Smiled ) energetic watercolor-and-cut-paper art suggests a kicky blend of Eric Carle and Simms Taback. Black scratchy backgrounds alongside the brighter peek-a-book effect will have little ones imagining the view underground in their own backyards. Ages 3-5. (Nov.)