Katie Mouse and the Perfect Wedding

A young mouse’s disappointment turns into triumph in this quaint story featuring a cast of miniature felt animals posed in photo-collage scenes. When Katie Mouse’s cousin Matilda announces that she will be getting married, Katie is excited to be the flower mouse—until she learns that the wedding is going to conflict with her school’s rescheduled Games Day, where she is supposed to serve as the captain of the relay race team. Katie puts her misgivings aside (mostly), and a series of wedding-day mishaps leads her to come up with a plan that effectively brings the relay race to the wedding, and saves the day in the process. Despite the substantial amount of text on each spread, Watson keeps the story moving briskly, demonstrating how compromise isn’t just necessary at times but can be empowering, as well. But although the felt animals and other accessories (lace curtains, miniature furniture, etc.) Watson uses are charming, these three-dimensional objects are awkwardly incorporated into their comparatively flat backgrounds, never coming together to create a cohesive visual environment. Ages 4–9. (BookLife)