The Beginning

January 15, 2024
The spirits of Frog and Toad are alive and well in this moving and funny first volume in an early reader trilogy by DiCamillo (Ferris), which chronicles the unlikely blossoming friendship between a cynical rat and a curious, naive owl. Orris the rat is perfectly content living safe and alone in his cozy barn nest where a treasured sardine can advertises, “Make the good and noble choice!!” But Orris’s peace is shattered when a fluffy white owl with shiny yellow eyes gets caught in a barn-floor mousetrap and screeches for help. Conflicted about aiding his natural predator, Orris grudgingly (“For the love of Pete”) heeds the sardine can’s motto and embarks on a heart-pounding quest to free the ensnared owl, Timble. Orris is not only a doer of good deeds, he’s a gifted storyteller to boot, and both protagonists learn to trust in the easy rhythm and happy feelings brought about by sharing tales with a friend. DiCamillo expertly wraps humor, kindness, the courage that purpose ignites, and a love of story into a concise, welcoming package. Quiet watercolor-and-pencil scenes by Mok (Cone Dog) are rendered in shadowy nighttime grays, blacks, and browns that crisply contrast Timble’s bright plumage. Ages 5–8.

January 1, 2024
Grades K-3 Within a wall of an abandoned barn, Orris the rat has made his home. Among his prized possessions is a sardine can decorated with an image of a sardine king and the words "Make the good and noble choice!" These sage words echo in Orris' mind when a young snowy owl (Timble) flies into the barn, gets his foot caught in a mousetrap, and cries out for help. Though fearful of the owl's talons, Orris cannot ignore the king's command. Recalling Aesop's fable ""The Lion and the Mouse"" as he pries open the mousetrap, Orris frees Timble, who flies off only to quickly return to hear the fable in full. Thus, DiCamillo sets the stage for an unlikely friendship and a new early chapter-book series grounded in kindness and a love of storytelling. Her short chapters are wonderfully illustrated by Mok, whose gouache, colored pencil, and graphite artwork lends endearing details and warmth to the story. Young readers will look forward to seeing what adventures are in store for this darling duo.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Will this be popular? Duh! Twice a Newbery medalist, DiCamillo knows how to tap into readers' hearts, no matter their age.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2024
Orris the rat lives a quiet, reclusive life nestled in the wall of an abandoned barn. He papers his hideaway with stories from discarded books, tends to his treasures (a slipper, a marble, a sardine can emblazoned with a jaunty, crown-wearing fish), and carefully avoids danger. When a young owl finds himself snagged in a mousetrap outside of Orris's door, the rat is faced with a moral dilemma: help the predator, risking that his favor may be repaid with violence, or ignore the owl's clear suffering from the safety of his own nest. This test of character sits at the center of an intimate, fully illustrated early chapter book. As the story is a clear variation on Aesop's "The Lion and the Mouse," the moral option may seem obvious, but DiCamillo's artful use of spare and telling detail along with Mok's attention to visual perspective in her atmospheric art give weight to the rat's decision. Orris's face-off with his admired sardine can's offbeat branding insisting that consumers "make the good and noble choice!!" adds levity. While Orris works to release the trap, a nimbly narrated conversation sets a tentative friendship in motion between Timble, an awkward, good-intentioned lover of stories, and Orris, a grumpy, lonely collector of tales. This is a tender, carefully drawn opening to a promising character-driven series. Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from May 15, 2024
In this opener to a planned trilogy, a mousetrap nailed to a barn floor brings a solitary old rat and a story-loving owl together. Orris the rat seems quite comfortable nested amid his gathered treasures, which include a special marble, a cozy red velvet slipper, and a sardine can with the phrase "Make the good and noble choice!!" That pesky moral imperative proves its worth when, after crawling out to investigate a cry for help, Orris finds himself, against his better judgment, negotiating with a trapped young owl named Timble by telling him part of the story of the Lion and the Mouse and then actually helping to free the owl's trapped claw. Afterward, to his surprise and pleasure, not only does Orris remain uneaten but Timble reappears with both a butterscotch candy as a thank-you gift and a request for more stories. Though DiCamillo only hints at the feelings of loneliness, terror, relief, and joy concealed beneath Orris' crotchety exterior, readers will see these emotions clearly enough in the sparely written narrative. Mok does the same with her nocturnal views of the hunched, drably hued little rat lounging in his slipper or tiptoeing gingerly over a shadowy wooden floor strewn with tufts of hay toward a huge, brilliantly white, initially terrifying foe who turns out to be young, scared, and not at all as predatory as his appearance suggests. A simple tale about looking beneath surfaces that's as sweet as butterscotch candy. (Early chapter book. 7-9)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 13, 2024

K-Gr 2-From the celebrated DiCamillo comes a deceptively simple tale of an emerging friendship between a rat and an owl. Orris, a streetwise rat, has "lived in the dangerous world for a long time." Now, he lives alone in the peaceful solitude of an abandoned barn with his nest of treasures-until his peace is interrupted by a screeching owl. Young Timble has flown into the barn and landed on a mouse trap. Orris, knowing that owls eat rats, is determined to stay out of it. But his cozy nest loses its sheen as he listens to the owl struggle. Orris's attempt to "make the good and noble choice" and help Timble results in an odd new friendship. Mok's gentle illustrations fill in the story in a lovely way, helping young readers read between the lines of the fairly straightforward text. She makes use of light and shadow to highlight a simultaneous coziness and loneliness of the abandoned barn, zooming in and out at just the right moments. For instance, when Orris creeps out to see the trapped owl, Mok zooms in on the despondent Timble, eyes closed, body slouched. After Timble then begs for help, and Orris debates whether to give it, the text notes, "There was a great silence in the barn." Mok's illustration zooms out to show how small the animals are in the great, empty space. VERDICT A sweet read for young children who may not be quite ready for Charlotte's Web.-Lindsay Loup

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2024
Orris the rat lives a quiet, reclusive life nestled in the wall of an abandoned barn. He papers his hideaway with stories from discarded books, tends to his treasures (a slipper, a marble, a sardine can emblazoned with a jaunty, crown-wearing fish), and carefully avoids danger. When a young owl finds himself snagged in a mousetrap outside of Orris's door, the rat is faced with a moral dilemma: help the predator, risking that his favor may be repaid with violence, or ignore the owl's clear suffering from the safety of his own nest. This test of character sits at the center of an intimate, fully illustrated early chapter book. As the story is a clear variation on Aesop's "The Lion and the Mouse," the moral option may seem obvious, but DiCamillo's artful use of spare and telling detail along with Mok's attention to visual perspective in her atmospheric art give weight to the rat's decision. Orris's face-off with his admired sardine can's offbeat branding insisting that consumers "make the good and noble choice!!" adds levity. While Orris works to release the trap, a nimbly narrated conversation sets a tentative friendship in motion between Timble, an awkward, good-intentioned lover of stories, and Orris, a grumpy, lonely collector of tales. This is a tender, carefully drawn opening to a promising character-driven series.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)