Eek! There's a Mouse in the House Book

EEK! There’s a Mouse in the house. Send in the Cat. Send in the Dog. Send in the Cow. Send that Cow NOW! Who will help catch that Mouse?

This humorous rhyming tale, now being offered in board book format, depicts the chaos that ensues when a mouse is discovered in the house and a variety of animals are invited inside to help chase it out.

Publishers Weekly

In this pandemonious, prepossessing debut, a girl allows a succession of antic animals into the house to chase a lively mouse which is itself dashing after an elusive hunk of Swiss cheese. But the striped cat gets sidetracked by a goldfish, the pig would rather eat cake, and so on, until the house fills with a number of animals embroiled in as many pursuits. The bedeviled narrator calls for reinforcements--from the cow, the horse and finally, the elephant. The rhyming text (``Send in the Hog / to shoo the Dog!'') is whimsical and appropriate; the meter, however, is often slightly off (``The Horse kicked a hole in the wall. / Send in the Elephant to get rid of them ALL!''). Readers can predict which animal will visit next by visual clues skillfully integrated into Lee's deliberately flattened gouaches, which have a two-dimensional quality akin to children's own art. Riotous colors and patterns--yellow-and-purple checkboard tiles, aquamarine living room walls, a flowery red-orange sofa--provide bright backdrops for Lee's rambunctious menagerie. Ages 2-3. (Sept.)