Endearing and clever with spot-on pictures and humorous prose and dialogue for the age group (and adults who love picture books!), The first chapter, "The Friday Cake Day," has a distinct British flavor: "In due time there was a village." "And it was QUITE ACCEPTABLE." "Going for a Look-About" has a touch of melancholy, but lightens at the end. The final chapter, "Front Row at the Picture Show" had me smiling at the picture references to old movies and cheering for Motor Mouse's solution to the sharing problem. This would make a wonderful read-aloud for storytime. ( )

Author Cynthia Rylant and illustrator Arthur Howard, the team behind the popular Mr. Putter & Tabby early reader series, join forces again in this new picture-book, which contains three entertaining stories. In "The Friday Cake Day," Motor Mouse and his good friend Telly discover that pie is makes a delicious treat as well. In "Going For a Look-About," Motor Mouse gets tired of always driving but never looking, and hires a cabby to drive him down Memory Lane. Finally, in "Front Row at the Picture-Show," Motor Mouse finds a solution to his long-running quarrel with his brother Valentino about their popcorn bucket.

An engaging picture-book examination of friendship, with brothers, long-time friends and new ones, Motor Mouse pairs a gentle but entertaining text from Rylant with appealing, humorous artwork from Howard. I've never happened to read any of the Mr. Putter & Tabby books, although I am very familiar with them, so this was my first experience with this particular team of children's book creators, and it was definitely a fun one! I appreciated the moments of genuine insight here - such as the fact that Valentino hogs the popcorn, without really being conscious of it - and the way in which the moments of unease were resolved with humor and compassion. Recommended to fans of this author/illustrator team, and to anyone looking for new picture-books about friendship. ( )