Mouse Noses on Toast by Daren King

"A stunted juvenile mystery and adventure."

Mouse Noses on Toast: A stunted juvenile mystery and adventure.

Paul lives in a shoebox at the bottom of Rowley Barker Hobbs’s garden with “the Tinby” and Sandra, a Christmas Tree angel who became real. Paul is a mouse, and he is allergic to cheese, which makes his bottom blue, his hair fall out, and his tail curl into a question mark.

After a visit to some mouse friends who are obsessed with cheese, Paul’s anti-cheese suit, made of Clingfilm, fails him when he sits on a cheese chair. His bottom turns blue. When he goes home Sandra, the Tinby, and Paul decide to ignore his blue bottom and go to a posh restaurant for dinner, inviting Rowley Barker Hobbs along. Thus begins the adventure and mystery of what to do about mouse noses on toast.

Daren King’s mouse adventure comes illustrated with cute pen and ink drawings of the characters, and his premise is quite interesting. Mouse Noses on Toast is charming, if a little short on mystery. Much is left unexplained in the story.

The Tinby’s disappearance and madness are tossed in as an afterthought, almost as if King lost track of his character. Mouse Noses on Toast has a singsong rhythm that is appealing and is a quick read. King opts for style instead of accuracy in choosing ‘mouses’ as the plural of mouse instead of ‘mice.’ The ending, although it solves the mystery and ends the adventure, is abrupt and leaves the reader wondering what happened. All in all, Mouse Noses on Toast is promising, though the storyline could have been strengthened.

Reviewer: J. M. Cornwell