A Reading Vocation

This is not the type of book I'd usually enjoy -- it's about talking animals, and it's about detectives, two genres that I generally steer away from. So it's not really surprising that this book didn't do anything for me, although I was hoping I might find something to be pleasantly surprised about, as in The Rescuers.

Alas, it was not to be.

The writing and the reasoning in this book were so simplistic. And I know that's harsh when judging a children's book, but I've read a lot of really good children's books. It all felt rather amateur-ish to me, with stilted dialog and convenient conclusions. Also, for a plot involving kidnapping, nobody seemed particularly alarmed about what would become of the missing girls. These mice clearly live in a much nicer version of reality than we do! It seemed like, with such a light-hearted story, kidnapping may not have been the best choice of crime at the heart of the mystery.

Luckily, the book was short (96 pages) with some illustrations and large font, so it was a quick read. Still, I could have spent that half hour better reading something else.