Mina
by Matthew Forsythe; illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary    Wiseman/Simon    64 pp.    g
2/22    978-1-4814-8041-3    $17.99
e-book ed.  978-1-4814-8042-0    $10.99

Mina is a mouse, her nose always in a book, who lives “in her own little world where nothing ever bothered her.” Her busy father brings home things he collects from the outside world, and one day he tells Mina that he has a big surprise. The page-turn reveals a massive cat, staring morosely at them. “It’s a squirrel!” he declares. Forsythe’s understated humor effectively conveys Mina’s dilemma: when she can’t sleep, her father tells her there’s nothing to worry about, but looming over them both and taking up nearly every inch of their home is the cat, watching with narrowed eyes. They all manage to get along (and the cat gets a sweater!), but when a doctor visits the ailing pet — who has by now been joined by others — and names it as the feline it is, the cats pounce. (Not to worry.) Mina, much like the protagonist of Forsythe’s Pokko and the Drum (rev. 1/20), is whip-smart and patiently suffers a well-intentioned but hapless parent. The illustrations are also reminiscent of Pokko with their velvety textures; palette of beautiful coppers, crimsons, and forest greens; and warm glow that emanates from nearly every spread. More, please, of Forsythe’s richly imagined forest worlds.

From the January/February 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.