Shared Space
by Maddie Frost; illus. by the author
Primary    Harper/HarperCollins    32 pp.
4/24    9780063246096    $19.99

Frost’s tribute to the importance of community and friendly compromise delivers its message through a solid mashup of effective cartooning, witty visual gags, and sentimental (not saccharine) writing. Mouse likes living alone in his tree-stump duplex, especially since it provides him with the control to keep his yard extremely tidy. But when Pak-Rat moves into the adjoining apartment, so does a lot of extra stuff—including a forest of pinwheels, an army of garden gnomes, and even an inflatable dancing tube person. Unable to cope with a cluttered yard—but too uncomfortable to speak up—Mouse resorts to secretly burying his neighbor’s possessions in the middle of the night. An amusing twist involving a friendly bespectacled mole unearthing the buried items forces Mouse into an honest conversation with Pak-Rat. “It’s not that I don’t like your stuff. There’s just too much.” Pak-Rat is initially surprised but respects his orderly neighbor’s feelings, and the pair learns to share their space more equitably—and have some fun in the process. Frost’s writing balances earnest narration with an appealing cadence and more offbeat dialogue told entirely with word balloons. The mix of paneled page layouts, single pages, and double-page spreads transitions seamlessly—while the numerous bold sound effects (“BOOP” “THWACK” “ZOOP”), streamlined character designs, jam-packed imagery, and vibrant colors provide continuous visual interest. A pleasingly humorous and harmonious tale.

From the May/June 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.