Theater-loving Millhouse has interactions with many needlessly haughty creatures, most of them "exotic" guinea pigs.

I am always so reluctant to give poor reviews, but I really struggled with this one, and I doubt it will find an audience. This book falls prey to the faulty premise that anything with animals will by default be charming and timeless. Millhouse is meant to be drawn in a way that renders his hairless self semi-cute, but the drawing style (especially the bulbous, oversized eyes and rectangular ears) makes him look alien.

Milly is constantly being chased, ridiculed, verbally abused, ignored, and so forth, in a meandering plot that ends up with no satisfying resolution in terms of his interpersonal relationships with the other creatures (<spoiler>they all fawn over him once he saves them from being burned alive in a fire, except the villainous Pepper Brown ferret, a one-dimensional character with no chance for a shred of redemption, even though he and Milly share a love for the theater. Milly, being "above it," decides to forgive and forget, even though his entire pet store life he has been tormented and essentially spat upon by these other guinea pigs</spoiler>.

Millhouse is a sweet hairless guinea pig who has lost his beloved owner, and now lives in a pet shop with a mess of pets who just do not understand his love of theater and acting. Many fun and sticky situations to share with an elementary audience.

Millhouse is a good suggestion for a read aloud book with children. I was given Millhouse for the purpose of providing an honest review.