Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

This is a nice story and a promising start to a series. I think it is more for reading aloud to very young children rather than for children to read themselves.

Admittedly the characters are not very well fleshed out so far but I am sure that will change as the series progresses. It is an interesting story about a mouse and an owl who go on an adventure and get more than they bargained for. It is simply told with no lessons to be learned. about life, friendships, nature or even ecology. Given that owls and mice (incidentally owls have claws not paws as is stated early in the book ) are predator and prey in real life, I am not entirely convinced about them being paired as friends. I know it is an anthropomorphic fantasy but even so. The villains = crows and weasels - show promise but their motivations are not clear in the book. Poor weasels, they have really never recovered from their depiction in Wind in the Willows.

I felt the ending is a bit rushed but there are mentions of other stories to be told so no doubt that will pan out in time.

I have to say I was not particularly keen on the illustrations - the scenery, especially on the cover page is beautifully drawn, the figures not so much. I think the mouse could be cuter , as it is he has an uncomfortable resemblance to the mice in Art Spiegelman's Maus although i don't suppose children will notice that.