The Pied Piper Of Peru

Available online only. Limited quantities available.

Like Tompert's Saint Nicholas (2000), this book draws on an incident that reportedly happened, in this case to Saint Martin de Porres, who grew up in sixteenth-century Lima, Peru. For somewhat younger children than Saint Nicholas, this recounts only one story, rather than several. Juana the mouse lives a quiet life in the priory until a greedy new mouse alerts the Dominican brothers to the mouse colony. When a cat fails to rid the priory of rodents, Brother Martin is instructed to use traps. Fortunately, he finds a solution more fitting to God's plan. Lithuanian artist Kasparavicius fleshes out the rather thin story with realistic human figures and expertly detailed backgrounds of the priory garden and buildings. The problem comes with his depiction of the mice, which are sweetly decked out in little aprons--a rather odd juxtaposition to the otherwise lifelike pictures. Still, the gentle feel of the art fits the story, and kids will enjoy following the activities of the mice as they try to make a new home.