BOOK NAME: Young Fredle
AUTHOR: Cynthia Voight

Have you ever wondered how the world looks from another creature’s point of view? Do you think that everyday things would seem more interesting or exciting if you saw them through a mouse’s eyes? Even the tiniest animals can have some big and exciting adventures.

Fredle is a house mouse. The only environment he has ever known is the kitchen in which he dwells along with his extended family. The nightly routine involves finding morsels of food while avoiding the house cat, then returning to sleep with the family. However, Fredle is quite curious and adventurous. His curiosity gets him into all kinds of trouble, and his sweet tooth puts his life in danger more than once. He strays from his normal routine once too often, and that leads to an unfortunate consequence.

One night, while foraging with his cousin, he devours a new type of food that makes him very ill. Sick or weak house mice are forced out of the nest, because they can no longer contribute to feeding the family. Fredle is pushed out of his nest and finds himself carried outside. Fredle must learn to survive in the wild. He must discover how to find food and water or risk starvation. He must also avoid the jaws and talons of new and ferocious predators. Unfortunately, Fredle’s only lifelines are his own instincts and a couple of field mice who are trying to teach him about staying alive. Fredle longs to get back to his family and his original home in the kitchen where he feels safe.

This book had a good storyline and main character. I liked how the author wrote the story through the Fredle, a house mouse’s point of view. It gave the story an interesting twist because boring things like grass or dirt were described in unique ways. For example, Fredle saw grass as an unending forest of long green stalks. I also liked how the animals could speak to each other, but the humans in the story could not understand them. It made the story seem slightly more realistic, despite the fact that the book is purely fantasy. For instance, the dogs occasionally talk to Fredle or their owners, but all that the humans hear are barks, whines, and growls. The book also had a touch of humor. In one part of the story, Fredle is hiding under the porch when one of the dogs catches his scent. When the dog asks who is under the porch, Fredle whispers “nobody”. The dog thinks that the porch is deserted and walks away confused (It is much funnier in the book). Overall, the book was all right, although the story was a little slow developing.