There's something irresistible about tiny animals making their way in the cold, harsh world. We meet out heroine, Mona the mouse, as she scurries for shelter through the woods in a storm. An orphan, Mona is on her own and so when she stumbles upon the Heartwood Hotel, a place of refuge for small animals located in a tall oak tree, she is grateful to be hired as a maid. But before she is accepted into the bosom of the Heartwood Hotel staff she must prove her worth, especially to Tilly, a squirrel who goes out of her way to give Mona a hard time. But Mona is determined to win over Tilly and the others and she does so in a most courageous way.
Although the story takes its time to getting started, when the action picks up, readers are sure to be pulling for Mona as she slowly makes a home for herself at the hotel. The details of this woodland wonderland are thoughtfully imagined. In the hotel, chairs are crafted from twigs and lined with moss, pots bubble with acorn mash and sweetgrass stew, and Mona wields a tiny broom, a dried dandelion turned upside down.
A sequel,
The Greatest Gift, is the second book in the series.
Heartwood Hotel: A True Home
by Kallie George
illustrated by Stephanie Graegin
Hyperion 176 pages
Published: July
