A little mouse alone at sea endures a storm.Little Mouse is sailing in a tiny boat on the sea. Inexplicably, he also carries a green houseplant with him, prominently illustrated but not mentioned in the text. The sea is rough and churns "vast, / and angry." Little Mouse tries to put up his sail, but the wind is too strong; tries to drop his anchor, but the ocean is too deep. At this point, readers may wonder how the tiny mouse got out to the deep, vast sea with no sail up and why he brought the plant. Yes, this story is a metaphor (piled on quite thick), but some accurate sailing details and believable backstory would not have injured its delivery. Little Mouse is frightened, and to the single star in the sky, he says, "Please." Sure enough, the next day, Mouse spies another little boat, then other boats. Night falls, then day breaks again. The boats are not "together but they weren't alone"-rather like a Zoom meeting. Then the storm is over, everyone goes to land (Little Mouse leaves his houseplant on the boat), and it's "time to be together." The story's earnest narrative unfortunately lacks nuance and originality and takes too many liberties with its sailing theme. The illustrations, all double-page spreads, show, for the most part, a straight-on perspective that, with the matte quality of the medium, manages to feel chalky and also rather flat. (This book was reviewed digitally.)Earnest, but unoriginal and lackluster. (Picture book. 3-6)

In a picture book that is more parable than plot-driven, Little Mouse, a big-eared, gray anthropomorphic rodent dressed in a charcoal scarf and goldenrod slicker, feels fearful and alone, lost in a one-person skiff in an angry sea. But as the sun rises, Little Mouse sees another animal captain, then realizes that he-s surrounded by other captains and crews in their own small boats, which transforms his insular feelings and helps him to realize he isn-t facing the storm unaccompanied. Stemple utilizes a solemn, fabulist tone: -Even when it grew dark, the other boats were there-/close enough to feel them near, but not close enough to crash./ Little Mouse didn-t feel alone at all.- Suvorova-s palette evolves to reflect mouse-s mood in atmospheric digital art, which reflects Little Mouse-s gradually lightening mood in multi-textured spreads. Readers will take heart in this tender volume-s message of finding comfort and hope in community. Ages 3-12. (Oct.)