Maximilian, an earnest young mouse, travels in an onion-juice-fueled, acorn-shaped time machine to save his mouse family's oak tree home. In each installment, the machine malfunctions (of course), affording Maximilian a rodent's-eye-view of pivotal moments in American mouse history. Tedious exposition, wooden characters, and unnatural dialogue hamper this amateur effort. Occasional black-and-white drawings are as goofy as the premise. Glos.

HORENDER, Philip M. Yankee Mouse: Gettysburg Address Observer . Bk. 2. ISBN 9781616419585 . LC 2012050546. HORENDER, Philip M. Head West Young Mouse: Transcontinental Railroad Traveler . Bk. 3. ISBN 9781616419592 . LC 2012050547. ea vol: illus. by Guy Wolek. 112p. (Maximilian P. Mouse, Time Traveler Series). glossary. ABDO / Magic Wagon . 2013. Tr. $18.95. Gr 2-5 Maximilian P. Mouse is more or less an ordinary mouse, until the circumstances of his life send him hurtling back through American history. In Patriotic Mouse , he learns that his home is being sold to a developer who wants to level the entire glen. Maximilian borrows a time traveling machine from Nathaniel Chipmunk III and intends to travel back in time a few weeks prior to the present day to prevent the farmer from selling his ;homeland. Maximilian instead finds himself in 1773 Boston. He befriends a member of the Sons of Liberty and helps in the fight for colonial rights. In the next installment, Yankee Mouse , the machine takes him to 1863, just a day before Abraham Lincoln delivers his famous speech. The third time Maximilian gets in the time machine, in Head West, Young Mouse , he lands just a few years ahead, in 1869, near the location where the final spike was driven for the Transcontinental Railroad. This is a series that needs to be read in order, as only brief statements are made regarding the premise in the second and third books. Wolek's pencil illustrations capture key moments throughout the series and offer good character and expression. The books include brief back matter providing more context for the events featured in the story, and feature a glossary of unfamilar words used throughout the book. (Words that appear in the glossary are bolded in the text). Teachers will love the rich vocabulary (the first book contains words such as catastrophic, fortnight, and lattice). An additional purchase for libraries where readers cannot get enough history-rich series. Amy Commers, South St. Paul Public Library, MN