Charley Mouse Cleans House
by Katerina Gorelik

3 out of 5 stars

Charley Mouse is a cleaning lady and she goes around the magical forest and wild wood to clean the homes of the other animals and magical creatures. She cleans the home of Mr. Fox, but is told not to go in the bedroom. We can see that he is hiding caged animals for his dinner. She cleans for Mr. Wolf, and doesn’t see the bones piled up in his pantry. The witch’s house is always filthy, and Charley Mouse knows to stay away from the poison potions brewing in the kitchen, especially one labelled “gin”. The unicorns are sweet clients, but Charley has to clean out their chamber pots. At least their manure smells like strawberry jam, so it’s not too unpleasant. Charley cleans for the gingerbread people, a dragon, the moles, and frogs and snails. But when she gets home, it’s time to clean her own little house!

I liked this cute story! Charley is adorable and I loved the pretty illustrations. Each page shows a layout of the house where Charley is cleaning, and she is given a task to find something in the house, so that we the reader can be searching as well. That adds a layer of fun to the story, and forces the reader to slow down and look carefully at each page.

However, I didn’t like all the hints at violence with Mr. Fox and Mr. Wolf, or the “gin” label on the witch’s brew. That didn’t seem appropriate for a children’s book. We didn’t need quite that many bones in the closet, and cut-off mouse tails in the corner, and chicken legs in the stew. All those body parts are sort of gruesome for a kids book.

To see the sensitive content in this book, you can check it out on the Screen It First website! https://screenitfirst.com/book/charley-mouse-cleans-house-2493876

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.