When country-cousin Muffletump shows up on Mitzi's urban doorstep, the two witches are thrilled finally to meet. But very quickly, Muffletump finds herself less than charmed with the hustle and bustle of city life, casting sweet-sounding spells to make herself more at home: "TWINKLY-WINKLY!" she cries to summon sheep to help her sleep. Likewise, when Mitzi ventures into Muffletump's woods, she finds rustic living more than she can bear. Can the two find a way to be happy together? The old city-mouse-country-mouse chestnut wears thin, particularly under the forced rhyme, but readers will enjoy the details of Gibala-Broxholm's illustrations, which make the most of the absurd situations. (Picture book. 5-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

K-Gr 3-A rhyming story based on "The City Mouse and the Country Mouse." Mitzi is a city witch who returns home one night to an unexpected visitor, her country cousin, Muffletump, whom she has never met. Muffletump finds the city too noisy, crowded, and polluted, so she casts a few spells to make things more to her liking. When she decides it is time to head back to her country tree house, Mitzi tags along, and needs a few spells of her own to survive without her urban comforts. Finally, Mitzi returns to her city haunts and the cousins realize that they miss each other. They cast a final spell that allows them to be neighbors without sacrificing what makes them happy. Readers will enjoy the situation-changing spells. The illustrations are full of humor (some of which will be appreciated only by adults), including the wordplay built into the storefronts and signs. Libraries interested in fractured tales or nontraditional retellings may want to consider this one.-Maura Bresnahan, High Plain Elementary School, Andover, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.