Poppy is content with her life, living with her loving husband, her many children, near her close friend Ereth the porcupine. But she’s troubled about one child, her son Junior who doesn’t tell her where he’s going, does rebellious things like dye his fur different colors, and has questionable friends (a skunk). This seems her biggest problem, until surprise! her sister arrives with news that their elderly mouse father is ill. Poppy has been summoned to his bedside. She decides to take Junior along on the journey, hoping that maybe it will bring them closer together, and he refuses to go without Mephitis (his skunk friend) and then Ereth invites himself along too. So the five set off in a rather odd group- at first the two young ones hang back laughing and being rude, Poppy frets to Ereth about Junior’s behavior, and her sister makes it clear that she doesn’t approve of the way Poppy has been living out here in the forest. Stuff happens on the journey that does change some of their feelings for each other, though not always positive (Poppy and her sister have more differences of opinion).
When they finally arrive at the old broken-down farmhouse where Poppy’s natal family lives, she sees at once what some of the problems are- the house is way overcrowded (very reminiscent of what occurred in the first book of the series) and there’s a bulldozer parked outside, humans have been seen coming and going. The mice are all afraid the house is going to be demolished. What’s shocking is that they want Poppy to stop it from happening. Poppy herself is appalled at her reception- all the mice clamoring for her to do something, her father putting her on a pedestal as the one who will save the day and take up leadership. Which she didn’t ask for, and won’t accept. Junior is taken aback to hear everyone praising Poppy’s past deeds (which he’d never heard of) and uneasy at how others will react to him- but the young mice admire him and want to copy what he does, and a clever thing he tells the old leader mouse puts him in the grandfather’s good graces. It’s a bit harder to navigate the meeting between all Poppy’s mouse relatives and the skunk and porcupine- one is feared because of the grandfather’s inane prejudices, the other simple shunned because he smells bad. I was really impressed at what this book did, blending a fine adventure story with endearing and funny characters, a recalcitrant teenager and a loner (the skunk) and the uppity sister mouse all providing different contrasts. It addressed a lot of issues I didn’t expect to see in a children’s story about talking animals- getting along with family, parenting a difficult child, meeting other’s expectations, returning home to visit relatives who disapprove of what you’ve done with your life. I really liked that in the end, two of the biggest misfits in the series (well, at least they always felt themselves to be something of outcasts) ended up becoming good friends. It was very like Elmore and Pinky, and that made me smile.
Oh, and if you’re wondering, Poppy didn’t exactly save the old house from destruction. The rebellious and rude ones she had brought along actually precipitated its destruction, but then the mouse population realized that when their situation was changed, everything was actually better. I didn’t expect it to end like that and I really liked it.
Borrowed from the public library.
