Architecture Scaled Down to Size

Need a House? Call Ms. Mouse! -written by George Mendoza, illustrated by Doris Susan Smith
The New York Review Children’s Collection, 2023 (reprint of original edition, 1981)

The cover of Need a House? Call Ms. Mouse! features Henriette, a female mouse architect hard at work on her drawing board.  The floor around her is littered with drawings, tape, scissors, trash, and other items associated with her work, including coffee.  Her bulletin board displays many of the homes she has designed, from treehouse to spaceship.  Anyone in need of a home would call her. Fantastic imagination meets incredible fidelity to detail in this introduction for children to a fascinating profession.

I have always found picture books with illustrated houses or dollhouses, including cutaway scenes, to be particularly appealing.  (see, for example, books by Marianne Dubuc or Rumer Godden). The idea of both viewing and imaginatively inhabiting a miniature universe is well-represented in children’s books. George Mendoza and Doris Susan Smith enhanced it, or perhaps professionalized it, in this “portfolio.:  Owls requesting a tower, otters a lodge, moles a tunnel, and bears a cave, are all enumerated on the opening page.  If you don’t see a species represented, maybe you should call Ms. Mouse and inquire.

Ms. Mouse is not the only person responsible for the work you will meet in this book. There are decorators, designers, and builders, according to her signboard.  On the endpapers, a rabbit and mouse unfurl a sheet of paper, a weasel helps to sort and fold fabric, a hedgehog is busy landscaping the garden, and a gopher smoking a cigarette hoists a big bag of tools.  For those who are unaccustomed to seeing characters smoking in children’s books, many of the classics do include them, but they are often fathers smoking pipes. The difference between pipe and cigarette here is one of class. The gopher is not identified as a father or father surrogate, but a laborer. 

Each one of the pictures bears sustained attention! The cat’s “modern villa” has a minimalist, Japanese-inspired design with an open roof, bonsai trees and futons for sleeping. The rabbit’s warren is cozy, as expected, with rustic wood furniture and an attic stuffed with produce. The bear’s lair is neatly stocked with kitchenware, a woodstove, and a duvet cover with bumblebees.  Although the description may sound ironic, the book really does not have that tone.  Ms. Mouse, along with her team, has custom-designed a home, not just a house, for each customer.  “Bear…is so pleased with her new cozy cave that she barely goes mountain climbing anymore.” Why would she? Spider loves music; Henrietta has included a recording studio for his work-from-home days. Owl’s wisdom-infused dwelling has a globe and a telescope mounted on the deck, so he stargaze to his heart’s content.

Children are small, and they are often drawn to the miniaturized scale of dollhouses, trains, or any other reproductions of real life that allow imaginative play.  For adults who have not lost that part of childhood, or for anyone who appreciates the artistry of detail, this book is a delight.