Kaspar Kleinmaus, named after one of the three Wise Men by gentle Father Mohr when he was found napping by the Christ Child in the church Nativity scene, was a happy little murine fellow. He loved his home in the Church of St. Nicholas, in the Austrian village of Oberndorf; he loved listening to the music produced by the church choir and their organ player, Franz Gruber; and he loved the kindhearted priest, Father Joseph Mohr. Imagine his dismay when he discovered that Herr Gruber wished to do away with him, and his relief and joy when Father Mohr insisted that he should stay. Well aware that the church organ was damaged, Kaspar snacked on its leather bellows one day, only to precipitate a crisis: how would music be performed for the upcoming Christmas mass? Fortunately, inspiration struck the good father, who penned a beautiful new hymn, which was in turn set to beautiful music by Franz Gruber. And so the classic Christmas song, Silent Night, came into being, thanks in part to Kaspar's unwitting intervention...

There are a number of picture books about the composition of this most beloved Christmas song, including Margaret Hodges and Tim Ladwig's Silent Night: The Song and Its Story, as well as Maureen Brett Hooper and Kasi Kubiak's Silent Night: A Christmas Carol Is Born, but this engaging volume from author Elisabeth Wenning and illustrator Barbare Remington presents a fresh and appealing version of the well-known tale! Kaspar was such an appealing little hero, and Wenning did an excellent job capturing the ups and downs of his emotional state, throughout the story, as well as his sincere devotion to his church home and the man who ran it. The accompanying artwork from Remington (a relation of the famous painter of the American West, Frederic Remington) is charming, done in an old-fashioned style, with engraving-style black ink drawings enlivened by a limited range of color embellishments. Oddly, I was just reviewing a book where I said I didn't care for this style, but having found the visuals here delightful, I think it must just have been the illustrator of that other book I didn't care for.

However that might be, I found The Christmas Mouse an immensely appealing book, from both an illustrative and textual perspective. It's very text-heavy for a picture book—almost an illustrated short story—so I'd recommend it to picture book audiences with a good attention span, who are looking for engaging Christmas stories, stories about the composition of Silent Night, or stories featuring mouse characters. ( )

A little mouse living in the church of an Austrian village assuages his hunger by feasting on the organ bellows and causing the priest and the organist to quickly compose a song for Christmas Eve mass, the now famous "Silent Night, Holy Night".