Two mouse couples decide their own lives are dull. The country pair want the elegance of a Victorian townhouse. The town pair want green fields and fresh air. They swap, and both immediately discover what the other one was quietly putting up with: a cat with excellent timing on one side, an owl with better timing on the other.

Jan Brett tells the Aesop fable the way she tells everything, which is to say the main picture is only part of the book. The borders run their own parallel story, the townhouse interiors are furnished down to the teacups and the fringed upholstery, and the woodland scenes are packed with moss, ferns and things watching from the undergrowth. Children who have read it ten times still find something.

This is the Puffin paperback, a full 10.25 by 8.38 inch picture book across 32 pages, with real suspense in the middle and a satisfying landing. Publisher guidance is ages 4 to 8. It reads aloud in one sitting and rewards a slow second pass with a flashlight.