Look Out, Mick Badger! Rock 'n' Roll Mole by Carolyn Crimi

MOLE HAD A ROCK 'N' ROLL SOUL.

HE WORE A LEATHER JACKET (EVEN IN SUMMER). AND SHADES (EVEN AT NIGHT).

AND HE COULD STRUT JUST LIKE HIS IDOL, MICK BADGER.

Mole's really got it goin'. He's even got a trio of little yellow chicks ready to scream when goes onstage.

Except that that's the one thing he can't do. Unlike his idols Mick Badger, Goose Springsteen, and Moo 2, whose posters watch him rock and roll from his bedroom walls, Mole just can't come alive before a real audience. He can't swagger on stage. His hands shake when he thinks of hitting a lick before the crowd. Only his best friend Pig knows what a real rocker he can be.

"YOU SHOULD PLAY IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE SCHOOL!" PIG SAID. "YOU'RE AWESOME!"

MOLE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING. IT WAS ONE THING TO PLAY IN FRONT OF PIG, BUT THE WHOLE SCHOOL?

NO WAY!

But Pig is an impresario at heart, and soon he is planning a school talent show. He lines up Raccoon to do his skateboard tricks and makes sure there's a place on the playbill for his own cool dancing moves. The promotional signs go up, advertising Mole as the chief attraction, and the groupie chicks get ready to swoon from the front row.

But on the big day, Mole is shakin', all right, but not in a rock 'n' roll way. His knees wobble at the thought of looking at all those faces in the audience. He's got the stage fright blues, and he's got them bad. Mole has to break the bad news to his break-dancin' buddy Pig, who takes it hard but sympathetically. Mole sadly takes down the signs advertising his appearance and tries to make up for his lapse by acting as Pig's No. 1 roadie.

But then, Pig is the one with the the 19th nervous breakdown. At the last minute his iPod quits on him, and he can't possibly dance without his music. Mole takes in the situation through his trusty shades. His friend needs him, and Mole knows what he has to do. The show must go on.

MOLE STRUCK A POSE. "LET'S ROCK THE HOUSE!" HE SAID.

MOLE CRANKED. HE BURNED. HE SCORCHED THE STAGE WITH HIS FIERCE FUNKY SOUND LIKE THE SUPERSONIC GROOVELICIOUS ROCK STAR THAT HE WAS!

Carolyn Crimi's latest, Rock 'N' Roll Mole (Dial Books, 2011), trades creative licks with her illustrious superstar illustrator, Lynn Munsinger, whose artistic chops are well known from her rockin', chart-toppin' work on the Tacky the Penguin series, the two Wodney Wat hits, and her top-40 The Jelly Beans books. Together these two hit all the right notes. As Mole says, "Pure platinum!"