Danger at the Door?: Who Goes There? by Karma Wilson

"MY NEST IS WARM," SQUEAKED LEWIS. "MY NEST IS COZY, BUT SOMETHING IS MISSING."

WHAT COULD IT BE?

His nest is cozy. Wooden chairs with plump blue cushions are pulled up to his little table, and a folksy green china cabinet shows off his white dishes with blue flowers. There are acorns and a few pumpkins and squash on hand for the winter, and a sturdy cask lid forms a stout wooden door to keep him safe inside his hollow-tree home. What's missing?

Well, it certainly isn't the slightly sinister noise that Lewis suddenly hears outside.

SCRITCH SCRATCH TAP TAP TAP!

Lewis is a doughty and manly mouse, but the noise was sudden and it was scary. Lewis shivers, but he puts on a brave front and shouts right back:

"WHO GOES THERE?

It's quiet for a moment, and then he hears it again, even louder and closer. Could it be a hunting owl? A hungry marauding bear? Some sneaky, creepy cat?

Lewis screws up his courage, He lights his lantern, opens his door, and peers into the darkness. Whatever it is doesn't show itself. Growing angry, he bellows as loudly as he can, "WHO GOES THERE?"

Then he hears a small voice, a voice small enough to be another mouse.

"YOU'RE NOT SO SCARY!"

Lewis meets his next-door neighbor, named Joy, and his nest suddenly seems complete in Karma Wilson's newest, Who Goes There? (Margaret K. Elderry Books, 2013). Wilson, best-selling author of the Bear Snores On books, knows how to build the tension with each suspicious scritch-scratch in this comforting re-working of the "danger at the door" premise, and artist Anna Currey's charming but nervous little Lewis can't quite settle down for a long winter's nap until his mystery is solved. Storyline and illustration style blend seamlessly in this story of friendship found when least expected. As School Library Journal sums it up succinctly, "While steady tension pulls the story forward, it’s really more of a showcase for Currey’s handsome watercolor-and-ink drawings, which portray both actual nature and anthropomorphized animal life in the classic British style."