MOUSE GUARD by David Petersen (Title Splash)

Written and illustrated by David Peterson. In Mouse Guard, mice struggle to live safely and prosper among all of the world’s harsh conditions and predators. Thus the Mouse Guard was formed. They are not simply soldiers that fight off intruders; rather, they are guides for commonmice looking to journey without confrontation from one hidden mouse village to another. The Guard patrol borders, find safeways and paths through dangerous territories and treacherous terrain, watch weather patterns, and keep the mouse territories free of predatory infestation. They do so with fearless dedication so that they might not just exist, but truly live. The catalyst of the story is when Saxon, Kenzie, and Lieam are dispatched to find a missing merchant mouse that never arrived at his destination. In doing so they stumble onto much more than they had bargained for.

Mouse Guard is more akin to literature like Richard Adams’ Watership Down and E.B. White’s Staurt Little than with Albedo or even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It is lyrical, weighty, and charming –and it has been the recipient of various awards for youth fiction in addition to two Eisner Awards.

This page has been reprinted in multiple collections.