” reads a series of signs borne by a host of cheerful, cartoony mice as they fly, drive, march, and (in at least one instance) get shot from a cannon past a bevy of dubious-looking multicultural children: “don’t PANIC! Don’t FRET!” The simple text is direct, not without humor (“And please don’t ignore it!”), and wonderfully child-wise, providing the critical reassurance that “everything will still be right where it was.” The multitudinous mice in their kite-flying, instrument-playing, sky-diving, helicopter-driving variety constitute a visual feast that enlivens the simple text and will keep the inevitable re-readings from becoming snooze-inducing. That most basic of functions, subject of countless earnest tomes, at last receives a treatment whose instructional value is equaled by its entertainment value. Tips the scales in a subject area surprisingly lacking. A white background makes the textures and bright colors in the author's cut-paper illustrations pop off the pages as well as making it easy for young readers to focus on the mathematical concept. Fans will certainly recognize old friends in the mice, salamanders and frogs from previous outings. But the precarious stack can’t last, and everyone hops, crawls or flies away to do something else…all but the mice, who balance once again. The seven are able to achieve a tentative balance once again by stacking all the animals on one side and the bird on the other. But then a single, large bird arrives, sending a few of the balancers catapulting into the air. This pattern repeats with a pair of frogs. Luckily, another joins him, and the teeter-totter is even again, a mouse and a salamander on each end. With a stick and a rock, two mice make a teeter-totter and enjoy balancing…until a salamander wants to play and makes the weights uneven.

Walsh’s latest finds her trademark mice exploring the mathematical concept of balance.

All the hippos go berserk