A great story with painterly, textured illustrations, beautiful colors and rural village scenes set in Central Europe. His artwork is always lush and rich. ( )

One of my golden rules of reading is to steer well clear of talking animals. This extends right from Wind in the Willows to Animal Farm, which I to this day refuse to read.
However, Trubloff is my one exception to this rule. Trubloff is a young mouse in an unnamed Central European country who doesn't just talk, he wants to play the balalaika. And who could be mean spirited enough to scoff at the thought of a balalaika-playing mouse? Not me. ( )