Written almost entirely in onomatopoeia, this picture book follows five mice in tiny, different-colored racecars. When they take off at the starting line in the grassy outdoors (“Vroom!”), the mouse in the blue car is left sneezing in the dust. But when the four lead mice get stuck in a mud puddle (“Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat!”) the blue mouse uses them as stepping stones (“Boink! Boink! Boink! Boink!”). Briefly in the lead, the blue mouse tumbles into a creek and thinks it’s all over, but he’s assisted by a passing goose. Meanwhile, the four others retake the lead but are waylaid and nearly eaten by a cat, until blue mouse and the goose come to their rescue. The life-threatening race has taught the mice to be better sports, and they all cross the finish line together. With spare but expressive text that varies in size and boldness, this story is loads of fun and carries a clearly communicated, but not preachy, message of cooperation. (Ages 2–5)