A love of stories and storytelling transforms an inauspicious meeting into a promising friendship in this early chapter book series opener. Orris, a rat, enjoys a solitary life in an abandoned barn, where he has furnished his nest with select treasures: a red velvet slipper, a yellow marble, and an unopened can of Imperial Sardines. One night, Orris’s peace is disturbed by a sudden shrieking. An owl—Orris’s natural enemy—has gotten his foot caught in a mousetrap in the barn. Inclined as he is to simply leave the owl to suffer alone, Orris feels taunted by the slogan on the Imperial Sardines can. “Make the good and noble choice!!” As he reluctantly releases the owl, whose name is Timble, the story of the lion and the mouse comes to mind. Naturally, Timble would like to hear the story, and he’s persistent about it. He even comes back the next night with a gift of thanks and a request for another story. By the end of this first volume, without meaning to, the two begin a friendship built on gratitude and the enjoyment of stories. “But that’s not the end of the story,” Timble observes. “No,” says Orris, “it’s the beginning.” In the appealing illustrations, Orris is a tired-looking brown rat, Timble a darling white owl; the art is perfectly suited to this quiet story of mistrust and wariness (on Orris’s part) giving way to connection and companionship. (Ages 5-8)