"The Great American Mousical," Julie Andrews Edwards, Puffin Books; 2006; 133 pp.

If you don't know who Julie Andrews is, ask your parents. They'll tell you how Andrews, the star actress of movie classics like "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music," brought cinema alive for children all over the world.

No one knows better than her, then, how to tell a story to children, and better still, how to bring to life the wonderment of theater. Andrews' tribute to the Broadway musical is set in New York — where else? — in the heart of the city, way down beneath a theater known as the Sovereign. Here, a miniature replica of the Sovereign — an architect's model — has become the stage for a troupe of theater mice all scuttling around to produce their own show, "Broadway Airs."

As Andrews begins her story, you can smell the dust and the makeup; you can feel the heat of the lights; and you can hear the chaos of so many mice working to produce something monumental together. Adelaide, the star of the show, is throwing her typical tantrums; Wendy, the innocent ingenue, is bursting into tears; Enoch, the stage manager is trying his best not to tear his hair out in frustration; and Pippin, the young apprentice, is observing everything around him and making mental notes.