Freya & Zoose

October 29, 2018
An etiquette-obsessed penguin and a vagabond mouse accompany Swedish air balloonist S.A. Andrée on his ill-fated journey to the North Pole. Ready for an adventure after being stranded alone for over a year, Swedish penguin Freya stows away with a group that plans to travel to the North Pole via hot air balloon. But she is not alone—mouse Zoose, a scrappy Londoner, has been “living in this basket ever since they built it.” Freya finds the mouse “vulgar,” but as the balloon loses altitude and the group switches to sledges, the two slowly bond. Freya saves Zoose after they end up in a meltwater pool, and Zoose returns the favor after a polar bear mauls Freya. The animals continue their journey, telling stories about their past, tagging after the humans, and meeting a “blindingly beautiful” snow fox, who enraptures the animals but misrepresents herself. As Andrée and his team face grave danger and eventually die, Freya and Zoose realize that their future lies together. History and animal friendship combine to form a touching, if strange, travel narrative. Ages 8–12. Agent: Steven Chudney, the Chudney Agency.

Narrator Jayne Entwistle elegantly portrays an adventuring rockhopper penguin and her companions--animal and human. Freya, the penguin, is inspired to travel by her avid reading of HINTS TO LADY TRAVELLERS AT HOME AND ABROAD (a real book). She settles into the basket of a hot air balloon that three 1897 Swedish explorers are hoping to land at the North Pole (a real historical event). Soon, Freya discovers that a vagabond mouse from London has also stowed away. With a studied cadence and precise enunciation, Entwistle lets the story unfold. Her British accent is perfect for Zoose, the mouse. She gives each character subtle personality traits and allows the listener to chuckle at humorous turns of phrase and ponder the many twists of the expedition. A.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine