Young children delight in the humor of this rhyming cumulative tale that describes how a little brown mouse encourages Emily, who is distressed by the creaks and squeaks in her house, to fill it with a variety of animals — a tabby cat, a puppy dog, a black sheep, a billy goat, a brown cow, and a turtle dove. As a result, the house becomes increasingly noisy and chaotic, but in the end the little brown mouse saves the day.