In the deepest, darkest corner of Venice a lonely mouse calledMarcello longs for the music and excitement of a masked ball, butthere's just one problem. Marcello is not invited! But with a leapand a hop and a flick of his tail (and a rather cunning disguise)he bravely slips into the GrandPalace. A dangerous decision for alittle mouse, to gatecrash a pussycat ball...

Julie Monks was born and grew up in Nottinghamshire. She spent herchildhood drawing, together with her sister, the illustrator LydiaMonks. Julie went on to study illustration at Kingston Universityin Surrey and has since written and illustrated many children'sbooks, including SNOW WHITE (Scholastic) written by Joyce Dunbarand WINTER MAGIC (Scholastic), winner of the Best BritishIllustration Award in the picture book category, 2004. Julie nowlives in Paris and divides her time between writing, illustratingand teaching in various art schools. This is her first book forMacmillan.