Milly and Tilly are mouse friends from the city and the country, respectively. Tilly is a resourceful rodent, as her cozy, welcoming, and well-stocked tree-trunk cottage attests. Content with the simple things in life, Tilly cooks delicious dishes from whatever foods she gathers from nearby fields and meadows. Accustomed to city hustle and bustle, Milly is the more adventuresome of the two, but she can't sleep because of the quiet in Tilly's country home and is frightened by a sheep and alarmed by a bee.

Although Tilly is awed by the luxury of Milly's dollhouse abode when she goes to the city with Milly, it is Tilly's turn to be terrified when the house cat chases the mice from the cheese and other treats that were to be their supper. Too upset to sample any more of city life, Tilly hurries home to the country in the morning. Imaginatively detailed, from Tilly's snail shell lamp to Milly's artfully displayed plates, the soft-stroked illustrations invite youngsters into this charming retelling of a perennially favorite tale.