When Alice Mongoose sails from India to a sugar plantation on the Big Island of Hawaii, she is shocked to learn what her new job entails. She decides instead to strike out on her own. When she meets the gentle and dapper Alistair Rat, she knows that she has found a friend in her new Hawaiian home.

Enjoy the artwork of author and illustrator Mary Pfaff, acclaimed in her day as the "Beatrix Potter of Hawaii." The Alice Mongoose and Alistair Rat stories are classic tales of adventure, resilience, and friendship, beloved to this day by children of all ages.

With this reissue of the original stories in a single volume, a new generation of children can enjoy Alice and Alistair's adventures on Hawaii's Hamakua Coast. Follow Alice Mongoose as she travels across the ocean, befriends the gentle and dapper Alistair Rat, starts a new business, and learns valuable lessons about life and friendship in her new Hawaiian home.

The Alice Mongoose and Alistair Rat stories are classic tales of friendship, beloved to this day by children of all ages.

Alice Mongoose and Alistair Rat have a lovely lunch shop. Alice runs it during the daytime, and Alistair, who is nocturnal, manages the night shift. Everything is working well--until a helpful customer suggests that they put up a sign. Alice and Alistair agree that their lunch shop should have a sign. And they assume they agree on what the sign should say. When the delivery arrives, Alice and Alistair both have a bad surprise. They must work together and come up with an agreeable solution, and they learn that it is never wise to assume.