A Nest for Celeste by Henry Cole

Celeste is a mouse who lives under the floorboards of the Oakley plantation house in Louisiana in the 1820s. John James Audubon is a painter whose illustrations of birds and other wildlife will one day make him famous. Along with his young assistant, Joseph, Audubon is staying with the Oakleys while he paints the birds of the area, including Celeste's friend Lafayette the osprey, and Cornelius the wood thrush. Joseph misses his family, and when he finds Celeste, he finds the friend he has been looking for--but adventures are in store for Celeste, and she finds that some friendships won't last forever.