Library Mouse: Home Sweet Home

Written by Daniel Kirk

Narrated by Chris Sorensen

When Sam the library mouse and his friend Sarah wake to find the library being packed up to prepare for a major renovation, they realize they won' t have a home during the construction. So off they go in search of a new place to live. Sam knows research is key, so he finds books about architectural styles to get ideas for building a temporary home from objects found around the library. They build and live in a variety of houses: a castle, an igloo, a yurt, a modern house, and even a geodesic dome. But none feels like home to Sam. Finally, though, the renovation of the library is complete, and they can move back to their true home, the library! The book includes photos of the real house styles discussed in the text and a relevant glossary of architectural terms.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 4, 2013
• ISBN: 9781470383176

Daniel Kirk

Daniel Kirk has written and illustrated forty popular and bestselling books for children, including Library Mouse, which Booklist heralded in a starred review as "fun, fun, fun." He lives in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. www.danielkirk.com.

Reviews for Library Mouse

[leshauck · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great explains everything you need to know about this book.

[danusia_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not a fan of Kirk's flat art work, the story is cute-ish. A mouse lives in a library, reads books at night when all the children go home. After reading all the books, he decides to write his own. The children, coming to finally see who the author is are met with a box with a mirror inside labeled "meet the author". AWWW, cute? not so much.

[acwheeler · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked this book a lot because it keeps you interested in the book the whole time. It is also a self motivating book to teach children how to write books and that everyone can be an author and write their own books if they use their imgaination.

[quicksilvertears · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was very interested in reading this book to my son because the design was boring but as I read the story, I became interested in writing a children's book. My son decided he wanted to make his own scary book like Sam the mouse did. I figure if this book can inspire a four year old to write a book, it must not matter that the design was a bit on the boring side.

[aharey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this book to my Kindergarten through 2nd grade students on the first day of their library class. It's a great introduction to the library and they love the character of Sam.

[thornton37814 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good read for younger children. The book demonstrates a love for reading, learning, and libraries. It also encourages children to write!

[kdemott_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I don't give a lot of five stars but I love this book! Maybe it's because I was a teacher and am studying to be a librarian. Great book if you're trying to get students to write stories of their own. Love it!

[js1102 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good for everyone!

[robinrowlesauthor · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Oh, what fun! This story is about a cute, shy mouse called Sam. He lives in a small hole in a wall that's inside a library. During the night he comes out and starts writing and illustrating his very own books. Awesome!

Can you imagine the shock and surprise in the library following the discovery of Sam's first book, called 'Squeak! A Mouse's Life'?

The library's staff couldn't help themselves from being amused and curious about the discovery of Sam's book. Nevertheless, several of the younger children felt excited. They wanted to read Sam's story and admire the beautiful colourful illustrations.

The level of curiosity gained momentum after Sam wrote and illustrated another two books. Everyone loved his books!

I'm not going to disclose the entire story, however, I want to tell you what I really liked about this charming book:
Sam's story created a lot of curiosity and inspiration for the children. His story helped them to express their own imagination, and discover the pleasure and fun of reading and writing their own books!

Finally, check-out how Sam's creatively and wisdom deals with his initial dilemma, after reading his bulletin board message from the Head Librarian, inviting him to be their special guest at a forthcoming 'Meet the Author Day' event. Extremely clever, brilliant!

This book is ideal for bedtime reading and young readers.
Length: 32 pages. Age Level: 4 - 8, Grade Level: P - 4

[jtaylo41 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was an awesome read! I would love to read this to my students because it is a very inspiring plot. The librarians and students keep finding enjoyable stories in the morning on the library shelves, however, they are unaware of who the author is. The author of the short stories ends up being a little mouse who lives in a hole in the library wall. The characters are very well developed and are visually detailed in the illustrations. For example, the mouse is personified by wearing clothes and using a pencil to write his stories. This is a great story that expresses to students that anyone can write regardless of your age, height, intelligence, or looks. The main message in this book is that everyone can be an author and has the capability of doing great things! It was a cute way to inspire young writers.

[lmeza-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It's nice, especially if you have doubts about writing or not ;)

[wishanem · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lovely and inspirational

"We loved it!", raves my 4 year old. I liked the way that the story encourages kids to write their own books. The art is detailed and bright, in a way that reminds me of Mr. Rogers.

[dms02 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a great book for showing the ease in which a child can write their own books!

[mirikayla · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Library mouse lives behind the shelves in the library and encourages kids to write their own stories. Very cute.

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm a huge fan of libraries with over four decades experience getting to know them as well as a patron can. So I loved this. I believe that the children's program described could be very effective. I even believe it could be used for all ages - and could even inspire people who don't think they're creative, like me, to tell stories.

Now I do see that at least one real children's librarian was not wowed by this. But that person did not write a review, so I'm not sure what makes the book less than wonderful from their pov.

And I did have a bit of trouble getting used to the illustrations, especially of the people. But the mouse is adorable and the art is cheerful, clear, and a good fit for the text.

[lsierra19 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I totally recommend this book. It is a children's book full of nice pictures and with a great message for the readers. It is about a little mouse that started writing books and invite others to do the same thing. One of my favorite books!

[dukefan86 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a very clever story! Sam the library mouse enjoys his home in the public library so much, that eventually he starts writing little books of his own. He adds them to the collection overnight, while the library is closed. Sam's books are discovered, and develops a fan base among library staff and patrons alike! :) The library director leaves Sam a letter (not knowing he's a MOUSE) to "Meet the Author Day." Being shy as a mouse, Sam comes up with a creative way to turn the library's younger patrons into authors, themselves. Cute!

[kidlit9 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Sam, a shy but creative mouse who lives in a library, decides to write and illustrate his own stories which he places on the shelves with the other library books. But when children find the tales, they all want to meet the author.

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Sam and his best friend Sarah return in this fifth and thus far final Library Mouse picture-book, confronting the temporary loss of their home, as the library where they live is renovated. After a bit of exploring, they settle on the library attic as the place to live. Because Sam finds it somewhat too exposed for his comfort, the two begins buildings various homes, inspired by different architectural styles from around the world. But will they find one that is just right...?Like its predecessors, Library Mouse: Home Sweet Home pairs an engaging story with bright, colorful artwork. Although not quite as entertaining as some of the previous installments of the series, I did find this one more informative, and appreciated the detailed afterword, which provided additional information about the various styles of home built by Sam and Sarah. Recommended to fans of the Library Mouse books, and to anyone looking for children's stories about different architectural styles.

[cabaty · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This story teaches the reader that home can take many shapes. A little over long, I still enjoyed the read. I was especially taken by surprise when Sam made a stunning castle out of marshmallows. This book may be better suited to silent reading then a read aloud.

[sullywriter_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Sam the library mouse demonstrates a remarkable aptitude for home construction.

[kjacks26 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There are many reasons I liked this book. I like how the author made the characters completely different, but they still worked well together to solve their problem. In the beginning of the book the author introduces the characters, “Sam was a library mouse. If you were to ask him his favorite things, he would surely say reading and writing,” and “If you were to ask Sam’s friend Sarah what her favorite things were, she would say exploring and having adventures.” I also liked how the author introduces big words that 2nd graders might not know. For example, “Renovations,” he said warily. Sarah asked, “What does that mean?” Sam frowned as he went to the dictionary to see what the word meant. “To make new again,” he read aloud. “So they’re going to redo the library.” Another example is, “I hope they haven’t packed up the architecture books yet,” Sam said. “Architecture?” Sarah repeated. “ What’s that?” “It’s the art of designing buildings,” Sam answered. Instead of just using a glossary for big words, the author incorporated the definitions into the actual text and it doesn’t disrupt the flow of reading. I like that even though this is a fictional book, and the main characters are mice, the author includes actual buildings, and pictures of what they look like. Sarah and Sam build classical buildings from ancient Rome, a Mongolian home called a yurt, a castle, an igloo, a cottage with a thatched roof, and a Turdor-style house. Even if students have never heard of these types of homes, there are pictures to show you what they look like. The central message of this book is that there is no place like home. Sam and Sarah had to find new homes while the library was getting renovated. No matter how hard they worked on building a new home Sam said, “These house would be nice for somebody, but I haven’t found the perfect house for a library mouse.”