Library Mouse: Home Sweet Home

By Daniel Kirk

The library mouse learns about architecture, homes, and renovations in this illustrated adventure.

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.

Praise for Library Mouse: Home Sweet Home

“Kirk’s familiar gouache illustrations maintain a mouse perspective filled with library details. This clever presentation of world housing types has three pages of backmatter that describes each style and its location. Not only is the story amusing, but the information will be useful in classrooms.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Newcomers and fans of the previous titles will welcome this tale, and librarians will put it to good use in their research lessons.” —School Library Journal

“This is a fine use of light fantasy to teach a little lesson about building structures, and it will be especially useful to those preparing children for the disruptions that come with home renovations.” —Booklist

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Sep 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781613125199

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.

Book preview

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Reviews for Library Mouse

[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.”