Library Mouse - Hardcover

Kirk, Daniel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810993465 ISBN 13: 9780810993464

Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2007

Synopsis

Meet Sam, a tiny mouse with a massive love for books, who lives inside a busy public library.

By showing young readers that anyone with an idea can become an author, Library Mouse has spent decades inspiring classrooms, libraries, and kids around the world to write, illustrate, and share their own unique stories.

Every night, after the head librarian turns off the lights and locks the doors, Sam leaves his cozy home behind the children's reference wall. He spends his hours devouring everything from ghost stories and culinary guides to epic mysteries. One night, inspired by the thousands of voices on the shelves, Sam decides it’s time to create his own book.

Using small scraps of paper, his teeth to sharpen pencils, and his own visual imagination, Sam writes and illustrates Squeak! A Mouse’s Life. He leaves his miniature masterpiece tucked among the real library books for a young human student to find the next day. It becomes an instant neighborhood sensation, sparking a massive mystery: Who is this secret author?

When the librarian leaves a note asking the mysterious writer to host a "Meet the Author Day," Sam must figure out a clever way to answer her request without revealing himself. Daniel Kirk’s warm, textured gouache illustrations bring this beloved classic to life.

About this title

About the Author

Daniel Kirk is the award-winning author and illustrator of more than forty children's books, including the bestselling Library Mouse series, following the adventures of Sam across titles like A Friend's Tale, A World to Explore, A Museum Adventure, and Home Sweet Home. Kirk is also the author of Snow Dude and Bigger, and the illustrator of popular modern classics like Kevin Lewis’s Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo. He was inspired to write Library Mouse after spending countless blissful days with his family perusing the stacks at his local library. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, author-illustrator Julia Gorton.
 

Reviews

*Starred Review* Put a mouse in a library and you have a sure seller; make the mouse a writer and you have a sure-fire hit. Sam lives in a hole in the wall behind the children's reference books. During the day he sleeps, but at night he reads all kinds of books. One night Sam decides to write and illustrate his own. He writes about himself, and he draws his likeness, posing in a little mirror and sketching what he saw. He slips Squeak! A Mouse's Life into the biography section. A girl finds it and shows it to the librarian, who is intrigued. Then Sam writes more: The Lonely Cheese and The Mystery of Mouse Mansion. Increasingly curious, the librarian posts a note on the bulletin board, inviting Sam to Meet the Author Day. What is Sam to do? His delightfully unexpected solution will inspire kids to write their own stories. In a rainbow of colors, the art, which features a slightly flattened perspective, ranges from small oval pictures of Sam busily sharpening pencils with his teeth to full-page views of the busy library. One great picture shows Sam's face filling the page, dark eyes alight and white whiskers bristling. It's a show-stopper. This is ready-made to introduce a classroom writing activity, though some of the pictures are too small to be appreciated in a large-group readaloud. Even so, this is fun, fun, fun. Cummins, Julie

Edition details

• Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0810993465
• ISBN 13: 9780810993464
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32