PICTURE BOOK - Library Mouse: A Museum Adventure by Daniel Kirk

Library Mouse #4
Illustrated by the author

2012, Abrams Books for Young Readers

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  3.57 - 190 ratings

My rating:  3

Endpapers:  red

1^st line/s:  "Late one night, Sam the Library Mouse was hard at work.  His friend Sarah dropped in and asked, "What are you doing, Sam?  Writing a new book?"

My comments:  I love Sam the library mouse, and the first book in this series is still one of my all-time favorites. In this, the fourth book about Sam - book writer and art lover extraordinaire, - he and his friend, Sarah venture next door to the museum.  Here they find that all their preconceived notions about cats being scary are wrong.  The museum cat has created a gallery of paintings depicting animals...like mice!  Sam insists that Sarah bring a journal, even though she doesn't want to, and discovers that it was an excellent idea.  Somehow, the whole journal thing felt a little flat, as did the meeting up of other animals in the museum.  It didn't touch me like the previous titles have. Still enjoyable, though!

Goodreads:  Sam the library mouse and his friend Sarah are off on a new adventure. This time they leave the library behind and go to a museum so Sam can make sketches in his explorer’s journal. Sarah isn’t so sure that explorers have the time or the interest to write in journals. But Sam shows her that a journal can contain anything, from a ticket stub to drawings of cool things like dinosaurs and ancient Egyptian mummies. As they explore the museum, they see all kinds of art and unexpectedly make friends with another artist. The latest book in this bestselling series is sure to entice readers to come along on the museum adventure.

Library Mouse - A Friend's Tale - Daniel Kirk

Published: 2009
$15.95
Rating: 4.5
Endpapers: Aqua

I love Daniel Kirk! His illustrations - his plotlines - his themes. The whole enchilada.

Picture book illustrators often do not get to meet the writers of the book they're illustrating (I well remember the story of Cynthia Rylant hating the Caldecott-Award-winning illustrations in When I Was Young in the Mountains) Daniel Kirk has created a story of libraries, and books, and writing, and friendhip - and the collaboration of a picture book where the writer (Sam, the mouse) and the illustrator (Tom, a boy and library patron) do not meet.

Tom does discover that the library's secret book writer is Sam, a mouse, but he keeps the secret that Sam is a mouse and they create a wonderful book without ever meeting eye to eye. Very cute. I would recommend reading the previous book, (Library Mouse), first.

The full page mouse/boy/library illustrations are TERRIFIC!

Library Mouse - Daniel Kirk

For: Kids
Pub: 2007
Rating: 5/5
Read Aug. 12, 2008

Libraries are some of my most favorite places anywhere, and the library where Sam, our protagonist, lives makes a colorful, happy setting for this story.

Sam lives in a hole in the wall behind the children's reference section in what I'm guessing is a rural library. Each night after the library is closed and silent, he creeps out and reads. He samples every genre. His imagination brims over with new ideas until one night he decides to write a book of his own. He folds litle squares of paper into a book and writes aobut what he knows - being a mouse. He branches out night after night, writing, illustrating, creating, then leaving the tiny books on the library shelves for the children to find and read. The children, as well as the librarian, love his books, love them so much that they want to MEET the author! What's a mouse to do?

What Sam decides to do is clever and creative and will encourage any child who reads this books to write one of their own.

The illustrations are marvelous. Colorful. Bold. Detailed. Sam's face has more character than any mouse I can rememaber in a picture book. Every two page spread contains a full-page, edge-to-edge masterpiece. The large, bold font - a great choice - is easy to read and great to look at.

This is a perfect gift for a kid; a box containing the book, assorted 4, 8, and 12 page premade folded books, a few cool pencils and a box of crayons or colored pencils.

This is going to be a favorite!