Library Mouse: Home Sweet Home

Library Mouse #5

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 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 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

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Architecture, Animals, Friendship, Construction, Fiction

73 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 3, 2013

Reviews

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 3 out of 5]

HOME SWEET HOME
(Library Mouse: #5)
Written and Illustrated by Daniel Kirk
2013, 40 Pages
Genre: picture book, children's

★★★

Sam and Sarah's home, the library, is being renovated so they must find a new place in the library to reside. They research different homes and find that the library is their home.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Amanda Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute installment to the Library Mouse series. I wish I had this when we renovated my library. It was finished 3 years ago and it stirred up some mouse action. I like the details about homes from around the world. This book lends itself to having students practice marshmallow/toothpick or sugar cube architecture - which is great, but honestly a little cliche. Seriously, teachers who use materials like that are either great at getting donations, or paying out of pocket.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fifth and (thus far) last book in the Library Mouse series by Daniel Kirk. I had read the first book in the series about a decade ago, but I never really pursued reading the other books.

The librarian at the Elementary School where I did my Library school internship read several of these books aloud with the first-grade students and I enjoyed listening to Sam's adventures.

These books are very popular at the library and I like that they contain useful information without being overly didactic.

[Barry Asmaou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam and Sarah are best friends that lived in a library, one day they woke up and found the library being packed up to prepare for a renovation. They started to worry about where are they going to live during the construction. So off they went in search of a new place to live Sam being the one who was smart and Sarah who was very adventurous they discovered what renovation and architecture was. So the two best friends decided to build a home, so Sam 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 mixture of houses a bungalow, an igloo, a modern house, a castle and classical house. But Sam didn't find anything that feels like home. Sarah through out the process of building a new home was thinking out of the box and adventurous finally helped Sam find his true home. Which was a book spread open he laid underneath it and finally found what he was looking for. The renovation of the library is complete, and they can move back to their true home the library itself. The images in the book was really helpful it was a lot of details the homes they built. The images shows building structures, in which can a child can used their imagination to build homes with things around their house.The different architecture was shown through out the book. Not only children learn about different structures and how to be creative but they listen to one another and help each other. There was gender balance through out the story both character Sam and Sarah was not over shadowing each other. There was a lot of culture shown through the illustration of the different houses around the world. This is a good book it teaches culture, helping each other, being creativity with the things you have around you.

[Kassandra Hickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam, the library mouse is shocked when he hears that his library is undergoing renovations. He realizes that he has no place to live anymore, so his very adventurous friend Sarah helps him build multiple houses till he finds the house that is just right.
This book is very sweet, and it makes me smile. Even if you think that you are a little to old to read the book I would just try it, it will truly make you smile. For all the parents with young children I recommend it. I think it would be a good bedtime story to read, and also a good book for little ones who are learning how to read.

[Karen Arendt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice book, but the reason it gets four stars instead of three is the details about houses in different cultures or parts of the world. The book would be good for an introduction on habitats for people. Include a brief glossary in the back plus a listing of various types of houses mentioned in the book.

[Hannah]

liveIn Library mouse is about these two mice that live in a library and were they were living in is in goess under construction and they start to make houses and they tried to.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Research skills pay off for Sam, the Library Mouse, and his friend Sarah. Seems to me, this book stands out from the rest of the series by Daniel Kirk. The others are cute and endearing. But here the premise is really clever.

Sam and Sarah need a temporary home because their real home is in the library, and that library is under renovation.

Being !!!readers!!! they research books. This must be quite some library, because they glean ideas for building a stylish temporary home. Imagine, building one's home from random objects found around that library!

Fascinating! These clever mice build a variety of houses, then live in them. When ready for some variety, no prob. They go on to create their next dwelling.

My fave is Sarah's creation of an acorn-shaped house, Bolivia-style.

FIVE STARS!

[Sunah Chung · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sam and Sarah are the mice who live in a children’s reference section at the library. When the library is under construction, they go up to the attic to build their own residence.
My impression of this book was it was text heavy. And thus, if this picture book reduce its texts, it would be more appealing for children. At the same time though, the benefits of this picture book is to have informative resources and a glossary regarding diverse architecture all over the world. Children readers could explore various types of buildings according to different countries. The illustrations imply that this picture book targets to young readers, but the texts and information would be for adult readers who would read this book with their children or students.

[Connie Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever had to move and try to find a house that felt like home? Well, that is the trouble Sam the library mouse finds himself in when the librarians decide to renovate the library. He and his friend Sara the mouse build several different kinds of houses from different places using books as guides they find in the library. The author Daniel Kirk does an excellent job of introducing how people in different places live in different types of homes. You will learn that there are so many interesting homes made in some unique ways. If you love learning about architecture, this is an excellent book for you to explore.

[StoryTimeReadAloud · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam the library mouse looks for a new place to live while the library undergoes renovations. He has to look for a new safe and quiet place and see what works for him. Once finding where he wants to be, he wants to make the space cozy.
Sam and his friend Sarah research different styles of homes and make mouse-sized replicas as they search for their own perfect homes.
I love how the Sam books involve friends, libraries, and books. The end of this book has real picture references of the homes that Sam and Sarah recreated.

Could be fun to have our own replicas of places to live for Sam and Sarah in our own library.

[Shanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Sam the Library Mouse and his friend Sarah are looking for a new home. See, the library is being renovated and they are scared that with all the change they will not have a place to live. Sam and Sarah decide to make different kinds of houses to see which kind they would like to live in when the library is finished. A sweet meditation on change and how everyone adapts to new situations. I also learned about some different kinds of houses! One of my favorites from the series, but the first one is still the very best!

Mia’s Year of Books: Day 86

[Monique the Book Geek · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Sam was a library mouse. If you were to ask him his favorite things, he would surely say reading and writing. Sam was a storyteller, and a dreamer, and a lover of words." - Library Mouse: Home Sweet Home - I can really relate to this little library mouse, and I've enjoyed reading this lovely children's book series.

[Rubi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The library was being renovated and our heroes had to find new homes until it was complete. So, as usual, Sam got to work researching. He and Sarah made adorable mini sized homes based on historical and modern architecture from all over the world. At the end, none of them felt like a true home to them, but they put them all for display so the children could see. The information on each style of house in the back of the book was also interesting.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Library Mouse and his best friend Sarah need a place to live during the library renovation. I haven't read any of the others in the this series, but I eventually will. They are fairly long picture books, appropriate for the preschoolers - especially the ones who are interested in building. Of course I love any book about libraries.....

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Library Mouse, Sam, is a clever and cute little chap. With intrepid friend Sarah, he is inspired by the world of houses and architecture, building models for a temporary home, whilst library renovations are progressing. As always - researched, illustrated and imagined with amazing skill and devotion by Daniel Kirk.

[Kenson and kirra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam is back and he has a girlfriend sarah. together they go through a library renovation. i liked this because our library has been closed for almost a year while it is being rebuilt. it's supposed to open around my birthday, and i can't wait (age 5)

[Hannah Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an adorable book about a little mouse who needs somewhere to live. He builds many houses but he just can't seem to make one that feels like home. This a neat story that teaches that changes it okay because you can always find a way to make it feel like home.

[Carina Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

My brother told me to read this to him. This is the first Library Mouse book we have ever read. This book teaches young kids about different types of houses and architecture. I recommend this book for ages 4-7. I gave this 4 stars because this is not my type of book.

[Katrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam and Sarah found out that their home in the library was going to be under renovation, they went on a journey around the library to find a new home. With no luck after building different types of homes from around the world, Sarah built Sam a simple home with an Atlas.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good mentor text for a maker-inspired project or to kick off homes around the world (useful back-matter)....

[Ms. Nigeria Nigeria Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books are becoming easy to predict. I understand their for children, and some points are informative. But these books don't keep my children/students interested.

[Rick Christiansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute ending to the series :)

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet little story, with an educational undertone. I think I missed out by having the audiobook - I didn't get the illustrations.

[Madison Hurlbut · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book create a marriage to the text perfectly. The expressions shown on the mice faces and the details in each scene allow the reader to understand the text more thoroughly.

[Pinky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sam and Sarah build a variety of different homes while the library gets renovated.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of information about types of houses....future architects take note

[Kyra Rickenbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this is a fun book with fun pictures.

[Ranette · Rating 4 out of 5]

using the pretense of renovation a library, two mice introduce many kinds of homes to kids.