House Mouse, Senate Mouse

by Peter W. Barnes and Cheryl Shaw Barnes

Book Overview

Congress is in session and the Squeaker of the House and the Senate Mouse-jority leader have a big job to do: they have to pass a law designating a national cheese for the United Mice of America. In... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0963768840
• ISBN13: 9780963768841
• Release Date: July 1996
• Publisher: VSP Books
• Length: 1 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 9.0" x 11.1"
• Age Range: 6 to 9 years
• Grade Range: Grades 1 to 4

Customer Reviews

"Squeaker of the house" not what you think

I purchased 1100 copies of this book for my local High School's civics class thinking that it was about the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 that passed through the House by a narrow margin. Caveat emptor.

Great concept, but a little too cute.

As a teacher, I love the way they presented the concept of how a bill becomes a law. However, as a mother, I find it becomes confusing for a preschooler when you use terms such as "Squeaker" of the House instead of "Speaker" and "Mouse-jority" Leader. A great book, definitely worth the buy, but if your child can't read yet, use the real terminology to avoid confusion.

My sons favorate book

This is a cute book that was very well written. My son likes the mouse story and giggles every time I read it to him. It features "The Senate Mousejority leader and the Sqeaker of the House". Parents that are in to politics will get a good laugh out of reading this one.

Qualified Recommendation

This book is fairly well done, but treats an enor-mouse-ly complex subject very simply (by necessity, of course). Despite it's simplicity, it still seems too complex for the age bracket it is aimed at (4-7 years). The drawings are adequate, but there are some perspective problems. The rhymes are adequate, but tortured in places. This book would seem to be either a great primer if you plan to take your children to Washington DC or a great souvenir of a trip there. As a lesson of how government works, I am a little more dubious. The great value of the book is the connection of system with place (such as committee room or house floor), not as a lesson of how the system works. The separation of representatives and the people is also a bit disconcerting, from a Jeffersonian point of view. The story would have been improved if the students that developed the idea of a "national cheese" would have been allowed to follow their idea through the process, rather than just send a letter and see the results on TV. Senator Thurmouse, well, that's just downright spooky.