Written and Illustrated by Mary Ann Fraser
Published by Walker Books 2003

 

SYNOPSIS
    When Mrs. Furber announces that it's Library Week, I.Q. can't be more excited. During his first visit, I.Q. makes the amazing discovery that he can borrow books once he gets his own library card. He wants to take out the funny book that Mrs. Binder, the librarian, reads to the class.  Each day that week, I.Q. has a lot of fun learning about all the different materials and types of books at the library. But I.Q. worries that he'll never be able to find the funny book. And he still needs someone to sign his permission slip for a library card. Will he be able to borrow a book like the other students?

REVIEWS
"A story that might have been didactic is enlivened by cheerful illustrations featuring I.Q. the mouse, presumably a classroom pet. I.Q. is no ordinary rodent; he enjoys story hour along with the human students, and uses the library to get books, just as the kids do. Comedic elements, such as the titles of the books that the diminutive rodent climbs on , add fun for older children who are careful readers, and hints for kids who use the library appear ('Don't get a book by yourself if it's too high on the shelf') appear throughout the book on signs posted by Mrs. Binder, the aptly named librarian. I.Q. participates in all the Library Week activities, until it's time to get a library card. Who will sign as his "Parent/Guardian?" Happily, someone does. A sure bet during National Library Week, but fun anytime."
Booklist 

"Opening and closing with a handful of precious but on-target ground rules---'To keep the books looking new, never mark, draw, cut, or glue' ---this barely disguised tutorial follows a mouse and his human classmates through a week's worth of visits to their school library. I.Q. wants a storybook Mrs. Binder, the librarian, reads on Monday, and on each successive day he gets closer to finding it---meanwhile discovering the fiction, nonfiction, and nonprint sections, making a bookmark, using the online catalogue, and at last getting his own library card. Though tiny, I.Q. attracts no more attention than a child would as he scurries about Fraser's bright. inviting, sometimes realistically disheveled media center. Like Gail Gibbon's Check it Out! (1985) or marc Brown's D.W.'s Library Card (2001), this artfully conveys both the basics of how most libraries are organized, and a sense of why they're the place to be."
Kirkus Reviews

"I.Q. Goes to the Library by Mary Ann Fraser follows the classroom mouse first introduced in I.Q. Goes to School. Here, he is tickled when the librarian reads a funny book to the class. He returns to the library every day in search of the book she read (meanwhile he learns about the different types of books available there). What he really wants is his own library card so he can check out the funny book for himself."
Publishers Weekly

" Fraser's simple story provides a satisfactory overview of the materials and services available in a contemporary school media center. The book's clean layout and design feature nicely understated but loving details such as thematically consistent endpapers and visual storytelling that begins on the title page. Like I.Q., this winning picture book should find a comfortable home in any school or library setting."
School Library Journal

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