Like the movie, "A Night at the Museum," where the exhibits and creatures come alive at night, this clever and delightful paperback is a fantasy of the imaginary romp of the statuary in the corridors and storage rooms of the Capitol. In the wee hours of the morning a perky feline, Capitol Cat, presides over the imaginary House of Representatives, and a serious mutt, Watchdog, reigns over the Senate.
Dog, cat, and imaginary living and breathing statuary in the dead of night unite on a common project of bringing a plaster statue of a symbolic Lady of Freedom to a prominent position in the Capitol corridors beneath a skylight so she can see her twin sister, a bronze Lady Freedom that is on top of the Capitol.
Other statues of famous people from humorist Will Rogers to President Dwight Eisenhower contributed by the states also come alive at night.
Author Law hopes that mention of some of the Capitol jargon--gavel, committees, joint session, etc.--will prove to have educational value for the reader. The book seems targeted for the eight-year-old, with a vocabulary for a 12-year-old. Law selects some words from the text for the student to look up. Full-page drawings throughout the book by Jason Eckhardt are first class.
Comment by Hiley Ward--former editor of "Kidbits," "Sunday Pix,"s and "Bible Adventures for Juniors"