LAURIE ASSEO Associated Press Writer
AP Online
06-19-1998
WASHINGTON (AP) _ There are mice at the Supreme Court, but do not call the exterminators. These are friendly critters, portraying the justices themselves in a new book intended to teach children about the Constitution and the highest court in the land.
``Marshall, the Courthouse Mouse: A Tail of the U.S. Supreme Court'' uses drawings and verse to take kids on a tour of the court building and explain how the justices go about interpreting the nation's laws.
``We're trying to teach children about government in a fun and interesting way,'' says Peter W. Barnes of Alexandria, Va., who wrote the book with his wife, illustrator Cheryl Shaw Barnes. ``They're learning without realizing that they're learning.''
The book shares space in the court's gift shop with another child-oriented volume, ``Travels with Max!'' a koala who interviews the chief justice about how the court works. The book, written by Nancy Ann Van Wie of Laguna Hills, Calif., uses picture clues and math problems to help children answer questions about the court.
The mouse justices in the Barnes' book stand upright, and they dress an awful lot like the real members of the court.
The mouse chief justice wears four gold stripes on the upper arms of his robe, just like those worn by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. One mouse has a bow tie, like Justice John Paul Stevens, and the women mice sport ruffled collars like those favored by Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The drawings show the mouse justices on the bench in the stately courtroom and meeting in their private conference room, and depict their mouse clerks doing research in the court's beautiful library.
The color illustrations are quite accurate, except that mice replace the human figures in the pediment over the building's massive entrance, in the courtroom friezes and in the library's woodwork.
Then there are the turtles - one hidden somewhere in every drawing for a sharp-eyed child to find. The real Supreme Court has sculptures of turtles too, representing the slow and steady path of justice.
The mouse justices have a case to decide: Can the Mouse Congress require everyone to eat a certain kind of cheese each day?
The poem takes readers from oral arguments to the justices' private conference and the announcement of a ruling. In an authentic-looking printed decision, the court strikes down the law and declares freedom of cheese for everyone.
The story closes, ``Each decision makes sure that we all understand that our great Constitution is the law of the land!''
Children who read Van Wie's book about Max, the traveling koala, find out who was the first chief justice (John Jay), who was the only president who also served as chief justice, (William Howard Taft), and what happens during an oral argument.
They learn that the nine justices always shake hands with all their colleagues before each court session, and they learn about one of the most important court rulings affecting children: the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision that outlawed racial segregation in public schools.
The koala is intended to help kids relate to the idea of laws and courts.
``If it's taught properly, I think children can understand it easily,'' says Van Wie, whose book came out in 1994. ``They're not intimidated, but adults are. You say 'judicial branch' and they say, 'whoa, forget it.'''
Because of the legal subject matter, she and the Barneses say these books were harder to create than their books about Congress and the White House. Court officials helped them get the details right. In fact, Van Wie's book was commissioned by the Supreme Court Historical Society.
In putting together the courthouse mouse book, Barnes said he and his wife ``wanted to make sure kids understand there are things called laws and they're important.''
As Cheryl Barnes said, it's ``a mice way to learn about government.''
---
EDITOR'S NOTE - Laurie Asseo covers the Supreme Court and legal issues for The Associated Press.
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press All Rights Reserved.
AP Online
06-19-1998
WASHINGTON (AP) _ There are mice at the Supreme Court, but do not call the exterminators. These are friendly critters, portraying the justices themselves in a new book intended to teach children about the Constitution and the highest court in the land.
``Marshall, the Courthouse Mouse: A Tail of the U.S. Supreme Court'' uses drawings and verse to take kids on a tour of the court building and explain how the justices go about interpreting the nation's laws.
``We're trying to teach children about government in a fun and interesting way,'' says Peter W. Barnes of Alexandria, Va., who wrote the book with his wife, illustrator Cheryl Shaw Barnes. ``They're learning without realizing that they're learning.''
The book shares space in the court's gift shop with another child-oriented volume, ``Travels with Max!'' a koala who interviews the chief justice about how the court works. The book, written by Nancy Ann Van Wie of Laguna Hills, Calif., uses picture clues and math problems to help children answer questions about the court.
The mouse justices in the Barnes' book stand upright, and they dress an awful lot like the real members of the court.
The mouse chief justice wears four gold stripes on the upper arms of his robe, just like those worn by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. One mouse has a bow tie, like Justice John Paul Stevens, and the women mice sport ruffled collars like those favored by Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The drawings show the mouse justices on the bench in the stately courtroom and meeting in their private conference room, and depict their mouse clerks doing research in the court's beautiful library.
The color illustrations are quite accurate, except that mice replace the human figures in the pediment over the building's massive entrance, in the courtroom friezes and in the library's woodwork.
Then there are the turtles - one hidden somewhere in every drawing for a sharp-eyed child to find. The real Supreme Court has sculptures of turtles too, representing the slow and steady path of justice.
The mouse justices have a case to decide: Can the Mouse Congress require everyone to eat a certain kind of cheese each day?
The poem takes readers from oral arguments to the justices' private conference and the announcement of a ruling. In an authentic-looking printed decision, the court strikes down the law and declares freedom of cheese for everyone.
The story closes, ``Each decision makes sure that we all understand that our great Constitution is the law of the land!''
Children who read Van Wie's book about Max, the traveling koala, find out who was the first chief justice (John Jay), who was the only president who also served as chief justice, (William Howard Taft), and what happens during an oral argument.
They learn that the nine justices always shake hands with all their colleagues before each court session, and they learn about one of the most important court rulings affecting children: the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision that outlawed racial segregation in public schools.
The koala is intended to help kids relate to the idea of laws and courts.
``If it's taught properly, I think children can understand it easily,'' says Van Wie, whose book came out in 1994. ``They're not intimidated, but adults are. You say 'judicial branch' and they say, 'whoa, forget it.'''
Because of the legal subject matter, she and the Barneses say these books were harder to create than their books about Congress and the White House. Court officials helped them get the details right. In fact, Van Wie's book was commissioned by the Supreme Court Historical Society.
In putting together the courthouse mouse book, Barnes said he and his wife ``wanted to make sure kids understand there are things called laws and they're important.''
As Cheryl Barnes said, it's ``a mice way to learn about government.''
---
EDITOR'S NOTE - Laurie Asseo covers the Supreme Court and legal issues for The Associated Press.
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press All Rights Reserved.
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