Ben and Me, by Robert Lawson

Ben and Me, An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin By His Good Mouse Amos
Written by Robert Lawson.

This book is told from the point of view of a mouse named Amos. He is Benjamin Franklin' s friend and says that everything Dr. Franklin invented was partly his idea.

The book starts out by telling about Amos. He has twenty- six brothers and sisters and is the oldest. He started out living in a church. Then, he left his family and met Dr. Franklin. He helped him invent the Franklin Stove by giving him the idea and then helping him out with building it. Oh, and Dr. Franklin gave Amos a home in his fur cap! Anyway, after inventing the Franklin Stove, Amos talks about doing printing with Ben. He says that one afternoon, he was looking at the Poor Richards Almanac, which was about to be printed, and decided to change some things. Every time it said "Poor Richard," he changed it to "Amos." He also changed the tide chart. Once that went out, the ship men came running to Ben and demanded an explanation. Ben explained, but he was a bit angry with Amos.

Then a new chapter starts about Ben doing electricity. (Amos does not like the idea of electricity.) It starts with Ben setting out lots of wires and tubes and things. Ben liked to rub the tubes and touch them to the tip of Amos' tail. When he did that, a terrible shock would rush through Amos' body. Soon enough, Amos got tired of the experiments and told Ben to keep him out of them. Ben told him that he actually had another amazing experiment (using electricity) that would tear the lightning from the skies.

"Personally, I think the sky's an excellent place for it." Amos replies.

Ben also made a group called the Philosophical Society. He met with these people and talked about electricity often. Soon he decided to show off a machine he had purchased in front of many people. Amos decided to mess with it a bit, and when he showed it off, Ben ended up shocking the governor!

Now, time for the Lightning Rod. Ben put up some bits and pieces on his roof. During the night, there was a lightning storm. There were so many humongous booms and both Amos and Ben were terrified. 

The next chapter is called The Kite. It tells about how Amos liked to go up in a special place in a kite. Then, one day, Ben brought Amos up in the kite during a lightning storm. Ben wanted to know if lightning is the same as electricity, but Amos would not tell him. This incident almost ruined their friendship.

Afterward, Ben had to go away for a while. Amos stayed home with his family. When Ben got back, there was a war. The Revolutionary War, to be exact. Ben went to lots of meetings. One day, George Washington asked Ben to go to France to get more supplies for the war. Ben agreed. So, Amos and Ben leave for France soon afterward. In France, Amos met another mouse named Sophia. Sophia' s children were captured, and Amos promises to free them when Ben goes to the party to ask for supplies. He gets a whole group of mice together. At the party, Ben pretty much sheds mice. They do end up freeing the children. Then, Sophia comes back to Philadelphia with Amos to get back with her husband. Everyone there likes Sophia' s family.

Soon enough, it is Ben' s birthday. Everyone gets him presents. The best present of all is a new hat for Ben. He and Amos talk about the hat, and Amos makes a joke.

Ben and Me is a great book, and I recommend it!