Babymouse, Queen of the World!

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Holm, J. L., and M. Holm. Babymouse, queen of the world!. Random House Books for Young Readers, 2007.

ISBN 978-0375832291

2. Evaluation

What Dav Pilkey has given boys with Captain Underpants, Jennifer & Matthew Holm have given girls with a character that they will identify with. Just as Captain Underpants has great crossover appeal with boys and girls, so does Babymouse.

I could not stop reading Babymouse. The artwork is full of humor, life and movement. Babymouse lives a life any middle school kid will identify easily with. Getting up in the morning is hard. Finding your place in the social strata of school life results in angst and envy and Babymouse has an imagination that sometimes sweeps her away. For example, P.E. is not for the faint of heart, opening your locker can be very dangerous and after missing the school bus while walking to school she feels like a pioneer on an arduous trail through the West.

Babymouse is such a fun-loving, energetic character. In this novel, Babymouse is trying desperately to get an invitation to Felicia Furrypaws sleepover. After trying a multitude of things, Felicia finally gives Babymouse an invitation in exchange for her book report. Babymouse agrees to the exchange, and gets to attend the party. After arriving, however, she discovers that it is not as great as she had imagined. Felicia and her friends are not very nice. Babymouse decides to leave the party and meet up with her real friend Wilson. This is a story that teaches us about the true meaning of friendship, and how it is important to always be yourself. The text used in the story is very witty, and will have you laughing out loud! The illustrations are fun, loud, and colored in black and pink. While I realize these books are pitched at elementary, the themes really resonate through middle school and I have seen many of my student’s reading and enjoying this series.

3. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

In this energetic comic by a brother-sister team (Jennifer's Our Only May Amelia was a Newbery Honor Book), Babymouse, a wise-cracking rodent stand-in for your average, adventure-seeking nine-year-old, strives to capture popular Felicia's goodwill, finally achieving her end at the expense of Wilson Weasel, truest of friends. But, wouldn't you know it, Felicia's world has little to offer a smart, fun-loving mouse, after all. The Holms spruce up some well-trod ground with breathless pacing and clever flights of Babymouse's imagination, and their manic, pink-toned illustrations of Babymouse and her cohorts vigorously reflect the internal life of any million-ideas-a-minute middle-school student. Jesse Karp, ALA

4. CONNECTIONS

I think all too often we think of graphic novels as a “boy thing”, but graphic novels are GREAT at bridging the gap between “non-readers” or “reluctant readers “and “readers” as well as helping with fluency, and interest of students who may be lower level readers. However, just as I stated above, I love that Babymouse has the ability to transcend gender. This would absolutely be a series that I have in my classroom library!