Baby Mouse: Queen of the World!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Holm, Jennifer L. and Matthew Holm. BABYMOUSE: QUEEN OF THE WORLD! New York, NY: Random House, Inc. ISBN 978-0-375-83229-1

AWARD(S) and STARS

• Gryphon Honor Book Award, 2006
• ALA Core Collection: Great Graphic Novels for Younger Readers, 2006
• ALSC Notable Children’s Books, 2006
• Booklist Top 10 Graphic Novels for Youth, 2006

PLOT SUMMARY
The first of the popular Babymouse graphic novel series, Babymouse: Queen of the World “squeaks” volumes about the desire to be popular with the “in” crowd and friendship that outlasts everything. Spunky Babymouse shares her “typical” days of lockers that are stuck and whiskers that just won’t straighten out while using her imagination to battle squids, become “Babymouserella,” fly into space and navigate the spooky castle. Babymouse: Queen of the World will win your heart with its humor, quirkiness and links to real life.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Jennifer and Matthew Holm, a brother and sister team, create a lively tale about a young mouse navigating school, friends and life. Jennifer Holm, also known for her Newbery Honor Book winners Penny in Heaven, Our Only May Amelia and Turtle in Paradise, composes the snappy easy-to-follow manuscript based on brainstormed ideas that she and her brother remember about their childhoods. Children will relate to Babymouse’s life because it could easily be their own. Every part of this book has Babymouse appearing with a comment even on the copyright page she’s peering at all the information and comments in a speech bubble, “What is all this stuff?”

Matthew Holm creates the images from the storyboard his sister has created using black felt marker and splashes of pink. Most of the text is delivered in boxes and speech bubbles in regular comic strip format. Humor is also indicated in the illustrations like when the caption is “The Joy of Learning,” the giraffe is bent over backwards snoring, the cat is turned around in her seat, Babymouse is reading her detective book and another character is filing her nails. This is a great novel to get young girl readers interested in graphic novels.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

• THE BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN’S BOOKS (2005) – “A new hero emerges in these graphic novels about the resolute mouse, Babymouse, who faces the average third-grade set of problems with an audacious sense of humor and a vivid imagination…. The artwork is simple and accessible; the black lines are sturdy yet energetic, and pink accents indicate Babymouse’s frequent daydream sequences and add touches of color. The sometimes sarcastic and always informative contrast between the understated narrative captions and the high-energy speech bubbles of the characters helps establish the separation between the way life appears to adults and the way it actually feels to children. Graphic novels for the early elementary set are rare, and this humorous and adventurous series will be snapped up.”
• CHILDREN’S LITERATURE (2005) – “Babymouse’s imaginative subplots are hilarious, as are the wonderful illustrations that give life to Babymouse and her friends and acquaintances. A delightful read for the middle elementary female reader who is looking for a quick read.”
• COOPERATIVE CHILDREN’S BOOK CENTER CHOICES (2006) – “A perfect entrée into the land of graphic novels for grade school girls, Babymouse brims with humor and imagination. Babymousewill be met with open arms by libraries everywhere that are anxious to meet high demand for graphic novels, and especially eager to find good choices for younger readers.”

CONNECTIONS

• New to using graphic novels in the classroom? This website has a Teacher’s Guide just for you! Use this guide to help you get started sharing these literary treasures: http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/teachers_guides/9780375857126.pdf.
• Want to get better connected to Babymouse? Try the Babymouse website at http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/babymouse/homepage.htm. Learn about Babymouse and her books, create your own Babymouse story, read about the authors, print posters, play games and send e-cards.
• After reading Babymouse: Queen of the World and other Babymouse graphic novels, students will realize they can create stories about their “typical” days. Using a storyboard format, have students create a comic strip story using an event from their day. Keep them simple and perhaps add one “splash” color to add emphasis like Matthew Holm does.