Babymouse

Babymouse:Queen of the World
Babymouse: Our Hero
by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm, 2005

If you are a school librarian and you have money left in your budget, please open your Titlewave or BTSB or Mackin account and put Babymouse on your "To be Purchased" list right now.
I predict you will need more than one copy.

What Dav Pilkey has done for 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 will Babymouse.

I am a fan of graphic novels for kids but I confess to having a difficult time reading them myself. I could not stop reading Babymouse. The artwork is full of humor, life and movement.

Babymouse lives a life any school kid will identify with. Getting up in the morning is hard. Finding your place in the social strata of school life results in angst and envy. P.E. is not for the faint of heart. Opening your locker is dangerous. Good friends are worth more than gold. Babymouse has an imagination that sweeps her away. After missing the school bus she has to walk to school. In her mind (and on the page) she is a pioneer on an arduous trail through the West. It reminded me of the flights of fantasy Calvin and Hobbes enjoyed.

I realize these books are pitched at elementary but the themes resonate through jr. high. If I was a jr. high librarian, I would have to get them for my collection.

I also love the fact that Babymouse is a reader. There are stacks of books in her room.

Big A Little a reports that The Center for Children's Books has named Babymouse a Gryphon Award Honor book for 2006.


BRAVA!

Babymouse website