Babymouse Queen of the World!

1.    BIBLIOGRAPHY:  Holm, Jennifer L, & Holm, Matthew. 2005.  BABYMOUSE QUEEN OF THE WORLD!. New York, NY: Random House. ISBN 0375832297.

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

Babymouse is bored with her everyday routine.  She wants something more exciting like a life in books.  She is sick of curly whiskers, her chores, and homework.  She wanted to be Queen of the World; however, the Queen of the World (at least at school) was Felicia Furrypaws.  Babymouse tried to be her friend, but she kept getting ignored or mistreated.  Luckily, she had a good friend named Wilson the Weasel.  Felicia gets Babymouse in trouble by talking her into passing notes and then uses Babymouse’s paper as her own.  Babymouse agrees to this, because she wants to go to Felicia’s sleepover even though it coincides with plans that she already has with Wilson to watch scary movies.  She goes and has a miserable time.  Babymouse gets bored by all the gossiping, burns her finger and Felicia’s rug while trying to straighten her whiskers, explodes nail polish all over Felicia’s fur, gets stuck watching a romantic movie rather than a scary one, and then gets stuck making popcorn.  She gets so upset with people being rude to her and not being herself that she pours the butter and popcorn on Felicia and runs over to her friend Wilson’s house to watch the movie that they had originally planned to see and apologizes to him for being late.  

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Babymouse is a very relatable character to teens.  She wants to fit in more than anything and be popular.  The theme of being yourself and wanting to be popular are common issues among young adults.  The plot continually shows her trying and failing at fitting into the popular crowd.  It cycles in a way that moves the plot forward at a quick pace using different issues with the same underlying theme again and again.  The settings are ones similar to ones that our students face on a daily basis, such as school lockers, class, the library, sleepovers, and home.  The style used in this graphic novel is quite unique.  Babymouse has someone narrating her actions and she responds to that person in addition to her actual dialogue.  The authors show her daydreams indicating what she wishes will happen, which was clever.  The illustrations are also done in black, white, and pink which really allows the illustrations to pop.  Pink is used to emphasize what happens in dream sequences, like at Castle Weaselsten.  It shows what Babymouse wants to happen.  This graphic novel is a very fun and relatable book for students.   It is also a very captivating medium for students who are struggling or reluctant readers.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Starred review in BOOKLIST: " 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.”
5. CONNECTIONS
*It would be great to use in conjunction with a lesson about acceptance.

*It would be great to use in conjunction with an author study.

Other books that are by Jennifer and Matthew Holm:

Holm, Jennifer, & Holm, Matthew.  BABYMOUSE OUR HERO.  ISBN 0375832300.

Holm, Jennifer, & Holm, Matthew.  BABYMOUSE BEACH BABE.  ISBN 0375832319.

Holm, Jennifer, & Holm, Matthew.  BABYMOUSE ROCK STAR.  ISBN 0375832327.

Holm, Jennifer, & Holm, Matthew.  BABYMOUSE HEARTBREAKER.  ISBN 0375837981.