Babymouse: Queen of the World! Review by Allison Trippe

Bibliography

Holm, Jennifer L., and Matthew Holm. 2005. Babymouse: Queen of the World!. New York, NY: Random House, Inc.   ISBN: 978-0375832291

Plot Summary

Babymouse: Queen of the World! is a graphic novel about the adventures of a young mouse with a vivid imagination. The main character, Babymouse, becomes bored with her life. She follows the same routine each day, each week. Suddenly, she decides she wants to branch out and live a more glamorous and exciting life. Babymouse finally gains the attention of a popular girl in school, and eventually receives an invitation to her slumber party. Babymouse believes this will be the event of her lifetime. She fantasizes about the escapades surely to take place at the slumber party. However, when she arrives Babymouse discovers the party is less than what she expected. She learns a valuable life lesson about the importance of being herself.

Comic-style illustrations, creativity, and humor abound in the first book of the Babymouse series. Once they have read Babymouse, readers will be eager to read other books in the series following  Babymouse on her imaginative journeys and adventures.

Critical Analysis

Sister and brother, Jennifer and Matthew Holm, team up as author and illustrator to create a humorous, low fantasy graphic novel series, Babymouse. In the first installment of the book series, main character Babymouse is introduced as a whimsical, creative, and imaginative middle-school-aged mouse. She has typical struggles of “tweens” her age as she tries to win over peers and fit in with the popular crowd in her quest for a glamorous and exciting life. Like some children her age, Babymouse ultimately wants to gain recognition and be included. Young readers will be engaged with the story and identify with Babymouse and her desires.

Subtle, timeless themes will resonate with young readers. Good versus evil is certainly a theme that stands out more than others. Babymouse thinks she wants to become friends with Felicia Furrypaws. She sees Felicia Furrypaws as a queen: glamorous, popular, and beautiful. However, only when Babymouse gets to know the real Felicia does she realize that she is rude, bossy, and a cheater. Babymouse learns to be content with herself, and realizes she does not need to change in order to impress people and be happy. In the end, she comes to realize who her real friends are, and she doesn’t have to look far to find them.

Jennifer and Matthew Holm combine their talents to create a hilarious and unique style of writing and illustrations. Together, they create a dynamic plot by merging words and illustrations. Simple black and white illustrations feature pink accents for emphasis. Cartoon-style drawings, often flanked with witty captions and onomatopoeias, support the simple text and sequence of the story. As readers follow the main character, they also enter into the realm of Babymouse’s alter-ego through vignettes as she fantasizes about being queen of the world.

Awards & Review Excerpts

• 2006 American Library Association Notable Books for Children Award
• 2006 Gryphon Award
• 2006 New York Book Show Award
• 2006 Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Award, Nominee

From Booklist: “Cute, smart, sassy Babymouse is fun and funny, and this book, like its predecessors, will draw reluctant readers as well as Babymouse fans.”

From Publishers Weekly: “The Holms make humorous allusions to novels and movies, and interject sympathetic remarks from an offstage narrator.”

Connections

• Recommend this series to reluctant readers.
• Create a display of books by author Jennifer Holm, including some of the Babymouse series.
• Use this book as a resource to help teach social skills to students.
• After reading Babymouse, have students create their own comic strips.
• Compare and contrast this book with another graphic novel series by the same author and illustrator team such as:
• Holm, Jennifer. Squish #1: Super Amoeba. ISBN: 978-0-375-84389-1

*Created as an assignment for a Texas Woman's University course.