BABYMOUSE: QUEEN OF THE WORLD by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm

Babymouse: Queen of the World by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm

BIBLIOGRAPHYHolm, J. and Holm, M., 2005, Babymouse: Queen of the World, Random House, New York, ISBN 0375832297

PLOT SUMMARYBabymouse, an imaginative young mouse, constantly dreams of being the queen of her world. On a constant quest for excitement and adventure, Babymouse longs for something other than her everyday drab life filled with the same old chores, same old food, same old activities and the same old friends.  Babymouse assumes new identities in a world of fantasy and make-believe which often creates challenging and sticky situations. When Babymouse decides she MUST be invited to popular Felicia Furrypaws’ upcoming slumber party, she agrees to give Felicia her book report in exchange for an invitation. Babymouse breaks her previous commitment to her long time friend Wilson to attend the party, which turns out to be a total letdown. Babymouse ultimately makes the right decision to join Wilson for their planned night of monster movies and realizes that she already lives in a pretty “royal” world.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Written by a sister/brother team, Jennifer and Matthew Holm, Babymouse: Queen of the World, is the first graphic novel in a running series of fifteen. The development of main character, Babymouse is fresh and clever using dialogue which is natural and believable such as Babymouse’s favorite catch phrase “typical.”   The illustrations are comical and will make you laugh out loud.  The drawings are simple with a heavy outline and the clever use of pink to emphasize Babymouse’s world of imagination and make-believe.  The theme of popularity and true friendships offers a great life lesson for young readers about peer pressure, hard choices and building character.
(Graphic Novel, Fiction; Recommended for girls ages 7 - 10)

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Booklist-“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.”
Publishers Weekly-“Both tales share eye-grabbing black-and-pink graphics, and a perceptible Spiegelman influence simmers in the energetic ink illustrations of the dot-eyed heroine.”
Kirkus, starred review-“Young readers will happily fall in line to follow Babymouse through both ordinary pratfalls (“Typical!” is her watchword) and extraordinary flights of fancyboth.”

AWARDS: 
WINNER 2006 - Gryphon Award
WINNER 2006 - ALA Notable Children's Book
WINNER 2006 - New York Book Show Awards

CONNECTIONSBabymouse: Queen of the World is a great book for integrated curriculum.  Here are a few ideas for utilizing a graphic novel in the classroom:
Language ArtsIn language arts, analyze how the author develops a character.
Divide students into groups and assign each group a different character (Wilson, Felicia, Babymouse, etc.). Then have each group brainstorm different words and adjectives that can be used to describe each individual character.
Group Discussions
Even though the characters in the Babymouse books are animals, they do possess some very
human character traits. Ask students to brainstorm individually or in small groups those traits
that Babymouse and her fellow characters share with humans.
In a graphic novel, the format plays a significant role in the telling of the story; while there is text, some of the story is told through the illustrations. Ask students to discuss which elements of the story are told in traditional words and which elements are relayed more in the pictures. What information is conveyed only in text? Only in the illustrations? In both the text and the illustrations?
Art- Ask students to consider some of the following questions:
• What are the colors that predominate the illustrations?
• Why do you think the illustrator elected to use these colors?
• How do the illustrations convey the mood and emotions of the characters?
• How does the illustrator let readers know that Babymouse is daydreaming and that what is happening is not real?
Have students continue Babymouse’s adventures by creating their own Babymouse graphic chapter.

Other Recommended Books:Babymouse: Our Hero, Holms, Jennifer, Holm, Matthew, (2005) ISBN 0375832300
Babymouse: Beach Babe, Holm, Jennifer, Holm Matthew, (2006) ISBN 0375832319
Babymouse: Rock Star, Holm, Jennifer, Holm, Matthew, (2006) ISBN 0375832300
Babymouse: Heartbreaker, Holms, Jennifer, Holm, Matthew (2006; Children’s Choices 2008) ISBN 0375837981
Camp Babymouse, Holms, Jennifer, Holm, Matthew (2007; Children’s Choices 2008) ISBN 0375839887
Babymouse: Skater Girl, Holms, Jennifer, Holm, Matthew (2007) ISBN 037593989X
Babymouse: Puppy Love, Holms, Jennifer, Holm, Matthew (2007; Children’s Choices 2009) ISBN 0375839909
Babymouse: Monster Mash, Holms, Jennifer, Holm, Matthew (2008; Children’s Choice 2009) ISBN 0375843876
Babymouse: The Musical, Holms, Jennifer, Holm, Matthew (2009) ISBN 0375843884
Babymouse: Dragonslayer, Holms, Jennifer, Holm, Matthew (2009) ISBN 0375857125
Babymouse: Burns Rubber, Holms, Jennifer, Holm, Matthew (2010) ISBN 0375857133
Related Websites:
http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/babymouse/homepage.htm
http://www.jenniferholm.com/02_mybooks/11_babymouse.html