Babymouse #12 & #13 by Jennifer & Matthew Holm
Babymouse series by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm.
Age: 6+
Publisher: Random House
Reason for Reading: Both these books are Cybils '10 nominees and as a panelist for Graphic Novels this is required reading for me.
#12. Babymouse Burns Rubber. 96 pgs. Jan. 12, 2010 - Babymouse's friend can fix anything and she has always brought her broken stuff to him and he fixes it for her. While there she finds him working on his dream project, a soap box race car. This is the first year he has been old enough to enter and he encourages BM to enter too. Of course, she ends up bringing her problems to him and he ends up building the car for her to the detriment of his own car. Babymouse learns about abusing a friendship. Can't say this one really did anything for me at all. The imagination scenes are always the best in these books but aliens being killed by fractions, an "around the world in 80 days" take-off and the inevitable Star Wars scenario just didn't get any chuckles out of me. Of course the kids, and we're really talking girls here, who love the series are going to want to read this as much as any other. 3/5
#13. Babymouse Cupcake Tycoon. 96 pgs. Sept. 28, 2010 - It's fundraising time at school again, only this time they are raising money for books for the library that was recently destroyed in a flood (Babymouse!) and Babymouse is gloomy of the prospects of having every door slammed in her face with a hearty "No!" until she learns they will be selling cupcakes. Of course, then she's happy and all she can concentrate on is selling the most so she can win the mysterious "Grand Prize" but after selling 3 (2 to her mom and 1 to the narrator ) and finding out Kitty has sold over a hundred she puts her mind into overdrive to come up with better ways of marketing, only to find Kitty got there first bigger and better. Finally through sheer determinedness and realizing why she's fundraising in the first place BM comes up with a way to sell cupcakes that Kitty would never have dreamed of. Her imaginations were a lot more fun here than in the last book. I loved the Pikachu watching her on TV in Japan, the Donald Trump take-off was so recognizable by the hair, King Midas, Rumpelstiltskin and making a TV Commercial were all fun, and hey! NO Star Wars scene this time. (yay). A good story to chew on as well, as we parents often dread the extra effort and time of fundraising season, and the kids often focus more on the prizes than the cause money is being raised for. 4/5
An exciting tidbit of news at the end of this volume is that the next Babymouse book is going to introduce a new character "Squish, the amoeba" and in Summer 2011 both Babymouse's next book and Squish's first book will be released at the same time. This new series is going to be boy-friendly and as the promo tells us "It won't be pink."! I'm excited!
Age: 6+
Publisher: Random House
Reason for Reading: Both these books are Cybils '10 nominees and as a panelist for Graphic Novels this is required reading for me.
#12. Babymouse Burns Rubber. 96 pgs. Jan. 12, 2010 - Babymouse's friend can fix anything and she has always brought her broken stuff to him and he fixes it for her. While there she finds him working on his dream project, a soap box race car. This is the first year he has been old enough to enter and he encourages BM to enter too. Of course, she ends up bringing her problems to him and he ends up building the car for her to the detriment of his own car. Babymouse learns about abusing a friendship. Can't say this one really did anything for me at all. The imagination scenes are always the best in these books but aliens being killed by fractions, an "around the world in 80 days" take-off and the inevitable Star Wars scenario just didn't get any chuckles out of me. Of course the kids, and we're really talking girls here, who love the series are going to want to read this as much as any other. 3/5 #13. Babymouse Cupcake Tycoon. 96 pgs. Sept. 28, 2010 - It's fundraising time at school again, only this time they are raising money for books for the library that was recently destroyed in a flood (Babymouse!) and Babymouse is gloomy of the prospects of having every door slammed in her face with a hearty "No!" until she learns they will be selling cupcakes. Of course, then she's happy and all she can concentrate on is selling the most so she can win the mysterious "Grand Prize" but after selling 3 (2 to her mom and 1 to the narrator ) and finding out Kitty has sold over a hundred she puts her mind into overdrive to come up with better ways of marketing, only to find Kitty got there first bigger and better. Finally through sheer determinedness and realizing why she's fundraising in the first place BM comes up with a way to sell cupcakes that Kitty would never have dreamed of. Her imaginations were a lot more fun here than in the last book. I loved the Pikachu watching her on TV in Japan, the Donald Trump take-off was so recognizable by the hair, King Midas, Rumpelstiltskin and making a TV Commercial were all fun, and hey! NO Star Wars scene this time. (yay). A good story to chew on as well, as we parents often dread the extra effort and time of fundraising season, and the kids often focus more on the prizes than the cause money is being raised for. 4/5An exciting tidbit of news at the end of this volume is that the next Babymouse book is going to introduce a new character "Squish, the amoeba" and in Summer 2011 both Babymouse's next book and Squish's first book will be released at the same time. This new series is going to be boy-friendly and as the promo tells us "It won't be pink."! I'm excited!
I liked the Cupcake Tycoon more than Burns Rubber too.
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