Babymouse! - Comics for Little Girls

Queen of the World and Our Hero

I was intrigued when the Babymouse books first came in simply because they looked so out of place between A-Z Mysteries and Captain Underpants – they were just too unapologetically little girl pink. There are certainly parts of the store that look like someone dumped several gallons of Pepto Bismol on the shelves instead of placing proper books on them, but the beginning Chapter Books section isn’t one of those places.

When I picked the first one up and realized that it was a graphic novel as well, I knew I had to read them - soon. Lucky me: since they are meant for second graders, they each took me about ten minutes to read – including taking notes. Lucky for you, as well, since that means my first review is up tonight – er....this morning - rather than next week.

Warning! Spoilers may follow!

Title: Queen of the World
Author(s): Jennifer and Matt Holm
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0375832297
List Price: $5.95

good for: girls and adults of all ages
best for: 2nd and 3rd grade girls, girls new to graphic novels
staff rec: read now!

Title: Our Hero
Author(s): Jennifer and Matt Holm
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 375832300
List Price: $5.95

good for: boys, girls and adults of all ages
best for: 2nd and 3rd grade girls, girls new to graphic novels
staff rec: read now!

Babymouse is cute. Almost too cute, but thankfully not quite. She loves books, cupcakes, and pink hearts. She has curly whiskers that she wishes were straight and a best friend named Wilson the Weasel.

She is also very funny. Or rather, authors Jennifer and Matt Holm are quite good at being silly: Babymouse not only has an active imagination but also a very......interesting locker. Eating Babymouse's homework is the least of the damage it's capable of. Babymouse’s imagination, combined with excellent humor, is what makes the books great. Both pop up repeatedly, and with excellent timing. A trip to school becomes a long trek across a desolate countryside – complete with a covered wagon with no room for poor Babymouse – simply because she missed bus and has to walk two whole blocks.

Like any other graphic novel, the pictures tell the story as much as the words do. The pictures – just like the text - are simple enough for beginners to “read” but still interesting enough to make it worthwhile. We learn that Babymouse likes books not because she outright says so, but because there are verbal and visual hints throughout the books – one of the best being Babymouse “slaving” away at her homework while novels with exciting titles sit literally gathering cobwebs in her room. The basic format of clear but adorable drawings in black and white - with pink for emphasis - works perfectly for telling the stories at just the right level. Jennifer and Matt Holm skillfully avoid both underestimating their audience and making the basic story incomprehensible to less experienced readers.

The one problem I had with the books was Babymouse's idol turned nemesis, Felicia Furrypaws: in Queen of the World, she is the epitome of a Queen Bee - complete with a Mean Girls type plot. The moral of the story was obviously about being yourself, true friendship, and not growing up too fast – all good stuff - but the fact that it hinged on Babymouse rejecting pretty much all of the other girls in her class as well as stereotypical “girl” things seemed out of place in what was otherwise a very feminist book.

This is Babymouse we are talking about, with her signature pink cupcakes and pink hearts – so, no danger of hating all things “girl” here. My problem was that none of the other girls were at all likable. That’s probably inevitable, since it is a chapter book - not much room for nuance – but I still wish it had been done in way that didn’t suggest that Felicia and her crew were mean because they were girls – and that Babymouse isn’t mean because she’s just that special.

Despite that, Jennifer and Matt Holm did an excellent job of writing an easy to read story that still has meaning - something many authors of books for beginning readers never even try to do. I can see how the story would speak to many girls that age (hell, I would have identified with Babymouse) and, fortunately, Felicia acts more like your typical grade school bully in in the second book than a Queen Bee.

The second book does a much better job of challenging gender steretypes in general - and does it so by showing not telling, so it doesn't come across like a lecture as such books often do. Not only does Babymouse take all sorts of roles in her own imagination throughout both books, but she casts Wilson as Wendy to her Peter Pan at one point in Our Hero. In fact, the whole premise of Our Hero - that Babymouse must find a way to avoid getting pummled by her personal bully in gym class - is usually told with a geeky boy as the protaganist.

Overall, they are great books, and I have high hopes for the rest of the series.