Babymouse: Queen of the World

Holm, Jennifer & Matthew Holm. Babymouse: Queen of the World!. Random House, 2005. Paperback $6.99, ISBN-13  978-0375832291

What’s it about? When Babymouse hears about Felicia Furrypaws’ party, she tries everything to get invited. But is Felicia really a friend?

Find out more:

Babymouse feels overshadowed by the popular mean girl, queen bee Felicia Furrypaws. When Felicia throws a party and Babymouse is not invited, she tries to ingratiate herself to get an invitation. She tries different tactics, none successful, until Felicia forgets her book report and Babymouse lets her turn in hers. Finally, Babymouse has an in to the cool crowd!  She is over the moon until she remembers her plans with Wilson, her best friend. She feels guilty, but decides he will understand. Once she is at the party, she discovers how boring and mean Felicia really is. Felicia ignores Babymouse, having her do things for Felicia and her friends. Finally Babymouse gets frustrated and dumps butter and popcorn on Felicia and goes to spend the rest of the evening with Wilson, and has a blast.

Babymouse is a humorous graphic novel about popularity, its costs, standing up for oneself, and the importance of each individual. What differentiates this tale from other books for children about popularity is the format (graphic novels for this age group tend to be more action/fantasy oriented), the humorous interjections of Babymouse’s imagination, and the choice of character design. The reader is easily able to distinguish between the Babymouse’s fantasies and reality since the fantasies are splashed liberally with pink, while real-life is a more mundance black and white. Rather than using human characters or animal characters of the same species, the characters include giraffes, cats, hippos, and, of course, mice. This could be reading too much into things, but perhaps this reflects the vast differences between people and their roles and abilities. Despite these differences, everyone’s worth is the same, everyone’s important and a queen in their own life. This is something Babymouse discovers by the end of the novel.  

Genre label: Humor, Friendship Fiction

Reading level: 2^nd grade

Interest level: Grades 3-5

Read-alikes:

Watterson’s Calvin & Hobbes series 

Spires’ Binky series

Cabot’s Ally Finkle’s Rules for Girls series

Subjects: Popularity, friendship, imagination

Series information:

#2 Our Hero

#3 Beach Babe

#4 Rock Star

#5 Heartbreaker

#6 Camp Babymouse

#7 Skater Girl

#8 Puppy Love

#9 Monster Mash

#10 The Musical

#11 Dragonslayer

#12 Burns Rubber

#13 Cupcake Tycoon

#14 Mad Scientist

#15 A Very Babymouse Christmas

Characters:

Babymouse—imaginative mouse who wants adventure, glamour and excitement!

Felicia Furrypaws—the Queen Bee mean girl at Babymouse’s school

Wilson the Weasel—Babymouse’s longtime best friend