Squish is an amoeba. He loves comic books and twinkies. His best friend, Pod, is also a type of single-celled organism that claims to have opened a hole in the space-time continuum. At first Squish doesn't believe him. But when Pod starts having really bizarre mood swings for unknown reasons, maybe there really is something to this time anomaly thing...
Meanwhile, Squish's favorite comic book hero, Super Amoeba is starting to feel his age. In order to help save the people of Small Pond, the mayor creates a drone program to do most of the grunt work for Super Amoeba. With the drones a success, it appears that there's very little for the hero to do. Is retirement in the works for Super Amoeba?
I found that Squish was a rather fun book. Taking place in the microscopic recesses of a pond is not a story setting you see everyday. The characters were enjoyable and the writing rather humorous. I can really sense the spirit of Babymouse in this series and I thought it was really clever having Babymouse and Squish interact in the other books you might enjoy section in the back of the book. (In fact, I've love to see a crossover between the two characters and their franchises) However, I did think that one element of this book was a tad inappropriate- the subject matter of mitosis.
I'm going to go ahead and spoil it. This is a 6-year old book and for parents' sake, I need to talk about a major plot point. Pod's mood swings are the result of cellular mitosis. Mitosis is the process in which single-celled microorganisms reproduce. Should a grade school child really be reading about an elementary school aged protozoa having literal babies? The mysteries over why one of the characters seems to have 4 different personalities all of a sudden is an interesting read. I just think having children have children in a children's book for readers aged 7-10 isn't a proper thing. Even if the characters are just amoebas.
Using mitosis as a plot device does have one thing going for it. It's educational and that's something writers Jennifer L. and Matthew Holm does quite well; make books for kids fun and informative. Adding to the educational fun is a science experiment kids can do with the characters in this book (and supervising parents) as well as an activity page.
If the young reader in your life loves Babymouse, Squish is required reading. It's fun, entertaining and educational. There just happens to be a possibly controversial element twist to the story. I'm not saying to skip Squish. Just be ready to answer some potentially uncomfortable questions about reproduction.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
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