Babymouse, Volume 2: Our Hero (Family Comic Friday)

I dug into a classic for this week's review. The character of Babymouse isn't a stranger to my blog. I've reviewed a couple of comic samplers that have included her adventures chronicled by the brother/sister duo of Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm. I've even reviewed her Christmas book. This just happens to be the first full-length regular book starring Babymouse and friends that I've ever read and reviewed.

Babymouse is like most elementary school kids. Classes are boring. Her imagination runs wild. And gym class is a source of great stress, especially when it comes time to play dodge ball! In the past, Babymouse has been able to sick her way out of gym class whenever dodge ball rolls around. Now that her coach has decreed that next week's game is mandatory, Babymouse will have to swallow her fears and play against her dreaded nemesis, Felecia- the meanest girl in the entire school! 

Well, Babymouse does have a week until that game. Maybe best buddy Wilson can train her into becoming the world's greatest dodge ball player! Maybe a massive blizzard will pop up and force school to be cancelled! Let's face it; the odds of these things happening are really, really low. Just don't forget to bring your sneakers with you, Babymouse!

This book was a lot of fun. It was extremely cute. This book was from 2005 and yet everything felt fresh and new. Babymouse's imagination knows no bounds as there are a ton of references to some awesome franchises in this graphic novel. 

I didn't plan it this way, but there's an all-new Babymouse adventure debuting in stores next week. It appears that Babymouse has grown up a little with her new series, The Big Adventures of Babymouse. Not only is the character a bit bigger, so is the format of the new graphic novels. Instead of being digest-sized, like the original series was, the continuation is more formatted to reflect the dimensions of a comic book. Volume 2: Besties will hit store shelves on October 3rd!

A world of fun in black and white and hot pink!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Squish #8: Pod Vs. Pod (Family Comic Friday)

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.

A Very Babymouse Christmas

Babymouse has only one thing on her Christmas list this year. It's a Whizbang! This thing does everything from playing games to text to even math homework! And Babymouse will do anything to get one!

From writing Santa for the device to attempting to win one by decorating her locker
for Christmas- Babymouse is putting out the word that she really wants a Whizbang
for Christmas. 

In the meantime, Babymouse will learn of new holiday customs such as her best
friend Wilson's celebration of Hanukkah. They get 8 days of presents! But before the
holidays are over will Babymouse learn the true meaning of Christmas? 

This was a very cute and fast holiday graphic novel read. This book covers quite a few
holiday traditions as well as pay tribute to several holiday classics such as A Christmas Carol; in which Babymouse dreams that she is Scrooge because all she desires is that
Whizbang.

Babymouse often gets lost in her daydreams. And while these moments are very funny,
the reader sometimes also gets lost with her. The fantasies of Babymouse just happen
without any warning. Sometimes it happens right in the middle of the action. And until
you figure out that this is just Babymouse dreaming, reader's just can't figure out what's
truly going on here. 

One element that I thought was really clever was the interactions between Babymouse
and the creators of this series; the brother and sister duo of Jennifer L. and Matthew
Holm. Those moments add an element of whimsy to Babymouse that's rather delightful.

A Very Babymouse Christmas was a charming holiday story that reader's 8-12 should really love. It's quite festive and
very pink. (That's Babymouse's favorite color!) Being the 15th volume in the Babymouse
series, this a a great introduction to a mischievous and imaginative character that young
readers will want to return to time and time again. Just be aware that Babymouse's
imagination gets away from her sometimes.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Comics Squad #2: Lunch! (Family Comics Friday)

   From the editing team that brought you 'Comics Squad: Recess" comes an all-new treasury of comics devoted to the second most popular class at school- LUNCH! Fan favs such as Babymouse, Lunch Lady, and the Peanuts gang return from book one to in this very fun collection.

   Of the eight stories contained in this anthology, seven were really good. My favorite was, of course, the Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales adventure. I just am in love with that series.

   Here, captured spy Nathan Hale recounts a short story set during the second world war. When an American naval ship runs afoul of a giant Japanese destroyer, they set out to sink the Imperial monster or be sunk themselves. As the battle rages in the Pacific, the American ship runs out of ammo, that is until someone gets the idea to start shooting bombs made of potatoes and other items from the galley. It's an all-true account of a food fight that helped save the free world!!!

  Other really great stories in this collection involves the secret origin of Lunch Lady when she was a bullied child and Sara Varon's 'Worst Day Ever' about two rivals becoming friends thanks to lunchtime science experiments. Another great tale is titled Cave Soup. This yarn by Jedi Academy creator Jeffrey Brown involves two pairs of Neanderthal children. The older pair keep pushing off their chores on the younger while they goof around. But the younger cave-kids are one step ahead of their older siblings and are determined to make sure the big brother and big sister have to clean up.

    The Case of the Missing Science Project by Meanwhile's Jason Shiga was my least favorite story. This choose-your-own-adventure type story should've been one of the best stories in this book but the idea just didn't translate very well in the graphic novel medium. Originally, a CYOA story has you given a series of options to choose from and then you flip to the corresponding page number. While a few page numbers are given in Shiga's story, most of your choices require you to follow a snaking series of arrows that often get a little confusing to follow. I did enjoy many of the bizarre ways that the hero of the Missing Science Project met his fate. Those crazy ending were part of what made those CYOA books so fun to read.

   Despite this one disappointing story- this was a fun read that any school aged child 13 and under should enjoy.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Comics Squad: Recess! (Family Comic Friday)

Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (Babymouse) and Jarrett Krosoczka (Lunch Lady)  team-up to bring some of Random House Publishing's best and brightest graphic novelist's together in a collection of short stories devoted to the most sacred of elementary school activities: RECESS!

   Some of these characters may be familiar you. The most well-known property in this anthology is the Holm sibling's Babymouse, who has trouble getting her act together so she can go outside and play. I'm also a little familiar with Lunch Lady, but she doesn't even appear in her story, as she's called in sick and needs her assistant to fill in. Add to the mix some athletic veggies, a super secret ninja club, and a budding playground romance and you've got a perfect mix of unique stories and eclectic writing and art styles.

   When I was a kid, I loved to get my hands on comic digests. They were small collections of reprints that featured a host of titles and characters. DC, Marvel, Archie, and even Disney would produce these book as a way for kids to get their hands on cheap reprints and to build up potential readership for current titles.That marketing concept is captured perfectly here though I think every story in this books is brand new. 

   Along with this title, be on the lookout for the next Comics Squad collection entitled: lunch coming in January 2016. 

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

   (Note: here's a list of all of the awesome creators featured in this collection, in case you are interested in discovering more of their works: Jennifer Holm & Matthew Holm * Jarrett J. Krosoczka * Dav Pilkey * Dan Santat * Raina Telgemeier * Dave Roman * Ursula Vernon * Eric Wight * Gene Yang )