Customer Reviews

Babymouse #13: Cupcake Tycoon

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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Another winning entry in this adorable series about cupcake-loving Babymouse and her nemesis, Felicia Furrypaws. When their school announces a cupcake bake sale to raise money for the library that Babymouse destroyed (oops!), Babymouse tries everything she can think of to sell more baked goods, to no avail, until...well, you'll have to read the book to find out. There's the trusty references to other stories, gentle nudging by the narrator, and the adorable Babymouse. In the hands of author Jennifer L. Holm and illustrator Matthew Holm, Babymouse is a mouse kids and adults want to root for, even when she grumbles and whines. Plus they've already established Babymouse's love of cupcakes, so this is a great combination (you don't have to have read any of the other Babymouse books to adore this one, trust me).

Another fun BabyMouse book. If you have a reluctant reader, this is the book to buy. My daughter has the whole series and still reads/wants them.

Babymouse Cupcake Tycoon is a really good book because she likes cupcakes. When I got this book it looked like it was boring, but when I read it I thought it was kind of good. Everyone likes to read babymouse. I imagine stuff like she was the taster of cupcakes because they were pink.

In this tale, Babymouse, the charming, superpink heroine of Jennifer and Matthew Holm's long-running series (this is the thirteenth Babymouse book), finds herself in a situation that many children will find familiar: Her school is selling cupcakes for a fund-raiser, and Babymouse is determined to sell the most cupcakes and win the grand prize.

The bake sale itself is brought on by Babymouse's overactive imagination. Carried away by her interest in a book, she climbed up to the top of the stacks in her school library, and, when she started to fall, grabbed a sprinkler pipe to steady herself. The pipe broke, and the whole library was drenched. The proceeds from the cupcake sale will go to replace the destroyed books.

Babymouse dreams big, and she imagines herself selling tons of cupcakes and winning a ridiculously wonderful prize, but the reality is somewhat different--after selling cupcakes to her mother and the narrator, she finds herself thwarted at every turn by a more aggressive classmate who mounts a massive advertising campaign to sell her cupcakes. Babymouse tries a number of strategies, from selling to her family to putting a video on the web, but nothing seems to work.

Finally, she comes up with the idea of setting up a corner cupcake stand. This brings a quick stream of customers, but then it starts to rain. Just when all seems lost, a roaming TV crew happens on a bedraggled Babymouse and gives her the opportunity to make her pitch to the world. She remembers why she is selling cupcakes in the first place--because she loves books--and makes an impassioned plea: "I love books!" She makes the evening news, and the cupcake orders come pouring in. Even God takes three. Babymouse wins the contest, but of course the prize is nothing like her grand daydreams.

A child who hasn't read graphic novels before may need a bit of guidance with this book. It shifts back and forth between fantasy and reality, and the unseen narrator carries on a dialogue with Babymouse. It's also a little odd that Babymouse is male in so many of the daydream sequences--the book opens with her imagining herself as a wealthy lord. It may be helpful to point out that the fantasy sequences are marked with black borders and the narrator always speaks in rectangular text boxes--a bit of comics iconography that may be unfamiliar to new readers.

While the narrative takes numerous side trips into Babymouse's daydreams, the plot is quite straightforward, and the artwork is simple and easy to read. The use of very bold lines for the most important elements and finer lines for backgrounds and less important details is a particularly nice touch. With its verbal wit, sly asides, and good humor, Babymouse can be enjoyed by both younger and more sophisticated readers.


-- Brigid Alverson

Reason for Reading: This book is a Cybils '10 nominees and as a panelist for Graphic Novels this is required reading for me.

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.