Babymouse #4: Rock Star (Paperback)

~ (Author), Matt Holm (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Babymouse is a legend, a siren, a rock star…at least in her own mind. Babymouse is a typical kid (aside from the whiskers and tail) with a big, big fantasy life to help her through the hazards of public school life: school buses, broken lockers, bullies, math class. But then there's her beloved band. She has music in her soul, if not actually in her flute. This year, though, things are going to be different. She's going to be the star of the concert. Or at least move up from last chair.

The sister-and-brother team of Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm have attained perfect pitch with Babymouse, who stars in her own series of graphic novels, including Babymouse: Queen of the World and Babymouse: Beach Babe. Illustrated in black and white for her humdrum daily existence, the scenery turns decidedly pink as Babymouse stage-dives into her imaginary world. Reluctant and avid readers alike will happily devour every book in the series, and wait eagerly for more. --Emilie Coulter

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4–Babymouse is spunky, ambitious, and, at times, a total dweeb. In this fourth book in the series, she daydreams of being a rock star, and her concerts and world tours are illustrated in shades of pink. Meanwhile, in her ordinary life, she enchants the audience at a student concert with her flute playing, but never gives up her dreams of stardom on the big stage. The illustrations, both pink-toned and black and white, are clever and uncluttered, making them easy to follow for a young audience. They do a fine job of showing the emotions of the endearing young mouse and her friends.–Scott La Counte, Anaheim Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (September 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375832327
• ISBN-13: 978-0375832321
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,677 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rock On, Babymouse!, November 9, 2006

By	Kelly Herold "Big A little a" (Smalltown, Midwest) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Babymouse is back in "Babymouse: Rock Star," the fourth volume of the Babymouse series.

This time, school and music are getting her down. Oh, and her number-one enemy Felicia Furrypaws.

How does Babymouse cope? She daydreams, of course. First, she's a rock star. Then, on a boring Wednesday, a tornado whisks her out of school. But, daydreams won't save her from her biggest problem: she wants to play the flute better. She wants to move from last chair in the school band.

Felicia Furrypaws is second-to-last chair and torments Babymouse. Fortunately, Babymouse finds help from a fellow Furrypaws victim and succeeds in the end with a little practice, instruction, and targeted daydreaming.

Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm triumph again with this latest installment in the tales of your average school-aged mouse. Babymouse's daydreams are fun and action-filled, but the beauty of the books is in the everyday. Everyone has angst about their position in the band, everyone fears a school bully, and everyone hates the bus.

The bus is the star of my favorite sequence in "Babymouse: Rock Star." The bus screeches up, the driver says, "Let's get moving! What do you think I am anyway? Your own personal chauffeur?" Then Babymouse comments that the bus "was like an obstacle course." The obstacles? "Doesn't open. Talks too much. Gets bus-sick. Soda spill. Bumpy. Rickety. Kind of scary. Gum. Picks nose. Yells." True, true, true.

"Babymouse: Rock Star" is highly recommended for school-aged children five and up. And, even though "Babymouse" is written at approximately a third-grade level, I've found young middle schoolers love Babymouse as well.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brava Babymouse!, January 30, 2007

By	Camille "at the BookMoot!" (Katy, TX) - See all my reviews

There is no smarter or cannier look at school life than Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm's Babymouse series. The traumas that plague Babymouse and her classmates are universal. Gym uniforms ARE ugly, lockers DO attack, school meat loaf SHOULD be regarded with suspicion and riding the school bus is ONLY for the very VERY brave.

In Babymouse: Rock Star, music is a solace and joy for our heroine but even there, chair tests create yet another pecking order, this time in Band. Hoping to work her way up from last chair for the school concert, Babymouse resolves that she will practice hard for the tryout. Alas, the results of her efforts are, "Screeech!" With the help of a friend, she learns that real music is something you feel in your heart. Band parents will completely identify with this story.

Babymouse's wonderful imagination (she is a reader) carries her daily struggles into the world of the Wizard of Oz and the Pied Piper of Hamelin and her musical dreams into the realm of American Idol-ness.

These graphic novels are rich in humor for young readers but junior highschoolers will also identify. If you have not added this series to your library collection yet then do so asap!

Brava!

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun read for Girls!, February 15, 2008

By	K.S. (Santa Ana, CA) - See all my reviews

My daughter (9) loves these books. Unfortunately, they are too easy and fast for her to read now. She started reading them when she was 7 and they were perfect. However, she still loves them and I buy each book for her as they come out.