In today's title we see what happens when Babymouse decides to run for the school presidency. Being Babymouse, the election does not quite work out the way she hoped it would.
Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm
Graphic Novel
Ages 7 to 10
Random House, 2012, 978-0-375-86780-4
It is election time at Babymouse’s school, and she has
decided (after eating a terrible school lunch) that she is going to run
president of the school council. The narrator tells her to “be part of the
solution,” which is when Babymouse begins to fantasize about what it would be
like to be the president. Then she is brought firmly to earth when she is asked
what her platform is going to be. Platform?
At school the
next day, Babymouse realizes that several of the other kids in school are
running for the presidency, including Babymouse’s arch enemy, Felicia, and her
friend Georgie. Then one of Babymouse’s friends offers to help. He takes her in
er…wing, and helps Babymouse see that running for president is hard work. In
fact, it requires that Babymouse do a lot of things that she would rather not
do. Then there is that far bigger problem; that Babymouse has no idea what she
believes in. Is she running just for fame and glory, or does Babymouse see that
there is something bigger going on around her?
In this
deliciously funny tale, Babymouse once again manages to get the wrong end of
the stick. She thinks only of what the school council presidency might do for
her, and never stops to think that she might have something to offer, that she
might be able to do something for the school to make it a better place.
With delicious
touches of humor and a clever story, Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm poke a
little fun at political campaigns, and they also remind us that political
office is more than just an opportunity for self-aggrandizement.