Our Hero

Babymouse #2

by Jennifer L. Holm, Matthew Holm

Meet Babymouse--the spunky mouse beloved by young readers for more than a decade! Babymouse faces her biggest challenge yet—the annual school dodgeball tournament. Will she be able to dodge her way to victory? This groundbreaking young graphic novel series, full of humor and fun, is a bestseller that’s sold more than three million copies!
 
"Move over, Superman, here comes Babymouse!"— The Chicago Sun-Times

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a... Babymouse? School is a constant battle between good (Babymouse), evil (Felicia Furrpaws), and more evil (gym class!). Can things get any worse? Yup. Because it’s time for the annual dodgeball tournament. What’s a mouse to do? Don’t miss the excitement in Our Hero —the 2nd hilarious, action-packed installment of the beloved Babymouse graphic novel series!

DON'T MISS The BIG Adventures of Once Upon a Messy Whisker , the newest, brightest, and BIGGER THAN EVER graphic novel from BABYMOUSE!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Childrens, Humor, Comics, Middle Grade, Animals, Fiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Jennifer L. Holm is a USA TODAY and NEW YORK TIMES-bestselling children's author with more than 9.8 million books in print She is the recipient of three Newbery Honors for her novels OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA, PENNY FROM HEAVEN, and TURTLE IN PARADISE and a Scott O'Dell Award for her novel FULL OF BEANS.

Jennifer collaborates with her brother, Matthew Holm, on three bestselling graphic novel series -- the Eisner Award-winning Babymouse series, the SUNNY series, and the Squish series. SQUISH is now an animated tv series on YouTube!

For more information, visit her website at www.jenniferholm.com.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dodgeball. All about the horrors of Dodgeball. I had fun with this book. Babymouse comes through in the end. A great young graphic novel for kids. I still have fun reading them.

[(NS)Jennifer Reiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this story, Babymouse is faced with her greatest fear of all. Flashbacks immediately come into Babymouse's head about her insecurities with the game. In gym class, each student is forced to play the game and for....A GRADE! On the day of the game, Babymouse forgets her gym shoes at home and is left in her pink shoes. She is sliding all over the floor and feels like she made a big mistake! As the game continues, Babymouse and Felicia Furrypaws (the reigning champ) are left in the game. Low and behold, Babymouse become the hero and throws the ball right at Felicia's head! She did it!


This story shows the wonderful imagination of Babymouse and how she has some of the same fears and insecurities other students have. I really liked the lay-out of a graphic novel. I never choose to read graphic novels and it was a nice. I think I will choose to try to read more graphic novels because it is important to be exposed to other genres of text. Babymouse was humorous, courageous and imaginative.

[Reading is my Escape · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Babymouse: Our Hero, Babymouse tries to overcome her fear of dodgeball. During the story, Babymouse imagines herself as a hero who undergoes many trials, such as walking miles to school or becoming Babymouse-zilla, a monster who cannot be defeated by dodgeballs. The illustrations are cute and use black, white and pink colors.

The Babymouse series is about a mouse with messy whiskers and big dreams. She faces problems with the help of her imagination, her friends, and a bit of sass. The series has won awards including a 2006 ALA Notable Children’s Books award, and a 2013 Eisner award for Babymouse for Preisdent. There are 20 books in the Babymouse series.

Babymouse is cute and she is a character that kids will relate to. There is also a middle school version of Babymouse for older kids.

[Gary Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

41st book read in 2018.

Number 302 out of 701 on my all time book list.

Baby Mouse is as cute and funny as book 1.

[nolie! · Rating 5 out of 5]

she’s literally so me

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this graphic novel to be very funny and kind of cute. As you may already know this story's protagonist is an adorable mouse named Babymouse. Although this book was titled "Babymouse Our Hero" the story was different than what I thought it would be. Babymouse only become a superhero like on the cover for a short time in her own imagination I thought she was going to image she was a superhero the whole time but she didn't. What did happen was a great and humorous story about Babymouse preparing to play dodge ball as if she were preparing to enter into war. The bit that I thought was the funniest was when she read "The Red Badge of Courage" to helper get to sleep before the next day when she would play dodge ball in gym class. As if it wasn't bad enough that she was already thinking of dodge ball as a battlefield now she has the terrible and frightening images of battle the book tells about on her mind. None the less this story if fun and entertaining which can encourage younger readers to read.

[Angela Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

(KidLit ED204 category: graphic novel)
"Babymouse: Our Hero" by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm is a fun graphic novel about Babymouse. The book opens with Babymouse dreaming of being the hero -- getting an award for "taking out the garbage without being asked." But Babymouse's dreams and reality are quite different!
This book is a sure fire hit for young readers. It would make a good read-aloud to a class of students, as well. This book will make the reader (or listener) laugh and cheer when Babymouse finally does become the hero! But in true form for Babymouse, it still doesn't turn out quite right. "Typical," Babymouse declares!

[Leslie Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Babymouse, #2 Our Hero was a great book. Read this book if you like humorous comic books, imaginative story lines, and if you hate dodge ball. Babymouse, with the help of her friends defeats her enemy in dodge ball, and is thus a hero. I really enjoyed reading this book because I felt I could relate to babymouse, even though I'm in college. I like the graphics and the humor a lot. These books never get old and I highly recommend them to anyone who likes humor, comic books, and imaginative stories.

[Cindy Minnich · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son handed this one to me and told me I needed to read this TODAY. Like RIGHT NOW. How could he possibly have known how perfect this one was for me? I did everything in my power to avoid dodgeball in school - it was definitely my least favorite thing to do in gym. I think everyone was better at the game than I was, so it was just easier to get out fast. Like the other Babymouse books, I love her imagination and how Wilson is always there to help her solve whatever the problem is.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review: https://hiplibrariansbookblog.com/200...

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know how I said last time that all 20 books in this series are available at my library now? Well, it’s actually 20 listed but only 4 of them being borrow-able. Not even in order either. Absolutely devastated.

This one is about the dreaded dodgeball game. I actually liked dodgeball, mostly because I was decent at dodging and left the throwing to my teammates so I didn’t get yelled at for missing. Babymouse does not share my feelings, and considering her physical incompetence, I don’t blame her. Very sweet of Wilson to help her practice, but yikes she is not good at that.

I liked the fantasy daydream sequences in the first book, but the recurring army fantasy is very fitting for the theme of this book. It’s also nice that it is recurring, so it’s easier to follow it all the way through. Not that the others were hard to follow at all, but I’m also an adult reading a book for kids, and I don’t know how smart kids are. They could be tiny geniuses or they could be dumber than rocks, I have no idea.

Forgetting important things for school was the worst, so watching Babymouse consistently forget her shoes was honestly almost painful. I forgot my watch one time and now I keep an extra in my stethoscope case at all times, just in case.

The evil locker is incredible and I love it.

[a dog who learned to read · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally read my first book in German(!!), and although I didn't understand every word, I now stan Babymouse. The way this book looks is so cool, and it's really cute and funny. It even has a really beautifully drawn "Babymousezilla" on a few pages, so yes I think this is the greatest art ever made.

[nabeeela]

can i even count this towards my goal LOLL :P
it isn’t in my first language
AND
it’s about 96 pages
AND
it’s technically a book soooo🤔

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute little book that elementary school students will easily relate to. Babymouse has to deal with bullying, daily life, and dodgeball but does it in a comical way to help children see its really not the end of the world. There are many references to heroic events such as the oregon trail and space exploration. I found it interesting that these fantasies changed the color scheme, the background was pink while in her real life the color was white and black with pink only as an accent. All the Babymouse books move at a quick pace similar to cartoons on TV which could be good for reluctant readers. This book would be hard to read to a class with its dependence on the pictures and all the thought bubbles but it would make for a fun independent read with a lit circle afterwards.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Babymouse faces the threat of dodgeball with her usual imagination tempered by a lot of worry and literary reference. What's not to like?

Edit to add: recently reread this and still loved it. Wow, it hit me just how much I felt exactly the same way Babymouse did when it came to stuff like that in gym class. That dread on gym days which made my stomach hurt...yeah, it's all there. I loved how she managed to get through this class in the end, with a blend of tenacity and absolute dumb luck. Still a great book!

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. My 7 year old is also enjoying these. (Although I was bugged that they are playing dodgeball in PE and people are getting hit in the head.)

[Lucely U · Rating 5 out of 5]

so funny and cool

[Katie Rea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is much better than the first one, I really loved the illustrations in this book

[Sheri S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book to my daughter and she thought it was entertaining. Babymouse is dreading an upcoming week of dodge ball in her physical education class and she must practice in order to improve her skills. Babymouse can't concentrate on anything since she is so worried about the game and, once again, she forgets to wear her shoes to school on the day dodge ball is supposed to begin. Sometimes forgetting things can turn into an advantage...

[Kyla Frey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really cute book, and I loved all of the graphics in it. It showed a lot of imagination, and all of the drawings were pretty funny. The story for me was just alright though. It was about this mouse who hates dodge ball. She always avoids it at all costs, but when her gym teacher says the next game is mandatory, she knows she has to participate and participate well. She trains with her best friend and she just feels helpless. She feels like she will never be able to play. She gives up and gets more and more nervous as the day of the game gets closer and closer. the day comes where she is forced to play, and she is still not having it because she forgets her shoes. The game proves to be difficult as she is slipping and sliding across the gym floor, but she makes it to the very end and its one on one with her enemy. Proving all guesses wrong she throws the ball and gets her enemy out and her team wins!

The pictures are what really made this book for me. It was really cool to look at, and I think 1st and 2nd grade girls would really enjoy these books. It teaches them to persevere even when things get tough which is a good lesson to teach anyone at any age. This is very fitting for that grade area. I do not think I would use this book in my classroom, but I would recommend it to the girls who are getting into picture books.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Our Hero Baby Mouse" is the tale of a young girl mouse and her adventurous mind throughout her rather bad day. The main character, Baby Mouse, is dreaming when we first being the story. In this dream she receives a pink heart as an award for her bravery during her time as some sort of solider. The story then proceeds to go into a series of unfortunate events Baby Mouse occurs, for instance: missing the morning school bus. However, with each of these mis-happenings Baby Mouse imagines them as some elaborate scene in her head. Her trek to school after missing the bus turns into a hot desert pioneer trek. You follow her throughout her long day and travel through her adventurous scenarios.
One of the first things that you will notice about Baby Mouse is the color scheme. The entire story is illustrated in three colors: black, white, and pink. This really helps emphasize the female empowerment the story tries to enforce. Baby Mouse is a sassy, outspoken, imaginative little girl: and the story really encourages these outspoken female personalities. Also, I thought it was interesting to take note on how the page is flooded with the color pink while she is imagining up scenarios in her head. I believe this is meant to represent that she is in her own world, and it is a lot more colorful and creative than the actual real world.

[Joseph Seo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a typical day of Baby Mouse. She often daydreams that she is a super hero and everyone is cheering for her. She always seem to forget her shoes. She is also afraid of playing the game dodgeball and she is dreading gym class. I would recommend this book to the younger children. It is a good book for little kids. Baby Mouse has a best friend in the book that helps her in her time of need. She really appreciates her best friend and this is something I like about this book. This book is full of awesome drawings and it is something kids can relate to. It also has a hint of bullying which teachers or parents could talk to their children about. Honestly I didn't like this book very much. I would often get lost on what the book is about sometimes. I also felt like Baby Mouse did really anything heroic until the very end. I thought this book would be about Baby Mouse helping others, but it's just a book about her daily life. There is a bit of exaggeration like when Baby Mouse missed the school bus and the walk to school was compared to Oregon Trail. I found that amusing. Overall, this book was kind of hard to follow, but I feel like kids would love this book. This one was just not for me.

[BunnyDumpling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Babymouse is a likably imperfect character whose endearing humility and every-school-age-girl insecurities are transformed into comedy by her rich imagination. She is rendered in playful, wavering lines which reflect her winsome uncertainty, while the pink, white, and black palette gives the book obvious "girl" appeal. The many endearing comedic moments in the story -- in which Babymouse tries to overcome her fear of a mandatory dodgeball game against her nemesis (and school bully) feline Felicia Furrypaws -- exist in direct contrast to the crueler, darker ones in which Felicia torments Babymouse. The torments include elbowing Babymouse in the hallway, "accidentally" spilling Babymouse's drink at lunch, verbally threatening her, and shutting her in her locker. Even Babymouse's triumphant defeat of Felicia, where she nails her in the head with a dodgeball, is bittersweet in its cruelty. Much to my surprise, none of the participants in my girls' book group -- ages 6-8 -- were upset by Felicia's bullying (perhaps because Felicia's torments are so exaggeratedly over-the-top that they are unbelievable?), and all were pleased with Babymouse's method of triumph. Even so, I think the darker turns in this book make it appropriate for older elementary ages, perhaps 9 and up.

[Cornelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Babymouse! I read Babymouse Our Hero, a humorous story where Babymouse faces Felcia Furrypaws in gym class's dodgeball game. Holm and Holm are able to integrate the story and the pictures flawlessly. Their use of just three colors - black, white and pink - is a neat way to approach the illustrations. Their thick, bold lines are able capture the moments beautifully. It is a story rooted in the reality of Babymouses's world, but there are there are wonderfully imaginative scenes within her reality, such as when she envisions herself as Super Babymouse flying through the air. While there is an element of cliche to these moments, they work within the story.

I have not read a graphic novel in many years and this was a great reintroduction to the genre. Babymouse seems like a character that many girls can relate to - whether it's that they constantly miss the bus or there's a kid at school who is mean to them. She's fun and a little sassy and finds a good friend in Wilson the Weasel. This book could be enjoyed by a variety of readers because it suits many different levels and, although, it is likely intended for girls, I think that it could be enjoyed by boys too, boys that are ok with the color pink.

[Katie]

Summary: For Babymouse, school is a constant battle between good...and evil! Can things get any worse? Yup! Because it's time for the annual dodgeball tournament! What's a mouse to do? Will a meteor hit the school and stop the game? Will Felicia and her deadly dodgeballs win the day? Has Babymouse dodged her last dodgeball?

Reading Level: 4th grade

Genre: Comic Fiction

Specific Curricular Uses: Independent Reading

Social Issues the book addresses: Peer pressure, the meeting expectations

Specific Literary Elements The book Demonstrates: The entire book is written in comic form. It’s a unique way to write a book, but captures young audiences’ attentions. It’s not written in paragraph form so the reader has to adapt to the story being told through dialougue bubbles. The story is told through scenic narration – events are told as they happen in the present time.

Interactions & Counteractions of the text & image: The images of the text heavily support the minimal text in this book. The images say more than the text. The images are expansions of what the dialogues are. Since this is a comic the illustrations are very important for the reader.

[Diana Judd]

This was a story about Babymouse, who must compete in a dodgeball game for her gym class. She's really dreading it, but with the help of her friend she manages to make it into a pretty good experience. Honestly, I didn't really enjoy this graphic novel. The pictures were interesting and well done, but the story was less coherent. The story would often slip into Babymouse's imagination, for instance she during the dodgeball game, suddenly they were soldiers during a war. While children's imaginations do sometimes work like this, as a book, I didn't think it worked very well because I would sometimes get lost and not be sure what was actually happening. At the beginning of the story I wasn't sure if what was being described was something that was actually happening, or if this was in Babymouse's dream. Because of confusion like this, I would have preferred if the whole story had just stayed in real life. Also I found it strange that the narration would interact with Babymouse, she would respond to things in the narration, and the narration would respond to things that she said or did. I just thought that was a weird touch. Overall, kind of hard to follow.

[Hailey Layug]

This is a good book that teaches kids you can do anything but don't stand up for a bully. Babymouse was scared to play dodgeball. The week before they said we are playing dodgeball the kids may not be excused. Babymouse was scared ever since kindergarden. Felicia Furrypaws was the best at playing.Today she had to walk to school.when she got to school her friend Wilson said missed the bus again babymouse.Her locker ate her homework.First period felt like prison.After lunch wasn't better either.Last period was gym.Babymouse forgot her sneakers again.Dodgeball was next week.After school she and Wilson practiced playing dodgeball.Babymouse got worse at playing.The tree hit the ball back hard.TYPICAL.She hit her brother squeak.She was injured in many ways.She was worried about gym.Maybe it will be canceled,from a hurricane,earthquake,meteor,or BABYMOUSEZILLA!!!Maybe that won't happen Babymouse.The night before dodgeball she was worried.At last period she left her sneakers at home.She played with her socks on.Felicia and Babymouse were left.Babymouse hit Felicia with the ball.She won the game.She the hero.After gym,Felicia put Babymouse in a locker,huh typical

[Megan Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Babymouse learns that she has to play dodgeball in gym class next week, and she is not very happy about it. She tries to get out of it by playing sick, but that doesn't work; she even forgets her gym sneakers! The "evil" Felicia Furrypaws is the best dodgeball player at school. Babymouse's best friend, Wilson, sees that she is afraid to play dodgeball, so he tries to help her get better at it. Unfortunately, Babymouse does not get better at dodgeball, and the day that she has to play it in gym is fast-approaching. Babymouse wants to be the hero and win the game for her team, but she knows that she stands little chance against Felicia.
I liked this book! Again, I think that Babymouse is adorable. I think it was funny that she referred to Felicia as "evil", and that she wanted to be the "hero" for her team; it was like a battle of "good vs. evil". The illustrations were very nice, and the dialogue was funny.
This book could be used in the classroom to talk about how believing in yourself is very important. When you believe in yourself, you can usually accomplish great goals/obstacles!

[Jessica Breighner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Babymouse, Our Hero
By Jennifer Holm & Matthew Holm

Reading Level: transitional to fluent readers around 4th grade
Genre: Comic Fiction
Specific Curricular Uses: Independent Reading for more fluent readers.
Social Issues the book addresses: Peer pressure, the meeting expectations
Specific Literary Elements The book Demonstrates: The entire book is written in comic form. It’s a unique way to write a book, but captures young audiences’ attentions. It’s not written in paragraph form so the reader has to adapt to the story being told through dialougue bubbles. The story is told through scenic narration – events are told as they happen in the present time.
Interactions & Counteractions of the text & image: The images of the text heavily support the minimal text in this book. The images say more than the text. The images are expansions of what the dialogues are. Since this is a comic the illustrations are very important for the reader. They help the students make suggestions as to what can happen.

[Cianna Walters · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does a good job representing common endeavors in life, such as; being bad at math, specifically fractions, the hardships of remembering responsibilities, and emphasizing on the fear of PE dodgeball. There is a lot of more mature comical references such as saying "Fort McMouse" instead of "Fort Knox", and having the baby mouse pet sit for a snake. However, I think for the targeted age group of this book it would more than likely go over most students heads. All in all, this is a very fun book to introduce to children that are just developing reading skills or are focusing on improving these skills. There are scenes that could be classified as violent by having the dodgeball hit different characters in this book, but it isn't anything too graphic just enough to get the point across. The illustrations were very plain as far as only consisting of three colors; red, black, and white but really represented what was going on in the book. I found this appropriate for first grade and up.