September 1, 2009
Grades 4-6 In this eleventh Babymouse volume, the cute mouse with the vivid imagination mixes fantasy adventure with math when her teacher has her join the Mathletes team to make up for a very bad grade. The team aspires to win back the Golden Slide Rule from the reigning Mathletes champions, the Owlgorithms. Can daydreams of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Hobbit help Babymouse and her new teammates? Illustrated in the signature black, white, and pink, this new adventure will please old fans and attract new ones, and might inspire some girls to excel in math.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)
January 1, 2010
If Babymouse joins the mathletes, her teacher will ignore an F minus on a quiz. Babymouse's pink-tinted daydreams venture into epic fantasy territory, as she is encouraged by the Aslan-esque math coach: "Just because you're not good at something, it doesn't mean you have to be terrible at it, either." Fans of this graphic novel series will cheer Babymouse on in her battle against self-doubt.
(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
September 1, 2009
The unsung hero in this eleventh book in the graphic novel series is Babymouse's teacher, who shrewdly promises to ignore an F minus on a math quiz if Babymouse joins the mathlete team and competes in the Math Olympics. Spending her lunch periods staring blankly at equations and feeling dumb is the last thing she wants to do, but Babymouse valiantly (okay, reluctantly) joins the Fighting Fractions in their attempt to reclaim the Golden Slide Rule from the ruthless Owlgorithms. Her seemingly doomed mission will resonate with the mathphobic among Babymouse fans as they cheer her on in the battle against self-doubt and fear. Her pink-tinted daydreams venture into epic fantasy territory, the common denominator between her and her brainy teammates. Their Aslan-esque math coach encourages Babymouse, providing her with the tools to face any challenge: "Just because you're not good at something, it doesn't mean you have to be terrible at it, either." As always, her narrator sidekick keeps it real ("But you're so good at being terrible at math!"). No one is more surprised than Babymouse when she slays the math dragon -- by believing in herself -- and actually helps defeat the Owlgorithms. It's a well-deserved happily-ever-after ending complete with the victors walking off into the sunset. Readers can always count on Babymouse -- even when it comes to math.
(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)