December 1, 2012
Babymouse + snowboard = many faceplants on the way to wisdom and cupcakes. In her 17th outing, Babymouse's yearning to join the latest craze at school actually results in a trip to Snowy Mountain--not to the plush resort itself, but to the cobwebby cabin of a family friend: "Where's the hot tub?" "I think you'll be lucky to have hot water, Babymouse." "Typical." It's a long day on the training slope ("What did you learn on your first day of snowboarding, Babymouse?" "The true meaning of pain"). A timely recollection of her instructor's cautionary "go at your own pace and always listen to your inner voice" keeps her out of deadly Half-Pipe Alley despite a sneering classmate's dare, leaving her enjoying a snack at the resort as the aforementioned tormentor wipes out big time. Presented in the customary mix of thick-lined drawings with pink highlights, easy-to-read dialogue in balloons and occasional interjections from the outside, the tale positively shreds its way down the narrative slope for an awesome stick. Extremely entertaining. (Graphic fiction. 7-12)
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July 1, 2013
It seems like everybody is going snowboarding, and Babymouse is (sort of) up to giving it a try. After an afternoon of wipe-outs, she takes her instructor's advice: "listen to your inner voice." Unfortunately, her inner voice leads her down all the wrong paths. Babymouse fans will enjoy the extreme alpine adventure in her seventeenth pleasing graphic novel.
(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)