DD SERIES: BABYMOUSE series by Jennifer and Matthew HolmDESCRIPTION: Babymouse is a sweet and caring mouse who sometimes gets down that she can't do

everything perfectly. She often imagines herself as the successful lead in children's books and movies likeCharlotte's Web, Star Wars, and The Wizard of Oz, but things don't always work out so perfectly in real life.  With the help of friends and teachers, Babymouse learns that working hard and staying positive is the way to succeed in everything she tries. The BABYMOUSE books are fun and entertaining reads that teach kids that it's OK to fail and, with the help of friends and family, success can always be right around the corner. Babymouse's good attitude and lively conversations with the author and illustrator of her story -- that fourth wall is broken down quickly! -- make reading these comic books extra engaging. Kids will love the cute and busy pink, black, and white illustrations filled with clever details and asides almost as much as the laugh-out-loud storylines. Babymouse loves pink, and the illustrations by Matthew Holm are a pink lover's dream. The black, white, and pink illustrations perfectly show Babymouse as fun and cute with a perky personality. And, even though she loves pink, Babymouse isn't afraid to get out there and slay dragons and race cars with the best of all her boy friends. The panels are easy to follow and the illustrations show emotion well.

Babymouse often imagines herself as the main character in famous children's books and movies.  What books and movies would you like to jump into? What characters would you like to be?

Oftentimes, Babymouse gets down on herself because she feels that she's not good enough at different things she tries to do. Are there things that you feel you could be better at? How do you think you could improve? How does a positive attitude help?

Babymouse has a great friend called Wilson. Who are your good friends? How do you help them out when they are feeling down about something? Do they help you out when you need a hand?

Babymouse #1: Queen of the World! It’s the same thing every day for Babymouse. Where is the glamour? The excitement? The adventure? Nothing ever changes, until . . . Babymouse hears about Felicia Furrypaws’s exclusive slumber party. Will Babymouse get invited? Will her best friend, Wilson, forgive her if she misses their monster movie marathon? Find out in Babymouse: Queen of the World, a graphic novel with attitude!

Babymouse #2: Our Hero For 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 Babymouse: Our Hero!

Babymouse #3: Beach Babe Grab your sunglasses! School’s out and Babymouse is headed to the beach for a week of sun, sand, surfing, snorkeling, and sharks! That’s right, folks . . . sharks! Looks like Babymouse’s summer fun isn’t shaping up quite the way she expected! Will Babymouse survive her summer vacation? Will she be the surfing star she dreams of being . . . or is she sharkbait?! Find out in Babymouse: Beach Babe, written and illustrated by brother-sister team Matthew Holm and Newbery Honor winner Jennifer L. Holm"making a splash this summer!

Babymouse #4: Rock Star Move over Mozart! Babymouse has music in her soul...but sadly, not in her flute. Will Babymouse ever hit the right note? Will she be the star of the school concert, or is her musical career all washed up before it's even started? Find out in Babymouse: Rock Star, the sensational fourth book in the Babymouse series--taking center stage!

Babymouse #5: Heartbreaker AHHH, VALENTINE'S DAY! Babymouse loves Valentines Day! A day for pink hearts! Flowers! Candy! School dances and romance . . . sweetromance! WAIT! Romance? Ew! And what's this about a school dance? Does that mean Babymouse needs a date? Uh-oh! Looks like thisValentine's Day may turn into a Valentine's dud! Will Babymouse go to the school dance? Will she get any Valentines? Will she find true love? Find out in . . . Babymouse:Heartbreaker!

Babymouse #6: Camp Babymouse Welcome to Camp Babymouse! Two weeks of fresh air, fun, and friendship! Babymouse can't wait for the adventures to start. All that she has to do is relax and make sure she doesn't get lost in the wilderness. What could possibly go wrong, right Babymouse? Uh . . . Babymouse? BABYMOUSE? Uh-oh! Will camp be all that Babymouse dreams of? Or is our brave and fearless camper lostforever?! Find out in the sixth Babymouse adventure: Camp Babymouse!

Babymouse #7: Skater Girl BEST GYMNAST. BEST speller. Best kazoo player. It seems everyone has a talent except Babymouse. That is, until Babymouse takes to the ice and surprises everyone with her spectacular spins and jubilant jumps. Until the famous Olympic coach, Coach Bearnakorva, discovers her and asks Babymouse to be her new protege. Will Babymouse's dreams of a medal come true? Or is she treading on thin ice? Find out in the seventh Babymouse adventure: Skater Girl!

Babymouse #8: Puppy Love In the tradition of Snoopy, of Clifford, and of Lassie comes another great dog story for the ages . . . Babymouse: Puppy Love! Babymouse doesn't exactly have a great history with pets-even her goldfish ran away from home. But all that's about to change. Will Babymouse get the dog of her dreams? Will she ever find her missing fish? Find out in the eighth exciting Babymouse graphic novel! "Ruff! Four paws up!"-The Canine Courier Growing up, brother-sister team Matthew and Jennifer Holm had numerous beloved pets, including the creatively named Ruffy-best known for once sporting a pink mohawk and eating an entire chocolate birthday cake.Babymouse #9: Monster MashIT WAS A dark and scary Halloween. . . .

This year, Babymouse is determined to have the best Halloween costume and the best Halloween party ever. Will Babymouse be the monster of her dreams? Will Felicia Furrypaws come to the party? And is that really the creature from the black lagoon living in Babymouse's locker? Find out in the most exciting Babymouse graphic novel yet, Monster Mash!

Babymouse #10: The Musical Dust off your dancing shoes. Babymouse and the gang are taking center stage in the feel-good book of the season! Will Babymouse get the lead in the school musical or will Felicia Furrypaws steal the show? Find out in Babymouse: The Musical ! Filled with highsteps and high jinks and starring the critically acclaimed, award-winning Babymouse as herself, this showstopper will have you tapping your toes and singing along!

Babymouse #11: DragonslayerGet ready for the next big epic fantasy . . . In a distant kingdom a growing darkness falls over the land. One is called to defend . . . to bring hope . . . to slay the Mighty Dragon. . . .Could it be . . . Babymouse? Find out when Babymouse leads her fellow Mathletes in the quest of a lifetime, a death-defying fight to win back both her school’s honor and the coveted GOLDEN SLIDE RULE. Our brave young hero must face not just the evil Owlgorithms but also her own personal dragon: MATH. Destined for glory, for greatness, for bookstores and libraries everywhere . . . this is the epic adventure fans have been waiting for!Babymouse #12: Burns Rubber Babymouse's big dreams of becoming a race car driver come true when she and her best pal, Wilson, enter the Race of the Century (or at least the school year). But will she and Wilson crash and burn? Or will they cruise to the Winners' Circle? Find out in Babymouse #12: Burns Rubber. Breaking records this spring!

Babymouse #13: Cupcake Tycoon The word is out. Kids love Babymouse-star of the popular, award-winning, hilarious, PINK graphic-novel series showcasing the trials and tribulations of elementary school. The sassy mouse with attitude to spare has charmed her way into the hearts of kids, parents, and teachers everywhere! The series has won multiple Children’s Choice awards, and one title was the first graphic novel EVER to be named an ALA Notable Children’s Book. It's champagne wishes and cupcake dreams for Babymouse in Cupcake Tycoon. The school library is having a fund-raiser, and Babymouse is determined to raise the most money and WIN the GRAND PRIZE! Or . . . er, to help the school! The competition is fierce, but Babymouse will stop at nothing to get what she wants, even if it means outselling every last kid in school . . . including her nefarious nemesis, Felicia Furrypaws. The claws are out and the race is on in this absolutely PRICELESS Babymouse!Babymouse #14: Mad Scientist The greatest scientific discovery of the 21st century is about to be revealed . . . when Babymouse enters the school science fair! Will her amazing discovery win 1st place? Will it become a successful spin off series? Find out in Babymouse: Mad Scientist! Mad Scientist is the 14th graphic novel in the award-winning series and the Babymouse that begins the amazing adventures of SQUISH: SUPER AMOEBA!

Babymouse #15: A Very Babymouse Christmas 'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for . . . Babymouse. The holidays are here and everyone's enjoying their favorite traditions—eating latkes, decorating for Kwanza, singing holiday songs, and most of all, being with family. Well, everyone except Babymouse. Babymouse only has one thing on her mind—PRESENTS!!! And whether she has to face down the ghosts of mean girls past or outsmart Santa himself, she'll do whatever it takes to make sure she gets the present she wants. Will Babymouse find a whiz-bang under the tree? Will she learn the true meaning of the holidays? And what do you get for a narrator, anyway? Find out in A Very Babymouse Christmas, the 15th graphic novel in the hilarious, award-winning Babymouse series!Babymouse #16: Babymouse for President A Cupcake in every locker! It's election season and if anyone knows what this country . . . er, what the student council needs, it's Babymouse. The only trouble is, everyone else is running for President, too-even Babymouse's locker! Will Felicia Furrypaws turn out the meangirl coalition? Does Babymouse have what it takes to become the voice of the people? Find out in Babymouse for President! Remember, a vote for Babymouse is a vote for cupcakes!

Jennifer L. Holm

AUTOBIOGRAPHYWhen I was a kid, I liked to read. A lot.

One of our neighbors said recently that his clearest memory of me as a child was watching me rake the lawn one-handed while I read a book with the other! In fact, the highlight of a particular summer vacation was not, for me, going on the water slide at an amusement park, but rather stopping at a bookstore with a great kid's section and discovering-gasp!-that my favorite author, Lloyd Alexander, had written four more books.

I was born in California across from a zoo and then we lived on Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound, and then moved again to Audubon, Pennsylvania where I spent most of my childhood. My dad was a pediatrician, and my mom a pediatric nurse. We had a dog named Ruffy who had a bad habit of chasing skunks and a hamster named Sneaker who liked to curl up in my hair and fall asleep (he was a very mellow hamster).

But my childhood was marked by something else-boys. Specifically, brothers. I had a pack of them. Four to be exact, and I liked to do everything they did-softball, kickball, climbing trees, spitting contests, swimming in the creek, you name it. I guess it left a lasting impression. Even my husband admits that it takes me less time to get ready in the bathroom than him!

My childhood has always been my main source of inspiration for my writing. You can see glimpses of it in my book THE CREEK, and also in OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA. Another big influence during these years were comic books and cartoon strips. My brothers and I would fight over the big color funny section of the Sunday newspaper. I still love comic books and graphic novels and I think reading them has helped make me a better writer.I attended Audubon elementary School where I had a wonderful librarian named Mrs. Ellenburg. After surviving middle school (barely), I attended Methacton High School. In high school I did lots of different things-I was in the marching band, I was on the debate team, and I played lacrosse. So I guess you could say I was hard to pigeonhole. I graduated and went to Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and that's where I really started writing.

After I graduated from college, I moved to New York City where I became a broadcast producer of television commercials and music videos for clients like Nickelodeon and MTV and American Express and Hershey's and even Huggies (yes-baby wipes!) I enjoyed working in television but I had always wanted to be a writer. My father's stories of the family farm in Naselle, Washington intrigued me and so when a family member sent me a photocopy of a diary kept by my great aunt, Alice Amelia Holm, when she was a young girl, I got the spark. May Amelia and the Jackson family were born. I was incredibly fortunate to receive a Newbery Honor for my first novel, OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA, and that allowed me to eventually become a full-time writer. My books have been translated into several languages and The Seattle Children's Theatre staged OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA in 2002.

I'm trying to stay out of trouble these days. I still prefer reading to amusement parks, and on occasion, I rake the lawn while reading a book. Although I confess I don't seem to get many leaves up that way. I now split my time between writing and taking care of my son, Will. My husband, Jonathan Hamel, and I recently collaborated on a series called THE STINK FILES about a British international cat of mystery. We all live in Northeastern United States with one slightly stinky cat named Princess Leia Organa.

SERIES: SQUISH series by Matthew Holm (author/illustrator) & Jennifer HolmDESCRIPTION: Introducing SQUISH -- a new graphic novel series about a comic book-loving, twinkie-eating grade

school amoeba trying to find his place in the world (or at least trying to make it through a school day). The hilarious misadventures of a hapless young everylad who happens to be an amoeba.Countering the (perceived, at least) girliness of their Babymouse series, the talented Holms turn to the microbial world for new graphic material. Like his revered comics hero, Super Amoeba, blobby Squish is determined to “do what’s right.” This turns out to be relatively easy when it’s his mooching buddy Pod suckering him into switching lunches or his relentlessly cheery classmate Peggy the paramecium (her every utterance trailed by a line of exclamation points!!!!!) begging him to come over after school to meet her new slime mold Fluffy. It's a lot harder when brutish bully Lynwood callously envelops and begins to digest the seemingly doomed Peggy for a snack. The siblings draw it Babymouse-style in thick lined cartoon panels with garish green highlights and dialogue balloons. Plenty of helpful arrows point out significant anatomical details (“Pseudopods”) or offer snarky side comments. The episode zips along to a climactic ugly (but just) surprise for Lynwood, then closes with an easily doable prank/science project involving a moistened slice of bread.

SQUISH #1: Super AmoebaInspired by his favorite comic book hero, SUPER AMOEBA!, Squish has to navigate school (bullies! detention! Principal Planaria!), family (dad: Hates to wear a tie. Secretly listens to heavy metal in the car), and friends (Peggy-rainbows! happy all the time! and Pod . . . who's . . . well, you just have to meet him). Can Squish save the world--and his friends--from the forces of evil lurking in the hallways? Find out in Squish: Super Amoeba--saving the world, one cell at a time!

SQUISH #2: Brave New PondHe's baa-ack! It's a brand new school year for everyone's favorite AMOEBA! Will Squish finally get to sit with the cool kids at lunch? Will Pod stop the giant asteroid from destroying the world? Will the LEECHES be the end of Super Amoeba? And what makes cafeteria nachos so delicious anyway? Find out the answers to these questions and more in Squish's second electrifying, action-packed adventure—Squish: Brave New Pond.

Matthew Holm

Matthew and sister, Jennifer Holm

BIOGRAPHY Matthew Holm was born and raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pa., and has been drawing comics since he was in middle school. Growing up reading four older siblings' comic books and comic strip collections (including Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes, and Bloom County), he hoped he might one day grow up to draw a daily newspaper comic strip. He mentored under Pulitzer-prize-winning editorial cartoonist Tony Auth while in high school, and in college, while studying English and Art at Penn State, he drew weekly editorial cartoons for the school newspaper. After college, he worked in New York City as a writer and editor for Hearst's Country Living Magazine, and drew a daily web comic (before the term "web comic" really existed) in his spare time.

He first began working with his sister, Jennifer, as a copy editor and fact-checker for her Boston Jane novels, and later drew several pages of comics for her book Middle School Is Worse than Meatloaf. When Jenni came to him in 2001 with the idea of making a comic book with a female heroine named Babymouse, he again picked up his pen and the two worked out the ideas and look for what became one of the first graphic novel series written specifically for children. Today, he continues to collaborate with his sister on several graphic novels each year, both for the Babymouse series as well as the Squish series. He currently lives in Portland, Ore., with his wife and dog.