rock star

I first heard about the Babymouse series from a 2nd grader I used to tutor. He was really excited about them because he was able to read them and I think he felt an accomplishment because of their length. I kind of dug it too. It definitely is not the most educational or even the most quality children's literature out there but it told a story that was I was able to relate to and that made it a fun read. In this, the fourth book of the series, Babymouse has dreams of becoming a rock star but can't seem to get past even being able to play the flute well enough to perform in the spring concert. Her dreams are further squashed by the school bully, a cat named Felicia. In the end, Babymouse gets help from a fellow, though insanely more advanced, flute player and classmate and is able to make her rock star dreams a reality...ok, well really she just doesn't get last chair in her section at the concert again.
The things I liked about the book is that it's definitely a breezy read. Most words are repeated and the story is not too complicated so I wasn't overwhelmed with word boxes. Another thing I liked was the humor. Jennifer and Matthew Holm draw on a number of stories (The Wizard of Oz, The Pied Piper) and realistic experiences (riding the disgusting, death trap of a school bus) to tell Babymouses tail which often jumps back and forth between the real present and her daydreams. The third thing I kind of liked was the art work. The illustrations are in black and white with pink accents. The one drawback I found was that even though the plot wasn't super complicated, there always seemed to be a lot going on and sometimes I found myself having to reread sections to remember which universe we were in.