Yesterday I started rereading Babymouse, Beach Babe by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm. The day before it snowed. Weirdly, these two things are not connected (I love snow and only wish it hadn’t melted so quickly!). But the book is making me wish the dingy gray sky was a sunny blue like I imagine is what Babymouse sees on the beach!

I love the “Babymouse” series. This is the third book and it’s as adorable as the rest. This one, obviously, celebrates summer vacation. So, more squid attacks and fewer locker monster attacks seem likely.

Babymouse has the most fantastic imagination and is impressively well versed in literature, movies, comic books, history, and more. As she goes through her life, she imagines herself in different stories and settings that are thematically appropriate for what’s going on in her real life. So, a science class about marine life leads to her daydreaming about being a mermaid. Sometimes these fantasies help her, sometimes they get her into trouble, and sometimes they seem to do both. Regardless of the outcome, they are one of my favorite things about the series.

The illustrations (these are short graphic novels) are black, white, and pink and completely charming. I love Babymouse’s crazy whiskers and the way Matthew Holm seems to make Squeak seem forever in motion, even on a static page. The books are fun, fast reads and they are perfect during a hard time when there is so much stress all over the world.