BabyMouse Takes Her First School Trip Without a Chaperone in New Book From Beloved Authors Jennifer and Matthew Holm

Everyone's beloved character BabyMouse is back for another year of middle school. The excitement of middle school has faded and this year promises to be the same old thing. There is too much homework, and hardly any arts and crafts. Art is BabyMouse's favorite class and one day her art teacher makes an exciting announcement that the class will be taking a trip to an art museum in the big city. This trip will be very different in that the school will be giving the students an opportunity to practice independence and responsibility. No chaperones will be around! The middle schoolers are so excited about this new freedom. They will finally be allowed to be grownups! The stipulation is made that they must use the buddy system and travel in pairs.

BabyMouse prepares her art portfolio to take to the museum in hopes that the curator might like to look at it. She also must choose a cool outfit to wear to the museum. The day of the trip finally arrives and they are in the city. BabyMouse is surprised to discover that two of her friends are going to sneak away to explore the city by themselves. Let the real adventures begin! The subway, a kitty, and a broken smartphone are just a few adventurous elements of the day in the city. Young readers will find this to be a page-turner to see if BabyMouse and her friends can get back to the bus in time before it leaves the museum that afternoon.

BabyMouse Tales from the Locker School-Tripped is chock-full of adventures that BabyMouse is known for. The problem arises when her art teacher wants her students to write about their trip to the art museum. BabyMouse knows that she did not see a single painting at the museum. She chooses a surprise part of the museum to write about and her teacher is pleased. The city adventures remain a secret. A surprise ending makes BabyMouse happy about her own art.

BabyMouse Tales From the Locker School-Tripped was published by Random House Children's Books and is recommended for ages 8-12. It has an ISBN of 978-0-399-55444-5.

The beloved character BabyMouse is very popular with middle school students. and this new installment of her adventures has several opportunities for reading enhancement to the book. Art teachers might like to add this chapter book to their classroom. Chapter books are popular for the middle school grades and can be used to improve reading aloud skills when shared in a group reading experience daily.

*Read BabyMouse Tales From the Locker School-Tripped in a daily reading group to be shared by all students. Offer the opportunity for students to read aloud to their classmates with a chapters read aloud each day.

*Call attention to the interest in art. Several famous artists whose paintings might be found in a museum are mentioned. The names of these artists offer the opportunity to learn about famous artists and their paintings.

*Call attention to the trip to the art museum in the big city that BabyMouse and her classmates will be taking. Take a class poll to ask how many students have been to an art museum.

*Art teachers might like to assign a creative art project for students to develop their own portfolio of art as BabyMouse did in the story.

*What was the favorite art medium the BabyMouse liked to use? Put this medium in your art center and allow your students to create their own painting.

*Assign a creative writing project for students to write their own adventure story of what would happen if they were on their own on a big city. What would happen if their own smartphone broke? Do they think that they could get along with their own smartphone? How can they learn to be independent and responsible if they find themselves without an adult around?