Easy, early graphic novel will get even reluctant readers wanting to find out what happens next. This is one of a series: Hammy and Gerbee. In this story, they go on a school field trip to a museum. Black and white with shades of blue, with large print. ( )

Yee expands from his sweet easy readers to an equally light-hearted new graphic novel series for beginning chapter readers.

Best friends Hammy the hamster and Gerbee the gerbil are delighted to find they will be in Miss Capybara's class. They're not so pleased that the evil mice twins Anna and Hanna will be there too! Miss Capybara has the class compete in a spelling bee to decide where their field trip will go; luckily, even though Hammy and Gerbee don't win, they know just how to convince the twins to pick the science museum!

Once there, the friends have a delightful time until they decide to play a trick on their class. It's all fun and games at first, but then a REAL mummy shows up! Or does it?

The art is two-colored, in shades of blue and white. The animals have blunt noses and a similar look and this is one thing that really bothered me. It's minor, but after a long series of hamsters we have two gerbils at my library and I have spent the last three months reminding kids over and over and over again that hamsters do not have tails, gerbils have long tails with a fluffy tuft. Both Hammy and Gerbee have the exact same stubby tails, both being incorrect. This bothered me.

The plot is light and the art simple and rather blobby. But I have a ton of beginning chapter readers who will adore this! They love the simple graphic novels like Jump-into-Chapters and this will fit right in. It's funny, has animals, and the two-toned color that they are familiar with in their graphic novels.

Verdict: While the anatomical inaccuracy annoys me, and the story isn't stand-out enough to make it a necessary purchase, if you are looking to expand your graphic novel offerings for beginning readers this is sure to be popular. Available in paperback or prebound.

ISBN: 9781627794626; Published January 2018 by Henry Holt; Borrowed from another library in my consortium