BookBunnies

Caramel reviews Pokko and the Drum by Matthew Forsythe

Today Caramel reviews a neat picture book first published in 2019: Pokko and the Drum by Matthew Forsythe. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, I see we have a neat picture book to talk about today.

Caramel: Yes we do! It is about a frog named Pokko.

S: Okay, so tell us a bit about Pokko.

C: Pokko is a frog who was gifted a drum by her parents (bad idea on their part).

S: Why would that be a bad idea? And I think that is actually the very first sentence of the book, right?

C: Yeah, it was something along the lines of “The biggest mistake Pokko’s parents made was giving her a drum”. And it is later said (two pages later) that the reason is because the drum kept them from focusing, or really doing anything.

S: So the mom keeps trying to read, right? And a drum would be kind of loud I suppose. Remember how you played the trumpet for a while. That was loud.

C: I at least had a thingy to make it quieter. I don’t think you can make drums quiet.

S: That is true. Okay, so she is loud and so her dad suggests that she take it outside, right?

C: Yes. And she does. But then she starts making some noise,or music I suppose. Then another animal joins her, and she plays louder. Then another joins her, again, and again, and by the time the sun sets, she has a whole band of animals following her and making music together, and they are so loud, the noise reaches her parents, all the way back in their home.

S: That sounds cool! So she makes friends with her music, right?

C: Yeah, it sounds cool, until a band member, a wolf, eats another one, a bunny.

S: Wait, that sounds kind of worrisome.

C: Yes, it could be but in the book it is rather funny. Pokko scolds the wolf, saying that he can’t keep eating band members. The book is really funny.

S: Wait, a wolf eats a bunny and you find that funny?

C: Hmm, when you put it that way, as a bunny I should feel a bit concerned about the bunny who is eaten. But in the book Pokko scolds the wolf and the wolf behaves after that. And we move on.

S: I see. I guess bad things happen in other books, too, and this is meant more as a funny thing rather than a tragedy..

C: Yep.

Caramel is reading Pokko and the Drum by Matthew Forsythe. — Caramel is reading *Pokko and the Drum* by Matthew Forsythe.

S: Alright. So I read in another review that this book was about the power of “marching to the beat of your own drum”. Do you agree?

C: Yeah, I could see that. She is after all playing her own drum as she likes, and she keeps walking, and others join her beat. It is exactly like that actually!

S: So do you think there is a moral to the story?

C: I did not read it for a moral, it is really funny, and I did not tell you half of all the funny lines. But if I need to think about a moral, hmm, let me think… Maybe it is like you said, march to the beat of your own drum and you will find your friends and your own place in the world?

S: That makes sense.

C: And maybe your parents might try to hold you down, and just don’t let them?

S: Okay, maybe that is going a bit too far. After all the parents were the ones who got her the drum.

C: Yeah, you’re right, that was maybe a little ridiculous.

S: But then again, they did try to suppress her music, so you do have a point Caramel. Sometimes even usually supportive parents might feel the children are going too far, making too loud music, and so on. And then maybe it is okay to push a little. Maybe.

C: Maybe. And she does not disrespect the parents. Just continues to play her drum. She is making music. And music is beautiful.

S: Yes. Agreed! Okay, so you thought this was really funny, you even read some of the lines out loud to me. Tell me now a bit about the illustrations. It seems the author is also the person who illustrated the book.

C: Yes. They are really funny. And they are very good at showing the characters’ feelings. You see how happy Pokko is when she gets the drum, for example.

S: I looked through the pages of the book, and thought the illustrations were funny and very lively. The colors are warm, and each page is quite a lot of fun to look at. So all in all, you enjoyed this book, right?

C: Very much so. I don’t get to read too many picture books anymore, but when I do, this is the kind of book I love. Funny and fun!

S: Okay, Caramel. I think this is a good place to end our review.

C: Sure.

S: What do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel enjoyed reading Pokko and the Drum by Matthew Forsythe and recommends it to all little bunnies looking for a fun story about a little frog who loves music. — Caramel enjoyed reading *Pokko and the Drum* by Matthew Forsythe and recommends it to all little bunnies looking for a fun story about a little frog who loves music.

Marshmallow reviews The Good Mother Test by Michael R. French

Today Marshmallow is reviewing The Good Mother Test by Michael R. French, published in 2026. The book bunnies are delighted to be reviewing this book as part of a Blog Tour for The Good Mother Test organized by WOW! Women On Writing.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about family, love, and mother-daughter relationships, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Emily loses her house to the bank when she is eighteen. Her family is forced out, but not before she sort of attacks one of the people foreclosing on her home. Yet, she recovers and succeeds academically, refusing to let that loss stop her from becoming great. At her new high school, she meets Salina, who becomes her best friend. After graduation, the two go their separate ways but remain in each other’s lives. Salina works at a plant nursery and Emily takes a gap year, planning to start her freshman year at UCLA on a scholarship after. During her gap year, Emily gets a job working as an assistant at a company doing work she finds fascinating; as a result, she excels.

If it feels like I am speeding through these parts, it is because the turning point of the story happens once Emily starts UCLA. She eventually reconnects with her former boss and that changes their relationship status to a romantic nature. Unfortunately, they make a mistake and Emily ends up pregnant. They are delighted by the idea of a child, but Doug (the father) ends up feeling like Emily isn’t right for him. He takes good care of her during the pregnancy and makes sure she is supported after, but he leaves Emily to shoulder parenting mostly by herself. Emily—who had been feeling directionless—finds purpose in her ‘career’ as a mother. Their daughter Violet becomes her whole life.

As Violet grows, it becomes clear that she is a prodigy and Emily does everything she can to provide for her, physically, emotionally, and intellectually. Doug re-enters their lives when Violet is relatively young and introduces his new girlfriend Amanda. Emily is immediately threatened as Amanda and Doug start to play larger and larger roles in Violet’s life. Amanda does seem rather benevolent in a way. She pays for clothes, education, and everything else Violet might need. Yet, something within Emily recognizes Amanda as a threat. Emily wants to be the best mother she can be, but how can she compete with someone who has everything?

Marshmallow is reading The Good Mother Test by Michael R. French. — Marshmallow is reading *The Good Mother Test* by Michael R. French.

Marshmallow’s Review: I found The Good Mother Test to be a very touching yet simultaneously strange book. The plot is very good and the story meaningful. I found the emotional connections and developments were very well developed. However, I did find certain lines throughout the book to be a bit off-putting. There were never any parts that were very disconcerting, but towards the beginning I found the characterization and treatment of a couple characters to be a bit bizarre. For example, Salina seemed sort of like a token who was treated and talked to in ways that weren’t right for a best friend. This problem was resolved very soon and other similar issues disappeared half way through the book. However, the book didn’t seem to recognize that some of these things were problems.

I found it interesting that all romantic relationships were devoid of emotion. The two main protagonists, Emily and Violet, are very detached from the men they are involved with. Speaking of which, intimacy is mentioned occasionally in a way that is more suitable for readers older than sixteen. The author luckily does not describe anything too inappropriate except for one time that was shocking to me when I read it.

The word I would use to describe this book is honesty. It feels as though it is written by a real person who went through a real story like this one. The author definitely deserves recognition for writing a book about motherhood while being a father. The style was starkly different from other fiction books I’ve read, more realistic and less focused on flowing rhetoric. This makes the world seem more grounded.

One thing that made it a bit difficult for me to relate to the characters in The Good Mother Test was the level of wealth they enjoyed. Amanda is incredibly rich and Violet, as a genius, eventually makes a ton of money on her own. As a result, they do a lot of things that are very difficult for most people to do. Jewelry, clothing, and lavish items are mentioned in almost every chapter. This was unusual (I am not sure how realistic their lifestyles are), but negligible.

Overall, I would recommend The Good Mother Test especially to mothers and daughters who are old enough to understand it and absorb its message. It is a very heartfelt book dedicated to the bond between mother and child, and reading this makes one realize just how beautiful that bond is.

Marshmallow’s Review: 97%.

Marshmallow rates The Good Mother Test by Michael R. French 97%. — Marshmallow rates *The Good Mother Test* by Michael R. French 97%.

Caramel reviews Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #12: Above the Trenches by Nathan Hale

Caramel has read and reviewed several books in Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales, the historical graphic novel series by Nathan Hale. Today he is talking to Sprinkles about the twelfth book in the series, Above the Trenches, published first in 2023.

Sprinkles: Here we are, with another Nathan Hale book. This time we are back to World War I, I am assuming.

Caramel: Yes. The other Nathan Hale book about WWI was Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood. And I reviewed it a while back.

S: So tell us a bit more then. The war lasted for four years. A lot happened. What is this particular book about?

C: The fights in the skies, the flying aces of WWI.

S: So I am guessing then that the title is Above the Trenches because the book is about a different part of the war, different from the trench warfare that is associated so closely with WWI.

C: Yup.

S: And for anyone like me who did not know this before, according to Wikipedia, “a flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace varies, but is usually considered to be five or more.” As far as I recall, WWI was the first war where airplanes were used, right?

C: Yes.

S: So then I suppose it makes sense that the whole book would be about that.

C: Yeah, it’s mostly about the Lafayette Escadrille, a French squadron of American pilots, and the German aces, and a man named Strange.

S: Hmm, the Wikipedia article talks about the first Ace, a Frenchman named Adolphe Pégoud. And some famous German ones listed are Max Immelmann, Oswald Boelcke, and Manfred von Richthofen. So do you remember these names? Do they all appear in the book?

C: Yes, almost all of them do, but I don’t remember if Max Immelmann was. But I do remember that Pégoud was killed by a German pilot he had trained. It is sad.

S: Yes, it is, isn’t it? Then again almost everything about war is sad.

C: True.

Caramel is reading Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #12: Above the Trenches by Nathan Hale. — Caramel is reading *Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #12: Above the Trenches* by Nathan Hale.

S: But in this book you read about some amazing feats that these pilots were able to accomplish. And they did all that, using aircraft which would be pretty primitive for our times, right?

C: Yes. The most famous one today is probably the German von Richthofen. Even if you don’t know much about warfare in the air, you probably remember Snoopy, Charlie Brown’s dog, sitting on top of his doghouse and flying an airplane?

S: Yes.. ?

C: Yes, and he was always flying against the Red Baron, remember? The Red Baron is von Richhofen.

S: Oh, that makes a lot of sense now!

C: By the way, the Red Baron is not even mentioned as a great ace, at first. The book first introduces him as a not-too-great pilot, then shows his later victories.

S: What do you mean? So he improves through the years?

C: No, it’s more like he was good, but when he finally got into the flow of his plane, he became really good.

S: I guess that makes sense. He needed to learn and get used to the plane he was using. And why is he known as the Red Baron?

C: One of his planes was actually bright red, and that’s why.

S: Cool, that is very interesting! Okay, so did you learn a lot from this book? I know you know a lot about warcraft and tanks and fighter planes. Was there anything new for you in this book?

C: Of course! I didn’t know all the names of the aces, and the existence of the Lafayette Escadrille was new to me. They were the very first American pilots to fight in WWI and they fought for the French. They were called the Lafayette Escadrille after the great Marquis de Lafayette, who was the main topic of Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #8: Lafayette!

S: That is neat. I did not know any of that, either. So this might be your last Nathan Hale book for a while. I am not sure if there is a thirteenth book.

C: Nooooooo! But you know, I waited and waited for all this time for a sixteenth Wings of Fire book, and it is coming out next week! So maybe if I wait and wait for it, there will be a thirteenth Nathan Hale book, too!

S: Yes, let us hope! In the meantime there are other books you can read.

C:Yes, like the sixteenth Wings of Fire book!

S: Alright, let us not get this excited so late in the evening. It is soon going to be bedtime.

C: Hmm, that is correct.

S: So let us wrap this review up. What do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews! Oh, and Nathan Hale, please please please write more Hazardous Tales!

Caramel enjoyed reading Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #12: Above the Trenches by Nathan Hale and is wondering when he will get to read a new Nathan Hale book (hoping that it will be soon). — Caramel enjoyed reading *Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #12: Above the Trenches* by Nathan Hale and is wondering when he will get to read a new Nathan Hale book (hoping that it will be soon).

Marshmallow reviews Thunderhead by Neal Schusterman

A few weeks ago Marshmallow read and reviewed Scythe, the first book in Neal Schusterman’s Arc of a Scythe series. Today she shares with us her thoughts on Thunderhead, the second story in the series, originally published in 2018.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you liked Scythe, the first book in Neal Schusterman’s Arc of a Scythe series, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): At the end of Scythe, Citra Terranova was ordained as a scythe while Rowan Damisch fled from the scythedom. At the beginning of Thunderhead, their lives are going in two very different directions.

Citra chooses the name Scythe Anastasia (for the patron historic of Anastasia Romanov) and begins gleaning in a different way; this is poorly received by some and lauded by others. When she selects someone to be gleaned, she tells them a month in advance and gives them that time to prepare. Then they seek her out at the end and tell her how they would like to die (those who try to flee are killed by a location-triggered device she implanted in their arm). This is a very unconventional method of gleaning given that most kill their victims almost instantly—and that is generally deemed the most merciful manner of death. However, Scythe Anastasia finds her version of death to be more acceptable to her conscience.

Some scythes don’t really care about mercy at all though. One such scythe is Scythe Brahms who plays his patron historic’s lullaby each time he gleans, which is generally with bias. A new scythe, Scythe Lucifer, begins to take out corrupt scythes like Scythe Brahms, burning them so their bodies cannot be revived. Scythe Lucifer spares Brahms, but the endings of the many other corrupt scythes he did not begin to alert the scythedom to his presence. They call him a vigilante and soon realize that he is none other than Rowan Damisch.

After seeing the rise of the ‘new order’ (a movement within the scythedom that ignores the founding ideals of discipline and modesty in order to actively encourage bloodlust, self-indulgence, and corruption for scythes), Rowan has vowed to take as many bad scythes out of the equation as possible. Of course, this doesn’t go over well with the scythedom, even though some like Scythe Anastasia acknowledge that the scythes removed were undeserving of their roles.

While the scythedom reels with shock over Scythe Lucifer’s actions, the Thunderhead (the ambivalent, benevolent A.I. consciousness that rules over humanity as a guardian angel, running everything perfectly to create the perfect world) stays quiet. Scythes are not allowed to communicate with it—in order to create a separation between the two institutions—but they are puzzled by why it has not done anything to stop Rowan. The Thunderhead, it is revealed, worries that the new order will topple the balance that has kept their utopian world at peace for so long. And while the Thunderhead can’t do anything to stop the new order, it can hint certain things to a certain Grayson Tolliver, an ordinary man who was essentially raised by the Thunderhead after his serial parents left him (serial parents are people who spend their immortal lives starting families but never sticking around to raise them). Through Grayson, the Thunderhead saves Scythe Anastasia and her former mentor Scythe Curie from a murder attempt. This begins Grayson’s new life as the Thunderhead’s vessel for action, action it is technically not supposed to be taking.

Through the perspectives of Scythe Anastasia, Scythe Lucifer, Grayson, and the Thunderhead (though sometimes we witness another scythe’s life), we see the glitches in the system—both real and metaphorical—grow. The scythedom has protected their utopian world for centuries, but everything seems to be changing for the worse. This is the one thing the Thunderhead cannot fix; it cannot save humanity from the scythedom if it cannot save the scythedom.

Marshmallow is reading Thunderhead by Neal Schusterman. — Marshmallow is reading *Thunderhead* by Neal Schusterman.

Marshmallow’s Review: Thunderhead was an amazing book! I was absolutely fascinated by the first book and reading the second book has made me even more enveloped in the story. In Thunderhead, Schusterman shows how the characters we met earlier in Scythe have changed and how they have made new roles for themselves in their world. Furthermore, in this book, Grayson Tolliver is introduced and quickly becomes a central character. We get to witness his development and I am really, really curious to read more about him and how he will affect the plot.

The story line is ingenious and I found myself not even trying to predict what comes next. That was not out of a lack of interest; I was so enjoying the story that I was content to just continue reading to find out. After all, I didn’t really stop long enough to try to foretell the future. I am really excited to read the next book and find out what will happen.

Of course, both the third book and second book are irrelevant to someone who hasn’t read the first book. After reading Scythe, reading Thunderhead is the immediate instinct. Both books require the same reading level and maturity. Neither is particularly inappropriate and I think an eleven year old would find both intriguing. There is some violence and something sexual is implied at the end, but nothing is ever described in detail at all. This was perfect for me because I don’t mind those two things as long as I don’t have to read about it for more than a sentence! This was a good decision on Schusterman’s part because I think it makes the books more accessible and open to a broader audience.

That said, I felt his prose was slightly less flawless in Thunderhead. Certain sentences were worded a little strangely. Yet, this might have been a good thing overall because it made me feel like the book was from a future era, one you fall into when you start the first chapter.

Even though these books are set in a different time, the discussions about mercy, empathy, humanity, love, and what we owe to each other are relevant to everyone today. Thunderhead is very entertaining and interesting, but it also teaches values and morals that I think are crucial to a society hoping to reach utopia one day. As a whole, this book was absolutely amazing and I would completely recommend it to everyone.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates Thunderhead by Neal Schusterman 100%. — Marshmallow rates *Thunderhead* by Neal Schusterman 100%.