Book Bunnies

Caramel reviews Knights and Castles (Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #2) by Will Osborne and Mary Pope Osborne

Caramel recently started reading the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne. After reading the first two books and their accompanying Fact Tracker books, he decided that he really really likes the second Fact Tracker book on knights and castles that is meant to accompany Magic Tree House #2: The Knight at Dawn. Below he shares his thoughts on why. Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions when needed.

Caramel reviews *Knights and Castles* by Will Osborne and Mary Pope Osborne.

Sprinkles: What do you want to tell us about this book Caramel?

Caramel: It’s nice. There’s lots of pictures. And it has many many facts. The whole book is full of facts. I like that.

S: Yes, I noticed you like nonfiction a lot. You always make sure to share your favorite facts even in your reviews of fiction books. Why do you like nonfiction?

C: Then I know more about the world. And I like learning new things. My middle name should be Curious!

S: I like that! So what kind of facts did you learn from this book?

C: The knights lived in the Middle Ages.

S: Do you know when that was?

C: Not really.

S: Let us look at the book together!

C: 1300s? Ok, I’m reading from page 14:

“The Middle Ages began about 450 AD. They lasted for over 1000 years.”

That is a long time!

S: Yes it is.

Caramel is finding that he likes books with facts!

S: What other facts did you find interesting?

C: Let me look. The first castles! I’m reading on page 22:

“The first castles looked more like forts in the Old West than like castles in fairy tales. They were built out of wood. These castles were usually built on a mound of earth called a motte.”

S: Was that one of your favorite facts?

C: Yep. And I learned about tournaments. Then I was curious and wanted to learn more. So I saw a video from the History Channel that showed people fighting with lances today. It’s called jousting. There are men in full armor, on horses, and the horses have armor too. And the men have lances. A lance is a very long stick with a sharp end to poke your enemy with. But in a tournament, it is enough to push your enemy off their horse.

S: Would you want to be in a jousting tournament?

C: I’m a bunny! How would I carry a lance and ride a horse? I’m too small for that.

S: It also kind of looks violent, right?

C: Yes, but there are rules against actually hurting one another. And the horse. You cannot hit the other guy’s horse!

S: That sounds fair. So what else did you like about this book Caramel?

C: I like that the book is all about facts, but sometimes on the sides of the book, there is Jack and Annie from the Magic Tree House books, and they tell us things.

S: Yes, I saw them on the margins too. What kinds of things do they say?

C: Annie for instance says at some point that it wasn’t fair that only boys could be knights. She’s right, of course!

S: Yes, that’s true. Girls couldn’t do many things back then.

C: But today girls can do so much more! They can do anything! The person who wrote the Magic Tree House books is a girl, for example!

S: And she does write really well, doesn’t she?

C: Yes, and I’m looking forward to reading more of her books.

Caramel really enjoyed *Knights and Castles* and is looking forward to reading more of the Fact Tracker books.

Marshmallow reviews A Crystal of Time by Soman Chainani (Book 5 of The School for Good and Evil series)

Last week Marshmallow reviewed Quests for Glory, the fourth book of Soman Chainani’s School for Good and Evil series. Today she writes about her thoughts on the fifth book: A Crystal of Time.

Marshmallow reviews The School for Good and Evil: A Crystal of Time by Soman Chainani. — Marshmallow reviews *The School for Good and Evil: A Crystal of Time* by Soman Chainani.

Marshmallow’s quick take: If you like books about fantasy, twisted fairy tales, and Soman Chainani’s books, then you will enjoy this book! If you haven’t read the first four books of the School for Good and Evil series though, then you might want to read them first.

“In the forest of primeval
A school for Good and Evil
Twin towers like two heads
One for the pure
And one for the wicked
Try to escape you’ll always fail,
The only way out is
Through a fairytale.”

It all began in The School for Good and Evil, Soman Chainani’s first novel. This was a school of fairy tales, where witches and princesses, warlocks and princes were trained. In the end a select few would become the heroes and the villains of future storybooks. The tales would be recorded by a magical pen, The Storian. We learn about this whole world through the eyes and experiences of Agatha and Sophie, two friends whose destiny takes them to different places and brings them back together.

The first book is followed by A World Without Princes, where witches and princesses are friends, and warlocks and princes become accomplices. The dividing line now becomes gender, instead of good versus evil.

The third book of the series, The Last Ever After, reorganizes the world of the School, and Sophie and Agatha have many new adventures.

The fourth book, Quests for Glory, started the Camelot Years. If you want to learn about the book, see my review from last week.

This review is about the fifth book of the hexalogy.

Marshmallow’s summary (with spoilers): When “King” Rhian puts a bounty on her head, Agatha is on the run. With her true love about to be executed, her best friend forced to be the “king’s” queen at the tip of a knife, and everyone else who could help her in prison, Agatha has nowhere to go. That is, until she meets her wild-haired canary-like Beautification teacher who takes her on stymph to the School for Good and Evil. (A stymph is a ginormous bird with no skin or flesh. It is practically a skeleton that is alive.)

The students there are all first years and have barely unlocked their finger glows. (Every student at the School for Good and Evil has a finger glow that is a unique color. For example Agatha and Tedros’ finger glows are different shades of gold, while Sophie’s is hot pink.) In other words, they are not very good at magic yet, but they are still eager to help Agatha rescue Tedros and the rest of the rebels.

Agatha and her accomplices are eventually able to save their friends, but some people are left behind, including Sophie. The rebels go back to save them and do so, but at a cost. Clarrisa Dovey, the dean of Good, who was Agatha’s godmother, dies, and is finally reunited with her true love, Lady Lesso, the deceased dean of Evil. (Lady Lasso was murdered by her blood-thirsty son, Aric, in The Last Ever After.)

But during the time Sophie was at Camelot, she discovered that Rhian and his twin Japeth are not only trying to be the king of Camelot but of the world. They plan to do this by destroying the Storian’s hundred rings that secure the very life of the Endless Woods. By the time the whole rebel team learns about this, there is only three left and time is running out. Will they be able to stop Rhian and Japeth before it is too late?

Marshmallow is studying the crystal of time.

Marshmallow’s Review: The longest of the series so far (624 pages!), this was a great read! My new favorite character is Nicola, a first year, who saves the lives of Agatha and her friends many times. Agatha’s cat is pretty cool, too. He’s funny. And if you’re wondering, Sophie is not as bad in this book as she used to be, but she’s still annoying.

This book answered some open questions from previous books, and posed a lot more new ones. Can’t wait for the sixth and final book!

Marshmallow’s rating: 100%

Marshmallow rates A Crystal of Time 100%. — Marshmallow rates *A Crystal of Time* 100%.

Caramel reviews Narwhal’s Otter Friend by Ben Clanton

Caramel enjoyed reading the quirky adventures of Narwhal and Jelly in Narwhal: The Unicorn of the Sea!, Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt, and Peanut Butter and Jelly. Here he shares his thoughts on the fourth book in Ben Clanton’s Narwhal and Jelly series: Narwhal’s Otter Friend. Sprinkles is taking notes and occasionally asking followup questions.

Sprinkles: Caramel, you are reading another Narwhal and Jelly story! Tell me about this one!

Caramel: Narwhal finds a new friend, an otter. And Jelly gets jealous. Even the title of the second chapter is Jealous Jelly.

S: So Jelly is worried about losing his best friend, right?

C: Yes, but he’s ok at the end. They all of them become good friends. And they go to outer space together for new adventures!

S: Did this story feel familiar to you Caramel? Did you ever find yourself in Jelly’s position? Or how about Narwhal? Or the otter in fact?

C: I feel more like the otter actually. I meet many new people every day. I like making new friends. And I like to pretend to be a river otter sometimes.

S: You do love to swim, don’t you?

C: Yep! Very very much! Can I tell you my favorite facts now?

S: Ok Caramel. But this time the facts are about otter, right?

C: Yes there are some otter facts in the book, but I want to tell you about jellyfish! Did you know that people fed jellyfish peanut butter?

“Aquarists (people who keep or maintain aquariums) at the Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas, tried feeding peanut butter to moon jellyfish and found out that the jellyfish cold thrive on it!”

And here is another fact about jellyfish I like:

“A jellyfish’s body is made up of about 95% water!”

And next to it there is a jellyfish saying “What-er?” Get it? It’s “what” and “water” at the same time!

S: That is funny Caramel. And that is a lot of water in the jellyfish. Do you know how much water we have in our bodies?

C: I thought 75% or something, right?

S: Apparently an adult human is 60% water, but since we are bunnies, we would need to look elsewhere. This reference guide says we are about two thirds water!

C: That’s still a lot of water. But jellyfish have still more water!

S: That is really interesting Caramel… Jellyfish do kind of feel watery don’t they? Remember you touched some moon jellyfish in that touch tank at the aquarium?

C: Yep. I remember. They were very smooth! One of them had a scar on its top…

S: Oh that’s sad Caramel… I wonder how it got the scar.

C: Maybe it got scratched by one of the kids touching it?

S: Yes, we have to be gentle with the creatures in the touch tank, right?

C: Right.

S: OK Caramel, tell me about how the book is organized. Does it have its usual three chapters and a fact chapter and a superhero chapter again?

C: I don’t remember. Let me look again. Yep! The superhero story is called Strawberry Sidekick vs The Deviled Egg this time.

S: The Sidekick is Jelly and the Egg is the otter? And Sidekick feels “egg-nored”, right?

C: Yes! Jelly is still mad at the otter at this point of the book. But then in the last chapter things all get better.

S: That sounds really neat Caramel. What did you like most about this book?

C: The pictures! I keep reading and reading the book over and over again.

S: Yes, there is not yet a fifth Narwhal and Jelly book. I’m sure you will be reading the fifth one as soon as it gets out, right?

C: Yup! I’m looking forward to it!

S: Till then, what are you going to do?

C: I guess I’ll read the four books I have again and again.

S: That’s commitment! We will still need to find another book to review next week.

C: Perhaps. I’m trying to sound mysterious here.

S: Yes, indeed you do sound mysterious Caramel! A great way to end your review!

C: Yay! Let me say it again: Stay tuned for more reviews from the Book Bunnies!

Caramel really enjoyed Narwhal's Otter Friend! — Caramel really enjoyed *Narwhal’s Otter Friend*!

Marshmallow reviews School for Good and Evil: Quests for Glory by Soman Chainani

Before digging into the fifth book of the School for Good and Evil series by Soman Chainani, Marshmallow reviews the fourth book: School for Good and Evil: Quests for Glory.

Marshmallow’s quick take: If you like twisted versions of fairytales or books by Soman Chainani, then this might be the book for you. If you did not read any of the first three books in the School for Good and Evil series, you can still enjoy this one, but I would definitely recommend reading the previous books before reading this.

The third book of the series, The Last Ever After, reorganizes the world of the School, and Sophie and Agatha have many new adventures.

This is the fourth book in the series.

Marshmallow’s summary (with spoilers): After graduating from the School for Good and Evil, Agatha and Sophie think that their story is finished. Sophie as Dean of Evil and Agatha as the future queen of Camelot seems like the perfect ending. But their story is not over, the Snake has yet to strike.

We learn about the story of the Lion and the Snake from Agatha:

“Once upon a time there was a beautiful new kingdom without a king.” The Lion and The Snake stepped up to be the king. To decide who would be king, there was an election. Those who thought that a king should be clever voted for the Snake and those who thought a king should be strong voted for the Lion. It was a tie. “And so the Eagle was brought in to make the final choice, since he flew high above and saw the world in a way no one else could.” The Eagle asked them a question, “If you were king, would the Eagle be subject to your rule?” The Lion said yes, the Snake said no. The Eagle chose the Snake.

That night the Snake with his minions ambushed the Eagle and his clan and killed them all. The Lion and his comrades were too late to save the Eagles. As the Lion was about to kill him, the Snake uttered the following:

“You dare not kill a king. The Eagle chose me because he wanted freedom. He got that freedom. What happened after does not change the Truth. The throne is mine. I am your king. Just because you do not like the Truth does not mean that you can replace it with a Lie. And if you kill me, your new king will be a Lie. Kill me and I shall return to take my crown.”

Tedros, whose destiny is to be the king of Camelot, can’t pull the sword Excalibur out of the stone. His faithful knight Chaddick lies on the shores of Avalon, betrayed by the Lady of the Lake and killed by the Snake. The Quests of all the fourth years fail seconds after Chaddick’s death; there is now a new Quest: Defeat the Snake. Once they begin the new Quest, the Storian begins writing a new story.

Marshmallow’s Review: The plot, as you can see from the above, is kind of complicated. But once you get into it, the story is captivating. The author is extremely successful in evoking strong emotions from the readers about the characters (I hate Sophie sometimes!) If you read the first three books, expect a surprising ending!

Marshmallow’s rating: 100%

Marshmallow rates Quests for Glory 95%. — Marshmallow rates Quests for Glory 100%.