Marshmallow reviews The House of Hades (Book 4 of the Heroes of Olympus Series) by Rick Riordan.
Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about Greek or Roman mythology and have liked some of Rick Riordan’s other books, then this might be the book for you. However you will definitely need to have read the first books in the Heroes of Olympus series to be able to dive into and get something out of this one.
Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): The Mark of Athena ended with Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase falling into Tartarus while trying to save the Athena Parthenos. Right before he fell, Percy had Nico promise that he would go to Greece and meet him and Annabeth when they escaped so they could all close the Doors of Death. Nico is a half-blood, a son of Hades, who is not part of the seven trying to fulfill the prophecy of seven, but he is also very important. We first meet him in The Titan’s Curse, the third book of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, and he will play a very important role in this book.
The crew of the Argo II moves toward Greece. They face many challenges, but they overcome them. A lot of excitement is unleashed. In the meantime in Tartarus we also read about Percy and Annabeth’s adventures. Some old friends and enemies show up.
Hazel, one of the seven, meets Hecate, the goddess of magic, who tells her that she should start to learn how to control the Mist, a magical mist that blocks mortals from seeing gods and monsters. If controlled, it could give one the power to create images that would appear real but they are really fake. Hecate leaves her polecat with Hazel to oversee her test. As they travel towards Greece, Hazel knows that she will meet an enemy who can control the Mist to make it look like anything.
Marshmallow is reading The House of Hades (Book 4 of the Heroes of Olympus Series) by Rick Riordan.
Marshmallow’s Review: The House of Hades is a great fourth book for a great series. And at over 580 pages and in 78 chapters, it is also a big book, in size!
Though it is a great book, The House of Hades should not be read unless you have read the previous books in the series. Reading the first series is a good idea too, since then you would know more about the characters.
I think that Rick Riordan does a great job of writing this book in multiple people’s views. He is also good at creating great characters, like Bob, or Iapetus. His character’s backstory was from a short story Rick Riordan wrote, Percy Jackson and the Sword of Hades from The Demigod Files.)
My favorite character is still Reyna, as I already said in my review of The Son of Neptune. One reason I like her is because she is probably one of the strongest female characters, and she is good at fighting. Every character is well thought of, and they are developed in a consistent way, so you could guess what they would do in a given situation. You can also pity them too, since some of them have sad pasts: some of the characters have lost family members or people that they cared about.
Marshmallow’s Rating: 95%.
Marshmallow rates The House of Hades (Book 4 of the Heroes of Olympus Series) by Rick Riordan 95%.
Caramel reviews Sea Monsters (Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #17) by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce.
Sprinkles: So Caramel, you found another book about real things, I see.
Caramel: Yes. This is a book about ocean “monsters”.
S: So who are these monsters? Can you tell me a few of them?
C: There is the angler fish, the giant squid, the goblin shark, the cookie cutter shark, the hairy angler fish, the vampire squid, the dragon fish, oar fish, …
S: Okay, I get the point.
C: … giant tube worms. There is also this dunkleosteus–
S: Hmm, I have never heard of most of these. But this last one does not sound familiar at all. What is a dunkleosteus?
C: It is a giant armored fish, I think it is about forty feet long. Its teeth are actually bone.
S: And it is extinct, right?
C: Yes. And there are other extinct species too. There is the liopleurodon, and the megalodon–
S: So I understand. The book talks about large sea creatures, then. Right?
C: Yes. And my favorite is the liopleurodon.
S: Why?
C: Because it is not armored but it has a giant head. I think it looks really interesting!
S: I’m not sure I’d like to face one under water any time soon!
C: You don’t have to worry about that. They are already extinct!
S: That’s good.
C: Not for them.
S: That is right Caramel. This does seem like an interesting book, with many different types of facts in it. So tell me how it is organized.
C: Chapter titles! Here you go: The first chapter is called Sea Monsters. Then the second is Exploring the Oceans. The third is Squids, Octopuses and Other Creatures. Then there is a chapter called Creatures of the Deep.
S: That’s where we learn about the angler fish!
C: Yes. then there is Prehistoric Seas. And there we learn about the liopleurodon, the megalodon and similar creatures. And then the last chapter is called Sea Monster Tales.
S: Which chapter was most interesting for you?
C: I think I liked the Prehistoric Seas chapter most.
S: We watched a lot of episodes of Steve Irwin’s show together, right? It is sad he died of a sting ray sting. And Cousteau was a famous explorer who was one of the first to go deep into the oceans and to explore. That is great that you read a bit about both. So tell me the most interesting fact you learned from this book.
C: It’s about the largest jellyfish. So let me find it… Okay, here I will read it to you: “The longest animal in the world is not a whale. It is a special jellyfish called a siphonophore. Its tentacles can reach 131 feet long!”
S: Wow, that is long! Wikipedia tells us that “a siphonophore may appear to be an individual organism, each specimen is in fact a colonial organism composed of medusoid and polypoid zooids that are morphologically and functionally specialized.” That is really interesting! I had never heard of them before.
C: Me neither!
S: Okay Caramel, it is probably a good time to wrap up this review. Would you like to tell our readers your three words on this book?
C: Factful, curious because these are really curious animals, and black-and-white because all the illustrations are black and white.
S: Maybe instead of factful we can say “informative”?
C: Yes, that works too!
S: Great! I think then it is finally time for you to say your closing words!
C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!
Caramel recommends Sea Monsters (Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #17) by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce, to all curious little bunnies who want to know more about ocean life.
Given that it is Halloween in the United States today, the book bunnies thought about doing something different. Today Sprinkles reviews a handful of children’s books about zombies! VERY SCARY!! And to be honest not all of these are appropriate for children, even though they are published in a children’s book format. But hey, it is Halloween, and we’ve got to try to be scary, right? So here goes.
Sprinkles reviews children’s books about zombies.
As adult bunnies go, I am pretty much a scaredy cat. I do not much enjoy horror movies or novels or short stories. I avoid the genre altogether if I can. Zombies are the one exception. I find them fascinating. From its historical Caribbean and possibly African origins, to the intriguing role it plays in the philosophy of the mind, the zombie is not merely a popular culture icon with a pathological obsession for human brains, but in my opinion an enduring concept that raises significant questions about what it means to be human.
The little bunnies in our household do not yet share my fascination with zombies. However, this has not stopped me from collecting through the years a handful of zombie books that at least seem to be intended for young readers. In this post, I will share my candid opinion about these five books: That’s Not Your Mommy Anymore: A Zombie Tale by Matt Mogk and Aja Wells, The Girl’s Guide to Zombies: Everything Vital about These Undead Monsters by Jen Jones, Zombies Hate Stuff by Greg Stone, Ten Little Zombies: A Love Story by Andy Rash, and Pat the Zombie: A Cruel Spoof by Aaron Ximm and Kaveh Soofi.
Sprinkles is reading That’s Not Your Mommy Anymore: A Zombie Tale by Matt Mogk and Aja Wells: “If she doesn’t seem like she did before, Maybe that’s not your mommy anymore.”
Let me begin with That’s Not Your Mommy Anymore: A Zombie Tale by Matt Mogk and Aja Wells. This is a book written in rhyme and starts sweet:
Mommy has the kindest eyes.
Mommy likes to bake you pies.
And then something happens to mommy and she is transformed into the scary zombie from the standard zombie movies. We do not see how she is infected, but we discover with the boy, how she becomes a mindless zombie. The book is a picture book really, but the pictures get gorier and more disturbing on each page. Reading this with young bunnies could possibly be traumatizing; especially if the child is already worried occasionally about losing a parent, it would be probably parental malpractice to read it to them. However if you have a young bunny who finds horror fascinating, they might actually enjoy this little gem. Otherwise this is likely more appropriate for the teenage crowd who might have fond memories of having read rhyming picture books but also have a budding interest in zombies and other gory stuff.
Sprinkles is taking the “Which Type of Zombie Are You?” quiz in The Girl’s Guide to Zombies: Everything Vital about These Undead Monsters by Jen Jones.
Next on my list is The Girl’s Guide to Zombies: Everything Vital about These Undead Monsters by Jen Jones. This is a slim hardcover book published in the Girls’ Guides to Everything Unexplained series, which contains books on vampires, werewolves, and wizards. This one is full of pop culture references (though some, like the one about Michael Jackson’s Thriller video, might be somewhat too old for contemporary readers), and offers a lot of information about zombies both in history and in the media. As most books directed at girls assume girls like quizzes, this one, too, has a quiz: Which Type of Zombie Are You? To make sure you are a human, you apparently need to like geometry and California (I am good with both of those!) and strawberry lip gloss (not sure about this one…) All in all, though, this one would really be suitable for the age group it seems to be intended for: the young reader who wants to know what the fuss is about these things called zombies.
Sprinkles is reading Zombies Hate Stuff by Greg Stone; apparently zombies hate giant purple monsters and penguins.
Next up is Zombies Hate Stuff by Greg Stone. Readers of this blog might recall that Caramel has already reviewed a book by Greg Stone: Penguins Hate Stuff. Zombies Hate Stuff is a book in exactly the same spirit. Each page has a detailed illustration and a simple word or phrase which describes something else that zombies hate. We learn for example that zombies hate sheep, re-gifting, cliffs, and archery, but they do not mind wigs, celery, teddy bears and Canadians. Zombies Hate Stuff is, just like the penguin book, good for quite a few chuckles. Each illustration is simple yet carefully thought out, and you might find a new page more interesting to you than the others every time you open up the book. The book is likely not directly aimed toward young readers, but seeing how Caramel enjoyed Penguins Hate Stuff, I can see how young ones who like horror stuff even in small doses might also enjoy this one, which adds a good deal of humor into the mix.
Sprinkles poses with Ten Little Zombies: A Love Story by Andy Rash, and Pat the Zombie: A Cruel Spoof by Aaron Ximm and Kaveh Soofi.
Finally let me say a few words about Ten Little Zombies: A Love Story, by Andy Rash, and Pat the Zombie: A Cruel Spoof, by Aaron Ximm and Kaveh Soofi. These two are modeled after a well-known children’s rhyme in the case of Ten Little Zombies (I first heard about it while reading a novel by Agatha Christie; readers might want to follow the evolution of this rhyme in the relevant Wikipedia article) and a well-known children’s book in the case of Pat the Zombie.
The Ten Little Zombies follows the steps of the Ten Little Soldier Boys. Just as that poem is itself quite gory, the book is quite bloody and would likely not be great for really young bunnies. As you read further, the story gets more and more violent, but the end surprises the reader with a sweet twist. So even though zombies and blood and gore are all over this little book, I still smile when I think about it. Among the five books I’m reviewing here, this book is my favorite. I can see The Ten Little Zombies be appreciated by middle grade readers and older bunnies who are not terribly offended by gore and blood but also find love in the midst of gore at least somewhat endearing.
Now Pat the Zombie is another story. My best guess is that readers who grew up with Pat the Bunny, the 1940 touch-and-feel classic, are the main target audience of this book. Apparently there have been other parodies of the book: Wikipedia mentions “Pat the Politician, mocking contemporary political figures, and Pat the Yuppie, which includes activities like touching the sheepskin seatcovers of their new BMW and rubbing the exposed brick of their new condominium’s wall.” This is a good parody, and a cruel one, as the subtitle “A Cruel Spoof” implies. All standard parts of the original Pat the Bunny are here, there is a zombie bunny, Pat, and the two children start by touching it (or rather “gutting” it, as the book suggests). And step by step, we learn that the parents are also zombies, and things get closer and closer to the reader, as the reader eventually needs to read a survival manual and scream. So yes, this is definitely not for little ones, unless the little ones involved have a morbid sense of humor. But horror fans who can appreciate some cheekiness and who are open to messing around with their own pleasant childhood memories of reading the original Pat the Bunny with a loved adult might find this book amusing. It is really well done, but definitely only for its own audience.
Alright, now here we are, having talked about five zombie books published for children or at least published in the format of standard children’s books. Some of you may wonder about just who writes or publishes these kinds of books. And others might wonder why people even read them. But I will end this review with a full endorsement of cheeky adult humor messing with children’s books. As long as we always know our own children’s boundaries and resist the temptation to share some of these books with them unless we are sure they can handle them, these types of books can offer us a fresh memory of our own childhood mixed with some good load of laughter. (I even pushed away some happy tears with The Ten Little Zombies, I must admit. But then again I am a softie.) Some little bunnies will find some of these books really entertaining, and The Girl’s Guide to Zombies: Everything Vital about These Undead Monsters by Jen Jones is indeed perfectly suitable for the 8-12 year old crowd, so there is that, too.
Oh, and yes, Happy Halloween everyone! May you only be spooked by made-up monsters!
Caramel is a little bunny but he is a big Star Wars fan. (Check out his review of 5-Minute Star Wars Stories!) Today he reviews for the book bunnies blog A Jedi You Will Be, written by Preeti Chhibber and illustrated by Mike Deas. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.
Caramel reviews A Jedi You Will Be, written by Preeti Chhibber and illustrated by Mike Deas.
Sprinkles: Caramel, so you found another book about Star Wars, eh?
Caramel: Yes, but I think you had something to do with it too.
S: Yes, I thought you might like it. Did you?
C: Yes!
S: What is it about then? Tell me.
C: It’s about Yoda talking to you. Yoda is a little green alien who is a Jedi master.
S: And so for the few people who do not know what a Jedi is, can you tell me what they are?
C: A Jedi is a person who can use the Force. The Force is everywhere but some can use it for good or for evil. The Jedi use it for good.
S: Yes, in the Star Wars universe, there is this mysterious force, kind of like magic and kind of like just the essence of life, but these Jedi have the power to channel it to do great things. And Yoda has always been my favorite Jedi!
C: Mine too. I do not know much about the Baby Yoda though.
S: Well, we have not watched the series that have him in them, so we have not met him yet. We know Yoda as a wise old master.
C: He is 800 or 900 years old!
S: Yes, apparently that is how old he is when Luke Skywalker comes to learn from him.
C: Yes, that is what happens in this book too. We go to Yoda’s island with Luke and Yoda talks to us about the Force. He gives a lecture about the Force almost.
S: Yes, he does, it is mainly him telling the reader about the Force and how to achieve hard things in life. Do you want to read to me a bit from the book?
C: Okay, here is some part of the book:
Ready are you?
What know you of ready?
For eight hundred years have I trained Jedi.
Easy it is not.
A Jedi must have the deepest commitment.
Willing to work hard are you?
Caramel is reading A Jedi You Will Be, written by Preeti Chhibber and illustrated by Mike Deas: “Willing to work hard are you?”
S: So is the book really only about the Force and Star Wars?
C: Hmm, sort of.
S: I think I only partially agree with you. I think some of the advice Yoda gives is pretty applicable to real life.
C: Hmm, yes it is. For example the part I read to you is basically saying working hard is important. Then there is a part where he tells you being big or small is not important. He says, “size matters not!” I like Yoda!
S: He does talk in a strange manner, doesn’t he? His sentences are structured in grammatically incorrect ways. But there are some languages where this type of order (where the subject goes after the verb) might appear.
C: Yes, he speaks funny. He says, “Now close your eyes. Closed are they? See you peeking I do!”
S: That is funny! And you do that too sometimes when I ask you to close your eyes and take a deep breath.
C: No I don’t do that!
S: Yes, you do, when we try to meditate!
C: Hmm, yes, I guess you’re right.
S: Okay, let us wrap up with you telling us three words about this book.
C: Colorful, funny, and grammatically incorrect! But also lots of good advice!
S: Hmm, that is more than three words, but it will do! So what do you say next?
C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!
Caramel loved reading A Jedi You Will Be, written by Preeti Chhibber and illustrated by Mike Deas, and he recommends it to all other Star Wars fans, young and old.
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