Reviews – Page 144 – BookBunnies

Caramel reviews A Big Guy Took My Ball! by Mo Willems

After reviewing three books from the Elephant and Piggie Like Reading series (see his reviews of The Cookie Fiasco by Dan Santat, The Itchy Book by LeUyen Pham, and Harold and Hog Pretend for Real! by Dan Santat), Caramel is now rereading some of his old favorites from the original Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Wilems. Below he shares his thoughts on A Big Guy Took My Ball! by Mo Willems. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions, though this time Caramel himself also tried typing some of the words.

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

Caramel: boing! Boing boing boing boing boing! I love this book! boing!

S: So what is that supposed to mean?

C: it is one of the best books that I have ever read! It is a very good book! I love it! And the boinging is about a bouncy ball.

S: Yes, the book has a ball in the center of the story, right? Tell us about the story. What is happening in the book?

C : There is a big guy that takes Piggie’s ball! Piggie is very sad. So Gerald the Elephant goes to the big guy to try and take the ball back.

S : Why can’t Piggie take it back herself?

C : The guy is too big, she’s scared. It’s a humpback whale! They are huge!

S : Yes, apparently they can grow up to 25 to 30 tonnes. That is a huge weight Caramel. And it is about the size of ten mid-sized elephants. So the big guy is probably too big for Gerald as well, right?

Caramel is reading the page where Gerald is telling Piggie that the big guy is really big.

C: Yes. But in the end everything works out, and all three of them play together. They play a game called whale ball. But I don’t get it.

S: What do you not get Caramel?

C: How is the whale not in the ocean? And where is the water coming from that it spouts from its blow hole?

S: Hmm, those are good questions Caramel, but maybe just like an elephant and a pig are quite unlikely to be friends, the whale joining them is also quite unlikely, but it can happen in fiction. Isn’t that what fiction is about? A lot of times things that don’t always make sense or cannot really happen do happen in stories.

C: I don’t always like that though. I like real things.

S: Yes, of course I know that Caramel. But there are many fiction books you also enjoy reading, right? I think you have enjoyed reading all the Elephant and Piggie books many many times.

C: Yes! I also love the Narwhal and Jelly books!

S: Yes, and you reviewed all four of them: Narwhal: The Unicorn of the Sea!, Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt, Peanut Butter and Jelly, and Narwhal’s Otter Friend, all by Ben Clanton. It is a good thing to read a balance of fiction and non-fiction. I think you are doing great!

C: Yes! I like reading. And I will keep reading. And reviewing books!

Caramel loves reading and rereading A Big Guy Took My Ball! by Mo Willems.

Marshmallow reviews Rabbits for Dummies by Audrey Pavia

Marshmallow has been thinking a lot about bunnies lately. So she borrowed a For Dummies book from the home library: Rabbits for Dummies by Audrey Pavia. Below she writes about her thoughts on this book, her first review of a non-fiction book.

Marshmallow’s quick take: If you like books about taking care of pets, or if you love rabbits (like I do!), then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary: This is a non-fiction book. It contains many facts about rabbits. It tells the reader how to litter box train a rabbit, how to clip the nails of a pet rabbit, and many more tidbits of information. It has a wide variety of facts.

The book contains nineteen chapters. My favorites are Chapters 10 (Reading Your Rabbit) and 11 (Putting Boxing Gloves on Your Rabbit: Training). These chapters are about how to understand a rabbit’s behavior (Reading Your Rabbit) and how to train your rabbit (Putting Boxing Gloves on Your Rabbit)

The nineteen chapters of the book are organized into five parts. My favorite part is Part 1 Bringing on the Bunny Basics. I like this part because it teaches you about the many different breeds of rabbits.

In the introduction the author lists the people who could like this book:

This book is for you if you:
* Want a rabbit.
* Think rabbits are cool and want to know more about them.
* Have a rabbit and are considering getting another.
* Own a rabbit and are considering breeding or showing it.
* Have a rabbit (or two) and want to expand your knowledge on how to care for these pets.

Marshmallow’s Review: The book Rabbits for Dummies is about how to take care of rabbits. It is a very good book for rabbits (like me!) and rabbit lovers. Reading it can really help a person learn about rabbits.

The book has pictures that help describe the book contents. Many are distributed in the text, but there is a small section in the middle of the book made up entirely of color photos, printed on higher quality paper.

Marshmallow is pointing at a Holland lop rabbit, one of her favorites.

At the beginning of each part, there is a comic that is about the contents of that part. These are all pretty hilarious. I laughed out loud while reading some of them.

At the beginning of each part is a single comic. Marshmallow's favorite is the one starting Part IV. — At the beginning of each part is a single comic. Marshmallow’s favorite is the one starting Part IV.

Overall this is a very good book that is educational, funny, well-written, and very entertaining. It is sure to help everyone that wants to have a pet bunny. However, be warned: it will certainly make you want a bunny even more than you did before. When she lent me the book, Sprinkles had thought that it would make me realize how much work taking care of a bunny would be, but it seems like this has backfired. I now want a bunny even more!

Marshmallow’s rating: 100%

Marshmallow rates Rabbits for Dummies by Audrey Pavia 100%. — Marshmallow rates *Rabbits for Dummies* by Audrey Pavia 100%.

Caramel reviews Harold and Hog Pretend for Real! by Dan Santat

Caramel has already reviewed The Cookie Fiasco by Dan Santat and The Itchy Book by LeUyen Pham, two of a new series titled Elephant and Piggie Like Reading. This week he shares his thoughts on a third book in this series, Harold and Hog :Pretend for Real! by Dan Santat. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions when needed.

Sprinkles: Caramel, what did you think about this book?

Caramel: I thought it was awesome! There are two friends, an elephant and a pig, and they are trying to pretend to be Elephant and Piggie. You know who those are of course?

S: Yes, those are the main characters of Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie series. And you love that series, don’t you?

C: Yes!

S: And it seems this new elephant, his name is Harold, and his friend Hog, also like our Elephant and Piggie. So they try to be like them.

C: Yes, they pretend to be like them. First Harold tries to be Gerald, That is Elephant’s name. And Hog tries to be Piggie.

S: And does it work?

C: No! They’re are not really very good at it. They are not exactly the same.

S: They have different personalities, right? Harold is not as careful as Gerald and Hog is not as carefree as Piggie. So…

C: So they decide that Harold is going to be Piggie and Hog is going to be Gerald!

S: That is a perfect solution, right? They can still pretend to be best friends!

C: And they ARE best friends!

Caramel is reading Harold and Hog Pretend for Real! by Dan Santat. — Caramel is reading *Harold and Hog Pretend for Real!* by Dan Santat.

C: And even a pigeon shows up!

S: The Pigeon?

C: No. A pigeon. They even ask him if he wants to drive the bus!

S: That is really funny. Does this story remind you of any other stories Caramel?

C: Yes! Remember the one where Elephant and Piggie are in a book?

S: Yes, Mo Willems’ We Are In A Book! There are many interesting meta questions that one can consider reading that book. So this one too raises many questions. In the end Elephant and Piggie look quite puzzled. Why do you think they look that way?

C: I don’t really know.

S: It seems that they are surprised to see two friends so much like themselves but also not like themselves. And these two friends know of them.

C: Like they must be famous or something.

S: Yes, kind of. And then in the end they decide to pretend to be Harold and Hog! Quite a neat full circle!

C: Yes! This is a fun book to read! I like reading it out loud on my own. But it is more fun to read with you. Shall we read it again together?

S: Yes. Let’s. This is a nice place to end our review, too.

C: Yes. Good bye! Stay tuned for more reviews from the Book Bunnies!

*Caramel really enjoyed reading Harold and Hog Pretend for Real! by Dan Santat.*

Marshmallow reviews Encyclopedia Brown Books 1-4 by Donald Sobol

Marshmallow loves to read detective stories with young protagonists. Below she shares some of her thoughts on the first four books of a classic series, Encyclopedia Brown, by Donald J. Sobol.

Marshmallow reviews the first four books of Donald Sobol's Encyclopedia Brown series. — Marshmallow reviews the first four books of Donald J. Sobol’s *Encyclopedia Brown* series.

Marshmallow’s quick take: If you like books that have very smart people in them, or if you simply like detective stories where the main character is a kid who solves crime mysteries, then this might be the book series for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with spoilers): The name Encyclopedia Brown gives you the hint that he or she is very smart since an encyclopedia is a book that contains facts, A to Z. (Encyclopedia Brown’s real name is Leroy Brown. Encyclopedia is his nickname.) The truth is, yes, Encyclopedia Brown is VERY smart and has a vast amount of knowledge. Encyclopedia is also a great detective. He can solve any mystery, even if it is an eighty-five-year-old case that has been a story for a long time.

According to Wikipedia, there are at least twenty-nine Encyclopedia Brown books, but I have read only four of them so far. Each book is less than a hundred pages and is easy to read in one day or less. In each book there are about ten stories. Sometimes the stories in one book are related to one another and have common characters. For example Sally Kimball is one of Encyclopedia Brown’s best friends and serves as his body guard. Another character who appears several times is Bugs Meany, often the criminal in the cases brought to Encyclopedia by other kids.

Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret Pitch is Marshmallow's favorite among the four. — *Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret Pitch is Marshmallow’s favorite among the four.*

The book I like the most is book number two, Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret Pitch. In that book, one of my favorite stories is The Case of the Glass of Ginger Ale. This story is about a famous blind violinist who got tricked by Hans Braun, “concert master of the Glendon Symphony”. Encyclopedia solves this mystery quickly and gets an autograph from the violinist as well.

Marshmallow is reading her favorite Encyclopedia Brown story: The Case of the Glass of Ginger Ale. — Marshmallow is reading one of her favorite Encyclopedia Brown stories: *The Case of the Glass of Ginger Ale*.

Another one of my favorites is The Case of the Balloon Man. In this story, a man named Izzy is suspected of kidnapping a little child named Bobby Tyler. Encyclopedia solves this mystery quickly while eating dinner.

The Case of the Hungry Hitchhiker is a great example of how good Encyclopedia’s mystery solving skills are. In this story, a “hitchhiker” turns out to be a part of a holdup gang. Encyclopedia figures this out by a not-melted chocolate bar that should have been melted. (Especially if you have been standing outside on a ninety-three-degree day for an hour as the hitchhiker claimed.)

Marshmallow’s Review: This is a book series that everyone will enjoy. The author puts the clues in plain sight, but it is very easy to not notice them because they are not things that will attract a lot of attention. Encyclopedia Brown is clever and always has the right answers. The answers to the mysteries are in the backs of the books. The reader will probably need to go to the end often to find out the answers to the cases that Encyclopedia Brown easily solves.

Marshmallow’s rating: 95%