BookBunnies

Caramel reviews Five on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton

This past month, Sprinkles was excited to introduce Caramel to one of her favorite series from her childhood, the Famous Five, the classic children’s adventure book series written by the prolific British author Enid Blyton about four children and their dog Timothy. Today, Caramel shares his thoughts on Five on a Treasure Island, the first book about these five characters, published first in 1942, exactly eighty years ago. The book bunnies read the beautiful color edition from 2015 with illustrations by Babette Cole and Quentin Blake.

Caramel reviews Five on a Treasure Island, written by Enid Blyton and illustrated by Babette Cole and Quentin Blake. — Caramel reviews *Five on a Treasure Island*, written by Enid Blyton and illustrated by Babette Cole and Quentin Blake.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, I was so happy to read this book together with you!

Caramel: Yes. We read a chapter a night, more or less, and it was sometimes not easy to wait the whole day for the next chapter.

S: I know, right? Some of the events get you nervous and make you want to know what will happen next, and quickly.

C: I thought you had read this book before Sprinkles? Didn’t you remember what would happen?

S: Well, yes, I did read it, but many many years ago, and I knew of course that the kids would come out of their adventures safe and sound, but I did not remember at all how that would come to be.

C: Especially when they got locked up in the dungeon —

S: Wait! Let us not give away too many details. But maybe it would be a good idea to start from the beginning with the plot of the book so our readers can get a good idea abut what it is all about.

C: Okay. So there are three kids, Julian, Dick, and Anne, and they are siblings. They go visit their cousin George. Actually she is named Georgina, but she wants to be called George.

S: I see. This reminds me that a couple years ago, Marshmallow reviewed a book titled George, about a transgender child and her struggle to be accepted as who she is. People called her George but she wanted to be called Melissa. And it is important to call people by the name they would prefer, right?

C: Obviously. It is only the kind thing to do. And if you don’t they will be upset.

S: So yes, let us call the fourth character in our book George. But the book title promises us five characters. Who is the fifth one?

C: Tim, who is a dog. He is George’s dog, pretty much, though her family does not want her to keep Tim, so she has another boy take care of him most of the time.

S: Okay, these five remind me of Scooby Doo and the five characters there. Did you know that some folks think that people who created Scooby Doo were inspired by the Famous Five?

C: I had not thought about that! But that is kind of neat! I like Scooby Doo! So this is really interesting. I can even see some resemblances…

S: Hmm, we can speculate, of course. But let us get back to the book. Alright, so we now know who the famous five are. What is the treasure island about? Tell us more about the story.

C: George does not seem too nice at the beginning, but eventually, they become close. The three siblings learn about the nearby Kirrin Island, George says it is hers, and then the kids think that there may be some treasure hidden somewhere on the island. They figure out that there are supposed to be many “ingots of gold” there, according to a very old map.

S: And so the four kids and Tim the dog go and try to find the treasure, right?

C: Yes. And of course they get into trouble. There is someone who wants to buy the island and get the treasure for himself.

S: Yes, so there is some tension about this guy, who does not seem to be an exceptionally nice person.

C: Yes, he locks them up in the dungeon of the dilapidated castle.

S: Wow Caramel, that is a big word! But you are also giving away some of the major plot twists! So maybe it is time to stop talking about the plot.

C: Okay.

Caramel is reading Five on a Treasure Island, written by Enid Blyton and illustrated by Babette Cole and Quentin Blake. — Caramel is reading *Five on a Treasure Island*, written by Enid Blyton and illustrated by Babette Cole and Quentin Blake.

S: How about talking about the main themes of the book next? Do you remember what is a theme in a book?

C: It is a main idea, or it can be a moral of the story sometimes.

S: Yes, that is right, Caramel. So what ideas or themes do you think would be the main themes of Five on a Treasure Island?

C: I think friendship is one. George is not used to having friends, she is used to being alone, on her own all the time. But then she becomes good friends with the three kids, and she realizes how much better life is with friends.

S: Right! You would agree, right?

C: Yes, of course. Life is much better with friends!

S: Okay, other than friendship, can you think of another theme?

C: Maybe cooperation and team work? Because the children solve the mystery together and then save one another.

S: I think that makes sense! Those are two good themes for this book. Hmm, let me ask you a couple other questions before we wrap things up, Caramel. First of all, I told you this is a pretty old book. It might be the oldest book you have read before now.

C: Not quite. I read The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper and that was from 1930. But you are right, this is one of the older books I have read.

S: You are right, that book was older. But this one is pretty old too. And I wanted to ask you if you could tell. Did you think the book aged well? Or did you think it was very dated?

C: Well, I think the boy name Dick is not as common these days. And the kids sometimes use words strangely. For example Dick says “Rather!” and “Blow!” when he is excited and they say George’s mom is a “brick” and they mean she is awesome! So those were some interesting words, and made me think the book is from a different time. Or different place. Because different versions of English seem to have different idioms and slang words.

S: That’s right Caramel, that is a very good observation. Those words were unfamiliar in those uses for me too. But perhaps they used to be more common in 1940s in Britain. They did feel strange to us in the 2020s of course!

C: Right. And Anne was a bit too much of a crybaby, and seemed like what girls were supposed to be like and so George did not want to be a girl like that. She wanted to run and swim and do all the things that were supposed to be boy things. But today boys and girls can do all sorts of things. So that is also a bit different.

S: I agree Caramel. Those are good observations. Would you say that the book was fun to read though?

C: Yes, it was a lot of fun to read. And I think even younger bunnies, much younger than myself, could enjoy it if their grownups read it to them.

S: Again, I agree Caramel. And I am so happy you read this book and enjoyed it. Okay, one last question: What did you think about the illustrations? This was a special color illustration edition. And the illustrators are pretty established in their craft. Did you find them engaging?

C: Yes. They were very colorful. And there is one picture where they had a lot of bunnies watching the kids. That is my favorite. It is drawn almost from the bunnies’ point of view.

S: So it is perfect for us book bunnies.

C: Yep. That is why I posed for my photo above with that page open.

S: I love that Caramel! Okay, time to wrap this up then. What will you tell our readers now?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny adventures!

Caramel enjoyed reading Five on a Treasure Island, written by Enid Blyton and illustrated by Babette Cole and Quentin Blake, and is curious to learn more about the five friends and their other adventures. — Caramel enjoyed reading *Five on a Treasure Island*, written by Enid Blyton and illustrated by Babette Cole and Quentin Blake, and is curious to learn more about the five friends and their other adventures.

Marshmallow reviews You Know, Sex by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth

Marshmallow is reading about growing up and this week she wanted to talk about a recent book she read about puberty, growing up, and sex written for young people who are around her age: You Know, Sex: Bodies, Gender, Puberty, and Other Things by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth. Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Marshmallow reviews You Know, Sex: Bodies, Gender, Puberty, and Other Things by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth. — Marshmallow reviews *You Know, Sex: Bodies, Gender, Puberty, and Other Things* by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth.

Sprinkles: First of all, as we begin this review, I want to thank you for reading this book, Marshmallow. After reviewing a collection of books about where babies come from, I had intended to write a post about a handful of books about puberty next. And one of the books I chose was this one, a huge, 432-page tome written in graphic novel form. But when I began to read it, I realized that my personal discomfort with the form (due to my poor eyesight) would mean I would probably not be able to give it its full due. So thank you for helping me out and checking the book out on your own.

Marshmallow: Well, that’s alright, Sprinkles. It was an interesting read.

S: That’s good to know. Can you tell us a bit about the specifics of the book?

M: Sure. You already said it is big, and has 432 pages. And you said it is written as a graphic novel.

S: The two who wrote this book also were the writer and the illustrator of What Makes A Baby?, one of the books I read for that review of books about where babies come from. And the pictures have the exact same style.

M: Yes, there are people with many different skin colors, like orange and purple and green and blue, and many different shapes and sizes.

S: Does that work well?

M: Yes, it is interesting. I think the people all look quite unique.

S: Well, I guess that makes the book more realistic, right? We are all quite different from one another.

M: Yes.

S: So tell us more about the book.

M: There are eleven chapters. They are titled: What is Sex? Bodies, Gender, Puberty, Feelings, Consent, Talking, Relationships, Reproduction, Touching, and Safety.

S: So the book covers a lot of ground.

M: Yup. It is also very contemporary.

S: What do you mean by that?

M: It has some ideas which I think are contemporary. They talk about gender identity and sexual orientation, transgender and non-binary people, and people having relationships with multiple partners.

S: The last one does not sound too contemporary to me. Polygamy and polyamory have been around for a long time. They have not always been accepted or legal though. I guess the authors are trying to teach the reader to be open minded about different arrangements.

M: I am not sure all readers would be too open to all of these ideas at this point.

S: I agree with that. Actually I too find some of these ideas challenging, especially polygamy. Though rabbits are typically not monogamous, according to Wikipedia, “scientific studies classify the human mating system as primarily monogamous, with the cultural practice of polygamy in the minority”. In any case, it is good to learn about how different people can relate with others.

M: Well, the book does not talk so much about polygamy as polyamory. But yes, it is good to learn about these different things.

Marshmallow is reading You Know, Sex: Bodies, Gender, Puberty, and Other Things by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth. — Marshmallow is reading *You Know, Sex: Bodies, Gender, Puberty, and Other Things* by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth.

S: They also talk about the changes a young bunny goes through in puberty, and more generally about biology and mechanics of sexual reproduction, right?

M: Well, yes. There are also very vivid depictions of things. They make an effort to show all kinds of things, so that the reader does not end up assuming that a body part has to look in one specific way. And they show people doing all kinds of different things together or alone.

S: I did look through the pages a lot, too, and I’d say there really are a lot of illustrations that some parents may not be comfortable with.

M: The self-discovery and self-exploration parts might also be kind of touchy topics for some folks, I’d imagine.

S: I did see a section on pornography, and that too is a very challenging topic. Perhaps grownup bunnies should read this book together with their young ones when they feel like the conversations about the various themes and issues that come up will be constructive.

M: I’d agree with that.

S: What were some of the other topics in the book? What topics did you find were most important?

M: They talk a lot about relationships, and I thought it was useful to learn about that. They talk about consent and power in relationships, and sometimes how people talk about being with people as a competition.

S: Yes, I did see that page about how sometimes people talk about “scoring” and the book instead encourages young people to think about “trust, respect, justice, joy, and choice”.

M: Yes, I did find those parts useful. All in all, it is an interesting and useful book, but I think grownups should probably check it out before sharing with their little ones.

S: Agreed. So what would you tell our readers as we wrap up this review?

M: Stay tuned for more amazing book bunny reviews!

Marshmallow appreciated reading You Know, Sex: Bodies, Gender, Puberty, and Other Things by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth, and she thinks all growing bunnies should read a book along these lines; she also suggests grownups check it out before sharing with their little ones. — Marshmallow appreciated reading *You Know, Sex: Bodies, Gender, Puberty, and Other Things* by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth, and she thinks all growing bunnies should read a book along these lines; she also suggests grownups check it out before sharing with their little ones.

Caramel reviews Robot by Roger Bridgman

Caramel loves everything about robots, and he loves books about facts. Today, therefore, he wanted to share with our readers a book on robots that he has read: Robot, written by Roger Bridgman. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions.

Sprinkles: Caramel, here we are, ready to talk about a whole book about robots!

Caramel: Robots! Yay!

S: I know you like robots.

C: That’s an understatement. I love them!

S: I know! You reviewed a two-book series about a robot and her travels (The Wild Robot and The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown), and you told us that then too. So let us get started. What do you want to tell us about this book?

C: This is a book about robots and tons of good facts about them.

S: Tell me one.

C: Let’s see. Did you know that there is a robot that looks like a shark and researchers use it to study sharks? It helps them “film sharks without disturbing their natural behavior”.

S: That’s pretty cool.

C: And did you know that they have a robot that can climb up on walls and actually walk on the ceiling?

S: That’s cool, too. Kind of like ants and bugs and flies.

C: Yes.

Caramel is reading Robot by Roger Bridgman and learning about robots that can help around the home. — Caramel is reading *Robot* by Roger Bridgman and learning about robots that can help around the home.

S: So there are a lot of different types of robots in this book, right?

C: Yes. There are robots that can help around the home. Then there is a two-page spread on robots that move, one on robots that sense. And another on artificial intelligence. There is a section on robots in the industry and in space and under water.

S: That is pretty cool.

C: There is also a section on fictional robots and robots in art. Like C3PO from Star Wars. But they also have a mistake there! They put a picture of a Dalek, from the Doctor Who universe, but Dalek are not robots. They do say they are mutants, but they should not have put them in a book on robots!

S: I guess people make robot Dalek to play with, though, right?

C: Yes. I even saw a remote-control Dalek once. So maybe that is why they put a picture in the book.

S: I suppose that makes sense.

C: They also have sections on machines with feelings, which is kind of like that Wild Robot I read about.

S: That is interesting! I’ve always thought the feeling part is quite hard to implement. But also, this is a relatively old book, right? It was first published in 2004. A lot must have changed since then, I’d presume.

C: Yep, I think so. In fact we should probably put here that video about robots which behave like animals. That seemed really new!

S: I agree. That video is brand new, only two weeks old now. So here it is:

“Biophysicist Reacts to Animal Inspired Robotics”, YouTube.

C: I like this video a lot! We should see it again.

S: Sure. Let us finish the review first. I know you knew a lot about robots already. What did you learn from this book Caramel?

C: Well, you are right that I knew a lot of things about robots before, so I knew a lot of the things in the book. But I did not know about the shark-shaped robot. And there were just so many different robots! It is a pretty awesome book and I liked it very much.

S: I can see that! I have been observing you looking carefully at the pages of the book over and over again. You have read it all already, but you still enjoy looking at it.

C: Yes. I like robots! And I told you; these are cool robots!

S: That’s wonderful Caramel. So what three words would you use to describe this book?

C: Factful, colorful, and robotful. There are a lot of facts, a lot of colorful pictures, and lots of robots!

S: I cannot argue with that reasoning! Okay, then let us wrap this review up. What do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel loved reading and reviewing Robot by Roger Bridgman, and he looks forward to learning more and more about robots as he grows up. — Caramel loved reading and reviewing *Robot* by Roger Bridgman, and he looks forward to learning more and more about robots as he grows up.

Marshmallow reviews Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Marshmallow found a copy of a Charles Dickens novel, Great Expectations, in her classroom library and decided to check it out. Just like many other novels by Dickens, Great Expectations was first published as a serial, weekly from 1860 to 1861, and then came out as a single three-volume book in 1861. Below Marshmallow shares her thoughts on this classic.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books that are set in past time periods or if you enjoy coming-of-age stories, and if you are up for a really long read, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Philip Pirrip (nicknamed Pip) is an orphan in the mid-early 19th century in Kent, England. His parents are dead but his much older sister (Georgiana Maria, though she is always referred to as Mrs. Joe) takes care of him. Unfortunately, she disciplines him very harshly, which was the norm back then. She is married to a blacksmith, Joe Gargery, who is kind and whom Pip views as a father figure. The story starts when Pip is around seven and he is visiting the graves of his parents and other siblings. There he unexpectedly meets an escaped convict who threatens to kill him unless he brings food and tools. Pip does so, but then soldiers arrive and ask Joe to mend some shackles. Pip comes with the soldiers and they find the convict fighting with another convict. The first one says that he stole the things that he ordered Pip to steal.

After this bizarre event, the narration moves on and we skip ahead a few years. In a couple years, a rich elderly woman is looking for a young boy to come visit her. Pip is chosen and so he starts going to her house every now and then. This woman is Miss Havisham who has an adopted daughter named Estella. Miss Havisham is a strange woman: she was supposed to be married, but when her fiancé left her at the altar, she froze everything where it was. She was still wearing her wedding dress and the clocks were all stopped to the time she learned she was abandoned. Miss Havisham raised Estella to be her revenge on the male part of the human species. Estella was raised to be heartless and break mens’ hearts. And Pip was to be her first victim. Pip falls in love with Estelle, leading to a great heartbreak throughout Pip’s life.

Many years later, when Pip has been training to be a blacksmith, like Joe, he is given money to allow him to become a gentleman and he travels to London. It is presumed that Miss Havisham was the one who gave him the money. Pip’s life transforms many times into different things. This book follows his life through most of it from a young age to his older years.

Marshmallow is reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. — Marshmallow is reading *Great Expectations* by Charles Dickens.

Marshmallow’s Review: Great Expectations is a highly regarded book by the famous author Charles Dickens. I found it fascinating. I thought it was remarkable how it covered almost the entire life of one person. I also appreciated that there were so many twists and turns. I honestly did not expect what happened at the end.

However, I would say that it is very difficult to read since it was written in a different time period where people wrote differently. Secondly, it is very complicated because there are so many characters and so many things happen to them at different times. I understood most of the book when I read it, but I missed some things because of the confusing language. I had to go back and reread and think things through a bit.

All in all I am glad to have read Great Expectations. It was my first Dickens book, and it is amazing to me that he wrote it and published it weekly first. It is such a big project! And there are so many things to keep track of because it is Pip’s entire life!

Marshmallow’s Rating: 95%.

Marshmallow rates Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 95%. — Marshmallow rates *Great Expectations* by Charles Dickens 95%.