advice – Page 3 – BookBunnies

Caramel reviews Hope and Fortune by Marissa Bañez

Caramel is growing up: even though he started the book bunnies blog as a little bunny reading and reviewing picture books, he has in the intervening years moved on to chapter books and eventually more traditional novels and even encyclopedias. However he still enjoys reading and talking about picture books. Today he reviews Hope and Fortune, a picture book by Marissa Bañez published in 2023. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

The book bunnies received this book as a review copy.

Caramel reviews Hope and Fortune by Marissa Bañez. — Caramel reviews *Hope and Fortune* by Marissa Bañez.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, why don’t you start by telling us what this book is about?

Caramel: This book is about a girl named Esperanza who goes into a forest following a butterfly and gets lost. Then she meets twelve fairies who tell her things, and they help her find her way out.

S: The twelve fairies are all different, right?

C: Yes. They are all fairies of different things. For example, there is the Fairy of Innocence and Wonder. And that is the only one who is a boy. All the other fairies are female.

S: Yes, that is true. Good observation, Caramel! What else do you notice about the fairies?

C: They are each representing some good thing. There is one who represents strength and courage; that one looks like an Asian warrior. Then there is one who represents wisdom and intelligence.

S: That one has gray hair and is holding a book or a binder in her hand which has the symbol of Princeton University.

C: I did not notice that.

S: Actually, I think that each page is full of interesting details. For example, all the fairies seem to have some animal companion.

C: Not really. Almost all do. But the first one, the Fortune Fairy of Hope, and the last one, the Fortune Fairy of Love and Friendship, do not.

S: Hmm, again, good observing Caramel. I liked the animal companions, but I guess not all of them have them. By the way, that fairy of love and friendship reminded me of Boticelli’s famous painting, The Birth of Venus.

C: Yes, I can see the oyster shell, and the way they are holding themselves resemble one another!

S: You are right! The arm positions are the same!

C: Of course the fairy in the book is not naked.

S: Yes. I suppose it would not be appropriate otherwise, even though the ancient Greek gods and goddesses were often depicted naked, so Boticelli’s painting makes sense in that context.

C: Wait! Venus is Roman!

S: Yes, thank you for correcting me. I should have known to be more careful talking with you about Greek and Roman mythologies…

C: Well, Marshmallow knows a lot more than I do about them.

S: But you are not that bad yourself!

C: Well, I try.

Caramel is reading Hope and Fortune by Marissa Bañez. — Caramel is reading *Hope and Fortune* by Marissa Bañez.

S: Let us get back to the book. What did you think about the script?

C: Each page is one page picture and the other a poem. The fairies all speak in rhyme.

S: Yes, I noticed that, too. A lot of picture books have rhyming text, and it makes them more fun to read out loud and more fun to listen, I think.

C: I can see that.

S: So when do you think one should read this book?

C: I think maybe when a little bunny is feeling down, they might feel lost, and then this book might help them. So maybe a parent bunny can read it to them.

S: Yes,. I agree that that could be useful. It does offer some good advice to lift a sad person’s spirits.

C: Yes. For example, the Fortune Fairy of Respect and Dignity tells Esperanza to “value yourself” and “don’t give others the power to put you down”. The Fortune Fairy of Confidence tells her to “be proud of everything that you accomplish”.

S: And the Fortune Fairy of Wisdom and Intelligence tells her to “remember that you learn the most from things that are hard.”

C: You keep telling me that, too.

S: Yes, I do. Because I believe it is really true.

C: But hard things are hard!

S: I know. So we sprinkle in some fun and take on the hard stuff, too. Because we can do hard things. And then we grow stronger.

C: Well, I will have to take your word for it, because you have lived a lot longer than me.

S: That’s fair. Okay, so let us wrap up the review then. What three words would you use to describe this book?

C: Hopeful, colorful, and rhyming.

S: I think those will work well. And what do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel enjoyed reading Hope and Fortune by Marissa Bañez and recommends it to all the little bunnies who are looking for a colorful book that will lift their spirits up. — Caramel enjoyed reading *Hope and Fortune* by Marissa Bañez and recommends it to all the little bunnies who are looking for a colorful book that will lift their spirits up.

Marshmallow reviews Getting Things Done for Teens by David Allen, Mike Williams, and Mark Wallace

Marshmallow has always been a curious little bunny. She has always been eager to learn about the world as well as about how our minds work. Recently she got her paws on a book for teens, written by David Allen, the David Allen, of GTD fame, together with Mike Williams and Mark Wallace, about the way our minds work and about how to build a fulfilling life in a world full of distractions: Getting Things Done For Teens: Take Control of Your Life in a Distracting World. Though she is not yet a teen, Marshmallow found this book extremely interesting and eye-opening. Below is her review of this neat little book, perfect for teens and tweens as well as the adults in their lives.

Marshmallow reviews Getting Things Done For Teens: Take Control of Your Life in a Distracting World, written by David Allen, Mike Williams, and Mark Wallace. — Marshmallow reviews *Getting Things Done For Teens: Take Control of Your Life in a Distracting World*, written by David Allen, Mike Williams, and Mark Wallace.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like how-to books or books about time management, organization, and self-improvement, or if you want to understand how your mind works and how to take control of your life, then this might just be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Overview: Getting Things Done for Teens: Take Control of Your Life in a Distracting World is non-fiction, and it aims to teach the reader literally how to take control of their work and/or life. There are two main characters in the book: Cortland, an owl who represents the prefrontal cortex, and Myggy, a monkey who represents the amygdala. Like the prefrontal cortex, Cortland is slower and more thoughtful than Myggy. Myggy, on the other hand, is quick and makes decisions without a lot of thought. The book starts with an overview of how these two parts of the brain help us make decisions, and then introduces the basic features of the Getting Things Done perspective on living a life.

Marshmallow is reading Getting Things Done For Teens: Take Control of Your Life in a Distracting World, written by David Allen, Mike Williams, and Mark Wallace. Here she is looking at the page about "open loops", the things your mind feels like it needs to keep track of unless you resolve the issue about them or at least record them somewhere so you know you will get back to them later. — Marshmallow is reading *Getting Things Done For Teens: Take Control of Your Life in a Distracting World*, written by David Allen, Mike Williams, and Mark Wallace. Here she is looking at the page about what you need to do about “open loops”, the things your mind feels like it needs to keep track of unless you resolve the issue about them or at least record them somewhere so you know you will get back to them later.

The quick summary is that the book helps teenager bunnies organize their work and how to get their lives in order. It does this by teaching the reader how to deal with “stuff” in their minds. Some examples of “stuff” that one might need to deal with are classes, homework, bullying, college applications, and parent pressure.

Marshmallow’s Review: This is a great book for bunnies that want to be better at organizing their life or work. There is a lot of information and useful advice packed into the book. But it does not get boring because the tone is light and humorous. Scenarios used to explain things are all realistic. There are helpful graphs, for example about stress and about things teens worry about. Also there are pictures on basically every other page. The illustrations of Cortland and Myggy, especially, are everywhere and keep reminding you of how your mind works in different ways.

There are also inspiring quotes sprinkled throughout. One of the quotes I really liked is:

“I don’t want other people to decide who I am. I want to decide that for myself.”
Emma Watson

Though Getting Things Done For Teens: Take Control of Your Life in a Distracting World has ideas that can be useful for everyone, I think it might be best for 9 and up. One of the reasons is because Myggy sometimes uses informal (and for some, inappropriate) words, but also because the methods might confuse younger bunnies. And younger bunnies might have fewer things that they can control in their lives and fewer things to have to worry about. In the other direction, Sprinkles told me that she thinks the book could help grownup bunnies, too. She thinks that this book does a great job explaining how the mind works and how this knowledge can help us organize our work so that our lives become much more manageable and enjoyable.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rated Getting Things Done For Teens: Take Control of Your Life in a Distracting World, written by David Allen, Mike Williams, and Mark Wallace 100%, and recommends it highly. — Marshmallow rated *Getting Things Done For Teens: Take Control of Your Life in a Distracting World*, written by David Allen, Mike Williams, and Mark Wallace 100%, and recommends it highly.

Caramel reviews Only One You by Linda Kranz

Caramel read Only One You by Linda Kranz at school a year ago. When the school principal came to their class meeting this week to read it to the whole class, Caramel decided he would like to review it for the blog. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, tell me about this book.

Caramel: It’s about these fishies. The parent fishies are talking about being independent.

S: Yes, I think it is these parent fishies that are giving some life advice to the young fish before he sets off for the wide world.

C: Yes, the young fish is named Adri.

S: So what kinds of advice does Adri get?

C: “Always be on the lookout for a new friend”, “Look for beauty wherever you are and keep the memory of it with you.”

S: Those sound like good advice.

C: There is more! “Blend in when you need to. Stand out when you have a chance.”

S: Hmm, that is also good advice.

C: There is still more!

S: Well, we can’t just write the whole list of advice here and finish the whole book!

C: Yes we can!

S: That would not be so nice Caramel. Bunnies and their parents should be able to discover what is in the book on their own.

C: But we did give away only a few.

S: Well, here is one that I liked a lot: “Set aside some quiet time to relax and reflect every day.”

Caramel is reading Only One You by Linda Kranz: "Set aside some quiet time to relax and reflect every day." — Caramel is reading *Only One You* by Linda Kranz: “Set aside some quiet time to relax and reflect every day.”

S: Do you know what that means?

C: Reflect? I know what reflect means. And this means find time to think about your day a bit.

S: I think you got the gist of it!

C: And I like this one: “If something gets in your way, move around it.” The fishies are moving in a straight line and someone puts in a fishing line breaking their path. The fishies just move around it and continue their way.

Caramel is reading Only One You by Linda Kranz: "If something gets in your way, move around it." — Caramel is reading *Only One You* by Linda Kranz: “If something gets in your way, move around it.”

S: Yes, I love how the fishies are so cute and colorful!

C: They look like they’re made of stone. Like rock art. Actually I think that the background in the pictures, when you see the ocean, is not hand-drawn. I think the backgrounds are real photos, and then someone drew colorful rock-art fishies in the front.

S: Hmm, that is very interesting! Linda Kranz, the person who created the book is a rock art expert. And by rock art, I do not mean the ancient version where people made art on rock walls or created art by putting various rocks together, but the newer one where people paint individual rocks. And it does really look like each of the fishies is an individually colored pebble.

C: There is one that looks like The Starry Night by Van Gogh! Another fish looks like it has multiple suns on it!

S: They are very colorful and distinct all of them. And the advice is really good too. I think we can read and reread this book several times and zero in on a different piece of advice every time.

C: Yes.

S: So let us just read it again. But before that, give me three words that describe this book!

C: “Colorful”. Hmm, and there is wisdom in it…

S: So maybe “wise”?

C: Yes. And … “mixed”. There are a lot of ideas and a lot of different types of art in it. And fishies!

S: Yes, those are all true Caramel. Let us wrap this up then.

C: Stay tuned for more book bunnies reviews!

Caramel loved reading Only One You by Linda Kranz, and recommends it to all little bunnies! — Caramel loved reading *Only One You* by Linda Kranz, and recommends it to all little bunnies!

Marshmallow reviews The Confidence Code for Girls by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman

Marshmallow has recently finished reading The Confidence Code for Girls, by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman. Soon after, Sprinkles read The Confidence Code by the same authors. Below Marshmallow shares her thoughts on the former, while Sprinkles asks questions, takes notes, and occasionally adds some thoughts inspired by her reading of the latter.

This is our last review for 2019 and for a few weeks after. The book bunnies wish everyone a happy new year. We will be back with more reviews in February 2020.

Marshmallow reviews The Confidence Code for Girls by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman. — Marshmallow reviews *The Confidence Code for Girls* by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman.

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

Marshmallow: This is a good book that inspires girls to be confident about themselves.

S: How does it do that?

M: It inspires girls to be confident by making an easy “Confidence Code”, a three-step code that is the key to believing in yourself.

S: So, what are the three steps?

M: You need to read the book!

S: Well, I read the adult version. As far as I recall, the three main recommendations are: Think less, act more, and make mistakes.

M: You can’t give away everything!

S: I’m not really giving everything away though. Everyone says you need to make mistakes. Everyone says you should not worry too much about what others think. But I thought this book explained really clearly why these are all very good advice. But also, the book doesn’t really feel like an advice book, right?

M: No, it doesn’t. It has quizzes and stories and comic strips.

S: That is the one for girls. The grownup one doesn’t have the quizzes and the comics, but actually it too has a lot of stories. Some of them are about the two authors themselves as they try to figure out the confidence code.

Marshmallow is reading The Confidence Code for Girls by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman. — Marshmallow is reading *The Confidence Code for Girls* by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman.

S: Oh wait, I think I actually misspoke. In the notes for the grownup book, there are a few quizzes for readers if they want to figure out where they rank in terms of a few characteristics. Did you do any of the quizzes?

M: Yes, I did some of them. One of them was about how addicted you are to your phone if you have one. And when you took the test, it said you were addicted.

S: Yes, but not extremely. Still it is true that I do check my phone a bit too obsessively. Ok, tell us about the stories.

M: Some of the stories are true stories about girls who see a problem in the world and work to fix it. Others are fictional. Some are scenarios that ask the reader to make decisions in difficult situations. For example, say your friend is bragging that they won a competition in technology and it is getting on your nerves. They start to hang out with other kids who are into tech, and they ignore you. What do you do?

S: So, what would you do?

M: There were multiple choices. Like confront your friend, or act like nothing has changed.

S: So, what would you do?

M: Out of the given options, I’d choose to confront my friend.

Both Marshmallow and Sprinkles enjoyed reading their respective books on the Confidence Code, written by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman, and learned a lot.

S: So how is this related to confidence?

M: The right answer is almost always to be comfortable with who you are and do something about a problem, rather than ignore it or keep worrying about it without doing anything.

S: Yes, I remember the “no ruminating” rule from the adult book! I even have adopted “noru” as a codeword to remind myself to stop ruminating. So, would you recommend this book to your friends? And other young bunnies like yourself?

M: Yes, especially for girl bunnies ten years and older. This is not really a book for boys.

S: Well, the adult book is also directed toward women. This makes sense. Ok, let us wrap this review up with your rating.

M: I rate this book 100%.

Marshmallow rates The Confidence Code for Girls by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman 100%. — Marshmallow rates *The Confidence Code for Girls* by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman 100%.