Caramel’s reviews – Page 21

Caramel reviews Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer

A couple months ago, Caramel reviewed Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, the very first book about the evil boy genius Artemis Fowl. Today he reviews Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident, the second book in the series, first published in 2002. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, apparently we are back with Artemis Fowl, the evil boy genius. Tell me about this second book.

Caramel: As it turns out, everything is not too well.

S: What does that mean?

C: Artemis Fowl’s dad gets kidnapped. And the fairy lands are also in trouble. And the two troubles are related. And so Artemis ends up working together with Holly, the fairy detective from the first book, and together they try to figure out what is going on. And then they will foil the plans of the evil characters behind all the bad things going.

S: I see.

C: Actually there is a lot more, but it is really quite complicated.

S: Do you mean the plot is complicated?

C: Yes. There are plot twists and all kinds of new shady characters. I felt kind of anxious while reading it.

S: Hmm, that sounds intense.

C: It was intense. But in a good way.

Caramel is reading Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer. — Caramel is reading *Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident* by Eoin Colfer.

S: Okay, so you described the first book as “fast-paced and action-packed page-turner.” What about this one?

C: That would work for this book too.

S: So this book did not disappoint?

C: No it definitely did not disappoint. In fact I liked this book a lot more than the first one.

S: That is interesting! Why?

C: I think it is more interesting. You already know the characters…

S: Hmm, so you feel a deeper connection to them.

C: Exactly.

S: And it sounds like the plot is a lot more convoluted, so there must be a lot going on all the time.

C: Yes. I could not put the book down when I was reading it. In fact I am holding it even now.

S: I can see that! Are you going to reread it?

C: Yes! I like rereading books I like. You know that.

S: I do.

C: And this is a book I liked!

S:Apparently there are at least six more books in this series. Do you think you will want to read some of those books, too?

C: Yes! Artemis Fowl is interesting! And I like how there are fairies, too, and it is totally normal that there is this other world.

S: Sounds like you found yourself a new series.

C: Yes! And this book also has the runes at the bottom of each page. And you know I like runes!

S: I do. And they are fun to play with. Here is a two-way translator that translates between the runes of the book and common English if any of our readers want to play with it.

C: I think there might be a few bunnies who might play with it right now.

S: Okay, let us wrap this review up first. Then you can play.

C: Okay.

S: What do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel loved reading Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer and is ready to dive right into Book Three. — Caramel loved reading *Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident* by Eoin Colfer and is ready to dive right into Book Three.

Caramel reviews Ricky, The Rock That Couldn’t Roll by Mr. Jay and Erin Wozniak

Today Caramel reviews a cute picture book from 2017, Ricky, The Rock That Couldn’t Roll, written by Mr. Jay (Jay Miletsky) and illustrated by Erin Wozniak. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Caramel reviews Ricky, The Rock That Couldn't Roll, written by Mr. Jay and illustrated by Erin Wozniak. — Caramel reviews *Ricky, The Rock That Couldn’t Roll*, written by Mr. Jay and illustrated by Erin Wozniak.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, tell me a bit about this book.

Caramel: This book is about a rock named Ricky and about friendship.

S: Wait, now we are naming rocks?

C: No. This book is naming them. The book has a lot of talking rocks.

S: I see. So there are these talking rocks and one is called Ricky.

C: Yes. Unfortunately for Ricky, Ricky is different from his friends.

S: In what way?

C: Well, as the book title says, he can’t roll! He is flat on one side. All his friends are round. So they can all roll, but Ricky can’t.

S: I see. How does this make Ricky feel?

C: Sad because he feels left out.

S: I can understand that. If all your friends were ice skating, and you could not skate, it would not be too fun.

C: Exactly. But Ricky has really good friends. And they try to help him. They come up with many many ideas. Most of them fail, of course. They try to wrap him up with balloons and such, and that fails miserably.

S: But at least they are trying to help. I see now why you said the book is about friendship. Good friends help one another.

C: Yep. And in the end they succeed!

S: Okay, so let us not totally spoil the fun of reading the book, but that means that in the end Ricky will be happy, right?

C: Yup.

Caramel is reading Ricky, The Rock That Couldn't Roll, written by Mr. Jay and illustrated by Erin Wozniak. — Caramel is reading *Ricky, The Rock That Couldn’t Roll*, written by Mr. Jay and illustrated by Erin Wozniak.

S: So then I am assuming you liked this book?

C: Yes. It made me happy.

S: I can understand why. You like books with happy endings.

C: Yes.

S: What you told me about the book reminded me of another book you reviewed a while back: The Missing Piece Meets the Big O by Shel Silverstein. Do you remember that book?

C: Yes. And you are right, there are some similarities. There too there is a thing, called the Missing Piece, that wants to roll on its own but cannot. But there, the Missing Piece eventually figures out that by trying, it can smooth out its rough pointy corner and become rounder so it can roll. It does this more or less on its own. That book is not really about friendship. It is more about perseverance.

S: You are very wise Caramel. And that is a big word for a little bunny your age! But there is perseverance in this book, too. Ricky and his friends do not give up. They try and fail over and over again, but they do not give up, until they eventually solve the problem.

C: That is true.

S: But I can see how this book is more about friendship. So if you were to describe the book using three to five words, how would you do it?

C: Cute story about friends helping friends.

S: That works! So let us wrap this review up then. What do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel appreciated reading Ricky, The Rock That Couldn't Roll, written by Mr. Jay and illustrated by Erin Wozniak, and recommends it to other young bunnies who can't always do everything their friends can do. — Caramel appreciated reading *Ricky, The Rock That Couldn’t Roll*, written by Mr. Jay and illustrated by Erin Wozniak, and recommends it to other young bunnies who can’t always do everything their friends can do.

Caramel reviews The Red Book by Barbara Lehman

Today Caramel reviews The Red Book by Barbara Lehman, first published in 2004. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, you chose a beautiful picture book for today’s review. Can you tell us a bit about it?

Caramel: Yes. This book has no words. So any bunny can read it!

S: That sounds interesting!

C: It is! Remember that book I reviewed way back, The Book With No Pictures? This is kind of the opposite. There are pictures but no words.

S: But there is a story?

C: Yes. It is kind of complicated though.

S: How so?

C: So there is a girl walking in the snow in a big city, and she finds a red book in the snow.

S: Is it not destroyed in the snow?

C: No. And she opens the red book and begins to look through its pages and finds the picture of an island in the middle of an ocean. And then she looks more closely and on the island is a boy who is reading a red book of his own. And here is the shocking part: In the red book the boy is holding you can see the girl from the big city!

S: Wait! So the girl’s book shows the boy whose book shows the girl?

C: Yes. Like when you have two mirrors and you see the reflection of your reflection.

S: Okay. I can see how you could make such a comparison.

C: But wait! The weirdness is not over yet. The girl in the city finds a lot of balloons and then flies into the air and gets herself to the boy’s island. And then we see both of them sitting on the beach. And then the red book closes! And there is another person who finds the book and takes it with him.

S: That is interesting Caramel! Very self-referential! Do you know what that means?

C: Yes I think so. I think it means when you talk about yourself. And the red book is talking about itself. Because we are reading the red book which is telling a story about a red book, in which there is another red book…

S: Yes! It really is like the infinitely many reflections you can see in two mirrors facing one another!

C: But that can be confusing! This is not. This is just nice.

Caramel is reading The Red Book by Barbara Lehman. — Caramel is reading *The Red Book* by Barbara Lehman.

S: I agree Caramel. This is really a very sweet book. What did you think about the drawings?

C: I thought they were pretty good. They are simple, but they do not need to be more complicated anyways. I like how the red book is always sticking out on the pages you can see it.

S: True! I like that too! So how did it feel to read a book that did not have any words?

C: Good. The story was nice so I really liked it.

S: You also read and reviewed another book which had no words: Robot Dreams by Sara Varon.

C: I remember that book! And it was a good book and it was about friendship too. But that was kind of sad and this one is just happy.

S: And you like that of course!

C: Of course!

S: Okay, so maybe this is a good time to wrap up this review. What would you like to tell our readers Caramel?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel loved reading The Red Book by Barbara Lehman and recommends all bunnies to check it out. — Caramel loved reading *The Red Book* by Barbara Lehman and recommends all bunnies to check it out.

Caramel reviews The One and Only Family by Katherine Applegate

Last week Caramel reviewed The One and Only Ruby by Katherine Applegate, the third book about the motley crew of dear friends of silverback Ivan whose story started it all. Today he reviews the fourth and currently the last book in this series, The One and Only Family, which was released earlier this month. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, this is the fourth book in this series. What can you tell us about it?

Caramel: This is the newest book in the One and Only Ivan series. I can’t say it is the best but it is pretty good.

S: Do you have a favorite?

C: No, they are all so good. That is why I can’t say this is the best, because they are all the best.

S: I see. Okay, so the first three books had Ivan, Bob, and Ruby in their titles, and they were mainly narrated by Ivan, Bob, and Ruby, respectively. But this one does not have a name in the title. It is just “family”. So who is telling this story?

C: Ivan.

S: The one and only!

C: Yes! The OG!

S: So we are back at the beginning, kind of. Tell me what is going on with Ivan then.

C: He is going to be a daddy!

S: I remember he had a mate in the second book, but I don’t think they had babies together.

C: Yep. Ivan had a mate named Kinyani. And in this book they have twin babies!

S: That is so exciting! But wait, if there is a new book, there might be new problems to solve. Can you tell us a bit more? What is the book about then?

C: It is about the joys and challenges of parenthood.

S: That is such a lofty thing to say for such a tiny little bunny!

C: Well, I am sort of quoting Ivan.

S: Oh I see. I remember Ivan was a quite sophisticated gorilla.

Caramel is reading The One and Only Family by Katherine Applegate. — Caramel is reading *The One and Only Family* by Katherine Applegate.

S: So tell me more about the book.

C: There are times when Ivan is sad because he remembers his original family, and there are a lot of funny and sweet things that happen, too. Just what you would expect from this series. It is always so good!

S: I see. I am guessing you liked the book then.

C: Obviously!

S: Okay, so if you were to describe it using three to five words ,what would you say?

C: Funny adventures with old friends, hard-to-put-down page-turner.

S: Hmm, again, that is a lot more than three to five words, but it will do. You said old friends. So do we see Bob the dog and Ruby the elephant in this book, too?

C: Yes. And the girl too, Julia.

S: I see. More or less the same main cast then.

C: Yes, but we get to see more of Kinyani, and then there are the twins, Raji and Tuma.

S: And they are all as likeable as the original crew?

C: Yes, I liked them!

S: So you would recommend this book to other bunnies?

C: Yes, but it would be best if they read the earlier books first. They would know the characters much better that way.

S: Makes sense to me Caramel. Okay, so maybe this is a good time to wrap up this review. What would you like to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel loved reading The One and Only Family by Katherine Applegate and will not forget these wonderful friends for a long while. — Caramel loved reading *The One and Only Family* by Katherine Applegate and will not forget these wonderful friends for a long while.