Caramel’s reviews – Page 30

Caramel reviews Elbert in the Air by Monica Wesolowska and Jerome Pumphrey

Today Caramel reviews a sweet picture book published in 2023 titled Elbert in the Air, written by Monica Wesolowska and illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey. As always, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

The book bunnies received this book as a review copy.

Caramel reviews Elbert in the Air, written by Monica Wesolowska and illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey. — Caramel reviews *Elbert in the Air*, written by Monica Wesolowska and illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, here we are, once again talking about a brand new picture book. What can you tell us about Elbert in the Air?

Caramel: This book is about Elbert, who is a kid who floats. Quite literally. I mean he can float in the air, and he could do so since the time he was a baby.

S: So like a balloon?

C: Kind of.

S: That is interesting. Can he control it?

C: Not really. He can only go up it seems like. He can’t go down. It is really sad actually. How would he get food? I mean, his mom gives him things, but she has to climb a tree and so on to reach him.

S: You are right Caramel. Floating like a balloon sounds fun at first, but I guess it can be lonely.

C: It could be cool if you could control it.

S: I agree Caramel. So do we know why Elbert floats?

C: Nope. He just does.

S: Okay, so what happens in the book?

C: He keeps flying and people are scared of him. They keep telling his mom how to control him and bring him down.

S: What does the mom do?

C: She does not do any of the things they tell her to. She says, “if Elbert was born to float, you should let him.”

S: I see. Do you think she is doing the right thing?

C: Yes.

S: She is not judging her child and trying to make him fit into other people’s expectations.

C: Yes, exactly. So I think she is doing the right thing.

S: But Elbert will be lonely if he is the only one floating.

C: Well, at some point he has regular friends while they can reach him, but then he flies up higher and regular folks cannot reach him. So for a while he is really lonely.

S: But at least he knows his mom is supporting him.

C: Yes.

S: Still it could be lonely…

C: Yes. I am sure it would be, but he does eventually find others who can float, and — wait, is that a spoiler?

S: Hmm, maybe.

C: Okay, I will say no more.

Caramel is reading Elbert in the Air, written by Monica Wesolowska and illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey. — Caramel is reading *Elbert in the Air*, written by Monica Wesolowska and illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey.

S: Alright, so let us look at the book in other ways. What did you think of the illustrations?

C: I thought they were good. There are a lot of pale blue, orange, brown, black, red, white, and so on.

S: Somewhat muted and calming colors mostly?

C: Yes. Except the red and the orange. But those are fun colors too.

S: So you liked the colors! What was your favorite part of the book?

C: Well, I cannot tell, because it is at the end, and I do not want to spoil things any more than I did already.

S: That’s fair. Okay Caramel, so if you were to summarize this book in three words, what would you say?

C: Colorful, floating, and happy.

S: I like those!

C: Actually, maybe I’d say adventurous, too.

S: Alright, then. I think those are good words to summarize the book. Let us wrap up our review then. What would you like to tell our readers Caramel?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel enjoyed reading Elbert in the Air by Monica Wesolowska and Jerome Pumphrey, and recommends it to all the little bunnies all over the world. — Caramel enjoyed reading *Elbert in the Air* by Monica Wesolowska and Jerome Pumphrey, and recommends it to all the little bunnies all over the world.

Caramel reviews Make Your Own Press-Out Spaceships by David Hawcock

Today Caramel reviews a recent favorite, Make Your own Press-Out Spaceships, by David Hawcock. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, as soon as you saw this book in a catalog, you wanted to get your paws on it. But it took us a while to get a copy. Was it worth the wait?

Caramel: Yes. It most certainly was.

S: So tell us a bit about the book.

C: This book has a lot of fun facts about space, and in between, there are special pages you push out and make spaceships with. As you can imagine, this made me very happy.

S: I can imagine. But I don’t have to. I saw you happily building a rover and a space shuttle already.

C: Yep. And next I’m going to build the purple spaceship at the end. I will call it the Dark Star.

S: That sounds cool!

C: It is!

Caramel is reading Make Your Own Press-Out Spaceships by David Hawcock. — Caramel is reading *Make Your Own Press-Out Spaceships* by David Hawcock.

S: So you said the book is full of facts. And we know you love facts and have a lot of them in your head already. Can you tell me one new fact you learned?

C: I learned about dark matter. Apparently it is “an invisible component of matter that makes up most of the universe.” According to the NASA website we found, “dark matter is composed of particles that do not absorb, reflect, or emit light, so they cannot be detected by observing electromagnetic radiation. Dark matter is material that cannot be seen directly. We know that dark matter exists because of the effect it has on objects that we can observe directly.” That is pretty awesome!

S: I agree, it is pretty awesome!

C: I also learned that it takes Mercury eighty-eight days to orbit the sun, but it takes Pluto 247 Earth-years! That is kind of sad!

S: Yes, so if we lived on Pluto, years would probably not be too useful as units of time, right?

C: I guess you could use them to measure things that take a longer time.

S: But our lifetimes would be less than a Pluto-year.

C: Unless we would be different there, and our lives would last about the same number but in Pluto-years.

S: Those lives would be long!

C: Yes, and they would be excellent!

S: Okay, let us not get too carried away. So I know the book has cool facts and cool spaceship models, but when you remove the pages to make the models, what remains of the book? Do you still have something left over?

C: Yes. They were clever and put the model pages separately from the main book pages with the facts and the pictures. Did I tell you about the pictures yet?

S: No.

C: Okay, let me tell you now then. On every page there are a lot of colorful illustrations of astronauts and spaceships and so on. The book is really fun to look at.

S: That’s neat Caramel. So can you describe the book to me in three words?

C: Colorful, factful, and craftful.

S: Okay, I know I have accepted “factful” before even though it is kind of a stretch, but I have never heard of “craftful”.

C: Well, I created it so it now exists. You do know what I mean.

S: Yes, I suppose you mean that the book is a book of paper crafts.

C: Yep. You got it.

S: Okay, let us say it works then. So maybe this is a good time to wrap up the review. What do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel enjoyed reading Make Your Own Press-Out Spaceships by David Hawcock and made several of the spaceships already. Here he is posing with Rover the Rover and Kevin the Space Shuttle. — Caramel enjoyed reading *Make Your Own Press-Out Spaceships* by David Hawcock and made several of the spaceships already. Here he is posing with Rover the Rover and Kevin the Space Shuttle.

Caramel reviews Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao

Last year, Caramel grabbed a book from Marshmallow’s reading pile, as all little brothers do, and did not stop reading until he was done with it. We published his review of Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao in December 2022. While he is eagerly awaiting the sequel to that book, he was excited to find a different book by the same author this week: Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor. Today he is talking about this book originally published in 2022. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, I know you really liked Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao, and you are eagerly waiting for its sequel, Heavenly Tyrant. But apparently that book won’t come out till next year. So in the meantime I thought you might enjoy this book by the same author. Was I right?

Caramel: Yes. I really liked Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor. And the two books are actually kind of related. They both have a character named Wu Zetian, who just happens to be the first female emperor of China.

S: But Iron Widow was a story that took place in a different planet.

C: And probably in the future. Yes.

S: How about this one?

C: This one is in our world. But it is also a bit in the future. They have full-blown virtual reality, a lot more advanced than what we have today.

S: I see. So they are not related in terms of narrative, but more in that they are both related to Chinese history and mythology, right?

C: Yes. But also they are both written from the point of view of their main characters. I mean, Iron Widow is written in first person, and we see everything from her perspective. This book is not in first person, but still we see everything from the perspective of the main character.

S: Cool. Tell me about this main character.

C: The main character is a boy named Zachary. He is of Chinese origin and is trying to learn about his Chinese heritage. And then the spirit of Qin Shi Huang, the first Chinese emperor, tries to take him over.

S: Wait. That is strange! You said, “tries”, so does he succeed?

C: No. Instead he takes over Zachary’s VR headset. Which is very helpful when Zachary has enough of him and doesn’t want to talk to him anymore. He can just take the headset off.

S: That is funny!

C: Yep. But it also looks kind of suspicious, him walking around with his VR headset in public.

S: Yes, I can see that would be weird. So what else can you tell us about the story?

C: There are two other kids taken over by two other spirits — one of the spirits is Wu Zetian’s — and the three of them go on a quest of sorts. And lots of things happen then. Lots of dangerous things. His mom’s spirit is stolen, for example.

Caramel is reading Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao. — Caramel is reading *Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor* by Xiran Jay Zhao.

S: Okay, so maybe we can stop there with the plot because we are getting too close to giving away too much. What else do you want to tell me about the book?

C: Well, Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor is apparently the first of another series! Because the book ends with a cliffhanger!

S: Oh, and I know you do not like those.

C: No, I don’t.

S: But at least is the main quest of the book accomplished?

C: I guess, more or less, yes and no.

S: So some things are resolved and some not?

C: True.

S: Hmm, did you like the book then? Was it still a satisfying read? Do you want to read the next one?

C: Yes. Yes. And yes.

S: Did you think Zachary was a likeable character?

C: Yes. He is really shocked and confused when his VR headset starts to talk to him. I think that is very realistic.

S: Yes, I agree. It would be really weird if my headset started to give me commands and tell me they are the spirit of a long-gone Chinese emperor.

C: You are not Chinese, so probably it would not happen to your headset.

S: That’s right. But think about your watch being taken over by the spirit of a long-gone historic figure, for example. It could talk to you and give you commands, wouldn’t it be weird?

C: Absolutely.

S: Okay, so what three words would you use to describe this book?

C: Exciting, adventure, mythological.

S. Those work! Okay, then, as we are wrapping up this review, what do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel enjoyed reading Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao and recommends it for all bunnies young and old. — Caramel enjoyed reading *Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor* by Xiran Jay Zhao and recommends it for all bunnies young and old.

Caramel reviews Weird But True! 350 Outrageous Facts (Book 6) by National Geographic Kids

Caramel is a little bunny who loves robots, animals, space ships, and … facts. He loves facts! So today he is talking about a book that is all about facts: Weird But True! 350 Outrageous Facts (Book 6), by National Geographic Kids. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, you have found yet another book full of facts!

Caramel: Yup! I have.

S: This is a little book with some weird facts on each page, and with lots of colorful pictures. So for example, I did not know that there was a pink lake in Australia.

C: I did know about Lake Hillier, yes!

S: I know you know a lot of weird facts already! So I am not too surprised that you had already known of this lake. Were there things that were new to you in the book then?

C: Sure. For example, I did not know that some people built a life-size Star Wars x-wing from LEGOs. And I did not know that there is an airport in Turkey named Batman.

S: Oh, there I win! I knew about Batman. It is actually a whole city, and it has nothing to do with the superhero Batman. It is also pronounced differently.

C: Well, I know it now! And I now know that ailurophobia is an extreme fear of cats. And that a planet about the size of our Earth partially made up of diamonds is worth $26.9 nonillion (that is 26.9 plus twenty-nine zeros!)

S: I did not know any of that! But did you know that this is the sixth book in a series and that there are many more books called “Weird But True! 350 Outrageous Facts”?

C: Yes, in the back of the book, there are pictures of ten of them. Can we get some of those books, too?

S: Hmm, I don’t know. Do you think it is useful to have a book that has random facts organized in no discernible order or logic?

C: Yes!

Caramel is reading Weird But True! 350 Outrageous Facts (Book 6) by National Geographic Kids. — Caramel is reading *Weird But True! 350 Outrageous Facts* (Book 6) by National Geographic Kids.

S: To me, it sounds amusing but maybe kind of weird because there is no way to organize the facts in my mind.

C: Why bother with organizing? It is fun to read the book. Something new and surprising shows up on each page, and that is fun.

S: Hmm, I guess I can see the appeal of that. You could also just read the book on and off, and open it randomly to a random page and get amused and pass time and learn things, all at the same time.

C: Yes. That’s what I am saying.

S: That wasn’t how you read it though, right? You read it from cover to cover?

C: Yes. At least the first time. But the second time and the third time and the fourth time and so on, I just open the book to some page and read.

S: So even though you have read the book already, you think you might want to read it again and again?

C: Yup. I sometimes forget some of the facts and when I read them I remember and it is like new again. I like to look at the pictures, too.

S: Okay, so we are trying something new this week. You just started using a reading notebook. It asks you how the book made you feel. What is your answer to that question?

C: Happy!

S: How come?

C: Because I was happy to learn all these new facts!

S: You are an awesome little bunny Caramel! What three words would you use to describe the book?

C: Colorful, factful fun.

S: I think that works! This is a good place to end this post. What would you like to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel loved reading Weird But True! 350 Outrageous Facts (Book 6) by National Geographic Kids and is now wondering about the nine remaining books in the series. — Caramel loved reading *Weird But True! 350 Outrageous Facts* (Book 6) by National Geographic Kids and is now wondering about the nine remaining books in the series.