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.

Caramel reviews The Last Olympian: The Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan

While tidying up his books this weekend, Caramel happened to come across his copy of The Last Olympian: The Graphic Novel, by Rick Riordan, and just realized that he had not yet reviewed it for the book bunnies blog. As he had already reviewed the first four books in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, he thought it would be only appropriate if he also reviewed this fifth book. So today that is exactly what he is doing. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

The whole book bunny household loved reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. Marshmallow reviewed the first three novels (The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, and The Titan’s Curse), and Caramel reviewed the graphic novel versions of the first four (The Lightning ThiefThe Sea of MonstersThe Titan’s Curse, and The Battle of the Labyrinth).

Caramel reviews The Last Olympian: The Graphic Novel, by Rick Riordan, adapted by Robert Venditti, with art from Orpheus Collar, Antoine Dodé, and Chris Dickey.
Caramel reviews The Last Olympian: The Graphic Novel, by Rick Riordan, adapted by Robert Venditti, with art from Orpheus Collar, Antoine Dodé, and Chris Dickey.

Sprinkles: So Caramel you have reviewed the fourth book a little bit more than a year ago. So maybe let us start by reminding our readers what the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is all about.

Caramel: Okay. The series is about Percy Jackson, who is a demigod, which means he is a half-god. Percy is the son of the Greek god Poseidon, and the whole series is about him and his friends trying to help save the Olympian gods from Kronos, who is a titan and wants to take them down.

S: Okay, I think this is a good overview. So what happens in this book?

C: Percy first tries to attack Luke’s ship, Princess Andromeda. You might remember Luke as the demigod who is working with Kronos. But there is an explosion, and one of their friends dies. Or actually, the friend sacrifices himself by blowing up the ship. Then Percy finds himself in Poseidon’s underwater palace, which is under attack itself. He is then sent to Camp Halfblood and then eventually goes home, too, to see his mom. Along the way he picks up Nico, who is the son of Hades, and they try to plan a new strategy.

S: I remember Nico. He also had a sister, right?

C: Yes, but the sister, Bianca, joined the Hunters of Artemis in Book Three, The Titan’s Curse. And then she died. Anyways, then, Percy bathes in the River Styx and becomes invulnerable except in one single point on his back. Then there is a big fight on a bridge, and then many many more fights, in Camp Halfblood, in New York City, by Olympus, and so on.

S: Yes, I remember reading this book and thinking that it was probably the most action-filled book in the series.

C: I agree with that.

S: But now that you are reminding me of the plot once more, I am thinking there were so many characters and so many places introduced through the series that it would be pretty hard to describe them effectively to someone who has not read the first four books. Would someone who has not read the first four books understand anything from The Last Olympian: The Graphic Novel?

C: No. I really don’t think so. As you said, there are a lot of characters and events from the first four books that you need to know to follow everything. It is best if you have read the first four books before this one. But they are all good books anyways, so why not read all of them? And in order?

S: I agree Caramel.

Caramel is reading The Last Olympian: The Graphic Novel, by Rick Riordan, adapted by Robert Venditti, with art from Orpheus Collar, Antoine Dodé, and Chris Dickey.
Caramel is reading The Last Olympian: The Graphic Novel, by Rick Riordan, adapted by Robert Venditti, with art from Orpheus Collar, Antoine Dodé, and Chris Dickey.

S: Okay so tell me a bit about the graphics. Looking over the book I see that it is pretty dark most of the time.

C: Well, a lot of the story is in the Underworld, or at night, or in the underwater palace of Poseidon, which was not too long, but you get the point. A lot of things happen in dark places.

S: I see.

C: The art is created by the same people, so the book looks quite similar to the others actually. Other than the whole being a bit too dark thing, of course.

S: I can see that. So did you know that Rick Riordan is publishing a sixth Percy Jackson book this fall?

C: Really? I did not know that. I want to read it, too.

S: Sure. But I think Marshmallow will want to read it first and review it too. And you like to review the graphic novel versions, but that will probably take a while. But The Lost Hero, the first book of the next series did already come out as a graphic novel. You might recall that Marshmallow reviewed that already.

C: I read that series, too. And I want to see the graphic novel version of it.

S: Maybe we will see if we can get you a copy, Caramel.

C: Yes, let’s.

S: Okay, Caramel. So as we are wrapping up this review, what three words would you use to describe The Last Olympian: The Graphic Novel?

C: Exciting, philosophical, well-concluded.

S: Hmm, I can see what you mean. The book does tie things up and finishes the series really well.

C: Yep.

S: What would you like to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel enjoyed (re)reading The Last Olympian: The Graphic Novel, by Rick Riordan, adapted by Robert Venditti, with art from Orpheus Collar, Antoine Dodé, and Chris Dickey, and diving back into the world of Percy Jackson after so long.
Caramel enjoyed (re)reading The Last Olympian: The Graphic Novel, by Rick Riordan, adapted by Robert Venditti, with art from Orpheus Collar, Antoine Dodé, and Chris Dickey, and diving back into the world of Percy Jackson after so long.

Caramel reviews Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot by James Kochalka

Today Caramel reviews Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot by James Kochalka, the third book in his Glork Patrol series, published in 2023. As usual, Sprinkles is asking questions and taking notes.

The book bunnies received this book as a review copy.

Caramel reviews Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot by James Kochalka.
Caramel reviews Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot by James Kochalka.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, you found another book with a robot in it!

Caramel: Yes, I have.

S: Tell me a bit about it. What is this book about?

C: Gonk and Baby Quackaboodle find a box on their door steps, and it turns out to be a little robot. Then Gonk’s father says it is his robot, and names it Glorkbot.

S: Those are some weird names.

C: The creatures with those names are even weirder. Each of them has three eyes. And Baby Quackaboodle is a very long snake with two arms and some funny hairdo which kind of looks like those flowers called birds of paradise.

S: Yes, and Gonk seems to be a pink walking mouth with three eyes and two teeth basically.

C: Yes. And he does not speak with correct English always. He says things like “Him don’t care about little robots”. So he is probably really young. His dad looks more humanoid, but he also has three eyes and three teeth. And he has a backpack who talks, named Super Backpack.

S: Dora the Explorer also had a talking backpack. It can be useful to have a talking backpack, no?

C: Yes. I could use it to help tell me exactly where my pencil box is. And if it has eyes, then it could tell me what is going on behind me.

S: Makes sense to me! So in this book, tell me, what happens with this little robot and the other characters?

C: Gonk and Baby Quackaboodle take Glockbot for a walk and then Gonk realizes it will do whatever it is told to do. So they tell him to dance, so fast that its battery runs out. Well at first they are not sure what happened, because the bot just falls down, but then the Magic Robot tells them that its battery is out.

S: Wait. What is the Magic Robot?

C: It is this big giant robot head that also has magic. Though I am not sure why a robot, which is mechanical, would need to use magic. And inside it is another! It’s kind of weird.

S: Well, the whole story is quite wacky, I’d say.

C: Yep.

S: But you love wacky, don’t you?

C: Yep, that’s me.

Caramel is reading Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot by James Kochalka.
Caramel is reading Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot by James Kochalka.

S: It turns out that this is actually the third story in the Glork Patrol series. And before those two books, there was another series called the Glorkian Warrior series, and even a video game. They all seem to feature Gonk’s dad. Apparently he is the Glorkian Warrior.

C: I want to read all those books too!

S: Why?

C: Because I liked these weirdos. And they have robots and space travel and all kinds of funky things. At least that is what it looks like when we read their descriptions.

S: Okay Caramel, we might look into some of these other books. I agree that these look right up your alley.

C: Yes, exactly.

S: So if you were to describe Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot by James Kochalka in three words, what would you say?

C: Colorful, hilarious, wacky.

S: Those describe this book well Caramel. It is really very colorful, isn’t it?

C: Yes, there is a lot of yellow, green, blue, pink, a little bit of brown for the ground, but the writing is very large and easy to read, and there is a lot of motion and some explosions! Glorkbot really looks like it is dancing!

S: You’re right. It actually does.

C: So yes, I liked this book a lot, and I want to read more about these weirdos.

S: Understood Caramel, I’m glad you enjoyed it so much. 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 had a lot of fun reading Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot by James Kochalka and is curious to read more about these wacky characters.
Caramel had a lot of fun reading Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot by James Kochalka and is curious to read more about these wacky characters.

Caramel reviews Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom by Louis Sachar

Caramel has recently been reading Louis Sachar’s Wayside School series. Today he reviews the fourth and last book in the series, Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom, published only in 2020.

(You might like to read Caramel’s reviews of Sideways Stories from Wayside School, Wayside School Is Falling Down, and Wayside School Gets A Little Stranger before moving on.)

Caramel reviews Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom by Louis Sachar.
Caramel reviews Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom by Louis Sachar.

Sprinkles: Okay Caramel. I think we finally came to the end of these Wayside School books.

Caramel: Yes. Unfortunately.

S: This one was written so many years after the previous one. There are almost twenty-five years in between. Did you notice anything?

C: No! This book picks up where the other one ended. At least the students and the teachers are all the same.

S: That is interesting. So then there could not have been twenty years in between the two books, in the story world.

C: Exactly.

S: Apparently the author wrote this new book because he was worried about a lot of things going on in the world. Is the book itself about sad or scary things?

C: Not really. It is just as funny and wacky as the other books.

S: But there is this cloud of doom? Tell me a bit about that.

C: The cloud of doom is a weird cloud that makes everyone feel anxious and unhappy.

S: Hmm. The cloud seems to appear some time in Chapter 8. Then it hangs around till the end of the book, right?

C: Right. But still a lot of funny and strange things happen.

Caramel is reading Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom by Louis Sachar.
Caramel is reading Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom by Louis Sachar.

S: So the book is organized into thirty chapters as the previous ones, right?

C: Yep. Yes.

S: Can you pick one, maybe your favorite, and tell me a bit about that?

C: I can tell you about Chapter 10. It is called “Stuck”. One of the kids gets her face stuck in a weird shape, and the whole chapter, all the people in the school try to help her get her face unstuck.

S: That is a weird one Caramel! The author comes up with so many weird ideas!

C: Yes. He also has a funny idea about how paper clips are made. Apparently it takes four people to make one paper clip.

S: Really?

C: No. But apparently that is what Ms. Jewls tells her students so they won’t lose the paper clips she gives them.

S: And this is the good teacher, right?

C: Well she is relatively kinder to them than the very first teacher from the first book. The kids like her a lot. And she likes them too.

S: Well, those are good qualities in a teacher.

C: Yep.

S: So if you were to describe this book using three words, how would you do it?

C: Funny, wacky, downright outrageous.

S: Hmm, I am assuming you mean that in a positive way?

C: Of course!

S: Okay, so do you think there will be a fifth Wayside School book?

C: I hope so.

S: I guess we can hope that the author will write another one some day. But in the meantime did you know that there are a couple puzzle books he wrote about the Wayside School?

C: Oh, I like puzzles!

S: I did see one of them before. They are cool puzzles. Maybe we will take a look one day.

C: That would be fun!

S: Okay Caramel. It is probably time to wrap up this review. What do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel enjoyed reading Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom by Louis Sachar and hopes that there will eventually be more adventures about this wacky school in the near future.
Caramel enjoyed reading Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom by Louis Sachar and hopes that there will eventually be more adventures about this wacky school in the near future.