Caramel’s reviews – Page 4

Caramel reviews The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

Sprinkles is a huge Agatha Christie fan, so of course she was thrilled to see Caramel carrying around The ABC Murders, originally published in 1936. They are talking about the book today. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: I was so excited to see you reading an Agatha Christie book, Caramel! She is the best!

Caramel: Yeah, I can see that point of view, she is a pretty good writer.

S: Yay! So you liked the book! I mean, I know there are a lot of folks who would not consider Christie a serious literary figure, but I always enjoy her books and I think she is great at what she does.

C: Yup, she kept me guessing almost all the way to the end.

S: Was this your first Agatha Christie novel?

C: Nope. I had also read And Then There Were None when Marshmallow was reviewing it.

S: Ooh, that was a good one too. So, okay, back to The ABC Murders. I am sure I read this book but it must have been decades ago. And I do not remember much of the plot. Can you tell us a bit about it?

C: So Hercule Poirot receives a suspicious letter signed by “ABC”.

S: Oh, so this has Poirot as the main detective! That is cool! Go on.

C: Yes, so this letter tells him that there will be a murder in Andover, and then someone actually dies there, so Poirot goes to Andover to figure things out.

S: Poirot is Belgian, and often works with some British guy who writes about him, right? Kind of like Dr. Watson of Sherlock Holmes?

C: Yes. The main narrator is Arthur Hastings, and the book is written like he is recounting the story rather than living through it.

S: Apparently Hastings appears in quite a lot of Poirot mysteries. I suppose it is good to have a character like Hastings or Watson to tell us these stories about the genius detectives they are hanging out with and admire so much. This way the stories unfold naturally and we are in the dark about what is going on in the minds of these mysterious crime solvers until the very end.

C: Yeah, it’s like that, ‘cept Hastings ole’ fellow has quite the thinker on emself-

S: Wait, what are you saying? Please speak normally. You are not a British gentleman from the nineteen twenties.

C: Awww, ok, but that was fun! And I am only about a hundred years late! And not quite British… Anyways, the only difference is that Hastings is actually somewhat smart so he also figures some things out. Still it is clear to everyone including himself that he is not as smart as Poirot and is surprised when Poirot solves everything.

S: Yup, that agrees with my previous understanding of their relationship.

Caramel is reading The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie. — Caramel is reading *The ABC Murders* by Agatha Christie.

S: So tell me a bit more. Could you tell the book was almost a hundred years old?

C: Well, it is exactly ninety years old actually. The book read fine to me. I did not think they were using old fashioned words or anything. And it is supposed to be happening in between the two world wars, and I could not even tell that, really.

S: Yes, I think Christie’s language is clean and simple enough for us to not even notice it. Every now and then she uses a phrase that is unfamiliar to me, or she mentions something historical to me but contemporary to the story characters, but most of the time, I cannot tell at all that she wrote these things such a long time ago.

C: Yeah, that checks out. Though it seems that in these books the detective and other people sometimes use words that today’s people might not understand. Like some words or phrases that refer to the railway map in Britain at the time. Of course I didn’t know that till they explained what it was they were talking about. But most of the time, I could totally forget this was supposed to be happening in the 1920s. That was even before your time Sprinkles!

S: Yes, of course it was before my time. It was even before my parents’ time, Caramel.

C: Oopsie, or is that what you want me to think?

S: Okay, let us put aside any implications that I might be undead or-

C: Or a lich?!

S: Okay, let us not go there.

C: Sure, that’s what a lich would say.

S: Caramel! These seem like ideas more fit for Midnight’s reviews.

C: Oh yes, Midnight does like his fantasy books. But I like them too.

S: I know. You like playing Dungeons and Dragons, and various versions of it.

C: Actually these days, I prefer Pathfinder, which is really just D&D 3.5 edition.

S: True. But Agatha Christie tells stories that are in some sense a lot simpler. She manages to find evil in mainstream people living regular lives. Seems like she has no need to go fantastic.

C: That may be true for the books she has already written. But maybe when she begins to write new books, from BEYOND THE GRAVE?

S: Okay, I have a feeling it is getting too late for us to be talking about books sensibly.

C: That’s lich talk! Okay, okay, don’t get mad, I am kidding. But yes, you are probably right, it is getting late and it is a school night…

S: Yep. So let us wrap up this review. Do you think you might read other books by Christie at some point?

C: Sure. They are fun to read, and I do love solving puzzles!

S: Sounds great to me. Okay then, Caramel. What would you like to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel enjoyed reading The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie and recommends it to all bunnies who enjoy a little bit of detective mystery. — Caramel enjoyed reading *The ABC Murders* by Agatha Christie and recommends it to all bunnies who enjoy a little bit of detective mystery.

Caramel reviews Missile Mouse: Rescue on Tankium3 by Jake Parker

Last week Caramel reviewed Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher by Jake Parker. This week he reviews the second book in the series, Rescue on Tankium3, published in 2011. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, today we are talking about the second Missile Mouse book.

Caramel: Yes! I reviewed the first one last week and so this is just the perfect time to talk about the second one.

S: Yes, agreed. So tell us what our favorite space spy Missile Mouse is up to in this book.

C: It starts out with him chasing down a person, and he learns that the said person is being mind-controlled, which leads Missile Mouse to a planet called Tankium3. He learns there that all the men were kidnapped, and disappeared.

S: All the men from the planet disappeared?

C: At least all men from the species of people called Tankians.

S: Wow, that is weird. And quite scary. So what is the reason for this? Or is that the main mystery of the book then?

C: No, we learn that there’s an evil king, named Bognarsh, and he has taken all the Tankian men by mind control machines and is making them mine for fuel.

S: Fuel for spaceships and such?

C: Yeah, and with the fact that the RIP, which I mentioned before in my review of the first book, is fighting the galactic government, fuel is really important.

S: I guess it is kind of like how oil is still so strategically important to today’s world, at least for humans.

C: Yeah, logistics carry wars.

S: That is a powerful and very sophisticated thing to say for a little bunny like yourself, Caramel. But I do know you read a lot about history and know about many of the important wars of this planet. Where did you hear about this?

C: I think it must have been in a history textbook about the civil war, it was talking about how the railroads of the North led to victory.

S: Oh that is interesting. I can see what it means. Especially for long wars, you need to sustain your men in the frontier, you need to keep feeding them, trying to keep them healthy, providing them with sufficient ammunition and so on, and all of that involves a lot of logistics. I also found via Uncle Google, the quote “Infantry wins battles, logistics wins wars,” attributed to American general John J. Pershing. Kind of the same idea!

C: Great minds think alike! I mean I am assuming Pershing was a great military mind, given how he has a Wikipedia page. Then again a lot of awful people also have Wikipedia pages. Anyways.

Caramel is reading Missile Mouse: Rescue on Tankium3 by Jake Parker. — Caramel is reading *Missile Mouse: Rescue on Tankium3* by Jake Parker.

S: Yes, anyways, let us get back to the book. So I now know why the fuel is so important. Now tell me a bit about these mind control machines.

C: Well, there is a big central thing and then there are these little pod-like things that are controlled by that central thing. The pod-like units attach to your head and control you, at least that’s what I got.

S: Alright, that makes sense sort of. So then does the Missile Mouse figure out how to remove them from affected people? Or will he turn off the central thing? Or am I again getting too close to asking for spoilers?

C: Yeah, the last one. I am not at liberty to discuss that information at this point.

S: Hmm, okay. Then let us talk about the book in more general terms. Are these books funny? Or do you just like to see the spaceships? I know you really like Jake Parker’s spaceships.

C: There are not that many spaceships that I could study carefully in this book, but the tech is cool anyways, too. The illustrations look very techy and sci fi, and match the setting quite well.

S: So this was a win for you?

C: Yeah, very much so. if there’s more books in the series, I would greatly appreciate reading them.

S: Okay, we can look into that, Caramel. But for now, this seems to be a good time to wrap up your review.

C: Sure. Why not?

S: Okay, let’s do that then. What would you like to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel enjoyed reading Missile Mouse: Rescue on Tankium3 by Jake Parker and is hoping that there is (or will eventually be) a third book in this fun series. — Caramel enjoyed reading *Missile Mouse: Rescue on Tankium3* by Jake Parker and is hoping that there is (or will eventually be) a third book in this fun series.

Caramel reviews Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher by Jake Parker

Today Caramel reviews Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher, a fun graphic novel by Jake Parker first published in 2010. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, I can see you have a new graphic novel to talk about today!

Caramel: Yep! I don’t know if you remember that I reviewed Kepler’s Intergalactic Guide to Spaceships? This book is in the same universe.

S: Oh that is interesting! I knew it was the same author / illustrator, but I did not expect the books would be related.

C: Yes, he also was the person who illustrated Darkstalker: The Graphic Novel.

S: So you definitely like his drawing style?

C: Yeah, no question.

S: I am glad you got to read another book by him then. So tell me a bit about it. Who is this Missile Mouse? I am guessing he is the main character.

C: Yeah, it’s sort of obvious as the book is called Missile Mouse, so yes, but this is the beginning of the series based on this guy.

S: The author describes him on his webpage as follows: “Missile Mouse is a James Bond meets Han Solo for the middle-grade crowd. The cocky, big-eared rodent is a secret agent for the Galactic Security Agency (GSA) who prefers to do things the quick and messy way.” So he is a secret agent for the galaxy and he is kind of arrogant like Han Solo of Star Wars.

C: Yeah, that’s about right, and it’s a good description of Missile Mouse. So in this story Missile Mouse gets a new partner, Hyde, and they go on a mission to find and rescue this scientist from his kidnappers, the RIP (Rogue Imperium of Planets), which are sort of the bad guys.

S: Hmm, so the Galactic Security Agency is an arm of a galactic empire, and this RIP is their enemy?

C: Yeah, they are. So the galactic government is a peaceful state, and the RIP are trying to take over the galaxy.

Caramel is reading Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher by Jake Parker. — Caramel is reading *Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher* by Jake Parker.

S: Do we know much about the government Missile Mouse is working for other than it is peaceful?

C: I believe that it’s a democracy, but not much else is really stated.

S: So if it is anything like Star Wars,maybe there is a senate and so on. Okay, tell us more.

C: Before Missile Mouse joined the GSA he was a bounty hunter or a mercenary.

S: Really sounds like the Star Wars universe. But the main character is a mouse. Are the other characters all mice too? Or are there other animals?

C: No, the beings in the universe are a multitude of other animals and aliens that don’t look like animals we know on Earth.

S: Any bunnies? Any humans? Any dragons?

C: None of those showed up in the book.

S: Alright, we are mature enough to enjoy books with no bunnies or dragons.

C: Sure, I’m totally mature.

S: Yes, for a bunny your age, you are definitely mature. But you reviewed other books about mice. Remember The Mouse and the Motorcycle?

C: I also reviewed several books about Babymouse. And don’t forget Ragweed and Poppy and the others? I read all those books, too.

S: Yes, true. Marshmallow reviewed Flowers for Algernon, which also had a major mouse character, who did not speak but still. She also reviewed Maus: A Survivor’s Tale.

C: Yeah. So mice are neat. Anyways Missile Mouse is cool, too, and he is funny and adventurous and brave. And the book is an adventure story and a spy story, and you know I like all those things.

S: That’s true. You read all the Spy School novels, too.

C: Yeah, so spies and secret agents are cool. Therefore this book is cool. And there is some cool space stuff, which I also like.

S: So it is clear you enjoyed reading this book. I think there is at least a second Missile Mouse book. I am assuming you will want to read that too.

C: Yes, I will. In fact I am planning to dive right in as soon as we are done here. Are we done here?

S: I suppose we are. Would you like to wrap it up with your usual ending statement?

C: Sure! Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel loved reading Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher by Jake Parker and can't wait to read the second book in the series! — Caramel loved reading *Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher* by Jake Parker and can’t wait to read the second book in the series!

Caramel reviews Winnie’s Pile of Pillows by Dana K. White and Sarah Jennings

Today Caramel reviews Winnie’s Pile of Pillows: Making Room for the Things You Love Most, written by Dana K. White and illustrated by Sarah Jennings. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: Today we are talking about another picture book!

Caramel: Yes, this one is about a walrus named Winnie. She loves pillows, and begins collecting them after her Aunt Becky gives her some. Then she gets some more from a neighbor. And then she has a lot of pillows. Then she decides in the end that she has too many pillows.

S: Does she? I mean, how can someone have too many pillows?

C: Apparently it is possible. Her pillows take over her room.

S: Oh, I see. I guess one could have too much of anything…

C: Yes, apparently. So she takes the extra pillows and tries putting them away, but they come back out, so she organizes everything to make room. She picks the ones that are her very favorites, and she donates the others, just like her Aunt Becky was going to do with her glass animals at the beginning of the book.

S: Hmm, I am sure there would be other people who need pillows.

C: Yeah, see, I knew you would get it. Everyone needs copious amounts of pillows!

S: Yes, you do have a lot of pillows in your bed. But this is about a pillow takeover of a whole room! Winnie must have had a lot of pillows!

C: Yeah, she had so many that they made a maze in her room, and she couldn’t get out. There were a lot of other things the pillows stopped her from doing. Also the book says that at first the pillows made her feel something that felt like a tickle and a giggle. But when she has too many pillows, she feels like a squeeze and a sigh. No idea what either of those mean.

S: To me they mean that first the pillows made her happy, almost giddy and bubbly excited. But then she felt unhappy. The pillows made a lot of clutter and she felt like suffocating and getting lost and sad. Does this make sense?

C: Yes, I guess so. It is an interesting way to describe those feelings.

Caramel is reading Winnie's Pile of Pillows: Making Room for the Things You Love Most, written by Dana K. White and illustrated by Sarah Jennings. — Caramel is reading *Winnie’s Pile of Pillows: Making Room for the Things You Love Most*, written by Dana K. White and illustrated by Sarah Jennings.

S: What did you think about the illustrations?

C: The book is really colorful. And they are happy colors, pink, blue, orange, yellow, purple and so on. And it is kind of funny to see a walrus walking.

S: Yes, that is true. Winnie is supposed to be a walrus!

C: And I was surprised to see she had tusks. I did not know female walruses could have tusks but apparently they do. Theirs are just a bit smaller than the male walruses’, but they do have them.

S: Yes, I learned that today, too, from you looking it up!

C: So this is also an informative book! Bunnies can learn about walruses, who are very interesting animals. Here is a website with fun walrus facts, from a zoo and aquarium in Tacoma, Washington.

S: Yes, that is a neat website, Caramel. So the book was interesting then?

C: Yes. I learned about walruses because I looked them up, and also pillows are cool but you can have too many.

S: I think that is a good summary of the book, Caramel. And just like Winnie, we realize that we can share if we have more than we need. We do not have to hoard things, even if we love them.

C: Yeah, I guess, we could say sharing is caring, and all that good stuff.

S: Yes, it is good stuff! Okay, this might be a good place to wrap up our review.

C: Why not?

S: What would you like to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel enjoyed reading Winnie's Pile of Pillows: Making Room for the Things You Love Most, written by Dana K. White and illustrated by Sarah Jennings and finding out that all walruses have tusks and other people love pillows too. — Caramel enjoyed reading *Winnie’s Pile of Pillows: Making Room for the Things You Love Most*, written by Dana K. White and illustrated by Sarah Jennings and finding out that all walruses have tusks and other people love pillows too.