Caramel’s reviews – Page 75

Caramel reviews Colette’s Lost Pet by Isabelle Arsenault

Caramel reviewed Isabelle Arsenault’s Albert’s Quiet Quest last week. This week he wanted to review the first book in the Mile End Kids series: Colette’s Lost Pet. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions.

Sprinkles: Let us start. What do you want to tell us about this book Caramel?

Caramel: If you like birds this might be a good book for you.

S: Now you’re channeling Marshmallow! What do you mean?

C: Colette’s supposedly lost pet is a giant parakeet.

S: Wait, wait! Who is Colette? And does she have a giant parakeet?

C: Nope she doesn’t. She’s lying. To get friends.

S: Hmm, so you think she is lying to get friends? But that doesn’t sound like such a great idea…

C: I know. But she says something and then it grows into this big story about a giant parakeet. An elaborate lie.

S: That’s a big word for a little bunny Caramel! Yes, the story does get more and more elaborate as Colette meets more and more kids on the Mile End neighborhood. Right?

C: Yup. I think she just wants a pet, just like Marshmallow. And in the beginning her mom says:

“No Colette! For the last time NO PET!”

S: So Colette goes out and tries to meet the kids in her new neighborhood. And do you think the kids believe she has a giant parakeet?

C: I don’t know. The story does get a little bit too elaborate in some parts.

Caramel is pointing at a particularly spectacular page where Colette is telling her elaborate story about her non-existent parakeet.

S: So a bit too unbelievable, right?

C: Yup. At some point she says her parakeet can surf!

S: Well, she doesn’t quite say that, but the picture she draws leads the kids to decide the bird can surf, and she doesn’t deny it. Right?

C: Yes. But the kids are having a lot of fun. I think they actually think that she has a ginormous parakeet. Or at least they want to believe that.

S: Kind of like in Albert’s Quiet Quest where Albert wants to believe he is on a beach, right?

C: Yes. These kids have big imaginations.

S: Like you, Caramel! You too dream of big strange things.

C: Yeah. Like ginormous dragons, and other mythical creatures that I dream up.

S: Yes. So how else is this book connected to the one we read last week?

C: Well, this book is not as orange and blue as the other one, but it is yellow and gray. Though there are some tiny specs of blue here and there too.

S: Yes, the pages display only a few simple colors again, right? What else?

C: Colette appears in that other book too. And Albert shows up in this one!

S: Yes, these are both stories about the kids living in a neighborhood named Mile End. Wikipedia tells us that there is a Mile End neighborhood in London and another in Montreal. The one these books are about should be the one in Montreal, because according to the back cover notes about her, the author / illustrator Isabelle Arsenault lives there.

C: But it does not really matter. These are good books anyways, no matter where they’re supposed to be. And they are about kids everywhere, playing.

S: And being imaginative and just being kids themselves.

C: Yes. And this is a good place to wrap up our review.

S: I agree. And what do you want to say now?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny adventures!

Caramel enjoyed reading Colette's Lost Pet by Isabelle Arsenault. — Caramel enjoyed reading *Colette’s Lost Pet* by Isabelle Arsenault.

Caramel reviews Albert’s Quiet Quest by Isabelle Arsenault

Caramel has recently gotten his paws on a few books by Isabelle Arsenault. Below he reviews Albert’s Quiet Quest. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, what is this book about?

Caramel: It’s about a boy named Albert who wants to read a book. And inside of his house is too noisy so he goes out to find a quiet place to read.

S: That sounds like our home sometimes, right? We do make a lot of noise.

C: Yeah. We are noisy bunnies.

S: So this Albert wants to find a quiet place to read. Have you ever felt like that yourself?

C: Yep. Sometimes when I am trying to calm myself down, I want it to be quiet.

S: But it is not always quiet, right? So you could totally appreciate how Albert must have felt.

C: Yep. So he goes out and looks for a place to read.

S: Does he find it?

C: Yes. He goes to an alley way and finds a painting of a beach.

S: Then he pulls a chair to sit across from the painting and dreams that he is on that beach, right?

C: Yep.

S: What happens then? Can he read in peace and quiet?

C: No not really. Many friends come by and ask him to help them. They ask him to play with them and so on.

Caramel is looking at the page when things get a little too noisy on Albert's "beach". — Caramel is looking at the page when things get a little too noisy on Albert’s “beach”.

S: So he gets kind of mad at them, right?

C: Yes. He screams: “That’s it! Quiet! For Pete’s sake, can’t someone read a book around here or what?!”

Caramel is looking at the page when Albert loses his cool.

S: Hmm, that is not terribly nice, is it? He is understandably upset but he doesn’t need to scream at people.

C: Ah, Sprinkles. This sounds like somebody familiar. You too sometimes get pretty annoyed and scream!

S: Hmm. So I do. It is hard to keep one’s cool sometimes, right?

C: Yep. I get mad too sometimes.

S: Well, that’s kind of why we read all those books about training your angry dragon, right?

C: Yes.

S: What happens to Albert afterwards?

C: His friends get mad at him too. And then they all laugh together.

S: So this is a happy end, right?

C: Yes.

S: So did you like the book?

C: Yep. It’s a good book. It is kind of like a comic book, but the pictures are more like drawing than comics.

S: The color scheme is also very distinctive. All blues and oranges and grays and whites.

C: It’s mostly white. And orange is my favorite color. It’s awesome!

S: So you liked the pictures too, right?

C: Yes. I really liked the part where he is thinking of the beach.

S: Yes, he looks so calm and peaceful there.

C: Yes, he puts his hands behind his head and he is smiling. It’s like he is saying: “This is the life!”

S: Yes! You’re right.

C: And this is our life. And it is time to say: “Stay tuned for more book bunny adventures!”

Caramel really enjoyed reading Albert's Quiet Quest by Isabelle Arsenault. — Caramel really enjoyed reading *Albert’s Quiet Quest* by Isabelle Arsenault.

Caramel reviews The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! by Mo Willems

Caramel loved everything he read about Mo Willems’ Pigeon and so he was excited to get his paws on a copy of his new adventure: The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! Below he reviews this book, published this summer. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions as needed.

Sprinkles: So another pigeon story, right?

Caramel: Yes! The pigeon is so funny! Here’s a quote:

“I wish I was a little chick again. A little-itty-bitty-not-going-to-school-baby-waybie pigeon!”

S: So that basically summarizes the book, right? The Pigeon does not want to go to school.

C: Yep.

Caramel is looking at the page where the Pigeon is worried about learning too much.

S: Were you also worried about starting school, Caramel?

C: Yes. A little bit.

S: Why?

C: I was nervous because I thought, what if I won’t have any friends?

S: That’s totally natural Caramel. When we go into new places, we might be worried about not knowing anyone. But you did make friends pretty soon, right?

C: Yes! I found a good friend almost immediately. We still play fun stuff together.

S: So the Pigeon does not have to worry, right?

C: No. He doesn’t. School is fun!

S: Would that be what you would tell the Pigeon, that school is fun, so he does not have to worry?

C: Yep. I’d say don’t worry. It’s going to be alright. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be super duper awesome mega fun!

S: You like school a lot, don’t you Caramel?

C: Yep. I like my friends. I like my teacher. School is a lot of fun. But this year, I’ll probably have a new teacher. So I’m kind of worried. I already miss my old teacher.

S: Yes, your teacher was pretty cool, wasn’t she?

C: She was awesome!

S: I’m sure your new teacher will be awesome, too, Caramel.

C: Yes, I think so, too. I mean, I hope so.

S: Well, so in short we think school is fun. And the Pigeon doesn’t need to worry. What else do you want to say about this book Caramel?

C: This book would be a good book for kids who are starting school and who are a little scared.

S: Yes, Caramel! The Pigeon says all kinds of things that might worry a young child starting school. Like …

“What if the teacher doesn’t like pigeons?”

C: I really like the part where he is talking about heavy backpacks, but my favorite part is when he says:

“The unknown stresses me out, dude.”

S: The unknown can stress us out of course. We can totally see what the Pigeon is talking about, right?

C: Yes. There is a lot of stuff he doesn’t know about school and he is worried. He doesn’t even know if the finger paint will stick to his feathers!

S: Did you ever worry about finger paint Caramel?

C: No! I was worried about making friends and having a nice teacher. Finger paint sounds like fun! But we don’t do it too much in school actually.

S: You did some in preschool, but you might have forgotten. But you still do a lot of fun things at your school, right?

C: Yes, I love my school! It’s the best bunny school in the whole wide world!

S: And hopefully the school the Pigeon is going to is going to be the best school ever for pigeons.

C: Yes. I bet it will. Let us stop here. Readers: stay tuned for more reviews from the book bunnies!

Caramel wants to tell all pigeons that there is nothing to worry about and that school is really a lot of fun.

Caramel reviews Train Your Angry Dragon by Steve Herman

Caramel reviewed Train Your Dragon to Accept NO by Steve Herman a couple weeks ago. He really liked the little dragon Diggory Doo in the book so he wanted to read and review a second book from this series (My Dragon Books). Sprinkles is taking notes and asking some followup questions as usual.

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

Caramel: You always say that!

S: Ok, I won’t. I take it back. so you can start!

C: Ok. So I want to tell you about the book. You know how it’s about a dragon which has a temper. He keeps having temper tantrums.

S: The dragon is Diggory Doo from the other book, Train Your Dragon to Accept NO, that you reviewed earlier, right?

C: Yes. Drew is teaching us how to train a dragon. Here is how he starts:

First, you start with common tricks
like roll over, sit and stay …
Then you must potty train your dragon
and teach him how to play.

Caramel shows the page where Drew is telling us how to train one's dragon. — Caramel shows the page where Drew is telling us how to train one’s dragon.

S: Then what else do we learn?

C: We learn that dragons make a good pet, but they have a bad temper. And their temper tantrums can ruin your day!

S: Hmm, so then how are we supposed to train our dragon to manage their temper? Reading through the pages we see Drew teaching Diggory Doo to calm himself down in different circumstances.

C: Yes. So for example when Diggory Doo doesn’t want to share Drew tells him to think about the other kids and how they feel:

“Instead of getting mad,
here’s what you should do…
Just treat the other children
how you want them to treat you.”

S: Yes, then there is the time when Diggory Doo gets upset because it’s raining and he can’t get out.

C: Oh yes, that’s when Drew says:

So I told him that when angry
thoughts begin to fill his head,
He can make them go away by thinking
happy thoughts instead.

S: Yes, that does seem like a good idea, doesn’t it Caramel?

C: Yes, I think so too.

S: Do you think you could use some of these tricks when you are feeling upset or angry?

C: Yes, maybe I can.

S: Which ones in particular sound most realistic to you? Let us pick one that you will try to use next time.

C: Happy thoughts. I like that one. I will try to think happy thoughts the next time I feel angry.

S: That sounds like a good plan Caramel! Apparently there are several other books with Diggory Doo and his human friend Drew, right? Looking at the last few pages of the book, you can see at least twenty more books from this My Dragon Books series!

C: Yes, I want to read all of them!

S: Wait! Why? What do you like most about this book?

C: The characters. When Diggory Doo cries or gets mad, he’s pretty funny.

S: How about the ideas? The idea to handle powerful and unpleasant feelings might be helpful too, don’t you think?

C: Yes! Happy thoughts! I love that! Ommmmmmm!

Caramel pledges to try to think happy thoughts the next time he feels upset or angry, trying out one of the tricks in the book Train Your Angry Dragon by Steve Harmon. — Caramel pledges to try to think happy thoughts the next time he feels upset or angry, trying out one of the tricks in the book *Train Your Angry Dragon* by Steve Harmon.