Dan Santat – BookBunnies

Caramel reviews The Misfits: A Royal Conundrum by Lisa Yee

Today Caramel reviews The Misfits: A Royal Conundrum, written by Lisa Yee. First published in 2024, The Misfits is illustrated by Dan Santat. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Caramel reviews The Misfits: A Royal Conundrum, written by Lisa Yee and illustrated by Dan Santat. — Caramel reviews *The Misfits: A Royal Conundrum*, written by Lisa Yee and illustrated by Dan Santat.

Sprinkles: Caramel, today we are talking about The Misfits: A Royal Conundrum. So tell me a bit about it.

Caramel: This book is about a group of kids that are slightly weird, but not that weird, they’re somewhere in the middle.

S: What do you mean?

C: They are scarily smart, but kind of not the smartest when it comes to social things.

S: I see. Okay, and given the title, I am thinking they feel like they do not fit in with the regular kids.

C: Yeah, they are a little different.

S: Okay, so they are a group of kids who are different. And are they now in a new school for different kids like themselves? Kind of like Harry Potter going to Hogwarts?

C: A little, Yes, so they are in this new school for other kids like themselves. And then they get into some unintentional trouble with an enemy that steals some very important gem. Then they are gathered together by some special teachers who train them as an anti-espionage and spy squad so that they can find the one who stole the gem.

S: Wow! When you first started telling me about them, I thought maybe this book was kind of like The Unteachables by Gordon Korman, which Marshmallow reviewed a while back. But then you are telling me makes me think more about another book you reviewed yourself: N.E.R.D.S. by Michale Buckley.

C: Yep. And also all the Spy School books! And you know how much I love the Spy School books!

S: Yes, yes, I do.

Caramel is reading The Misfits: A Royal Conundrum, written by Lisa Yee and illustrated by Dan Santat. — Caramel is reading *The Misfits: A Royal Conundrum*, written by Lisa Yee and illustrated by Dan Santat.

S: So all of that bodes well for this book, I am guessing.

C: Yep! If I was Marshmallow, I would rate it 99% or 100%.

S: Okay, I am so glad you enjoyed this book. But tell me, what did you think of the illustrations?

C: I liked them! They were very sketchbook-y, which I love!

S: They are drawn by Dan Santat! And you have already read and reviewed so many books by him! The Cookie Fiasco and Harold and Hog Pretend for Real! and The Aquanaut. You also reviewed Drawn Together, which was written by Minh Le and drawn by Dan Santat. That was a picture book but it was also a joint project, a collaboration between two people, like this book you are reviewing now.

C: Well, for some reason I had not noticed that! But it sure explains why I loved these drawings so much!

S: I think it does, too. Santat does have a particular style. His drawings look simple but they are very expressive.

C: Yep.

S: So maybe this is a good place to wrap up this review. Would you recommend this book to other young bunnies?

C: Yes, I definitely would. It is a lot of fun to read. But also, everyone feels like they don’t belong sometimes, and then you read this book and feel that you are not alone. A lot of other people feel alone, too. And maybe one day you,too, will find your squad.

S: True words Caramel! Okay, let us end here then. What would you like to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel loved reading The Misfits: A Royal Conundrum, written by Lisa Yee and illustrated by Dan Santat and recommends it to all young bunnies, especially those who sometimes feel like they just do not fit. — Caramel loved reading *The Misfits: A Royal Conundrum*, written by Lisa Yee and illustrated by Dan Santat and recommends it to all young bunnies, especially those who sometimes feel like they just do not fit.

Caramel reviews The Aquanaut by Dan Santat

Caramel loves graphic novels and he loves all books by Dan Santat. So when he heard about The Aquanaut, the new (2022) graphic novel by Dan Santat, he knew he had to read and review it as soon as possible for the book bunnies blog. This is that review. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: Please tell us about this book Caramel.

Caramel: The book starts with a ship sinking, and someone’s brother dies. And then four sea animals convert the man’s diving suit into a walking suit so they can move on land. They go on land with this suit to find Aqualand, the dead man’s marine reserve.

S: That is an interesting premise for a story. What are the four animals?

C: There is a dumbo octopus, who is the engineer, a hermit crab, a blanket octopus, and a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle.

S: I had never heard of these animals before, except hermit crabs, who I know take over shells abandoned by other animals. So in some sense taking over a diving suit is perfectly appropriate for a hermit crab. But I had never heard of a blanket octopus.

C: Apparently the males are as big as a walnut but the females can get as large as six feet!

S: That is very interesting!

C: But I had heard of the dumbo octopus before, too.

S: That is neat. You do know a lot about ocean animals! You have read all the Narwhal and Jelly books, and reviewed The Magnificent Book of Ocean Creatures by Val Walerczuk and Tom Jackson for the blog too.

C: Yes. But I learned from this book that Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles are the rarest and most endangered sea turtles in the world. And the others think the ocean is getting a little too dangerous so they think Aqualand should be safer.

S: How do they learn about Aqualand?

C: They find the notebook of the man who died. His name is Michael and he wrote about Aqualand in his notebook.

Caramel is reading The Aquanaut by Dan Santat. — Caramel is reading *The Aquanaut* by Dan Santat.

S: So Aqualand is a marine life reserve, right?

C: Michael and his brother Paul founded it to be a reserve, and Michael’s daughter Sophia still thinks it is one, but when the aquanaut crew, that is the four animals using the diving suit, come to Aqualand, they find out that it is now just an amusement park. And the animals there are not happy. So they set free an orca and …

S: Hmm, that reminded me a lot of the FunJungle books Marshmallow reviewed. In particular, Belly Up.

C: I can see that! Belly Up was also in an amusement park, but it was supposed to be a zoo where the animals would live their lives as naturally as possible.

S: So in The Aquanaut, the animals that steer the diving suit meet Michael’s daughter Sophia, right?

C: Yes. And both Sophia and Paul help the four animals escape and get back to the ocean.

S: That sounds like a sweet story Caramel.

C: Yes definitely. Can we put here the video that Dan Santat recorded for the book?

S: Yes, sure. Here it is.

The Aquanaut by Dan Santat – YouTube video by Scholastic, the publisher.

S: So what would your three words be to describe this book?

C: Colorful, exciting, and sweet. You said that word and I think it works for the book, too.

S: Sounds good to me. So do you think Marshmallow would like this book?

C: Yes, I think so. She loved the FunJungle books and she likes graphic novels too. I think actually that any bunny who likes the ocean and who likes the environment would like this book.

S: That is a solid endorsement Caramel. So what do you want to tell our readers as we wrap up this review?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel loved reading The Aquanaut by Dan Santat and recommends it to any bunny who loves graphic novels, the ocean, and other living creatures. — Caramel loved reading *The Aquanaut* by Dan Santat and recommends it to any bunny who loves graphic novels, the ocean, and other living creatures.

Caramel reviews Drawn Together by Minh Le and Dan Santat

Caramel reviews Drawn Together, written by Minh Le and illustrated by Dan Santat.

Caramel has reviewed The Cookie Fiasco and Harold and Hog Pretend for Real! by Dan Santat before and enjoyed his quirky style. Today he reviews another book illustrated by Dan Santat: Drawn Together, written by Minh Le. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, tell me about this book.

Caramel: It is a very interesting book about this boy. He doesn’t really like his grandfather.

S: Or at least we know he doesn’t seem to enjoy spending time with him. Right?

C: Yes.

S: Why is that?

C: He thinks that time with him is boring.

S: How so?

C: They eat different things. The boy is eating hot dog with mustard. and the grandfather is eating noodles and eggs.

S: So they are eating different things. But there is a bigger problem, right? Can they communicate?

C: No. They speak different languages.

S: Yes, the boy speaks English and the grandfather seems to only speak Thai. That might make things difficult, right?

C: Yes.

S: You are lucky that you can communicate with your grandfather, but this boy’s grandfather seems to have difficulty speaking English. So they watch TV. How does that turn out?

C: The boy asks “Can we watch something else?” So he is bored.

S: Yes, so they don’t enjoy the same food and they don’t enjoy the same TV programs. That is sad a bit, right? You do like watching TV with your grandpa.

C: Yep, I sure do!

Caramel is looking at the front cover of Drawn Together, written by Minh Le and illustrated by Dan Santat. — Caramel is looking at the front cover of *Drawn Together*, written by Minh Le and illustrated by Dan Santat.

S: So the boy is staying with his grandfather and is bored because he cannot communicate with him and he doesn’t think they have anything in common. Then what happens?

C: The boy takes some crayons out of his backpack and starts drawing. Then the grandfather takes out a sketch pad and a brush. It looks old fashioned but he can draw amazing things with it.

S: Yes, the things he can draw are very intricate, very detailed, right?

C: Yes. And I am surprised that this book is illustrated by Dan Santat, because the drawings don’t look like the ones in his other books I reviewed: The Cookie Fiasco and Harold and Hog Pretend for Real!

S: Well, that shows that he is a versatile illustrator, right? He can draw things in many different styles.

C: Yes, he can draw amazing things! He draws awesome dragons!

S: Yes apparently Thai dragons, like Chinese and Japanese dragons, are magical and have super powers. We saw some impressive images on Google. And the dragons in this book are just as amazing!

C: Yes. And then the boy and his grandfather start making art together. And the boy has color but his grandfather’s brush is one color only. But when they paint together, they both have colors.

Caramel is pointing to some of the artwork that the boy and his grandpa create together in Drawn Together, written by Minh Le and illustrated by Dan Santat. — Caramel is pointing to some of the artwork that the boy and his grandpa create together in *Drawn Together*, written by Minh Le and illustrated by Dan Santat.

S: So what happens in the end?

C: They hug.

S: So even though they cannot communicate by talking …

C: They can communicate by hugging…

S: And by drawing! And when the boy’s mom comes to pick him up, it seems like the boy won’t be bored next time, right?

C: Right.

S: So did you like the book?

C: Yeah. It has bright colors and amazing drawings.

S: And a sweet story! So it is time to wrap up this review. What do you want to say Caramel?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunnies adventures!

Caramel enjoyed reading Drawn Together, written by Minh Le and illustrated by Dan Santat. — Caramel enjoyed reading *Drawn Together*, written by Minh Le and illustrated by Dan Santat.

Caramel reviews A Big Guy Took My Ball! by Mo Willems

After reviewing three books from the Elephant and Piggie Like Reading series (see his reviews of The Cookie Fiasco by Dan Santat, The Itchy Book by LeUyen Pham, and Harold and Hog Pretend for Real! by Dan Santat), Caramel is now rereading some of his old favorites from the original Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Wilems. Below he shares his thoughts on A Big Guy Took My Ball! by Mo Willems. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions, though this time Caramel himself also tried typing some of the words.

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

Caramel: boing! Boing boing boing boing boing! I love this book! boing!

S: So what is that supposed to mean?

C: it is one of the best books that I have ever read! It is a very good book! I love it! And the boinging is about a bouncy ball.

S: Yes, the book has a ball in the center of the story, right? Tell us about the story. What is happening in the book?

C : There is a big guy that takes Piggie’s ball! Piggie is very sad. So Gerald the Elephant goes to the big guy to try and take the ball back.

S : Why can’t Piggie take it back herself?

C : The guy is too big, she’s scared. It’s a humpback whale! They are huge!

S : Yes, apparently they can grow up to 25 to 30 tonnes. That is a huge weight Caramel. And it is about the size of ten mid-sized elephants. So the big guy is probably too big for Gerald as well, right?

Caramel is reading the page where Gerald is telling Piggie that the big guy is really big.

C: Yes. But in the end everything works out, and all three of them play together. They play a game called whale ball. But I don’t get it.

S: What do you not get Caramel?

C: How is the whale not in the ocean? And where is the water coming from that it spouts from its blow hole?

S: Hmm, those are good questions Caramel, but maybe just like an elephant and a pig are quite unlikely to be friends, the whale joining them is also quite unlikely, but it can happen in fiction. Isn’t that what fiction is about? A lot of times things that don’t always make sense or cannot really happen do happen in stories.

C: I don’t always like that though. I like real things.

S: Yes, of course I know that Caramel. But there are many fiction books you also enjoy reading, right? I think you have enjoyed reading all the Elephant and Piggie books many many times.

C: Yes! I also love the Narwhal and Jelly books!

S: Yes, and you reviewed all four of them: Narwhal: The Unicorn of the Sea!, Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt, Peanut Butter and Jelly, and Narwhal’s Otter Friend, all by Ben Clanton. It is a good thing to read a balance of fiction and non-fiction. I think you are doing great!

C: Yes! I like reading. And I will keep reading. And reviewing books!

Caramel loves reading and rereading A Big Guy Took My Ball! by Mo Willems.