grandparents – BookBunnies

Caramel reviews Grandma Yogini by Raven Howell and Alexander Santos

Today Caramel reviews Grandma Yogini, a neat picture book written by Raven Howell and illustrated by Alexander Santos. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

The book bunnies are delighted to be reviewing this book as part of a Blog Tour for Grandma Yogini organized by WOW! Women On Writing.

Caramel reviews Grandma Yogini, written by Raven Howell and illustrated by Alexander Santos.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, today we are talking about a brand new book called Grandma Yogini.

Caramel: Yeah, it is a book about a grandma of these two children named Henry and Meredith. They are excited to play with her, and she teaches them some yoga.

S: It seems like she teaches them and some of their friends too, right?

C: Yeah. It seems like these kids and their friends do everything together. They are always doing things with one another’s grandmothers. One grandma bakes for them and another couple kids. Another grandma teaches them how to draw and so on.

S: So it seems that the two kids and their friends all like to spend time with their grandparents, right?

C: Yes. And that is totally the way it should be. Grandparents are awesome!

S: Yes, I agree. I loved my grandmother a lot and luckily spent a lot of time with her. You love spending time with your grandparents, too, right?

C: Yes, of course I do!! They are always so fun! We watch TV and movies, we eat awesome food, and we talk about things, they always have the best stories! And I love it!

Caramel is reading Grandma Yogini, written by Raven Howell and illustrated by Alexander Santos.

S: Let us get back to Henry and Meredith’s grandma. So she is a Yogini, which apparently means a female master of yoga.

C: Yes, that is what the book seems to imply.

S: And in the book she teaches some yoga moves to the kids and their friends, right?

C: Yeah. The book gives you the full instructions, and you can see the kids doing the poses. It is kind of cool, almost like an instruction manual so you can learn some new moves. Especially if you want to be an eagle or a cat or a snake. There is always a yoga pose for that! But there does not seem to be one for a bunny.

S: You are right. At least Grandma Yogini does not teach the kids a bunny pose.

C: No she doesn’t. That’s kind of sad. But they do a kangaroo pose, and kangaroos hop, like we do. So there is that.

S: Alright, let us count that as a plus for the bunnies then. So you might remember that you reviewed another book by this same author.

C: Yes, it was called Blink and Glow. There were two kids in that book, too. And they were always smiling. They are always smiling in this book, too. They are always happy.

S: Yes, this is a happy book too, right?

C: Yep. and it should be. Kids are happy with their grandma. And they are learning to do some cool animal poses. Then when she is leaving, the grandma tells them that the next time grandpa comes along, he will teach them Tai Chi.

S: Have you ever done Tai Chi, Caramel?

C: No. But I did do some yoga in preschool. It was nice and calming.

S: Yeah, it can be relaxing and calming for sure. But it can also be really challenging. Tai Chi is kind of like that too, I think. I tried it only once.

C: Cool. I might want to give it a try some day.

S: Maybe you will. So all in all, did you enjoy this book Caramel?

C: Yes, I did. I love my grandparents, so it was a natural book for me. Grandparents are awesome!

S: Yes! I love that, Caramel. Okay, so this is a good 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 Grandma Yogini, written by Raven Howell and illustrated by Alexander Santos and now wants to know more about Tai Chi.

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 Hey Grandude! by Paul McCartney

Caramel reviews Hey Grandude! written by Paul McCartney and illustrated by Kathryn Durst.

Beatles are a favorite band in the Book Bunnies household, as they are in many other places around the world. So when he heard about it, Caramel was very curious to read the newest book Paul McCartney wrote for kids. Below he shares some of his thoughts on this book, Hey Grandude! illustrated by Kathryn Durst. Sprinkles is asking questions and taking notes as usual.

Sprinkles: Let us hear you talk about this book Caramel. What’s it about?

Caramel: It’s about a grandpa and four children, his four grandchildren.

S: Tell me more.

C: They go on a lot of adventures.

S: What kind of adventures?

C: Let me see. They go to the beach and they see flying fish. And this is only the first adventure.

S: Do they really go to the beach?

C: I think they do.

S: So how do they do that? Aren’t they sitting in their home living room at the beginning of the book?

As Caramel displays Hey Grandude! written by Paul McCartney and illustrated by Kathryn Durst, a green friend is hiding in the background. Can you see him? — As Caramel shows us *Hey Grandude!* written by Paul McCartney and illustrated by Kathryn Durst, a green friend is hiding in the background. Can you see him?

C: Hmm, probably by magic. They look at some postcards Grandude has and they are magically there. It’s kind of creepy actually.

S: Yes, I can see how it could feel like that. But we have read a couple other books that transport kids to places by magic when they look at specific things, right?

C: Yeah, in the Magic Tree House books, the kids are taken places when they look at some books. But they need to also make a wish there.

S: And here Grandude has a magic compass; that too seems to have something to do with the trips, right?

C: Apparently there’s also a magic cow. And there are some crabs. Actually a lot of crabs.

Caramel and his friend The Loch Ness Monster are looking at the page where Grandude and his "chillers" are being attacked by a lot of tiny crabs. — Caramel and his friend The Loch Ness Monster are looking at the page where Grandude and “his chillers” are being attacked by a lot of tiny crabs.

C: I don’t know why Grandude calls the kids “chillers”.

S: Yeah, that’s kind of funny, right? And the kids don’t call him “grandpa” like you call your own grandpa. He’s called Grandude, right?

C: Yup.

S: Why do you think that is?

C: I don’t know.

S: Can you think of a famous Beatles song that rhymes with “Hey Grandude”?

C: “Hey Jude“?

S: Yes! And that video is neat and it led us to another one, the one with Paul McCartney on Carpool Karaoke. And then we spent all the time watching (skipping all the commercials!) and laughing and humming along, right?

C: Hey Jude, don’t make me cry!

S: You’re still singing, though those are not quite the original Beatles lyrics…

C: Take a sad song and make it better!

S: Yes! I think we are done with this review, it seems to me.

C: I recommend that people read this book, it is fun, but also listen to the Beatles, they’re the best!

S: Yes, I like this recommendation. So what is your final word for this time?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunnies adventures!

Caramel and The Loch Ness Monster really enjoyed reading Hey Grandude! by Paul McCartney and Kathryn Durst. — Caramel and The Loch Ness Monster really enjoyed reading *Hey Grandude!* by Paul McCartney and Kathryn Durst.