Tag: grandparents

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.

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

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.

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

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.