Tag: James Kochalka

Caramel reviews The Glorkian Warrior Delivers Pizza by James Kochalka

A few weeks ago, Caramel reviewed Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot by James Kochalka, which was a book the book bunnies received as a review copy. Caramel was quite intrigued by the strange space aliens that inhabited the pages of this quirky little book, and after some searching, was able to lay his paws on the first book about them. Today he is talking to Sprinkles about The Glorkian Warrior Delivers Pizza, published first in 2014. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Caramel reviews The Glorkian Warrior Delivers Pizza by James Kochalka.
Caramel reviews The Glorkian Warrior Delivers Pizza by James Kochalka.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, you finally got to read the very first book about the Glorkian Warrior.

Caramel: Yes, but I am rereading it now. Can we do this later?

S: No, not really.

C: Okay. What do you want to know?

S: Well, first off, tell me what is happening in this book.

C: The Glorkian Warrior and his SuperBackpack get a phone call. It is someone ordering a pizza. The SuperBackpack says it is wrong number, so forget it, but the Glorkian Warrior is kind of crazy, and maybe a bit dumb, too, and he thinks this is his call from Destiny and he should deliver the pizza anyway.

S: I see. That is a funny setup.

C: And that is just the beginning. The rest of the story is just as wacky.

S: Wacky in a good way?

C: Yep. Through the book, all kinds of weird things happen. They travel in space and time, and it is quite funny that the backpack is smarter than its owner.

S: I agree. That is funny!

Caramel is reading The Glorkian Warrior Delivers Pizza by James Kochalka.
Caramel is reading The Glorkian Warrior Delivers Pizza by James Kochalka.

S: So it seems like you really enjoyed reading this book.

C: Yes. It is really colorful and fun.

S: So are the Glorkian Warrior and the SuperBackpack the only two characters?

C: No. They meet a big pink giant along the way, but it turns out it was a baby in a giant suit. And that is actually Gonk from Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot. And they also see the Magic Robot.

S: That is cool! Okay, tell me more about the illustrations.

C: The illustrations are very colorful. The Glorkian Warrior and Gonk are both pink, so there is a lot of pink, but the background is blue and purple a lot. And also there is a weird alien that they rescue, and that is green.

S: So a few select and bold colors, right? Not much shading and so on?

C: Yes, that is true. The colors are not shaded. Everything is one whole color.

S: I think it makes the pictures look somewhat simpler but also maybe easier to read. You know I have a lot of difficulty with graphic novels, but this one seems like I could read it easily. The writing is also relatively large.

C: Yes, it is quite large. So maybe you can read it Sprinkles.

S: Hmm, should I? Is it not too childish for me?

C: Maybe but I think you will enjoy it because it is quite funny, and the Glorkian Warrior is sometimes pretty silly.

S: Okay, I will do that then.

C: Now I want to read more. But maybe we should look into the Glork Patrol books. The Glorkian Warrior seemed a bit smarter in Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot.

S: Hmm, maybe he grows more mature through these adventures.

C: Maybe. Who knows?

S: Okay, we will see what we can find. So let us wrap this up then. What would you like to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel loved reading The Glorkian Warrior Delivers Pizza by James Kochalka and wants to know more about these wacky space adventurers.
Caramel loved reading The Glorkian Warrior Delivers Pizza by James Kochalka and wants to know more about these wacky space adventurers.

Caramel reviews Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot by James Kochalka

Today Caramel reviews Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot by James Kochalka, the third book in his Glork Patrol series, published in 2023. As usual, Sprinkles is asking questions and taking notes.

The book bunnies received this book as a review copy.

Caramel reviews Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot by James Kochalka.
Caramel reviews Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot by James Kochalka.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, you found another book with a robot in it!

Caramel: Yes, I have.

S: Tell me a bit about it. What is this book about?

C: Gonk and Baby Quackaboodle find a box on their door steps, and it turns out to be a little robot. Then Gonk’s father says it is his robot, and names it Glorkbot.

S: Those are some weird names.

C: The creatures with those names are even weirder. Each of them has three eyes. And Baby Quackaboodle is a very long snake with two arms and some funny hairdo which kind of looks like those flowers called birds of paradise.

S: Yes, and Gonk seems to be a pink walking mouth with three eyes and two teeth basically.

C: Yes. And he does not speak with correct English always. He says things like “Him don’t care about little robots”. So he is probably really young. His dad looks more humanoid, but he also has three eyes and three teeth. And he has a backpack who talks, named Super Backpack.

S: Dora the Explorer also had a talking backpack. It can be useful to have a talking backpack, no?

C: Yes. I could use it to help tell me exactly where my pencil box is. And if it has eyes, then it could tell me what is going on behind me.

S: Makes sense to me! So in this book, tell me, what happens with this little robot and the other characters?

C: Gonk and Baby Quackaboodle take Glockbot for a walk and then Gonk realizes it will do whatever it is told to do. So they tell him to dance, so fast that its battery runs out. Well at first they are not sure what happened, because the bot just falls down, but then the Magic Robot tells them that its battery is out.

S: Wait. What is the Magic Robot?

C: It is this big giant robot head that also has magic. Though I am not sure why a robot, which is mechanical, would need to use magic. And inside it is another! It’s kind of weird.

S: Well, the whole story is quite wacky, I’d say.

C: Yep.

S: But you love wacky, don’t you?

C: Yep, that’s me.

Caramel is reading Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot by James Kochalka.
Caramel is reading Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot by James Kochalka.

S: It turns out that this is actually the third story in the Glork Patrol series. And before those two books, there was another series called the Glorkian Warrior series, and even a video game. They all seem to feature Gonk’s dad. Apparently he is the Glorkian Warrior.

C: I want to read all those books too!

S: Why?

C: Because I liked these weirdos. And they have robots and space travel and all kinds of funky things. At least that is what it looks like when we read their descriptions.

S: Okay Caramel, we might look into some of these other books. I agree that these look right up your alley.

C: Yes, exactly.

S: So if you were to describe Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot by James Kochalka in three words, what would you say?

C: Colorful, hilarious, wacky.

S: Those describe this book well Caramel. It is really very colorful, isn’t it?

C: Yes, there is a lot of yellow, green, blue, pink, a little bit of brown for the ground, but the writing is very large and easy to read, and there is a lot of motion and some explosions! Glorkbot really looks like it is dancing!

S: You’re right. It actually does.

C: So yes, I liked this book a lot, and I want to read more about these weirdos.

S: Understood Caramel, I’m glad you enjoyed it so much. So let us wrap this review up then. What do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel had a lot of fun reading Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot by James Kochalka and is curious to read more about these wacky characters.
Caramel had a lot of fun reading Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot by James Kochalka and is curious to read more about these wacky characters.