Today Caramel reviews a cute book by Joey Spiotto, Max, a Little Axolotl, published first in 2025. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.
Sprinkles: So Caramel, this book must have been a great find for you, because you love axolotls, right?
Caramel: Yeah, it was and I do.
S: So tell me a bit about it then.
C: So in the beginning Max, who is, as stated by the title, a little axolotl, is living in a lake in Mexico when all of a sudden, humans show up and start polluting and ruining the environment. Then a human captures Max and puts him in a little tank, then takes him to an aquarium, called the Aquarium of the Bay. There, there are other water animals. And Max makes friends.
S: Cool story!
C: Yeah! The other animals in the aquarium try to play a ball game with Max, but he doesn’t know how to play the game. They lose the ball in a cave, in which they believe there to be a sea monster.
S: Ooh, so that sounds exciting! I am guessing nothing too terrible happens though, I mean other than Max’s original home being polluted…
C: Yeah, what they think is a sea monster is just—-
S: Ooh, let us not give away all the details!
C: Okay, I guess that makes sense.
S: Did you know that Lake Xochimilco actually exists? Wikipedia says that it is the last remaining natural habitat of the axolotl.
C: No, I didn’t. But that’s really sad.
S: Yes. There are a lot of endangered animals out there. It is really sad.
C: And axolotls are so cute! And my other favorite animals, the pangolin, are also endangered. It is just not fair. Why are all the cute animals, other than us, of course, endangered?
S: I don’t know. But of course, even if they were not cute, it would be sad, right?
C: Yes, of course, but it does seem to be most of the cute ones, just saying.
S: So what did you think of the drawings of the book?
C: They were all very cute and very very colorful.
S: Somehow I was reminded of some of your other favorite books in this genre. I am thinking of the Narwhal and Jelly books. The pictures are cute, the characters are water-based animals who are friends, and there are also some facts in the book, too.
C: Yeah, I can see that! But this one has more kawaii aspects, like the artist gave Max shiny big eyes and colorful spots and such, whereas Narwhal and Jelly don’t have such things; they are in some ways more simple.
S: Yeah, I see what you mean. What did you think of the facts at the end?
C: They were actually very informative.
S: I liked how he titled that section “Facts-olotl”..
C: Yeah, me too. It was funny! The title is also funny that way. I mean, try saying “Max a Little Axolotl”. It rhymes!
S: Yes! I had not noticed that! How cool is that?
C: Very.
S: Okay, so did you learn anything new? Because I know you already know a lot about a lot of things.
C: Yeah, I did. In fact, did you know that axolotls are actually amphibious, meaning they could live on land, but they spend their whole lives underwater?
S: That is so weird! And no, I did not know that. Thank you for teaching me Caramel.
C: You’re welcome!
S: Okay, so this might be a good time to end this review. What would you like to tell our readers Caramel?
C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!
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