Marshmallow’s reviews – Page 69

Marshmallow reviews Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins

Marshmallow reviews Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins.

Marshmallow got a couple books from the Upside-Down Magic series at a book fair on her school campus and read them over and over for a while now. Below she reviews the first book in the series: Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins.

Marshmallow’s quick take: If you like books about people who are different from others, and if you like magic, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s summary (with spoilers): Nory Horace (Eleanor Horace) is the daughter of the schoolmaster of Sage Academy, so when she fails to get into the Academy, she and her father are very disappointed. Instead Nory goes to another school, Dunwiddle Magic School.

In this book everybody has magic. They can either have the ability to light fires (a Flare), the ability to make friends with animals (a Fluffy), the ability to transform into animals (a Fluxer), the ability to fly (a Flyer), or the ability to make oneself and other things invisible (a Flicker). You get your magic when you are ten. You don’t get to choose your magic. You find out what you are when you are ten.

Nory finds out that she has the ability to transform into animals, but unlike most people with that ability, she transforms into animals that are half and half, like a kitten that has dragon wings (a “dritten”) and a puppy that has squid legs. You get the idea.

Marshmallow is reading Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins. — Marshmallow is reading *Upside-Down Magic* by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins.

Nory’s friend Elliot, instead of creating fire, freezes objects. Andres can fly much higher than an average kid who is a Flyer, but he can’t come down. Instead of transforming into live animals, Bax turns into inanimate objects like rocks or pianos. Pepper is the opposite of the type of person who makes friends with animals; instead she terrifies all animals, including humans transformed into animals. Marigold is like a type of Flicker; she makes things shrink. Willa can make it rain indoors. Sebastian can see sound waves.

This is the full class of the Upside-Down Magic class, for kids who do not have typical magic, or as they like to call it, kids who have upside-down magic.

In their classroom, lessons are unconventional, students are unpredictable, and magic has a tendency to turn wonky at the worst possible moments. Because it’s always amazing, the trouble a little wonky magic can cause . .
https://www.sarahm.com/upside-down-magic

Nory has an exciting time in this class.

Marshmallow’s review: This book is the first of a series of six, a hexalogy like Soman Chainani‘s School for Good and Evil series.(See my review of the fourth book here and the fifth here.) So far in the series I only read a couple, but I really enjoyed this first book. It shows how tough it is to be different from others, but how sometimes it can also be beautiful and unique and that you can enjoy being unique. For example, Nory eventually likes turning into a dritten. Being different can also be hard though. Elliot has some friends (Lacey, Zinnia, and Rune) that tease him because he freezes objects instead of burning them. They are very mean.

Marshmallow’s rating: 90%.

Marshmallow ranks Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins 90%. — Marshmallow ranks *Upside-Down Magic* by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins 90%.

Marshmallow reviews Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary

Marshmallow reviews Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary.

Through the years, Marshmallow has enjoyed reading several books by Beverly Cleary, the prolific writer of children’s books. Below she writes about Beezus and Ramona, the first book of Cleary featuring Ramona Quimby written in 1955.

Marshmallow’s quick take: If you like books that are about siblings or have enjoyed reading some of Beverly Cleary’s other books before, then this book might be for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with spoilers): Beezus (or Beatrice really, but everyone calls her Beezus) and Ramona Quimby are two sisters who are sometimes nice to each other and sometimes not. Four-year-old Ramona annoys her big sister Beezus a lot. For example when Beezus’s friend comes over, Ramona knocks their checker game over. Then she sticks her doll into Beezus’s birthday cake while pretending to be Gretel. After Ramona writes her name on every page on a library book that Beezus checked out for Ramona, Beezus is really very annoyed. As you can see Ramona is not a very nice little sibling.

Marshmallow is pointing at the page where we see some of Ramona's scribbles. — Marshmallow is pointing at the page where we see some of Ramona’s scribbles.

Ramona is a very realistic annoying sibling. For example, when she finds a lot of apples in the basement, she takes one bite out of each apple and then starts another one. The Quimby family has some exciting times, like when Ramona invites her whole nursery school class to a party without asking her parents if she could.

The author, Beverly Cleary, wrote this book as part as a series featuring Ramona, Beezus, and her friends. In fact Ramona did not come to be a central character till about ten years later when she wrote Ramona the Pest, in 1968.

Marshmallow’s review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is an old book, published even before my parents were born, but it is still a good read for readers who like books about sibling problems.

Beezus and Ramona is a classic like some other books that I have reviewed earlier, such as Half Magic and Five Children and It. It is also very funny and will make a lot of people laugh, like when Ramona powders her nose with marshmallows she calls “powder puffs”.

This is the first of a series of books by Beverly Cleary featuring Ramona Quimby. It is also one of my favorite books from the author. Ramona is very funny in this book. Some of my other favorite books by Beverly Cleary include Ramona the Pest, Ramona the Brave, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Henry and Ribsy, Ellen Tebbits, Henry and Beezus, and Ramona’s World. I like these books because they are funny, well written, and realistic.

The drawings in the book add to the story’s description.

One thing I really enjoy about Beverly Cleary’s books is that they end well. In Beezus and Ramona the story ends… well I don’t want to spoil the end but let’s just say it ends well.

Marshmallow’s rating: 95%.

Marshmallow rates Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary 95%. — Marshmallow rates *Beezus and Ramona* by Beverly Cleary 95%.

Marshmallow reviews Five Children and It by E. Nesbit

Marshmallow reviews Five Children and It, a novel by Edith Nesbit first published in 1902.

Marshmallow wanted to talk about E. Nesbit’s book Five Children and It today. Sprinkles is asking questions and taking notes.

Marshmallow reviews Five Children and It by E. Nesbit. — Marshmallow reviews *Five Children and It* by E. Nesbit.

Sprinkles: So Marshmallow can you tell us a bit about this book?

Marshmallow: Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane, and Lamb the baby dig a hole to reach Australia. While they are digging, they find a strange creature called Psammead (a sand-fairy) that can grant wishes. At the beginning, the children wish to be as beautiful as the day and to have a lot of gold but then they realize that they must be more careful when they are making wishes. Whenever they make a wish, they always end up in trouble.

S: Oh, does this book remind you of another?

M: It’s kind of similar to Half Magic by Edward Eager. Just like in that book, the children find this object or fairy that grants them wishes and they eventually find that they need to think carefully about what they will wish for.

S: So what more can you tell us?

M: This is an interesting book that will beg the question, “If you could wish for anything. what would you wish for?”

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it because it was interesting how when the children wished for something like to be beautiful or when they wished to have wings, there was a problem. For example, when they wished to be “as beautiful as the day” after they tried to interact with their baby brother Lamb (whose real and full name is Hilary St. Maul Devereux). They then change and Lamb does not recognize them because they look different. Also when they try to go to their house their nursemaid does not let them in because they look different and not like their old selves. They get very hungry and thirsty and they realize that it was not a great idea to have wished to be “as beautiful as the day.”

S: What more do you want to say?

M: This is a very entertaining book, and very well written. It will make you want to read on to learn what wish the children make next.

S: Yes, they do make some strange wishes, don’t they? What did you think of the illustrations?

M: I thought the pictures were very successful.

Marshmallow is pointing out one of the many illustrations in Five Children and It by E. Nesbit. — Marshmallow is pointing out one of the many illustrations in *Five Children and It* by E. Nesbit.

S: And you have some thoughts on the characters?

M: Yes! Especially I liked the fact that the children act like children. Kind of like in the Ivy + Bean books!

S: This is a very old book. It could be the oldest book you have read. What do you think of that?

M: It is an old book. It does have some stereotypes, like girls always cry, and boys never do. But overall it is a good book.

S: Ok, so what would you have wished for if you had met Psammead?

M: I don’t know. What would you wish for?

S: I don’t know, either. It is a hard question, without all the challenges this particular sand-fairy brings. Maybe I’d wish for some good meal, or a good night’s sleep. Something simple like that… Or I could wish for a good book to read. This was one, you say?

M: Yes! I’d rate it 95%. And I really want to add this last sentence: Stay tuned for more book bunnies reviews!

Marshmallow rates Five Children and It by E. Nesbit 95%. — Marshmallow rates *Five Children and It* by E. Nesbit 95%.

Marshmallow reviews Lucy and Andy Neanderthal by Jeffrey Brown

Marshmallow reviews Lucy & Andy Neanderthal, the first book in the Lucy & Andy Neanderthal series of Jeffrey Brown.

Marshmallow and Caramel recently got their paws on books by Jeffrey Brown. A couple weeks ago, Caramel reviewed his, My Teacher is a Robot. Today Marshmallow reviews hers, the first book in the Lucy & Andy Neanderthal series of Jeffrey Brown: Lucy & Andy Neanderthal.

Marshmallow reviews Lucy & Andy Neanderthal by Jeffrey Brown. — Marshmallow reviews *Lucy & Andy Neanderthal* by Jeffrey Brown.

Marshmallow’s quick take: If you like comic books or fiction books that also have some facts about interesting stuff, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with spoilers): Lucy & Andy Neanderthal is a comic book about a brother and a sister, Lucy and Andy Neanderthal, who are two Neanderthal kids living in the Stone Age. They have a little brother, Danny, and share their cave with a few other people including two older kids, Phil and Margaret. Andy really wants to join their family when they go to hunt, but his parents will not let him because hunting mammoth is too dangerous.

Lucy and Andy have many adventures. One of them, “Substitute Babysitters”, starts with a rock Andy throws that hits Phil on the head by accident. Phil’s head swells. Lucy, Andy, and Margaret take Phil to Lucy and Andy’s mother so she can help him. She goes looking for medicine, and leaves Andy and Lucy to look after their little brother, Danny, while Margaret looks after Phil.

Danny finds a stick and starts banging it around. Lucy takes the stick from him, and Andy gives another stick to Danny. Lucy keeps finding a problem with the sticks Andy offers to Danny, like how it is too small and how Danny could choke on it. Then Danny starts crying and Andy gives him another stick, but Danny slaps it away. Then they follow Danny to the cave where Margaret offers him some berries. Danny eats the berries and then he throws up. Lucy has Andy clean it up and then Andy gets mad and imitates Lucy. Lucy farts and then blames it on Andy. In the midst of this chaos, Danny sneaks away.

Once the older kids realize that Danny sneaked away, they start to panic. They start looking for Danny and find Danny’s pants. Phil thinks that Danny must have been eaten, but Andy says that Danny always takes his pants off. Eventually they find Danny and get him to come back to the cave.

The above probably already gives you a sense of the kinds of stories in the book. They are always hilarious! But close to the end of the book, the Neanderthals meet the humans. The humans invite the Neanderthals over to dinner because they ate the leftovers of the mammoth that the Neanderthals hunted. Will the two groups be friends or mortal enemies?

Marshmallow is pointing to a typical page of Lucy & Andy Neanderthal by Jeffrey Brown. — Marshmallow is pointing to a typical page of *Lucy & Andy Neanderthal* by Jeffrey Brown.

Marshmallow’s review: Lucy & Andy Neanderthal is a very funny book. Jeffrey Brown’s drawings are very successful, and the writing is very clear, so even a reader who has never read a comic book before can enjoy reading the book.

The main characters are fictional Neanderthals living in the Stone Age, but there are also two scientist characters who tell us facts that relate to the stories. They tell us about the first toothbrush for instance, and the differences between the modern humans and the Neanderthals. There are more facts at the end of the book. For instance, you can learn there that Neanderthal women hunted, too:

“Scientists still debate whether men hunted more, but Neanderthal women at least participated in some, if not all, hunting.”

I enjoyed this book very much and reread it many times. I highly recommend it to people who like comic books and Neanderthals. Of course you might not know you like Neanderthals before reading the book. So why don’t you just give it a try?

Marshmallow’s rating: 100%

Marshmallow rates Lucy & Andy Neanderthal by Jeffrey Brown 100%. — Marshmallow rates *Lucy & Andy Neanderthal* by Jeffrey Brown 100%.