Newberry – Page 4 – BookBunnies

Marshmallow reviews The One And Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

This week Marshmallow writes about Katherine Applegate’s 2012 book The One and Only Ivan, written in 2012 and awarded the Newberry Medal in 2013.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about animals and their take on the world around us, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Ivan is a gorilla who, by his count, has lived in the Exit 8 Big Top Mall by the Video Arcade for 9,855 days (that is about 27 years). His friends include Stella, Bob, Ruby, Julia, and later Kinyani. Stella is an elephant who has a good memory and tells stories to Ivan. Bob is a stray dog who sneaks into Ivan’s “domain” (which is what he calls his display area) and enjoys sleeping on top of Ivan’s stomach. Julie is a girl whose father, George, works as the mall’s custodian. Ruby is a baby elephant who appears in about the middle of the book. She is “adopted” by Stella, who treats her like her own child. Kinyani shows up later in the book.

Sadly, Stella passes away due to an old injury that causes trouble. Before she passes away, she has Ivan promise to her that he will make sure that he takes her to a zoo, which she thinks is where humans “make amends”. As the book progresses, Ivan starts to change his mind about his “domain” and plans to take Ruby to a zoo.

Marshmallow is reading The One And Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. — Marshmallow is reading *The One And Only Ivan* by Katherine Applegate.

Marshmallow’s Review: I think that this is a really sweet book because Ivan is a really kind character. His character is unique since he never gets angry. He also really likes to draw. He particularly enjoys drawing banana peels. Though people don’t understand what they are supposed to be, his drawings are sold at a shop.

This is a great book, also because it shows that animals think too. (LIKE BUNNIES!) People seem to forget this when they swat flies or hunt cute animals. (LIKE BUNNIES!) Ivan shows this when he writes about things that happened to him. It is sad, too, because poachers captured him along with his sister, and while they were in a truck, his sister died.

The One And Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate is based on the true story of the western lowland gorilla named Ivan, who lived through similar circumstances. He was captured by humans and brought to live with them. But he grew too big so they moved him to be on display. He spent twenty-seven years there but was finally moved to Zoo Atlanta.

The One And Only Ivan has recently been made into a movie. The Book Bunnies haven’t watched the movie yet, but here is the trailer:

The One and Only Ivan | Official Trailer: “An adaptation of the award-winning book about one very special gorilla, Disney’s “The One and Only Ivan” is an unforgettable tale about the beauty of friendship, the power of visualization and the significance of the place one calls home.”

The story, plot, and characters are well written. I really enjoyed reading The One And Only Ivan.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates The One And Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate 100%. — Marshmallow rates *The One And Only Ivan* by Katherine Applegate 100%.

Marshmallow reviews When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

This week Marshmallow reviews When You Reach Me, a 2009 novel by Rebecca Stead, which won the Newberry Medal in 2010.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like mystery or science fiction, or if you enjoyed reading other books written by Rebecca Stead, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with spoilers): Twelve-year old Miranda, a sixth grader in New York City in the late 1970s, has just started to receive notes that tell her that someone is coming to save her friend’s life and their own. Here is the first note:

“M,
This is hard. Harder than I expected, even with your help. But I have been practicing, and my preparations go well. I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own.
I ask two favors.
First, you must write me a letter.
Second, please remember to mention the location of your house key.
The trip is a difficult one. I will not be myself when I reach you.”

After this first note, Miranda starts to receive more notes. These notes say that she must not share them with anybody and that she must believe the notes. Then the person starts to send proof of what they’re saying is true. For example, the note says “Tesser well” and then her mother’s boyfriend gives her a copy of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle signed by Madeleine L’Engle that says “Tesser well”.

In the middle of this, Miranda is also having school trouble. Her mom is preparing to go on a game show with the hopes of winning a large sum of money. Miranda is also having some problems with her best friend Sal.

There is in short a lot going on in Miranda’s life, and though some of it is normal kid stuff, the secret notes make things all quite mysterious. (And if you want to know more, you have to read the book!)

Marshmallow is reading When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. — Marshmallow is reading *When You Reach Me* by Rebecca Stead.

Marshmallow’s Review: This is a great book. It has a very interesting but also a very complex plot, and the reader may have a hard time finding who wrote the notes.

I think that this is also a very good book because the author, Rebecca Stead, is great at creating characters. My favorite character is probably Julie or Miranda. Miranda is really realistic, and she does things that make her unique, like tying and untying knots.

This book might be a little hard to understand for kits (baby bunnies) because of its complex plot, and it is also not a particularly easy book to read. I think therefore that it would probably be best for bunnies aged eight and up.

I think the best part of this book is that the author is an expert at making the reader want to finish the book soon. The mystery is great because the reader wouldn’t be able to guess who the writer of the notes is because they are concealed by the author wonderfully. I think that this is a great book that is an excellent mix of mystery and science fiction and many other genres.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead 100%. — Marshmallow rates *When You Reach Me* by Rebecca Stead 100%.

Marshmallow reviews A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Today Marshmallow reviews a classic: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, first published in 1962 and awarded the Newberry Medal in 1963. This is the first book of L’Engle’s Time Quintet.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like classic science fiction or just like some of Madeleine L’Engle’s books, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary: Meg Murry wakes up on a stormy night and finds a mysterious guest in the kitchen. Soon Meg, her brother Charles Wallace, and her friend Calvin O’Keefe set off to find Meg and Charles’s father who was sent on a dangerous and secret mission. The Murry family stopped receiving letters from him and they had not seen him since.

The children set out to find Mr. Murry and the mysterious guest, Mrs. Whatsit, helps them with her friends, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which. Meg and her companions learn that there is an evil entity, the Black Thing, that is taking over the universe and that their father is in danger. They travel to the world in which he is captive and try to rescue their father. They face a man with red eyes, who can control the people who look into his eyes. Charles Wallace looks in his eyes intentionally and they manage to rescue Meg’s father, but Charles Wallace gets stuck on the planet. They have saved Meg’s father, but now they have to save Charles Wallace.

Marshmallow is reading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. — Marshmallow is reading *A Wrinkle in Time* by Madeleine L’Engle.

Marshmallow’s Review: This is a very intriguing book because there are very interesting characters and the plot is very well written. My favorite character is Charles Wallace. He is very logical. He is also different from everyone else but he is ok with that.

I think that A Wrinkle in Time makes a great read for bunnies of all ages, but if the bunny is very young then there probably should be an older bunny reading the book to them because it is on the longer side. (It has 232 pages.) I think that A Wrinkle in Time is probably best for bunnies ages 8 and up because it may not be an easy read for younger bunnies.

A Wrinkle in Time starts with a very famous sentence, Snoopy‘s favorite:

“It was a dark and stormy night.”

The sentence even has its own Wikipedia page! Apparently L’Engle used the sentence intentionally, even though it is seen by many as a cliche.

Madeleine L’Engle’s book has been made into a movie, twice. The first one was made in 2003. The second one was made in 2018. Caramel, Sprinkles, and I saw the movie in the theatre and we enjoyed it. Here is the trailer:

This is the trailer to the second movie. It was made in 2018, and was directed by Ava DuVernay.

Madeleine L’Engle’s book is a classic and a great read for all ages. It is an entertaining read for all bunnies but also gets scary or sad at some points (more scary than sad). I really enjoyed reading it.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle 100%. — Marshmallow rates *A Wrinkle in Time* by Madeleine L’Engle 100%.

Marshmallow reviews Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell

Today Marshmallow reviews another classic, Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O’Dell, first published in 1960 and awarded the Newberry Medal in 1961. She has been reading a school copy of this book with her class and she was fascinated to learn that the story was based on a real young Native American girl who lived alone for many years on San Nicolas Island during the 19th century.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about finding friends in unexpected places, or young people surviving very difficult situations, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with spoilers): Twelve-year-old Karana has lived on the Island of the Blue Dolphins for all her life with her family. So when her father, the chief, is killed, her tribe’s new chief decides that he will leave the island. He does not return and then white missionaries come and tell them that they need to pack up and get on their ships. When the boats are leaving, Karana realizes that her brother Ramo is not on any of the boats. When she runs to find him, she learns that he had left to find his fishing spear. Then they realize that the ships have left without them.

Later while they are on the island alone, Karana leaves to collect needed items and comes back to find Ramo dead. Wild dogs had killed him and so she decided that she would take revenge on the wild dogs. So she builds weapons, which is against her tribe’s laws because women are not allowed to make weapons. So as she continues to try to get revenge she eventually makes friends with one of the wild dogs, whom she names Rontu.

Eventually she makes a hut (my favorite part) and a fence around it to make something sort of like a yard. And so she gets used to living on the island. But still she wonders if the ships will return.

Marshmallow is reading Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell. — Marshmallow is reading *Island of the Blue Dolphins* by Scott O’Dell.

Marshmallow’s Review: This is a sad and well-written book. It is so sad how Karana’s father and brother die and she is left alone on the island without any one else. I felt really sad that Karana was left alone and she had to survive all by herself.

Island of the Blue Dolphins is a very moving book that every bunny should read at some point. It is a very good book for (probably older) readers. It might be sad for younger ones.

Reading Island of the Blue Dolphins can make the reader wonder what they would do if they were in Karana’s situation. I think that it would be very difficult for me to do all she has done, especially to build a house all by myself because I’m a bunny.

The book shows that humans can be very cruel to each other because people who had come to hunt otters on Karana’s island killed Karana’s father. But it also shows that humans can be very resourceful because Karana is very young but manages to survive on the island all by herself.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 95%.

Marshmallow rates Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell 95%. — Marshmallow rates *Island of the Blue Dolphins* by Scott O’Dell 95%.