[ARC REVIEW] Hiznobyuti by Claude Ponti (@archipelagobks)

Title:  Hiznobyuti

Author:  Claude Ponti

Genre:  France / Family / Abuse / Fantasy / Adventure

Year Published: 1993 (Translated from French in 2018)

Year Read:  2018

Publisher:  Archipelago Books

Source:   eARC (Edelweiss)

Content Rating:  Ages 7+  (Themes of  Emotional Child Abuse and Some Scary Imagery)

Trigger Warning:  Child Abuse

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

I would like to thank Edelweiss and Archipelago Books for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I spotted this unusual children’s book at Edelweiss, I was interested in checking this book out since it was translated from French and I enjoy reading books that are translated from other countries (that is if I can find that many books)!  Originally called “Okilele,” “Hiznobyuti” by Claude Ponti and translated by Alyson Waters is a truly unique and delightful treat for children both young and old!

When Hiznobyuti was born, he was not the prettiest child in the world, since he had a long snout that clashes with his family’s short snouts.  Because of this, Hiznobyuti was ostracized by his family and he had to live underneath the kitchen sink to stay out of his family’s affairs.  One day however, Hiznobyuti ended up getting a message from the stars that he is needed elsewhere and Hiznobyuti decided to run away from home and go on a wild adventure with his companion Martin Clock to find out the mysteries of the world while reaching his true destination.

Wow!  I was quite impressed with this bizarre yet creative little children’s book I just discovered!  Claude Ponti did a fantastic job at both writing and illustrating this book as the story is highly creative and sad at the same time.  I like the way that Claude Ponti managed to balance both whimsical magic and sadness throughout this story as I was captivated by the magical world that the characters inhabited, especially the fact that Hiznobyuti is able to do magical things like talk to the trees and travel to the stars.  I was also saddened by the scenes where Hiznobyuti was emotionally abused by his family, especially the scene where Hiznobyuti’s father ends up locking Hiznobyuti underneath the sink by building a brick wall to trap him, which was quite upsetting.  I really enjoyed Claude Ponti’s artwork as while it has a somewhat dark and gritty feel to it, it is mostly done in a creative and cute way and I really loved the appearance of Hiznobyuti himself as he has the appearance of a small aardvark and he really stands out in the artwork.

Parents should know that there are some scary and sad moments in this book, which includes Hiznobyuti meeting up with some terrifying monsters on his journey.  Also, the scenes where Hiznobyuti is emotionally abused by his family may be too upsetting for both kids and adults, who had experiences of seeing children go through such abuse.  Also, the narrative of this book tends to get a bit confusing at times as the story tends to jump all over the place with Hiznobyuti’s adventures.

Overall, “Hiznobyuti” is a truly fantastic children’s book that every child should definitely check out!  I would recommend this book to children ages seven and up since the narrative tends to be a bit confusing at times and the scenes of Hiznobyuti’s parents emotionally abusing him can be a bit hard for some children to handle.

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• Unraveling Rose by Brian Wray

• Robin and the White Rabbit by Åse Brunnström and Emma Lindström

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[BOOK REVIEW] Madeline and the Bad Hat by Ludwig Bemelmans

Title:  Madeline and the Bad Hat

Author:  Ludwig Bemelmans

Genre:  France / Friendship / Manners 

Year Published: 1956

Year Read: 1993

Series:  Madeline #3

Publisher: The Viking Press

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+  (Some Mild Violence and Mischievous Behavior)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

“Madeline and the Bad Hat” is another book created by Ludwig Bemelmans’ famous “Madeline” collection (and was also transformed into an episode for the “Madeline” cartoon series) that details Madeline’s adventures in France.  This time, Madeline meets up with Pepito, the Bad Hat, who causes trouble for Madeline and the other girls.  This book might be the darkest of all the “Madeline” books, but its exciting storyline and cute illustrations make up for that. 

Ludwig Bemelmans does an excellent job on both illustrations and writing Madeline’s newest adventure.  Ludwig Bemelmans writes the story in a rhyming text, the most memorable lines being: 

“And lo and behold, the former Barbarian, 
turned into a vegetarian.” 
  
Ludwig Bemelmans chooses his words carefully to make sure that the story moves along smoothly without making the rhyming text sound like nonsense.  Ludwig Bemelmans’ illustrations are also highlighted in this book as he draws the characters in simplistic yet colorful images.  I especially like the way that he makes some of the images be shown in yellow and white coloring and some images where he uses all types of colors such as the image where he shows the landscape of Paris. 

Parents should know that there are some violent and sad scenes in this book.  Children might see the scenes where Pepito cuts off the chickens’ heads and eats them (even though we do not see the chickens’ heads being cut off but we do see a guillotine and chickens being dragged by their necks towards the guillotine) and the scene where he is attacked by dogs (this is more graphic as we see dogs jumping on top of Pepito) as both sad and violent.  Parents who do not want their children to be exposed to this type of violence might want to skip these pages to avoid any discomfort from the children. 

“Madeline and the Bad Hat” is one of the most deep and darkest of all the “Madeline” books, but is also a cute story about the consequences of being bad and how one can redeem his or herself if they have done horrible things to other people such as Pepito trying to make things right after his bad behavior.  I would strongly recommend this book to children ages five and up due to the smaller children being a bit worried about the violent and sad scenes displayed in this book.

 You might also like:

• Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

• Madeline's Christmas by Ludwig Bemelmans

• No, David! by David Shannon

[ARC REVIEW] The Little Red Wolf by Amélie Fléchais (@lionforge)

Title:  The Little Red Wolf

Author: Amélie Fléchais

Genre:  Drama / Fairy Tale / Retelling / Animals / Horror / France

Year Published: 2017

Year Read:  8/9/2017 

Publisher: Lion Forge

Source: eARC (NetGalley)

Content Rating:  Ages 6+ (Some Scary Imagery)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

I would like to thank NetGalley and Lion Forge for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Introduction:

Now, I have been reading fairy tale retellings for many years and I had read retellings of stories like “Cinderella,” “The Three Little Pigs,” “Sleeping Beauty” and “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”  So, imagine my surprise and delight in seeing this new retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood” from NetGalley called “The Little Red Wolf” by  Amélie Fléchais and I just had to pick this book up!  After I read this book, I have to say that this was one of the most creative and heartbreaking retellings of “Little Red Riding Hood” I had ever read!

What is this story about?

The story starts off with a family of wolves living in the roots of a tree and the smallest wolf in the family was called Little Red Wolf because he would wear a red cape all the time.  One day, Little Red Wolf’s mother wanted him to take a nice plump rabbit to his grandmother, since his grandmother cannot hunt anymore due to her losing her teeth.  But just before Little Red Wolf made his journey to his grandmother’s house, his mother warned him about a human hunter and his daughter and that he should stay away from them at all costs.  As Little Red Wolf journeyed through the forest, he began to feel hungry and he started eating the rabbit that he was supposed to give to his grandmother piece by piece.  When Little Red Wolf ate all of the rabbit, he began to cry since he was supposed to give that rabbit to his grandmother and he had no idea how he will get another rabbit to give to his grandmother.  It was then that a little girl came up to Little Red Wolf and said that she could give him a rabbit if he followed her to her home.

Will this girl help Little Red Wolf get another rabbit for his grandmother or does she have some kind of malicious agenda for Little Red Wolf?

Read this book to find out!

What I loved about this story:

Amélie Fléchais’ writing:  Wow! Just…wow!  I never would have thought that I would ever read a “Little Red Riding Hood” retelling told from the wolf’s perspective (even though I had read a parody book of the “Three Little Pigs” told from the wolf’s perspective called “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs”).  Amélie Fléchais has done a fantastic job at retelling the classic “Little Red Riding Hood” story from the wolf’s point of view as the wolf presented here is shown as being more sympathetic than the hunter and the young girl compared to the original story and that is what made this such a unique and creative read for me!  I like the fact that the wolf here is presented as a young cub who does not know about the dangers of being around a hunter and is actually innocent of any wrongdoing in this story (well, except for accidentally eating all of the rabbit he was supposed to give to his grandmother).  I also loved the mysterious and intense atmosphere that Amélie Fléchais provided in this story as I was sitting on the edge of my seat trying to see if any horrible disaster will befall Little Red Wolf and how he would be able to handle himself (or who would help him out) if he got into such a scary and dangerous situation.

Amélie Fléchais’ artwork: Amélie Fléchais’ artwork is probably the highlight of this book as all the images are drawn in watercolor paintings, which makes the imagery so gorgeous to look at.  I also loved the haunting feel that Amélie Fléchais shows in the artwork as the illustrations are mostly in dark colors and it gives the story a mysterious and eerie feel, especially during the scenes where Little Red Wolf gets lost in the forest.  But, probably my most favorite image in this book was the image of Little Red Wolf himself as he is drawn in an extremely adorable manner as he has large puppy dog eyes and a small cute nose that really brings out his innocent and adorable nature.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

For anyone who does not like scary moments in graphic novels or novels in general, there are some intense scenes in this book that might scare younger readers, such as Little Red Wolf getting lost in the forest and the danger of possibly encountering the huntsman and his daughter.

Also, I felt that the ending was a bit too abrupt and I wished that more was explained about the revelation at the end, rather than just stopping the story as soon as the revelation was being made.  All this just made me want to have a sequel to this story so that way, the ending would be made clearer to me than it is now and so that way we can have a more broader expansion on the characters themselves.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “The Little Red Wolf” is one retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood” that you should definitely check out, especially if you enjoy hearing classic fairy tales being told from a different perspective!  I would recommend this book to children ages six and up since the imagery might scare smaller children.

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• Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

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[BOOK REVIEW] Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper by Marcia Brown

Title:  Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper

Author:  Marcia Brown

Genre: Fairy Tale / Fantasy / Royalty

Year Published: 1954

Year Read: 2010

Publisher:   Charles Scribner's Sons

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+ (Mistreatment of a Child)

Buy on:  Amazon  // Book Depository

“Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is the winner of the Caldecott Medal and is one of the earlier books by Marcia Brown that retells the French fairy tale “Cinderella” about how a miserable girl named Cinderella tries to go to the grand ball with the help of her fairy godmother.  “Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is clearly one of Marcia Brown’s most memorable books yet!

Marcia Brown has indeed created many children’s books throughout her life.  Imagine my surprise and excitement when I read her first children’s book!  Marcia Brown has made this version of Cinderella much more tame than in the other versions of “Cinderella” I have seen as Cinderella’s stepsisters in this version seem a bit nicer to Cinderella by easily telling Cinderella about their time at the ball, although they still maintained their cruel nature by teasing Cinderella about not going to the ball, which is a bit unusual for in most versions that I have read of “Cinderella,” the stepsisters were always mean to Cinderella regardless of the situation that Cinderella was in.  Marcia Brown’s illustrations are truly beautiful and simplistic in this version of the classic fairy tale as Cinderella truly looks beautiful with her wavy golden hair and beautiful black eyes.  Also, the illustrations are a bit simplistic due to the fact that there is barely any color in the background, but the color is mainly focused on the characters, which allows the characters to stand out more, which I have never seen done in any other book that have simplistic illustrations.

“Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is a brilliant retelling of the classic fairy tale that I think will be more suitable to children who want to read the more tame version of the fairy tale and will be a great hit for children everywhere.  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book other than the stepsisters’ poor behavior towards Cinderella.

* 1955 Caldecott Medal

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[BOOK REVIEW] Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers

Title:  Dark Triumph

Author:  Robin LaFevers

Genre: Historical Romance

Year Published: 2013

Number of Pages: 387 pages

Date Read: 3/19/2017

Series: His Fair Assassin #2  

Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Gory Violence and Some Suggestive Situations)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

“Hate cannot be fought with hate. Evil cannot be conquered by darkness. Only love has the power to conquer them both.” 

I must admit that it has been awhile since I had last read Robin LaFevers’ hit novel “Grave Mercy.”  However, years later I finally read the sequel of this fantastic series called “Dark Triumph” and I must say that it was even more exciting and personal than “Grave Mercy” was!

When Sybella first arrived at the convent of Mortain, she was mad with grief as she used to live with her monstrous dictator of a father d’Albret and her brothers Julian and Pierre and her life there was full of misery and turmoil.  Just as Sybella was enjoying her life at the convent, her life takes a drastic turn as the abbess of the convent forces Sybella to go back to d’Albret’s kingdom in order to find a means to weaken the dictator during Brittany’s war with France.  When Sybella founds out about this mission, she becomes truly heartbroken and she starts doubting the existence of Mortain as she wonders to herself about why would Mortain force her to go back to a life of pure misery with d’Albret?  It was not until later on when Sybella meets up with one of d’Albret’s prisoners, a huge and ugly man called Beast who is a loyal servant to the duchess of Brittany and a pawn that d’Albret wishes to use against the duchess.  When Sybella meets up with the prisoner, she decides to free him in order to prevent d’Albret from using him against the duchess and the two make their way towards the kingdom of Brittany to turn the tides in the war against France and d’Albret himself.  But, Sybella will soon realize that she may have feelings for Beast and that might turn the life that she has known all her life upside down.

Wow!  Even though I had enjoyed reading Robin LaFevers’ “Grave Mercy” novel, I never would have thought that I would enjoy the sequel “Dark Triumph” even more than “Grave Mercy!”  I loved the way that Robin LaFevers made this sequel much darker and more personal than the first book as readers are introduced to Sybella’s side of the story and how her life was full of turmoil and betrayal that made her doubt her existence in the world and how Mortain would allow her life to become so turbulent.  I really enjoyed seeing the character development that Sybella goes through in this book as she had an extremely miserable life with her treacherous family and I actually felt bad for her during the moments where she starts doubting her existence in the world due to certain circumstances not going her way.  I also enjoyed seeing the relationships that Sybella had developed over the course of the story, especially her relationship with Ismae, as they shared a sisterly bond that kept them close to each other and I like the way that Ismae tries to comfort Sybella during her times of stress.  But the character I was the most interested in was Beast himself as he has many similarities to Sybella (both love to fight off the bad guys and both had lost people that they cared about) and yet, he still retains a happy and go lucky attitude during the whole ordeal with d’Abret and the French.  But, I cannot leave out one of my most favorite aspects of Beast’s character and that is (seriously) his BODY TYPE!  I like the fact that we have a hero who is described as not being handsome looking, but still has an extremely muscular body that is able to take down any forces that come up against him and it is this description of Beast that makes me really fall for him!

For those of you who do not like suggestive themes and strong violence, there are some surprisingly violent moments in this book which includes many characters getting their throats slit by the assassins that might be uncomfortable for some readers. 

***SPOILER WARNING!!!***

Also, the fact that Sybella’s family, her brother Julian and d’Abret included, seem to want to get into a sexual relationship with her, despite the fact that they are “related” to each other and that might be a bit upsetting for some readers to handle, especially since it shows that Sybella clearly does not want to engage in such relationships with her brother Julian and d’Albret and they were basically forcing themselves upon her.

***SPOILER ENDED!!!***

Overall, “Dark Triumph” is a truly fantastic sequel to “Grave Mercy” that fans of historical romance and books that deal with assassins will definitely enjoy for many years!  I am definitely looking forward to the third book in the series “Mortal Heart!”

* 2014 Milwaukee County Teen Book Award Nominee

* 2015 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Nominee for Children's Literature

You might also like:

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[BOOK REVIEW] Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Title:  Scarlet

Author:  Marissa Meyer

Genre: Urban Fantasy / Horror / Fairy Tale / France / Dystopia

Year Published: 2013

Number of Pages: 454 pages

Date Read:  9/3/2015   

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Series: The Lunar Chronicles #2

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 15+ (Some Scary Moments)

After reading Marissa Meyer’s first book in the Lunar Chronicles series “Cinder,” I just I had to pick up the second book in the series “Scarlet” and I never would have thought that I would enjoy this book as much as the first book!

After the tragic events of the first book, Cinder ends up being thrown into prison when she defied Queen Levana at the ball in the last book.  However, Cinder ends up escaping from prison with the help from the charming and hilarious fellow fugitive Captain Carswell Thorne and her newly found Lunar abilities.  Both Cinder and Thorne try to travel around the planet Earth in order to escape from Queen Levana’s ruthless forces and find out more about Cinder’s mysterious past.  Meanwhile, a young teenage girl named Scarlet Benoit is on a journey to find her grandmother, who has been missing for weeks and she ends up meeting a mysterious young man named Wolf, who might know about her grandmother’s whereabouts.

Wow! This book surprised and terrified me at the same time!  I will admit that when I saw the title of this book “Scarlet” the first time around, I thought that this book was only going to focus on Scarlet and not be connected to “Cinder” in any kind of way.  However, I was pleasantly surprised at the fact that this book still continued Cinder’s story, but has Scarlet subtlety get involved in Cinder’s story, while her story is being told at the same time. Marissa Meyer did a fantastic job at writing the story from two different perspectives as we get Cinder’s side of the story of trying to escape from Queen Levana and learning more about her dark and mysterious past, while we also get Scarlet’s side of the story as she tries to search for her grandmother who has been missing for weeks and I loved the way that their stories intertwine with each other throughout the book.  I also loved the way that Marissa Meyer wrote each character as I fell in love with each character in this story, especially with Wolf and Captain Carswell Thorne!  I loved the way that Scarlet was being written in this book as she is shown to be a strong female protagonist who is determined to find her grandmother at all costs and I loved the fact that Scarlet shows so much love for her grandmother, despite everyone being against her in this universe.  I also loved the character development that Cinder goes through in this book as in the first book; she was mainly a lowly stepdaughter who worked on mechanics on a small scale while in this book, she used her abilities in mechanics to help her escape from Queen Levana’s soldiers and it was interesting seeing her struggle with her true heritage as a Lunar and seeing what that would mean for the world.  I absolutely loved Captain Carswell Thorne’s character as he is probably the funniest character in the entire book and I just loved his bantering with Cinder!  I just hope we get to see more of him in the later installments of this series!  And who could forget the ever loving yet mysterious Wolf in this story?  I loved the fact that his character is full of mystery and it was pretty interesting seeing a human character possess wolf-like abilities in this retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood.”

For anyone who does not like horrifying moments in a novel, this book does have plenty of scary moments, especially when the true nature of Queen Levana’s army is revealed, which I found to be pretty creepy.

Overall, “Scarlet” is a truly fantastic book that is full of twists and turns that any fan of the “Lunar Chronicles” series will definitely enjoy reading!  Now, I am off to read the third book in the series “Cress!”