Showing posts with label characters with attitude. Show all posts
Showing posts with label characters with attitude. Show all posts

Thursday, May 2, 2019

[BOOK REVIEW] The Very Bad Bunny by Marilyn Sadler






Title:  The Very Bad Bunny

Author:  Marilyn Sadler

Artist: Roger Bollen


Genre:  Children's / Animals / Family / Humor

Year Published: 1984

Year Read:  2019


Series: P.J. Funnybunny #2

Publisher:  
Beginner Books

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 5+  (Confusing Message)

Buy or Add on:  Amazon  //  Goodreads




Man, it’s been awhile since I last read a “P.J. Funnybunny” book, despite growing up with the series.  I think the last “P.J. Funnybunny” book I read was “It’s Not Easy Being a Bunny,” which was many years ago.  So, I finally picked up another “P.J. Funnybunny” book called “The Very Bad Bunny” by Marilyn Sadler, along with artwork by Roger Bollen and I had a blast reading this book!

P.J. Funnybunny did not mean to be a bad bunny. He would do things like break the vase while playing in the house, spill syrup on the floor, cut up the newspaper before his father had a chance to read it and invite his friends over without asking his mother.  Because of these things, P.J.’s parents and siblings all think that he is a bad bunny.  One day however, P.J.’s little cousin Binky comes in for a visit and he and P.J. started playing with each other.  But unfortunately, Binky turned out to be a bad bunny who was even worse than P.J. as he would do things like throw P.J.’s favorite ball into the lake, letting go of P.J.’s balloon and painting bunnies all over the walls in the house. 

Now P.J and his family are going to see just how bad a bunny can be!



Wow!  I was really having fun with this book!  Marilyn Sadler did a fantastic job at writing this book as it was full of good humor!  I enjoyed seeing the scenes where P.J. has to deal with Binky’s constant mischief and how he acted more mature in comparison.  I found it pretty amusing that P.J.’s family thought that P.J. was the bad bunny, until they met Binky and he turned out to be much worse than P.J. himself!  I also loved Roger Bollen’s artwork as it is humorous to look at, especially the images of P.J. and his family having to deal with Binky’s mischief throughout the book!  I also enjoyed seeing how big the bunnies’ ears were in this book as they are drawn as taking over most of the space in the pages and seem to be extremely thick in size.


Parents should know that the message of this book might be a tad bit too confusing for some children.  The way that I am looking at this story is that P.J. has done some bad things, but he never meant to do any of those things on purpose. He seems genuinely sorry for his actions and only acted out badly when he was punished.  Meanwhile, Binky does a lot of bad things in this book, but he is never sorry about the things that he has done and he continues to misbehave towards the Funnybunny family throughout the book.  So, basically the book is trying to say that there is a difference between a child doing bad things by accident versus doing bad things on purpose?  I am not sure what the book is trying to save about children misbehaving here.  If you know what this book is trying to say about badly behaving children, then please feel free to tell me down below.


Overall, “The Very Bad Bunny” is a fun and cute little book about tackling the subject of children behaving badly and I would definitely recommend this book to fans of the “P.J. Funnybunny” series!  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the message in this book might confuse some children.



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Tuesday, July 17, 2018

[BOOK REVIEW] I Hate Fairyland Volume 3: Good Girl by Skottie Young








Title:  I Hate Fairyland Volume 3:  Good Girl

Author:  Skottie Young

Genre:  Thriller / Comedy / Fairy Tale / Action

Year Published:  2017

Year Read: 7/15/2018

Series: I Hate Fairyland #3

Publisher: Image Comics

Source: Purchased

Content Rating: Ages 16+ (Gory Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 





Introduction:

So, after I finished reading “I Hate Fairyland Volume Two: Fluff My Life,” I just had to read the third volume of Skottie Young’s hilarious “I Hate Fairyland” series called “Good Girl” and I was curious about why the cover was showing a HAPPY, CUTE EYED Gertrude and what that was all about!  Well, I must say that “I Hate Fairyland Volume Three: Good Girl” was definitely an unexpected step up from the second volume!

What is this story about?

It seems like after the events of the last volume (her future self comes and tells her that if she does not change her ways, she could possibly doom Fairyland), Gertrude still has not learned her lesson that if she continues to kill people left and right, she could be heading for some big trouble.  That is until she meets up with a girl named Maddie, who is Gertrude’s biggest fan and Gertrude decides to teach Maddie everything about killing people to get what she wants.  But, when Maddie proved to be even worse than Gertrude, Gertrude then realizes what a terrible person she has been and she decides to try to become a better person in the long run.  However, knowing Gertrude, that is not going to be easy!

What I loved about this story:

Skottie Young’s writing:  As usual, Skottie Young has done a fantastic job at writing this story as the story is both hilarious and shocking at the same time (especially, with that twist of an ending)!  I really loved the scenes where is Gertrude trying to become a better person by helping people, but since she is violent by nature, she cannot help but destroy the many things she comes across to.  It was a nice change of pace for the series as we finally get to see Gertrude actually act (a little) nicer towards the people she comes across to and it was also hilarious still seeing Gertrude destroy things, even though she tries really hard not to!  I also loved the way that Skottie Young further developed Larry the Fly’s character as we get to see that Larry actually does care about Gertrude, despite constantly snarking at her. We also get to see what his life would have been like without Gertrude and it was both sad and hilarious seeing his alternative life from his perspective.

Skottie Young and Dean Rankine’s artwork:  Skottie Young’s artwork is as usual hilarious to look at as all the characters look exaggerated and I especially loved the appearance of Gertrude herself as she looks like an evil version of “Shirley Temple!”  I also loved the artwork done by Dean Rankine in the issue where Larry the Fly starts dreaming about how his life would have turned out if he did not meet Gertrude as the artwork is even more cartoonish than most of the artwork in this volume and the art style actually reminds me of the art style from “Rocko’s Modern Life!”

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

For anyone who does not like gory violence, there is some gory violence in this volume, mainly during the scenes where characters are ripped apart and blown up in extremely bloody ways (all courtesy of Gertrude herself, of course)!  Also, this is a bit of a nitpick for me, but the narrative is a bit all over the place in this volume as Gertrude and Larry go on many different adventures in this volume and the narrative tends to jump from one situation to the next.  This would often confuse me as I was trying to figure out what the main plot of this volume was, although I will admit that the narrative is a bit more straightforward here than in the second volume.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “I Hate Fairyland Volume Three: Good Girl” is a truly fantastic volume that is full of hilarious (and violent) adventure along with a shocking twist of an ending that fans of the “I Hate Fairyland” series will definitely enjoy!


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Wednesday, June 27, 2018

[BOOK REVIEW] This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab







Title:  This Savage Song

Author:  Victoria Schwab

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Year Published: 2016

Number of Pages:  427 pages

Date Read: 6/27/2018

Series: Monsters of Verity #1

Publisher:  Greenwillow Books

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Gory Violence and Strong Language)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository




“Monsters, monsters, big and small,
"They're gonna come and eat you all.
Corsai, Corsai, tooth and claw,
Shadow and bone will eat you raw.
Malchai, Malchai, sharp and sly,
Smile and bite and drink you dry.
Sunai, Sunai, eyes like coal,
Sing you a song and steal your soul.
Monsters, monsters, big and small,
They're gonna come and eat you all!” 

Now, I have been hearing so many good things about Victoria Schwab’s popular “Monsters of Verity” series and I just had to pick this series up as soon as possible!  So, the first book in the series is “This Savage Song” and it was so beautifully written by Victoria Schwab that I just immediately fell in love with this book!

The city of Verity is in the middle of a war between the monsters and the humans, as monsters such as the Corsai, Malchai and the Sunai, are plaguing the city with violence and death.  The humans, on the other hand, are trying to protect themselves against the monsters and are living every day in fear.  Overseeing the city of Verity is a man named Callum Harker, who is the most powerful man in the city and he promises to protect the humans against the monsters if they pay him for his help in taking down the monsters.  On the other side of the city, a man named Henry Flynn rules the part of the city that Harker has no control over and he also tries to protect the people of Verity from the monsters plaguing the city.  But, he is up against Harker and the two are at war with each other to see who will take over the city of Verity.  Kate Harker had just recently been kicked out of her most recent school for trying to set the building on fire and she returns to Verity to prove to her estranged father, Callum Harker, that she can be just as ruthless and merciless as him and has decided to attend Colton Academy to be closer to her father.
However, while at the academy, Kate encounters a shy and awkward boy named August Flynn, who is actually undercover by orders of Henry Flynn, to spy on Kate and see if they need to use her for leverage against Harker.  Also, August harbors a secret that Kate does not know about:  he is actually a Sunai, a monster that can suck out the souls of the people who have sinned and he uses his violin as a way to bring out the people’s souls so he can devour them.  In order to fit in the school, August must keep his true identity a secret from the other students, including Kate, who he slowly starts to develop a bond with.  In a city that is wrecked by war, August and Kate must find a way to survive in this war-torn town while trying to understand each other better.


Wow!  Double, DOUBLE wow!  I never would have thought that I would love this book so much when I read it for the first time!  Victoria Schwab’s writing was so beautiful and intense that I found myself being enthralled by the haunting yet amazing world that the story takes place in!  I loved the way that Victoria Schwab created the world of Verity as it is a truly frightening place, especially with the monsters constantly running amok the city and killing many innocent people without warning.  I liked the fact that this book can be really scary at times, especially during the scenes where August is having trouble controlling his powers and you cannot help but feel a sense of unease as you wonder if he will hurt Kate if his powers get out of control.  I liked the way that Victoria Schwab wrote all the characters in this book as each character is holding a dark secret that the reader does not know about until the very end of the book and Victoria Schwab does a great job at building up the mysteries surrounding each character.  Out of all the characters in this book that I enjoyed the most, they were, of course Kate and August themselves!   I liked the fact that Kate was an anti-hero in this story and that she was acting a bit ruthless throughout the story because it is rare to see the protagonist of the story be so ruthless, even when we found out that it is because she just wanted her father to notice her.  I also loved August as he is the opposite of Kate as he is actually polite and shy, in contrast to Kate’s more aggressive personality and the fact that he is struggling with controlling his monster side makes him into such an interesting character!  I especially loved the relationship between Kate and August as they are more like friends in this book than lovers as it is rare for me to read a book where the main protagonists are just friends and I enjoyed the bonding that Kate and August have once they get to know each other better.


For anyone who does not like strong language, there are a couple of words like the “f” word and the “s” word being thrown around in this book that might offend some readers.  Also, there is some gory violence in this book as characters are stabbed or cut up in a graphic manner that might be disturbing to some readers.


Overall, “This Savage Song” is a truly brilliant book about true friendship, music and horror that fans of these type of books will definitely enjoy!  Now, without a further ado, I am off to read the second book in the series “Our Dark Duet!”




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Saturday, June 23, 2018

[BOOK REVIEW] I Hate Fairyland Volume 2: Fluff My Life by Skottie Young







Title:  I Hate Fairyland Volume 2:  Fluff My Life

Author:  Skottie Young

Genre:  Thriller / Comedy / Fairy Tale / Action

Year Published:  2016

Year Read: 6/23/2018

Series: I Hate Fairyland #2

Publisher: Image Comics

Source: Purchased

Content Rating: Ages 16+ (Gory Violence and Brief Strong Language)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository



Introduction:

So, years ago, I had read the first volume of “I Hate Fairyland” on Netgalley and I loved the graphic novel so much that I just had to pick up the rest of this series and put it in my ever-growing bookshelf!  So, I finally got around to reading the second volume of the series called “I Hate Fairyland: Fluff My Life Volume Two” and it was just as entertaining as the first volume!

What is this story about?

After Gertrude kills Queen Cloudia in the last volume, she is then forced to become Fairyland’s next Queen since the law stated that if something were to happen to the Queen of Fairyland, then another person must become Queen in their place.  This upsets Gertrude since she spent most of the first volume trying to get out of Fairyland and once she becomes Queen, she is doing such a horrible job at ruling Fairyland that she ends up getting fired from the position.  This then allows Gertrude to continue her journey to escape Fairyland and along the way, she gets into lots of crazy situations such as meeting Duncan Dragon, who is actually a young boy in a dragon suit, fighting with a princess who is actually more than she seems and possibly changing the fate of Fairyland for the worse!

What I loved about this story:

Skottie Young’s writing:  Skottie Young’s writing is just as witty and hilarious as it was in the first volume and I really enjoyed the chaotic adventures that Gertrude goes on!  I like the way that Skottie Young continues to make Gertrude into the same rambunctious and violent character that she was in the first volume as it made the story quite entertaining! I also liked the fact that Skottie Young started to gradually give Gertrude some character development in this volume as we start seeing some repercussions of Gertrude’s actions in Fairyland and I hope to see where Gertrude’s character arc goes to in the next volume!  Also, this may sound a bit sadistic of me, but I did enjoy the way that Skottie Young incorporated the over the top violence in this volume as it made the volume so hilarious and entertaining to read through!

Skottie Young and Jeffrey “Chamba” Cruz’s artwork:  Skottie Young’s artwork is just as hilarious here as it was in the previous volume as Gertrude continues to look like a young girl with a crazy expression on her face and having messy green locks for her hair. I also enjoyed seeing the carnage that Gertrude wrecks on Fairyland as it looks so exaggerated and comical at the same time!  Jeffrey “Chamba” Cruz’s artwork for issue eight was so hilarious and creative to look at!  I loved the scene when Gertrude ends up going inside an arcade game and the art style is done in an anime style that really fits well with the video game setting of that story and it made me really enjoy that issue!

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

Even though I still enjoyed this book, one of my main problems with this volume was that there were too many things going on in the story that I found myself being confused about some of the arcs in this volume (even the ending of this volume was a bit odd due to it coming out of nowhere).  Also, for readers who do not like gory violence or strong language, there is lots of gory violence in this volume that might be uncomfortable for some readers to handle.  Also, even though it was only one instance of this, there is the mention of the “s” word in this volume that anyone who does not like strong language should watch out for.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “I Hate Fairyland: Fluff My Life Volume Two” is a great continuation of the first volume that anyone who is a huge fan of this series should definitely check out and I definitely cannot wait to check out the third volume to this series!




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Monday, April 30, 2018

[ARC REVIEW] This is a Taco! by Andrew Cangelose








Title:  This is a Taco!

Author:  Andrew Cangelose

Artist:  Josh Shipley

Genre:  Children's / Animals / Humor / Food

Year Published: 2018

Year Read:  4/28/2018

Publisher: Lion Forge

Source: eARC (NetGalley)

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Some Mischief)

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.

So, I got yet another children’s book from NetGalley and this book is called “This is a Taco!” by Andrew Cangelose along with artwork by Josh Shipley.  I must say that this is seriously one of the FUNNIEST children’s books I had ever read for the modern era of children’s books!


Meet Taco!  Taco is a squirrel who happens to love eating tacos and he only agreed to be in this book if he can have some tacos. Unfortunately for Taco, this book is not about tacos as it is a book that teaches the readers about the life of a squirrel and how they are able to survive in the wild. 

Will Taco the Squirrel get his tacos?

Read this book to find out!

Wow! Just wow!  I thought that I would never read another children’s book that contains so much humor and wit in this day and age, but lo and behold, I found such a book! Andrew Cangelose has done an excellent job at writing this book as this story is truly hilarious to read! I loved the way that Andrew Cangelose wrote Taco the Squirrel himself as he is such a hilarious character who just wanted to have tacos to eat but has to endure lots of mishaps in this book so that the reader would learn more about squirrels.  I especially loved the way that Taco the Squirrel solved the problem of not getting tacos at the end of this book as it was a truly witty and humorous conclusion to the story!  I also loved the fact that the tone of this book reminded me so much of the popular children’s book “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales” as both books have sarcastic humor and characters who continually break the fourth wall and wanted the stories to go the way they see fit.  Josh Shipley’s artwork is adorable and hilarious to look at, especially of the images of Taco the Squirrel himself as he is shown as being a puffy looking squirrel with a humorous smile on his face on each panel.  I also loved the watercolors in the background as it gives the book a down to earth tone that compliments well with the mellowness of this book.


Overall, “This is a Taco!” is a truly hilarious book about squirrels and unconventional storytelling that children should definitely check out!  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.



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Saturday, April 21, 2018

[BOOK REVIEW] Once a Mouse...by Marcia Brown








Title:  Once a Mouse...

Author:  Marcia Brown


Genre:  Children's / India / Animals / Gratitude / Folktale

Year Published: 1961

Year Read:  1997 (Re Read: 2018)

Publisher:  
Charles Scribner's Sons

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 5+  (Some Intense Situations)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 


Revised Review (For Reread):

*Original Rating: 4 stars*
*Rating Now: 5 stars*
 

Now, I had read Marcia Brown’s retelling of the ancient Indian folktale “Once a Mouse…” many years ago and I had actually written a review for it years ago (some of my thoughts in the original review will be restated in this all new review)!  So, I decided to read this book again after all of these years to see if I still felt the same way I did years ago and surprisingly enough, I found out that I liked this book better the second time around than I did the first time (which is so awesome)!

The story started off with a wise old hermit thinking about big and little, when suddenly, he sees a mouse being chased by a crow and he ends up saving the mouse from the crow.  From then on, the hermit started taking care of the mouse until a cat came into the clearing and was about to eat the mouse until the hermit changed the mouse into an even bigger cat. Afterwards, the mouse kept getting threatened with a bigger animal until the hermit finally transformed the mouse into a tiger and the tiger, who was once a mouse, starts taking advantage of its huge size.

What will the hermit do with the tiger now?

Read this book to find out!


Marcia Brown had done an excellent job with both writing and illustrating this ancient tale from India.  I loved the way that Marcia Brown made this story so dramatic, especially since I was sitting on the edge of my seat trying to see if the mouse will survive in the forest with all of the dangers such as a cat, a dog and a tiger, threatening it.  I also loved the fact that Marcia Brown tackled the importance of being grateful to the people who helped you as it provides a great lesson for children to learn about being thankful to the people who have helped them out of a dangerous or complicated situation.  Marcia Brown’s illustrations are creative and rough-edged as the characters have jagged limbs and the coloring that is the most prevalent in this book are red, black, white and brown which creates a traditional atmosphere to this story.

The only problem I had with this book was that the narrative was a bit of a struggle to get through because the sentences were broken up, meaning that one half of the sentence would be on one page and the other half of the sentence continues onto the next page.  This can be extremely confusing for smaller children who are reading this book and parents might want to help their children read through this book to help their children understand the book much better.

Overall, “Once a Mouse” is a truly wonderful tale about how it is important to show gratitude towards someone who has helped you get out of a sticky situation, or in this case, four sticky situations!  This book will surely become a great classic for children who are interested in Indian culture.  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the sentence structure might be a bit too difficult for smaller children to read through.

* 1962 Caldecott Medal
* 1966 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award


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