[BOOK REVIEW] Goodnight iPad by Ann Droyd

Title:  Goodnight iPad

Author:  Ann Droyd


Genre: Parody / Humor / Animal



Year Published:  2011



Year Read:  2012

Publisher:  Blue Rider Press

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 6+ (Nothing Objectionable)

I never thought that I would see the day where there would actually be a parody book done on Margaret Wise Brown’s classic children’s book “Goodnight Moon.”  Here, Ann Droyd gives us a parody book of the classic children’s book called “Goodnight iPad” which is “Goodnight Moon” for the current generation and wow, this book is absolutely hilarious!

Set up like the plot in “Goodnight Moon,” the characters in this book is a family of rabbits who are constantly seen playing with all kinds of electronics in the current generation such as some of the rabbit kids are playing with an iPad, some are watching a huge LCD Wi-Fi HDTV and some of the rabbit kids have a BlackBerry that plays Eminem songs.  When it gets too noisy in the little rabbit house, the old rabbit woman has enough and…

Read this book to find out what happens next!

Never would I have read a parody book on a famous children’s classic that would be written so cleverly, that even the new generation will easily enjoy the simple storytelling of “Goodnight Moon!”  Ann Droyd has certainly done an excellent job at parodying the famous children’s classic by having the characters in this book use electronics that are popular with the current generation such as iPads, BlackBerry phones, Facebook, Netflix and Androids and creating a hilarious story about how having too much technology in the house can get irritating really fast.  I was practically laughing out loud when I kept hearing the names of the current electronics (iPad, BlackBerry, Android) being used in the context of a children’s bedtime story since it made the story sound so hilarious and creative at the same time.  Ann Droyd’s illustrations are just so hilarious and cute at the same time as the images are filled with yellow cartoony looking rabbits that are constantly being shown playing with whatever new electronic device they got such as images of the young rabbits looking at a LCD Wi-Fi HDTV.

Overall, “Goodnight iPad” is easily one of the best parodies of “Goodnight Moon” ever created and will definitely be a hit with children who grew up iPads, Androids, Facebook and all of that good technology in the current times!  I would recommend this book to children ages six and up since smaller children might not understand about the different types of electronics being used in this story.

[BOOK REVIEW] The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss

Title:  The Cat in the Hat

Author: Dr. Seuss


Genre: Humor / Animal / Manners


Year Published: 1957



Year Read: 1990



Series: The Cat in the Hat #1

Publisher:  Random House

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 3+ (Some Mischievous Behavior)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

“The Cat in the Hat” was one of Dr. Seuss’ most popular children’s books ever created. The book featured the stove pipe hat feline troublemaker who tries to show two bored kids how to have fun on a rainy day with disastrous results. The Cat in the Hat has forever remained to be one of the most popular figures in children’s literature ever!

Dr. Seuss’ superb rhyming text is as creative as it is funny. He easily finds the perfect rhyming of each word while telling a story through his rhymes. Dr. Seuss’ illustrations are also excellent in this book as the coloring in this book mostly consists of red, white, blue, and black. Dr. Seuss’ illustrations always stand out from other children’s books and the illustration that stood out the most was the image of Sally being pulled by one of the kite strings as Thing One and Thing Two are playing recklessly in the house. Most children’s do not put images of children being pulled by something that could endanger them, but “The Cat in the Hat” does it so delicately that it is not really a threat to the book’s young audience. This image also showcases that when the boy emphasizes that what the Things were doing was not fun at all, he shows Sally being forcefully pulled in by the Things’ riotous antics.

“The Cat in the Hat” is known as the cult classic from Dr. Seuss and deserves this honor. The book strongly emphasize the consequences of letting a stranger into a house while the adult is away and how the boy finally comes to his senses to realize that both he and Sally could get in trouble with their mother if he does not stop the Things from destroying the house. “The Cat in the Hat” is a greatly treasured book that will remain to be popular for many years.

[BOOK REVIEW] Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss

 

Title:  Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Author: Dr. Seuss


Genre: Humor / Drama / Self-Esteem / Animal



Year Published: 1990



Year Read: 2011

Publisher: Random House

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 3+ (Some Scary Imagery)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

Dr. Seuss is clearly the true essence of children’s books as he writes about life in a playful and lyrical way that children can easily understand.  Well, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” is definitely no exception as it is about believing in yourself as you go out into the world.  “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” is easily a book that every child should read whenever he or she are in a slump!

Basically, this book is about taking charge of your own life facing difficulties in your life such as loneliness, fear, and confusion, with a straight face and taking on life ahead of you in a lyrical prose that children will easily appreciate!

Oh my goodness!  There are so many things that I loved about this book that it would take me all day to list them!  For one thing, Dr. Seuss’ writing is clearly more memorable in this book as he tells children who are on their way to facing life ahead of them on their own to have positive attitudes and face their fears head on!  I just loved the way that Dr. Seuss showed the upside and downside attributes of life all in a lyrical prose as the writing was truly creative and inspirational.  I never would have thought that I would find a book about the tough trials of life that is so well-written and whenever I read this book, I think about the hardships I had to endure during my life, but then I realize that life always has its ups and downs and only you can decide what to make of your life, which is what Dr. Seuss has shown in this book.  Probably my favorite verse in this book was this line:

“I’m afraid that some times,
You’ll play lonely games too.
Games you can’t win,
‘cause you’ll play against you.”

This was a truly powerful verse for me because it is saying that there will be times where you can succeed, but sometimes when you do not believe in yourself, you end up losing the game or not succeeding at all.  Dr. Seuss’ illustrations are just as creative and surreal in this book as the main character is a young boy who wears a yellow jumpsuit and a yellow hat.  The world that surrounds the boy is extremely surreal as the hills and the grounds are in multicolored stripes and the creatures that the boy meets along the way are also bizarre, especially of the image of the boy meeting a huge green monster that has black stripes on its body and short yellow bushy tail.

All in all, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” is easily one of Dr. Seuss’ best works ever created and it should be read to any child who graduates from school!  I would recommend this book to children ages three and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

[BOOK REVIEW] Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Title:  Vampire Academy

Author: Richelle Mead


Genre: Paranormal Romance

Year Published: 2007

Number of Pages: 332 pages

Date Read: 6/14/2011

Series: Vampire Academy #1

Publisher:  Razorbill

Source:  Purchased

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

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

When my friends told me about Richelle Mead’s popular “Vampire Academy” series, I just had to check this series out!  Wow and double wow, this book was a brilliant introduction to the “Vampire Academy” series and after I had read this book, I really wanted to read more about these awesome characters! Full of drama, mystery, action and hot romance, “Vampire Academy” is definitely one novel that will take the paranormal world by storm!

For two years, Rose Hathaway and Vasilisa “Lissa” Dragomir, escaped from St. Vladimir’s Academy to go into hiding, but they were soon discovered by the school’s guardians and were brought back to the academy.  Little does anyone know Rose took her best friend Lissa out of the academy because there was a great danger being posed against Lissa and only Rose can protect her from the forces of evil.

Now, should I give this book a six star rating?  Yes, definitely yes!  This novel is clearly the one that defines what a true paranormal romance is all about and I am so glad that all my friends had recommended me this book!  Richelle Mead’s writing is extremely and unbelievably amazing as it is full of action and adventure and I loved the sort of mature “Harry Potter” spin on this story as both stories involve the main characters going to a magical school. I also loved the way that the plot never once slows down and the story keeps getting more exciting as the story went on and that was what I loved about the writing.  The way that Richelle Mead made this story being told from Rose’s point of view on the events that unfold at the academy was truly remarkable and hilarious at the same time as we know how Rose really feels about the situations around her and I loved hearing her inner thoughts on various people at school as some of them are really hilarious, such as thinking of many ways to beat up the school bully Mia.  I really loved the world that Rose and her friends live in as they all go to a school for vampires or more specifically, a school for Dhampir and Moroi students and that really brings out the creativity in this novel.  Now, my favorite part of the book were the characters as they were all interesting, but the two characters in this book that were my favorites were Rose Hathaway and Russian guardian, Dimitri Belikov.  Rose Hathaway was such an awesome heroine because she is extremely brave and independent and even though I sometimes found her hot temper to be a little annoying at times, it is because she tries to protect her best friend Lissa from danger.  That is another aspect that I loved about Rose because she is always willing to put her life on the line to keep her friend Lissa safe and that just proves what a true friend Rose is.  I also loved how Rose always provides humor for the story as she is always making wisecracks about the situations around her and I especially loved her inner thoughts on taking care of the school bullies, which unfortunately involves her beating them up.  Now onto the hero and that is Dimitri Belikov!  Dimitri was one hero that is so hot and awesome at the same time and I loved the scenes of him fighting off anyone who tries to harm Rose!  I also loved the mysterious and dark attitude that he seems to give off towards everyone around him, but he also has a heart of gold and I loved the moments where he smiles at Rose and shows genuine concern for her safety. It just makes me feel so tingly inside every time he shows kindness towards Rose!
As for Dimitri and Rose’s relationship, it is kind of unknown to me at this point about where they stand, but there are still some pretty heartwarming and sexy moments between these two that I will definitely keep an eye out for!

Surprisingly, there is a strong amount of language and violence in this book and anyone who does not like reading strong language might want to skip over them.  Also, the violence in this book is pretty graphic as there is gore aplenty in this book, so that might be something that anyone who is not a big fan of graphic violence might want to check over.

Overall, “Vampire Academy” is definitely one paranormal book that every paranormal romance fan will read over and over again! Did this novel help me get more into the series?  You bet it did and now I’m going to read the second book in the series, “Frostbite.”

*Winner: 2008 ALA Teens' Top Ten

[BOOK REVIEW] The Sandman: The Doll's House Volume 2 by Neil Gaiman

Title:  The Sandman:  The Doll's House Volume 2

Author:  Neil Gaiman

Artists:  Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, Chris Bachalo, Michael Zulli and Steve Parkhouse


Genre: Supernatural / Fantasy / Horror


Year Published: 1990


Year Read: 2012


Series: The Sandman #2


Publisher: Vertigo Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Graphic Violence, Child Abuse and a Near Rape)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

After reading Neil Gaiman’s first graphic novel in the “Sandman” series “Preludes and Nocturnes,” I just had to read more from this fantastic series and lo and behold, I have just picked up the second volume of the “Sandman” series, “The Doll’s House!” “The Doll’s House” is just as dark and gritty as the first volume and this will be a volume that fans will cherished for many years!

After the events of “Preludes and Nocturnes,” Dream (known as “The Sandman” or Morpheus) goes back and tries to restore everything in his kingdom, starting with dealing with the missing subjects in his kingdom which includes Brute and Glob, two monstrous beings who once worked for the Sandman, the Corinthian, who is a being of nightmares and Fiddler’s Green who is a place that has gone missing.  While the Sandman is trying to find all his missing subjects, another part of the story is focused on a young woman named Rose Walker who finds out more than she wanted to know when she finds out that her grandmother is still alive and she sets out to find her long lost Brother Jed.  There a total of seven parts in this volume and they are:

Tales in the Sand

The Doll’s House

Playing House

Men of Good Fortune

Welcome Cereal Convention (Fifth story)

Into the Night

Lost Hearts

Wow! I was just so blown away by this second volume of the fantastic “Sandman” series!  Even though the first “Sandman” volume was dark and gritty in the violence department, this volume was dark and gritty in the psychological department as it deals with serial killers and child abuse.  Neil Gaiman has wonderfully written this story in an extremely dark and twisted way while providing excitement for the readers.  I also loved how in this volume, the story is more focused on the characters and their strife, especially with Rose Walker and her place in the world.  My favorite story was the prologue of the story called “Tales in the Sand” which is when an African tribesman relates the sad story of Queen Nada who ruled the city of glass and how she fell in love with the lord of the dreams named Kai’ckul to his grandson.  “Tales in the Sand” is a really dark and interesting story about forbidden love and tragedy that really made me really sympathize with all the characters in this story.  Neil Gaiman has also done an excellent job at providing suspense and mystery to the story surrounding Rose Walker that while I was hoping that she would find her missing brother Jed, I was also on the edge of my seat in seeing what kind of connections she has with the Sandman and what her destiny holds for her.  It was also interesting and disturbing to see a convention for serial killers in the fifth story of this volume as I was wondering how could these serial killers have a convention in a public hotel without the police noticing something is wrong here?  This volume is a bit different from the first volume as the first volume had a more “surreal dream” spookiness to the story while in this volume, it had a more “realistic” horror spookiness since it deals with rape and child abuse and seeing innocent children being tortured is scary enough.  The artwork by Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, Chris Bachalo, Michael Zulli and Steve Parkhouse is so astonishing and they greatly complement the dark and gritty style of the stories.  I especially loved the images of Rose Walker herself as she has blond hair with red and blue highlights in her hair which makes her look extremely creative.  I also loved the image of the Corinthian itself as its eyes are two mouths with sharp teeth that truly make it look nightmarish.

Just like the first volume, the second volume has disturbing content that might make some readers really uncomfortable.  Even though in this volume, there is less violence although there are some bloody scenes, this volume is more disturbing in criminal situations such as a scene with a child being locked in a basement and being abused by his relatives and a scene where a character is nearly raped.  If you are uncomfortable with scenes that deal with child abuse and rape, then this volume might be difficult to get through.

Overall, “The Sandman: The Doll’s House” is a brilliant volume that fans of the “Sandman” series should definitely check out and read! I would recommend this volume to children ages sixteen and up since there is so much disturbing content in this volume such as rape and child abuse. Now I am off to read the third volume in the “Sandman” series, “Dream Country.”

[BOOK REVIEW] Strega Nona's Magic Lessons by Tomie dePaola

Title:  Strega Nona's Magic Lessons

Author:  Tomie dePaola


Genre: Magic / Discipline / Humor / Italy



Year Published: 1984



Year Read: 1997



Series: Strega Nona #3

Publisher:  HMH Books for Young Readers

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Some Mischievous Behavior)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 
 

I have been reading the “Strega Nona” series ever since I was a child and there were many “Strega Nona” books that I have really enjoyed over the years!  One of my favorites was this little gem called “Strega Nona’s Magic Lessons” by Tomie dePaola and it is about how Big Anthony wanted to learn magic like Strega Nona, but might have to go through drastic measures to learn magic!  “Strega Nona’s Magic Lessons” is a truly clever and hilarious story for “Strega Nona” fans!

Bambolona, the baker’s daughter was extremely upset with her job since she is the only employee working at her father’s bakery while her father just sits in the town square chatting away with his friends.  When Bambolona tried to tell her father that she needs help with the bakery, her father just told her to work harder and that caused Bambolona to leave her father’s bakery and go to Strega Nona’s house.  Strega Nona then tells Bambolona that she could teach her magic, but when Big Anthony wanted to learn magic too, Strega Nona told him that he could not learn magic.  Big Anthony was so upset at this that he leaves Strega Nona to work for the baker, only to end up losing his job at the bakery on the first day.  When Big Anthony realizes that the only way he could learn magic is if he is a woman, he decides to dress up like a Strega and try to learn some magic!  . 

Everything about this book is so perfectly humorous and creative that I just had to read this book over and over again!  Tomie dePaola’s writing and illustrations are both extremely creative and hilarious at the same time and together they made this story into quite a treat to read!  I loved the way that Tomie dePaola portrayed all the characters in this story as they are all interesting to read about, especially Strega Nona, Bambolona and Big Anthony!  Now, I keep forgetting that Bambolona’s actual first appearance was in “Big Anthony and the Magic Ring,” but she did not have a speaking role in that book.  This book however, is Bambolona’s first speaking role in the “Strega Nona” series and it was great that she has become apart of the popular cast of “Strega Nona” as she is like a clever folly to Big Anthony’s foolishness.  Big Anthony’s latest mischief is just as hilarious as his incident with the pasta pot in “Strega Nona” and I loved seeing him dressed up as a woman in order to learn magic from Strega Nona.  Tomie dePaola’s illustrations are extremely hilarious and creative at the same time as Strega Nona is as always shown as a wise looking woman who is always wearing an apron and a white shawl on her head.  My favorite illustrations were of when both Bambolona and Antonia were learning cures for the people and while Bambolona was always getting the cures right, Antonia was always getting the cures wrong.

Overall, “Strega Nona’s Magic Lessons” is a truly hilarious and creative book for children who are fans of the “Strega Nona” series and who love seeing a little magic in their lives! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the Italian phrases might be a bit too difficult for smaller children to understand.

[BOOK REVIEW] Abarat by Clive Barker

Title:  Abarat

Author: Clive Barker


Genre: Fantasy

Year Published: 2003

Date Read: 3/14/2005

Series: Abarat #1

Publisher: HarperCollins

Source:  Library

Content Rating: Ages 15+ (Violence and Frightening Imagery)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository
 

I remembered reading Clive Barker’s classic story, “Abarat” years ago when I was in high school and I remembered really enjoying the story when I first read it.  Now, I have taken the time to re-read this book again and lo and behold, I love it just as much now as I did years ago!  “Abarat” is clearly a truly creative and exciting for fans of Clive Barker’s novels and exploring surreal fantasy worlds!

Candy Quackenbush was just a normal girl who lived in a boring town called Chickentown, where everything revolves around the history of chickens.  One day however, when Candy spots a strange man named John Mischief (whose brothers all stay on the horns of his head) being chased by a frightening creature named Mendelson Shape, she realizes that her world will change forever since she is thrown into a completely strange and fantastic world called Abarat.  Once Candy stays in Abarat meeting new friends and enemies most notably Christopher Carrion the Prince of Midnight, she starts to realize many unanswered secrets about herself that could decide the fate of Abarat! 

I will admit that this was quite an unusual book to read!  Clive Barker has done an excellent job at both writing and illustrating this book about a young girl traveling to a strange and unknown world while finding out more about herself in the process.  Clive Barker’s writing is extremely interesting and beautiful as Clive Barker details everything that has happened in Candy’s journeys in vivid detail.  I loved the way that Clive Barker describes Abarat as being a place full of wonder, especially the part about how Abarat is a world that has islands that represent a different hour of the day such as the Great Head that represents eight in the evening and Gorgossium is an island that represents midnight.  I also loved the way that Clive Barker unfolds the histories of each character little by little without spoiling too much for the readers until the end of the novel which makes me really want to solve the mysteries of each character as the book goes on.  The characters in this book were fantastic, especially Candy Quackenbush and John Mischief as they brought life to the story.  Candy Quackenbush was quite an unusual heroine as she just easily gets used to the surreal nature of Abarat, which adds more mystery to her background and I also loved the spunky personality that Candy possesses as she always speak her mind and can be a friendly person if she is not threatened.  John Mischief is another character I was quite interested in, especially the fact that on his horns, he has the seven smaller heads of his brothers living on his horns, which I found extremely odd yet fascinating at the same time.  I also loved how brave and kind hearted John Mischief is, even though his past history is quite questionable.  Clive Barker’s illustrations are extremely colorful and creative and I loved the images of the islands that are in Abarat as they are colorful and gorgeous to look at, especially when the lands are surrounded by water and you cannot help but feel like you are actually experiencing the wonderful world of Abarat.  I also loved the images of the strange creatures that live in Abarat such as the image of John Mischief himself as he has red skin and has horns where seven small heads (which are his brothers) occupied his horns and some images of birds with skulls for heads.  I also loved the fact that Clive Barker manages to make this story have a perfect blend of “Harry Potter” (the magic elements) and “Alice in Wonderland” (main character travels to a strange land) as it made the story extremely creative to read.  Here is how I compare the characters from “Alice in Wonderland” to this book:

Alice – Candy Quackenbush

The White Rabbit – John Mischief

The Queen of Hearts – Christopher Carrion

Wonderland – Abarat

The only problem with this novel is that there are some violent content and disturbing images that some readers might not like.  Some of the violent content included are a fight with a dragon that involves stabbing and a few beatings of a character.  There are also some images that are a bit frightening to look at such as the image of Christopher Carrion himself as he has a pale face and he has a red box shaped mask that shows green worm like things that are the nightmares he keeps in the red box shaped mask.

Overall, “Abarat” is a truly wonderful book that anyone who loves reading fantasy adventure books will enjoy for many years to come! Now, I am off to read the second book in the “Abarat” series, “Days of Magic, Nights of War.”

*  2002 Borders Original Voices Award for YA or Independent Reader