[BOOK REVIEW] Weird Parents by Audrey Wood

Title:  Weird Parents

Author:  Audrey Wood

Genre: Family / Surreal / Comedy

Year Published: 1990

Year Read:  1993

Publisher: Puffin

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+ (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy or Add on:  Amazon  //  Goodreads

“Weird Parents” is another classic book from the famed children’s author…..AUDREY WOOD!!!!  This book humorously narrates the story of a boy’s attempts at trying to get used to his parents’ awkward ways with society. Audrey Wood’s hilarious story and even more hilarious illustrations make this book a true comedic and sitcom book.

Audrey Wood has truly been successful in her children’s books and “Weird Parents” is certainly no exception. Audrey Wood explores the trials of what every child goes through whenever they have parents who embarrassed them in public, but in the end, understands that their parents really do care about them no matter how weird they are. Also, Audrey Wood’s illustrations are humorous and surreal as she illustrates everyone in public as regular looking people while the weird parents have loud and colorful clothing and wobbly limbs. The image that really stood out the most in this book was the image of the weird parents reading their son a scary book inside the tent and their eyes are wide with fright while the boy just sits with them with a contented look on his face. This image shows that the narrator, the little boy, finally comes to terms with his parents’ oddness in society and realizes that his parents do in fact love him no matter how weird they are.

“Weird Parents” is an excellent book about respecting your parents’ individuality and learning the true meaning of parental love for a child, despite them occasionally embarrassing you in public. For parents who want to teach their children about parental love, this book is certainly appropriate for children ages four and over and will surely be another cult classic from Audrey Wood.

[BOOK REVIEW] Faefever by Karen Marie Moning

Title:  Faefever

Author:  Karen Marie Moning

Genre: Urban Fantasy / Horror / Paranormal Romance

Year Published: 2008

Number of Pages: 501 pages

Date Read:  2/3/2014   

Publisher: Gale Cengage Learning

Series: Fever #3

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 18+ (Strong Language and Intense Moments)

Buy on:  Amazon  / Book Depository 

After reading the second book in Karen Marie Moning’s famous “Fever” series, “Bloodfever,” I was more determined than ever to read the rest of this series and lo and behold, I finally managed to pick up the third book in the series “Faefever” and man, was this one shocker of a novel!

MacKayla Lane is back once again and now things are much more complicated for her than ever before!  First of all, Mac continues to search for the mysterious and dangerous book, the Sinsar Dubh.  But, every time she gets near the book, she immediately falls ill and cannot approach the book at all.  The second thing that is complicating her life is that her trust in both Jericho Barrons and the immortal Fae Prince V’lane is starting to weaken as both men keeps secrets from her and they both want to use Mac to find the Sinsar Dubh for their own purposes.   Mac, determined to find out the truth about this new nightmarish world that she is thrown into, decides to make new alliances that could help her discover more about the Fae and her destiny.  Unfortunately, Mac will soon discover that something more horrible than she could ever imagine would come to Dublin in full force!

Karen Marie Moning continues to weave more mystery and horror into her “Fever” series and this novel is definitely no exception to this rule!  I loved the way that Karen Marie Moning made Mac into a more proactive character in this novel as she goes out of her way to discover more about the Fae and how she could defeat them. I was curious myself about what is really going on with the Fae creatures invading Dublin and how Mac will establish her relationship with the other sidhe-seers, including Dani, who are lead by the harsh and prudent Rowena.  Thankfully, this novel revealed everything about the history of the Fae and about the sidhe-seers’ roles in protecting the Sinsar Dubh and I must admit I was shocked by the revelations of these facts!  I have been enjoying Mac’s relationship with Dani, the young sidhe-seer on Rowena’s side as Mac treats her like a little sister and I always thought it was a bit adorable whenever Dani uses the word “feck” to substitute for the other “f” word whenever she gets angry.  Just when I thought that Jericho Barrons could not get anymore mysterious, his mysteriousness level goes up to eleven in this novel as there are hints that he may not be human (I hope we learn more about him in later books).  But, all of this mysteriousness just makes me love Jericho Barrons even more and I really loved his rough and complicated nature (even though I wished that there were more moments between him and Mac in this novel).  V’lane was a pretty interesting character in this book (even though at the moment, I am for team Barrons/Mac) since he is a Fae Prince that seems to help out Mac whenever she is in a jam and I do wonder what his relationship with Mac will become in future books (man, all this mystery about these characters just makes me really want to check out the rest of this series)!

For anyone who does not like strong language, this novel contains stronger language than in the last two books.  Also, this novel is a bit darker than the previous two novels due to Mac’s distrust of both Barrons and V’lane strengthening throughout this novel and due to more horrible things happening to Dublin due to the Fae’s existence.

Overall, “Faefever” is a fantastic and shocking novel in Karen Marie Moning’s “Fever” series and I definitely cannot wait to read the fourth book in the series “Dreamfever” (man, why did this book have to end on a huge cliffhanger?)

 

[BOOK REVIEW] The Far Side Gallery 3 by Gary Larson

Title:  The Far Side Gallery 3

Author:  Gary Larson

Genre: Animals / Humor / Society


Year Published: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984

Year Read: 2014


Publisher: Universal Press Syndicate Company

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 7+ (Some Suggestive Themes)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

Introduction:

Now, I have heard many good things about Gary Larson’s famous “The Far Side Gallery” series, but I never had the chance to read them, until now!  Surprisingly starting with the third volume of the “Far Side Gallery” series, “The Far Side Gallery 3,” I found myself rolling on the floor with laughter throughout the entire volume!

What is this story about?

Basically, this volume contains many comic strips of Gary Larson’s famous series “The Far Side Gallery” and each comic strip has a character or an animal doing something hilarious in their situations.

What I loved about this story:

Gary Larson’s writing: Gary Larson’s writing is truly brilliant and hilarious at the same time as the various characters in these comic strips are always doing something hilarious or playing off of a pun in an intriguing way.  I loved the way that Gary Larson takes puns such as “Primitive Fandango” and “Parakeet Furniture” and managed to twist them around by actually having the characters take the puns seriously, such as the parakeet furniture being shown as human fingers with the parakeets perching on them.  In all honesty, I really enjoyed almost all of the comic strips in this collection as they were creative and hilarious at the same time and here are a couple of excerpts that I considered to be some of my favorites in this collection:

“For crying out loud, I was hibernating!  Don’t you guys ever take a pulse?” (When a bear was mistaken for being dead at a funeral)

“So, then, when Old MacDonald turned his back, I took that ax, and with a whack whack here and a whack whack there, I finished him off. (A chicken tells an inmate about how he killed Old MacDonald and ended up in jail).

“Neither rain nor snow nor sleet nor hail, they said, could stop the mail…But they didn’t figure on Rexbo.”

“He’s dead, all right-beaked in the back…and, you know, this won’t be easy to solve.” (Solving the murder of a penguin among a group of penguins)

Gary Larson’s artwork:  Gary Larson’s artwork is hilarious to look at as the characters look exaggerated with their bodies looking a bit wobbly and their heads being a bit larger than their bodies.  I also loved the simplistic look of the artwork as it makes the comedic moments in this collection stand out even more.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

Probably the only thing problematic with this series is that there are a couple of comic strips in this collection that mentions “hell” a dozen times and that might be a bit upsetting for some readers.  Readers who do not like the mention of “hell” might want to skim over the comic strips that mention “hell” whenever they read this collection.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “The Far Side Gallery 3” is a truly brilliant series for fans of Gary Larson’s “Far Side Gallery” series and you will surely start rolling around the floor with laughter at this collection!

[BOOK REVIEW] Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

Title:  Fortunately, the Milk

Author:  Neil Gaiman

Artist:  Skottie Young

Genre: Time Travel / Humor / Adventure / Family

Year Published: 2013

Year Read: 1/16/2014

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 8+ (Some Bizarre Imagery)

I have read many books by Neil Gaiman that were either children’s books or adult books, but Neil Gaiman’s most recent book, “Fortunately, the Milk,” has to be one of the most surreal and light-hearted books out of his collection! 

The story starts off with a young boy and his little sister running out of milk and their father ends up going to the store to buy some more milk.  However, when the father vanishes for a long time and he finally comes back home, his kids wonder where he had been.  The father than goes on and tells this bizarre story about how he was on his way home, when he was abducted by aliens who wanted to remodel the planet Earth.  The father then manages to escape the aliens through an emergency exit in the ship and he lands in the ocean where he meets a group of pirates!  The father then managed to escape the pirates when a booming voice from above the sky calls out to him to climb up the rope ladder. When the father climbed up the rope ladder, he ends up meeting a green stegosaurus called Professor Steg who happens to be a world-renowned time traveler!

Then things get weirder from here…

Neil Gaiman has done it again in this whimsical tale about a father going on a wild adventure after trying to deliver some milk to his kids!  Now, I have mentioned before that this is probably Neil Gaiman’s most light-hearted book out of all of his children’s books combined since most of his works were dark and yet still retain its creative flair for the fantasy elements!  So, I absolutely loved the way that Neil Gaiman made this story both hilarious and creative at the same time and I also loved the humorous nature of this story as the Father and Professor Steg easily trick their enemies whenever they get into a tight situation! I also loved the loose narrative of this story as the Father and Professor Steg constantly keep getting into weirder situations as the story progresses and I was constantly baffled by the various people they meet along the way such as Splod the God and a group of wumpires (not vampires, although they have the same characteristics).  But what really surprised me the most in this book were Skottie Young’s illustrations, since I was so used to seeing Dave McKean illustrate many books by Neil Gaiman and it was a pleasant surprise to see a different artist illustrate a book written by Neil Gaiman.  Skottie Young’s illustrations complement the chaotic and hilarious nature of this book as the characters and the landscapes look truly exaggerated and surreal, making the Father’s adventures really stand out!  I also loved the image of the Father himself as he wears a long striped scarf and has wild and crazy hair that brings out his eccentric nature.

The only thing that might be problematic with this book is that the story tends to jump around very quickly and that might confuse some children.  There are many events that take place during the father and Professor Steg’s adventures such as meeting the pirates and meeting the space aliens and all of those adventures colliding with each other might confuse some children who are not used to reading so many events in one sitting.

Overall, “Fortunately, the Milk” is a fantastic read for children who are huge fans of Neil Gaiman’s works and love reading about surreal and imaginative adventures!  I would highly recommend this book to children of any ages!

 

[BOOK REVIEW] Caleb and Kate by William Steig

Title:  Caleb and Kate

Author:  William Steig

Genre: Romance / Animals / Magic

Year Published: 1977

Year Read:  1993

Publisher: Square Fish

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 6+  (One Intense Scene Involving Burglary and Domestic Tensions)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“Caleb and Kate” is one of William Steig’s most touching and intense books about how love can conquer any obstacle in life. The story of how the couple dealt with almost being separated from each other, due from a magic spell, is one of the most popular forms of fairy tales ever created.

“Caleb and Kate” is an extremely dramatic love story from the creative mind of William Steig. William Steig shows that even though Caleb and Kate fought with each other most of the time, their love for each other has mysteriously broke the spell over Caleb and the couple reunite with each other with more passion than before. William Steig has specialty with illustrating the forests in each of his stories with luscious colors. “Caleb and Kate” is no exception with the forests contrasting in color as the forests are light during the day and are dark during the night.

The two things that I find wrong with this book is that the story tends to be longer than any other children’s book I have read and that there are many words in the book that young children would not understand. The story tends to stretch out more than it needs to such as, the scene where Caleb is playing with the other dogs, when the focus of the story is actually in Caleb trying to tell his wife that he is her long lost husband that she is trying to find. Also, William Steig has been known to use advanced vocabulary in his books, even though they are aimed at children. The words that many young children would find hard to understand are “odious,” “cantankerous,” and “avidly.” Parents should take some time to explain the advanced vocabulary to their children so that the children would understand the book better.

“Caleb and Kate” explains about how love manages to bring two quarreling couples back together after Caleb has been transformed into a dog. Even though Caleb was threatened with the idea of spending the rest of his life as a dog, he still did not give up on the love that he shares with Kate and tries to be by her side at all times. This book is the perfect love story for young children and adults would also love this book as well for its theme about love conquering anything.

[BOOK REVIEW] The Wump World by Bill Peet

Title:  The Wump World

Author:  Bill Peet

Genre: Animals / Environmentalism / Pollution

Year Published: 1970

Year Read:  2010

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+  (Some Suggestive Themes)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“The Wump World” is an inspiring environmental story from the great mind of Bill Peet and it is about how the Wumps’ world changes when a race called the Pollutians come onto the Wump world and start polluting the world.  “The Wump World” is a truly effective tale that really delivers the message of the dangers of pollution in a creative and dramatic way.

Bill Peet has done a magnificent job at bringing the message of the consequences of polluting as the Wump World becomes so polluted that no life can really live on the planet.  Many children will understand the negative effects of pollution as the book does a great job at describing the terrible effects that pollution caused on the Wump World.  Bill Peet’s illustrations are beautiful and effective as the illustrations of the wumps are creative as the wumps look like half moose and half elephant creatures and there are more creative images in this book as the Pollutians look like little blue people.  The images that stood out the most in this book are the images of the pollution that the Pollutians have brought to the Wump World as the sky and the world looks so dark and dreary, which effectively brings out the message of the dangers of pollution in an effective way.

Parents should know that the Pollutians do not seem to learn their lesson as they seem more intent on finding another planet to live on rather then just fixing up the mess they have caused.  Parents should tell their children that pollution is bad for the environment and that if they caused a mess, they have to clean up after themselves.

“The Wump World” is a heartwarming tale about the importance of respecting the environment that children will learn greatly from I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the length of the book might bore smaller children.

[BOOK REVIEW] Mice Twice by Joseph Low

Title:  Mice Twice

Author:  Joseph Low

Genre: Animals / Food Chain / Suspense

Year Published: 1980

Year Read:  2004

Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+ (Some Scary Imagery)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“Mice Twice” is a clever book by Joseph Low about how a clever mouse outsmarts a hungry cat when the cat invited her over for dinner.  “Mice Twice” may have some intense looking illustrations that might scare smaller children, but this is truly a classic book for children of all ages.

Joseph Low has done an excellent job with both the story and the illustrations of this clever tale.  Joseph Low effectively shows how cunning can beat trickery as long as that person (in this case, Mouse) is cautious among people who intend to do them harm and try to avoid them at all costs.  Joseph Low’s illustrations are scratchy yet detailed especially of Cat and Lion as they both have sharp teeth and intense looking eyes, strongly indicating that they are clearly the villains of this tale.  Also, Joseph Low has done an excellent job at illustrating the characters in 1800s clothing style, indicating that this tale took place many years ago.

Parents should know that some of the images of Cat and Lion in this book may be too intense for smaller children too handle.  Cat and Lion have intense looking eyes throughout the book as their eyes are always shadowed and they also have sharp teeth that strongly reinforce their ruthless nature.  Parents should read this book first before they show it to their children and see if their children are used to illustrations that look intense.

“Mice Twice” is an interesting and great tale about trickery and being cautious of one’s surroundings and children will surely take great pleasure in reading this tale over and over again.  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since smaller children might be scared by the intense illustrations of Cat and Lion.

*  1981 Caldecott Honor