The Chirri and Chirra books are surreal. You can hear the translation as sometimes the wording does not flow naturally on the ears. You will enjoy the story, but you probably should suspend belief. If you are looking for realism, Kaya Doi’s books are probably not what you are looking for. However, if you like a casual, somewhat natural mix of fantastic and realism, the Chirri and Chirra books are perfect. And the illustrations are very sweet with soft, happy colors, a lot of detail […]
A strong finish to this series about magical oppression.
Worth slogging through book two just to get to this one. (And I’m still not convinced my reaction to that book wasn’t just me trying to read it at the wrong time.) This is the third and final book in the original Bartimaeus Trilogy (he wrote a prequel in 2010 but I think I’m going to pass on that one). It takes place three years after the events of The Golem’s Eye. Nathaniel/John Mandrake is high up in government now, in charge of what is […]
Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.
I can’t tell if I have ever read this before, but I feel like I feel like I’ve read it, if that makes sense, because so many people I’ve known through the years have been obsessed with this book. Also, of course, I’ve run in more than one circle that’s been peppered with Little Prince tattoos. Anyway, I wanted to mention how after I read this, I then read about the author, and his story is quite touching and interesting. Just that when he otherwise […]
Five stars of adorable madness
In 2018 I went on a bucket-list trip to Antarctica and saw penguins. Always a fan of the adorable little birds (I mean, come on, that waddle!), I’ve become sort of obsessed. This new-found penguin mania resulted in a Sphenisciformes-themed Christmas, including a hard copy of the delightful 1938 children’s tale, Mr. Popper’s Penguins. I say delightful, but I might have easily said batshit crazy. I want whatever the Atwater couple was smoking when they wrote this. For context, Mr. Atwater died before publishing Mr. […]