Mom's review of Flora and Ulysses

I didn't love this book as an adult. I thought it was kind of silly. However, I thought it was great as a kids book. It was funny an engaging. The comics really added to the story.

I also liked that there was a lot of advanced vocabulary included but it was sort of secondary to the story. I felt like a child could understand the story without understanding the advanced words, but might be encouraged to learn the words.

I liked how the characters changed throughout the story, and especially the lesson that the mother learned in the end.

Ellie's review about Flora and Ulysses

Flora and Ulysses was a funny and like a comedy. It had lots of comics in it that I liked because there were funny sayings on them.

The squirrel doesn't think exactly like a person, but he doesn't think exactly like a squirrel either. Sometimes he tries to save the world and sometimes he thinks about food. He also writes poems and flies into things.

Flora is natural born cynic, which means that she doesn't trust people to do the right thing. She doesn't like her Mom that much, or her Mom's lamp. Flora's Mom isn't very nice to her, and she doesn't like Flora's Dad or her pet squirrel, Ulysses.

Flora's neighbor, Tootsie, has a nephew named William Spiver. He says he is blind, but he isn't really. He is really smart. He is in love with Flora and he thinks the squirrel is weird.

Flora and Ulysses have lots of adventures that make the book exciting. A lot of Flora's ideas were funny, like "we are supposed to save the world!.. or something"

You should read this book because it's funny and really enjoyable to all those who like comics and fantasy.

Ellie's review of 100 Cupboards

The book was interesting and exciting. I was excited to find what was going to happen next. When Henry found the first cupboard, I wanted to find out what was behind it and to find other cupboards.

Henry's parents were mean to him, but they weren't his real parents, even though he didn't know that. They didn't care for him because they weren't actually related to him. Henry likes the farm better than his home with his fake parents, because it's more fun and he has three cousins there.

I would like to read the next book in this series because this was a fun action filled book.

Mom's review of 100 cupboards

We read 100 Cupboards (100 Cupboards, Bk 1) . I thought this book was fantastic! It was very engaging and interesting for all ages. The writing was strong and mature despite it being a children's book. I loved all of the similes and metaphors, along with the detailed descriptions.

I made notes to talk with Ellie about several parts of the book, including how she felt about Henry's parents. Their kidnapping and his subsequent trip to his aunt and uncle's house is what set the stage for the story. However, it seemed like they were extremely overprotective, to the point of ruining Henry's childhood. We had an interesting conversation about that. Ellie saw them as mean, not as just worried about Henry.

As we went along, we discussed several foreshadowing parts. I thought the little old man was Henry's grandfather, who wasn't actually dead. Ellie thought he was someone nefarious.

Another thing we discussed was, why Frank was so quick to overlook the odd things that were happening? Was he just really not that observant, or did he know something?

 Spoiler alert!! 











This book was so interesting that I'm considering reading the next book (despite not having the time right now) to see if some of my questions can be answered. These are also questions that Ellie and I are discussing now that we are finished reading.

 1. Is it a coincidence that Henry (the boy), Henry (the town) and Henrietta (the girl) all have the same name?
2. Who really ARE Henry's parents?
3. Which world did Henry come from? Do you think it was the one with the broken tree and the stone slab? 4. Why did Henry see the dog alive in his dream and dead in real life?
5. What's up with the cat? Does he understand something, or is he just intuitive as a cat?

the beginning

My daughter, Ellie, and I both love to read. We often choose to read science fiction and fantasy. She was choosing to re-read the same books over and over again (Harry Potter mainly) I thought reading a book together might be a great way for us to spend some time together and encourage her to expand her book selection. We started with some Percy Jackson books, but I grew bored and had trouble coming up with things to talk about. Then the Newbery Award were given out for this year and I thought, wouldn't it be great if we read award winning books because they will hopefully provide some deeper themes. Also, I'm hoping we will be able to find discussion topics online if need be. Our first book, however, isn't an award winner. I selected the book,100 Cupboards (100 Cupboards, Bk 1) , because it received a lot praise and it sounded interesting. Also, we were able to check it out of the library right away to our kindles. We are on the waiting list for our next choice - Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures