"Tales of a Sixth-Grade Muppet" by Kirk Scroggs

Fans of The Muppets will get a kick out of this book. Danvers is a pretty typical kid though his little sister is more annoying than most sisters and his hero is Gonzo. But other than that, pretty normal. He tries auditioning for the upcoming talent show, but is beat out. He's crushed. The next morning, something very strange happens. When he wakes up his skin is orange and fuzzy, his arms and legs are floppy, and his nose is red- he's been turned into a muppet! Suddenly his world is turned upside down and before he knows it, he is an intern at the Muppet Theater where he gets to work with Kermit, Fozzie, Animal and his hero, Gonzo himself!

I picked up Tales of a Sixth-Grade Muppet because it was about The Muppets. I'm not sure if books are the best medium for these characters even though the book was good. I don't think that those that aren't aware of the characters will get much out of the book. It seems to me that the jokes with the Swedish Chef and Beaker translate much better in a audio/visual medium instead of through text. However, there are lots of other jokes in this book and there's plenty to keep adults entertained as well as kids (I think this would be an excellent book to share as a family- and a great way to introduce said kids to some amazing Muppet movies). It has a Wimpy Kid element to it as well in that parts of the books are told in kid-like drawings. This is also a good thing to point out to kids who might pick it up for that reason. I see this book appealing a little more to boys, but there is nothing in it that is going to really be a turn-off for girls.  Basically, this isn't the best book I've read lately, but it was still quite entertaining and I think that Scroggs has done the best job possible translating these characters into the written medium.



By the way. Did you know the Muppet Babies is on youtube! Totally watching it as I write this review.

Happy Reading!
-Melly

"From the Mist ( Never Girls #4)" by Kiki Thorpe

I hate when I start a series out of order. I have a tendency to go through my library's collection of books that can be read on the kindle and checkout whatever is available (and since this was right after Christmas, the answer was: not much! Seems a lot of people were trying out their new e-readers). Because of this, I checked out From the Mist not realizing that it was number four in the series. Thankfully I only felt a little lost jumping into the middle of the series (I think the only thing I really missed out on was character introduction and finding out how the girls found Never Land). Despite this, I liked where the book was going and how it was written, even though it wasn't for me.

As a kid, almost every book that I enjoyed was realistic. Until I read Harry Potter, none of the books I read had events that couldn't happen in reality. Knowing this about myself, had I read this book when I was around eight or nine, I wouldn't have enjoyed it. Kate, Mia, Lainey, and Gabby are able to visit Never Land and in this particular book, the girls visit when on an extremely foggy day and realize that Kate may be in danger when she takes a ride on a mist horse. Can the other girls and the fairies find her before it is too late?

Overall there isn't anything wrong with the plot. It's meets all the requirements I think a book for younger girls should contain. It's fun, has adventure, and strong female characters. But my inner eight-year-old just doesn't want to read a book about fairies (actually, my inner twenty-something doesn't want to either. And she's not a fan of anything Tinkerbelle related, so other Never Land fairies aren't interesting as well). That being said, I can completely see the appeal of these books and know that they will be a hit for girls that are fans of the Tinkerbelle franchise. They are also a great starting point for girls with an interest in fantasy that aren't ready to read some of the longer books out there.

 

Happy Reading!

-Melly