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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
This is definitely not as deep and/or insightful as most books I rank four stars, but I think for the kind of book it is trying to be, it succeeds very well and was quite entertaining. Unlikely to have a lifetime effect on anyone, beyond simply to enjoy reading and stories--but that's a pretty noble cause in itself.
I wish I had access to audiobooks, or at least these kinds of stories when I was younger. It will definitely make my childhood awesome. Impressive narration (Rosalyn Landor, duh!?) and equally remarkable story.
Jaundice and Kale Bland are living in Dullsville, waiting for their parents to return from the errand that they left to do years ago. Neither sister really remembers their parents but they are content with the life they have, darning socks, eating cheese sandwiches, and reading from Dr. Snoote's Dictionary. They live utterly uniteresting lives and are happy to do so. That's why it's shocking when there's a knock on the door and somebody tells the girls that they are about to get a surprise.
Little do they know that their bland lives are about to get a lot more colorful.
I enjoyed the story and liked the added vocabulary lessons. I also really liked that the sisters felt most comfortable at home and that adventure was not necessarily their end goal. So many kid books are about going on great adventures and I wasn't that kid and it's so nice to read about someone more like myself.
Little do they know that their bland lives are about to get a lot more colorful.
I enjoyed the story and liked the added vocabulary lessons. I also really liked that the sisters felt most comfortable at home and that adventure was not necessarily their end goal. So many kid books are about going on great adventures and I wasn't that kid and it's so nice to read about someone more like myself.
This wasn't nearly as funny as I was hoping it would be. I think the humour may have gelled with me better if the Bland sisters had had a bit more personality and were more distinct from one another (but then that would have defeated the whole conceit of their character - their name is literally Bland!) But it was cute and fun and something I would probably recommend to reluctant younger readers.
I found the setting odd and indistinct. This is a world where pirates (of the "arr matey" variety) are not out of the ordinary, but the girls reference modern technology like refrigerators - is this supposed to be set in the present? Or something more historical where these 19th century pirates wouldn't feel so out of place?
The illustrations interspersed with the text were really cute - I liked those a lot.
I might give the 2nd book a shot? I'm still not sure.
I found the setting odd and indistinct. This is a world where pirates (of the "arr matey" variety) are not out of the ordinary, but the girls reference modern technology like refrigerators - is this supposed to be set in the present? Or something more historical where these 19th century pirates wouldn't feel so out of place?
The illustrations interspersed with the text were really cute - I liked those a lot.
I might give the 2nd book a shot? I'm still not sure.
-Spoiler free review-
I found this book whilst doing research for a school project, and since I want to write a story about an all-female pirate crew, I thought I’d give this a read!
Obviously it is a children’s book, so it isn’t exactly the kind of thing I want to write, but I thought the characters and general atmosphere were so fun and engaging. This book absolutely plays on stereotypes. This is quite a key part of children’s literature, because they can identify well known character tropes. The pirates in this were perhaps not as well developed as I’m used to, but well enough to be fairly enjoyable. They were indeed fierce, and didn’t play by the rules. Their voices were also fantastic; lots of ‘arr’s’ and ‘matey’s’.
But whilst the stereotypes were fun, they did get a bit much. The character names were pretty lame if you ask me. If I were a 12-year-old* reading this, I would honestly feel patronised. It’s one thing to play on pirate stereotypes to make an easy read, but the names were almost painfully unoriginal. I couldn’t tell whether they were the character’s legitimate names, or just a nickname given to them after a particular incident/ because of one of their traits. (See: Fatima. How original, giving the ‘fat character’ the name ‘Fatima’. I can’t even pretend that this was just the name the author went for, regardless of whether the character was fat or not, because I’m pretty sure Fatima is a name from South Asian cultures (correct me if I’m wrong).)
The writing style felt right for the age range it is targeted to, it was easy to read, but not too easy. I absolutely loved the format of the definitions; it was a great way to teach children some new, interesting words. The dictionary feature didn’t feel forced, as it matched the two main characters very well.
Speaking of the two main characters, they were a little too bland for my liking. I understand that they go from ordinary to extraordinary, and this makes the adventures more relatable for the readers, but I would struggle to find any child who would relate to these characters. I’m nearly an adult, and I don’t enjoy plain oatmeal. The hyperbolic blandness of Jaundice and Kale almost felt like it was trying to be funny, but it wasn’t. Perhaps an experienced adult might find the premature worldliness to be amusing, but I didn’t, and I’m not sure an 8-year-old would either.
But once these boring characters got into their adventures, it became much more engaging. There was a promise of further adventures, so I imagine that Jaundice and Kale will slowly get pulled into a much more exciting lifestyle.
Oh! And the illustrations! In short: absolutely lovely. I wish more books had illustrations, even if they were just little things at the start of chapters. This book had both detailed illustrations of the characters and cute little drawings for the definitions at the start of every chapter. They gave the book so much character; I really enjoyed them!
Overall, this was a fun and enjoyable read, but I think if it were much longer I would have become very bored. I could stick out the parts I didn’t like partly because the storyline was genuinely interesting, but partly because the chapters were so short.
*I have seen people claim this book is for 8-12 years, and others say it is for 7-9 years. After a bit of digging, I found a blog post by the author that says it is indeed 8-12, so that clears that up. I’m not sure if I find 7-9 to be a more appropriate age range though.
I found this book whilst doing research for a school project, and since I want to write a story about an all-female pirate crew, I thought I’d give this a read!
Obviously it is a children’s book, so it isn’t exactly the kind of thing I want to write, but I thought the characters and general atmosphere were so fun and engaging. This book absolutely plays on stereotypes. This is quite a key part of children’s literature, because they can identify well known character tropes. The pirates in this were perhaps not as well developed as I’m used to, but well enough to be fairly enjoyable. They were indeed fierce, and didn’t play by the rules. Their voices were also fantastic; lots of ‘arr’s’ and ‘matey’s’.
But whilst the stereotypes were fun, they did get a bit much. The character names were pretty lame if you ask me. If I were a 12-year-old* reading this, I would honestly feel patronised. It’s one thing to play on pirate stereotypes to make an easy read, but the names were almost painfully unoriginal. I couldn’t tell whether they were the character’s legitimate names, or just a nickname given to them after a particular incident/ because of one of their traits. (See: Fatima. How original, giving the ‘fat character’ the name ‘Fatima’. I can’t even pretend that this was just the name the author went for, regardless of whether the character was fat or not, because I’m pretty sure Fatima is a name from South Asian cultures (correct me if I’m wrong).)
The writing style felt right for the age range it is targeted to, it was easy to read, but not too easy. I absolutely loved the format of the definitions; it was a great way to teach children some new, interesting words. The dictionary feature didn’t feel forced, as it matched the two main characters very well.
Speaking of the two main characters, they were a little too bland for my liking. I understand that they go from ordinary to extraordinary, and this makes the adventures more relatable for the readers, but I would struggle to find any child who would relate to these characters. I’m nearly an adult, and I don’t enjoy plain oatmeal. The hyperbolic blandness of Jaundice and Kale almost felt like it was trying to be funny, but it wasn’t. Perhaps an experienced adult might find the premature worldliness to be amusing, but I didn’t, and I’m not sure an 8-year-old would either.
But once these boring characters got into their adventures, it became much more engaging. There was a promise of further adventures, so I imagine that Jaundice and Kale will slowly get pulled into a much more exciting lifestyle.
Oh! And the illustrations! In short: absolutely lovely. I wish more books had illustrations, even if they were just little things at the start of chapters. This book had both detailed illustrations of the characters and cute little drawings for the definitions at the start of every chapter. They gave the book so much character; I really enjoyed them!
Overall, this was a fun and enjoyable read, but I think if it were much longer I would have become very bored. I could stick out the parts I didn’t like partly because the storyline was genuinely interesting, but partly because the chapters were so short.
*I have seen people claim this book is for 8-12 years, and others say it is for 7-9 years. After a bit of digging, I found a blog post by the author that says it is indeed 8-12, so that clears that up. I’m not sure if I find 7-9 to be a more appropriate age range though.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
Very clever and hilariously funny. Filled with puns and inside jokes and wink wink nudge nudge references for adults. My 8 year old liked it but I *loved* it.
3.5 stars for this one! I received this arc on netgalley, and I had an enormously good time reading it! It is a quick and fun little read, something that reminds me of a Series of Unfortunate Events, and I think middle grade readers will really love it! full review up soon.