Written by Matthew Swanson
Illustrated by Robi Behr
Strap in for a pretty long blog post as I’m giving you a two for on special! Two books, one post! So let’s gets cracking with book!
Ben Yokoyama and the Cookie of Doom
(Cookie Chronicles #1)
Synopsis:
Meet Ben, a literal-minded kid with a big heart and an even bigger sweet-tooth, who cracks open a fortune cookie and discovers that TODAY might be his last day on Earth! Perfect for fans of DIARY OF A WIMPY KID or THE TERRIBLE TWO.
Live each day as if it were your last.
When Ben reads his fortune-cookie fortune, he’s alarmed and inspired. Immediately, he begins drafting a bucket list of unfinished tasks and lifelong dreams (finish his 1000-piece model of the Taj Mahal, eat an entire cake, etc….). As Ben marches himself in and out of trouble, takes useful risks, and helps both his parents to see the bigger picture, readers discover how something that seems scary can instead be empowering–leading to friendships that might never have been made, neighbors that might never have been known, and apple pies that might otherwise never have been baked.
(Book cover and Synopsis taken from Goodreads)
Review: 5/5
This book was so much fun to read! I loved the illustrations and how overall the book was very playful. I loved that some characters really bought into the whole “this could be the last day you’re alive” and how it was like contagious and sometimes spiraled a bit out of control. It was silly and obviously made for kids, because as an adult there was a lot of “omg there’s no way his mom would be that chill” and “that would almost never happen” moments. But it was fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Ben and his family, and his friends.
I loved all the shenanigans that everyone was getting up to! the illustrations perfectly captured the tone of the book, and the silliness. I loved being able to see the visuals. They also did this really cool thing where instead of using quotation marks for when characters spoke, they actually drew speech bubbles! I loved that little detail and it just made the book so much better!
Review in 5 GIFS:
Buy a copy! Indiebound|Amazon |Barnes&Noble
Ben Yokoyama and the Cookie of Endless Waiting
(Cookie Chronicles #2)
Synopsis:
Literal-minded Ben cracks open a fortune cookie and it tells him that he can have anything he wants, if only he’s willing to wait… A madcap adventure about the perils of patience, for fans of DIARY OF A WIMPY KID or THE TERRIBLE TWO.
Good things come to those who wait.
Ben does his best to heed his fortune cookie’s advice, and as a result he is paired with Walter–the kid who’s always picked last–for a school scavenger hunt. Working with Walter must be a good thing if the cookie said so, but so far all he does is talk too loud and recite obscure facts about feet. Meanwhile, Ben has an argument with his best friend Janet, and waiting for her to apologize first isn’t going so well…. But eventually, Ben’s patience starts paying off: if he and Walter are able to pull out a win in the scavenger hunt, they’ll earn a half-day of recess for the whole school! Waiting may not always be a good thing, but taking the time to listen and consider all options isn’t half bad.
(Book cover and Synopsis taken from Goodreads)
Review: 4/5
Alright so I will admit that I did like the first a lot better. HOWEVER, that doesn’t mean I did not enjoy this book! The second one just wasn’t as goofy and honestly sometimes got a little frustrating haha but more on that later! This book was also loads of fun and also really fast! I’m pretty sure I read it (in total) within a couple of hours. Again, the illustrations were amazing!!! I loved seeing them throughout the entire book, like the last one, pretty sure every page had an illustration.
This book touched more on friendship. It talks about how sometimes you just stop being friends with someone for no particular reason, or you just become better friends with someone else and didn’t even realize you’d left that other friend behind. It was nice that it was brought up because it does happen, still does as an adult, sometimes there’s just no preventing it, but that’s honestly okay. I do like that it also showed that you can be friends with someone but not always agree on the same things. It was nice to see that bit of friendship dynamic.
Where it got frustrating for me was there was an obvious character flaw that didn’t feel like it ever got really resolved? Like Ben just couldn’t admit he was wrong about something, and then it was left to someone else to resolve the issue. So that was frustrating for me to read about and the lack of character development, but honestly other than that I still adored this book! Can’t wait to see what the rest of the series has in store!
Review in 5 GIFs:
(the riddles aren’t ridiculous but I loved this gif and couldn’t pass it up)
Buy a copy! Indiebound|Amazon |Barnes&Noble
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