Hi again. This is E, and I’m back to give you another book review! This time I chose a book that I’m really glad found its way into my hands. I’m talking about a story called Archer and Zowie by Hans Bluedorn.
I have had some experience with Bluedorn’s work before. I do a logic book in our homeschool by him called The Fallacy Detective. I really like that, so I happily tried Archer and Zowie. It did not disappoint.
About Archer and Zowie
The main characters are two kids named Archer and Zowie. Archer wears aviators goggles as glasses, and Zowie wears a cardboard robot suit that pretty much has anything you could want in it. The two are friends.
In the story, Archer and Zowie who have a babysitter. The babysitter gets sick and pretty much leaves the two unsupervised. When the friends get a hold of the babysitter’s credit card, the fun begins.
The book is about Archer and Zowie’s adventures in space in a treehouse ship named The Hungry Caterpillar. The two also have a converted microwave, the Teleportee, a device that as the author describes it “can crumple up and chew on the whole universe in one googlebillionth of a second.” It then picks out whatever item you order and spits it out for you to take (for a hefty credit card fee of course).
After the two reach a planet inhabited by penguin aliens, bug-nuts, and a mysterious creature called the hans, the two find themselves trapped. Not to spoil the whole plot, I’ll give a general idea. Zowie throws away the Teleportee, and when it evolves into a conscious being, it wants revenge.
What Makes Archer and Zowie Great
Putting the plot aside, I’d like to mention something. The book is written in a strange style, something between a movie script and a normal chapter book. It consists mostly of dialogue and is a lot of fun to read.
The other thing that is great about the book is the pictures. They are quirky and unusual, just like the rest of the book. They have their own special style that I’ve never seen in any book before.
Archer and Zowie’s great messages about friendship, being yourself and treating people nicely. The book comes together as a wholesome, fun read. I would recommend the book for almost any age over eight or nine, as the characters can be imagined as any age themselves depending on how old the readers are.
Final Thoughts on Archer and Zowie
I had fun reading the book, and I think many other kids would too. It’s the sort of book you want to curl up and read in an afternoon, whether that afternoon is spent in a hammock or in front of a roaring fire. Archer and Zowie will be a book I’ll be reading for years to come.
