Faradawn (2)

Thelonius große Reise #2

by Susan Schade, Jon Buller (Illustrator)

How strange to be off the Mound again, in a world without boundaries!

After living on the Fog Mound for quite some time, Thelonious Chipmunk and his friends are ready to continue their travels. There are still old questions to be answered and new places to be explored. So, with the addition of new friends Bill the Human and Cluid Chipmunk, the animals sail off down the river in a specially designed boat.

At the City of Ruins they find the dangerous ratminks threatening to take over the region and maybe even the whole planet! Could this be a repeat of the events that brought about the end of the Human Occupation? How can one small group of talking animals help? Why is Bill so anxious to get to the mysterious island of Faradawn? And will Olive find her lost sister, Ruby?

As in Travels of Thelonious , the intrepid chipmunk pursues his personal quest to uncover the differences between legend and history. And to answer the most troubling question of all -- what happened to the humans?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Comics, Childrens, Juvenile, Science Fiction, Adventure

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Susan Schade is the author of over forty children's books, including the Fog Mound series, written in collaboration with her husband, Jon Buller. She lives in Lyme, Connecticut.

Reviews

[Ella Kasten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Curious animals on an adventure. Cute & helping me reach my goodreads goal.

[Gphatty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good sequel to Travels of Thelonious. The adventures take the animals to several locations, including the Faradawn of the title, as they try to discover what truly happened to the human race. The writing and art is still very strong, but the ending was a little silly. (It is a children's book, I suppose.)

The themes of violence & sustainablility, of taking care of the Earth, are still written into the story. And I still want to read the final volume. But some of the novelty was gone for me in this book, as it seemed to mirror the first one too closely at time. I found myself reading to advance the plot, instead of enjoying the journey. I hope that changes in the 3rd one.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a fun story of animals after humans have gone extinct, but could be so much better with good characterization. The plot moves quickly and does not take the time to develop these characters to make readers care. The graphic novel element does make it an easy read.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. I liked this maybe a little less than the first book. I was interested to see what kind of adventure they go on. It felt like it was going somewhere, then the plot ended up getting hijacked bc of the crab machine--but the crew getting to Faradawn seemed pointless. Okay, Olive finds her sister, but what was the point of this? Bill finds a cryptic message from Mary, but the plot seems all over the place. What about the birds? They return to the spot, but now they don't have a boat... But then they are going to the next place. It's action, but it doesn't feel like there is a strong sense of purpose. I don't know. It didn't grip me as much as the first one. I will still read the last book, but this kind of left me hanging...

[alexander shay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one felt a little more scattered than the first volume. I didn't know everything that was going to happen in the first one of course, but it felt more realistic and natural. This one seemed to have a lot of stuff happening out of nowhere, constantly diverting the group from their main plans. They then forgot those plans to deal with a new thing that comes up and end up circling back through a few of their plans near the end, tying things up just enough to leave room for the third book. It is for kids, and it is scifi/post-apocalypse (of a sort), so I suppose a certain allowance should be made, but it still seemed a bit thin stretched given what I expected based on the first one.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. I suspect I would have enjoyed it more when I was younger. The story has some interesting elements, but most of the characters didn't develop much in this volume,leaving me wishing more time was given to the relationships between the various individuals.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun continuation of the first book.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations with excellent English. I'm going to use this as an ESL book in class. Love the life lessons and wisdom that are woven into the story. I'm a fan!

[Bern Kent]

Great new changes in the book. The way the Author described the animals was just unbelievable. The things that the author thought up like the boat was just total ingenious. Also the ways the pictures showed the boat was really new and view point of looking at the way the story was described.

[Nicholas & Megan Clinch · Rating 3 out of 5]

My just-turned-7 son picked this at the library, maybe because of the map & the animal journey plot. He seemed to enjoy the alternating animation & chapter book structure, didn't ask us to read it aloud though that's usually the mark of a winner for him. (He likes to skim, then take turns reading aloud more slowly with the whole Fam.)

[Clarabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un deuxième tome sous le signe des retrouvailles. C'est divertissant, avec des animaux comme acteurs principaux de cette aventure qui ne manque ni d'intérêt ni d'intelligence. L'histoire rappelle, sans paraître donneuse de leçon, qu'il faut prendre soin de la planète et éviter de répéter les mêmes erreurs.
Un chapitre sur l'autre, le roman laisse la place à des pages de bande dessinée qui complètent harmonieusement cet univers. Cela permet ainsi aux plus jeunes lecteurs de s'y intéresser, car la lecture n'est pas pénible, les 200 pages et des brouettes sont avalées sans aucune difficulté.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second in this series and it is a quick read. I am enjoying the animals finding more out about their world and starting to get hints at what the humans did. I love Bill the very shrunken human who seems to lead them even though he tells them nothing. I did not think I would be but I am actually pretty exited to read the next one. Grades 3+

[Marisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sequel to Travels of Thelonius. Just as good as the first, I'm planning on reading the last book of the trilogy. (And if I'm reading three books in one series it's got to be good!) Very quick read, very entertaining, and I still don't know why Bill is miniature. Would appeal to boys and girls equally.

[Kristen Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sequel to the first book leads a group of animals out of their new-found home - The Fog Mound - and back into the world of both talking and non-talking animals. This book is not all graphic novel, but has interspersed graphics and comic sequences throughout the book.

[Cindi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in "The Fog Mound" series. These graphic novels are nice because the chapters alternate back and forth from pictures to words. My seven-year-old can't wait to read the third one!

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great one that continues the story of "Travels of Thelonious". A quick read, but also a very good one. Not quite as good as the first one, but I still found myself thinking "I'll just read one more chapter" and then reading another 50 pages before I knew it!

[Ingrid]

This is turning out to be a very cute series. The second book ends in a big cliffhanger. Now I'm going to have to read Book 3. Some of the animals are starting to make the same mistakes that the humans did before they all disappeared. I must find out what happened to all the humans.

[Tara Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are simply told, but very interesting. They're very fun. I think it'd be great to have it told as more of a young adult book and go into more detail, as it easily could, but it is fun as it is, too.

[Randy · Rating 2 out of 5]

As the story continues, things are beginning to be a little more interesting. Without humans, i always like to think that the earth would be a better place. However, the humans have left a legacy of modified animals, who may be following more closely in the footsteps of the people who left them.

[Mary Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

My students finally discovered Travels of Thelonious -- a graphic novel hybrid that alternates graphic and text chapters -- and lucky for them, book 2 in the series is out!

[wittierninja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks, Vega! I do like this very much. Such a nice blend of comic and novel, and a good dosage of humor to boot! Yay for Bill!

[Bobby · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second part of the Fog Mound trilogy; similar in style and format to the first part and just as good.

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son (aged 10) loved this series - he received this book and the third in the series for Christmas after having read book one and enjoyed it.

[Cole Reece · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book really was a lot worse than the first one. Very confusing and lacked a plot.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The adventures of Thelonius and friends continue as they seek to learn about the end of the Human Occupation and the rise of talking animals.

[H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as engaging as number 1, but still a great offering for intermediate readers who are looking for a chapter book with lots of illustrations.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

#2 in this young adult/graphic novel/science fiction/future dystopia trilogy of speaking animals and the weird, post-human world they live in. My almost 8yo loves them.

[Luca · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good, Bill is finally talking although just a little bit. He just led them to Faraday Island!!!! This is a really good book...

[Alaina Sloo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second book is a delightful mixed text- and graphic novel-format series.

[Marjorie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. Not great, but not terrible. Apparently, there is a third book as well.