Guess the Movie from the Drawing Game! // INKtober 2025 Recap

Hi, friends! Happy Halloween!

The last time I had a game on this blog it was "Guess the Actor from the Drawing" with my sister back in 2020. I've been wanting to get into drawing ever since, but always claimed I didn't have the time. On October 1st I was looking at the INKtober prompts and for day one thought, "I know exactly what I'd do if I were to draw that!" Then I realized there was nothing holding me back, and I went ahead and drew it. 

Because that first day featured one of my favorite fictional characters I decided I'd give myself the additional challenge of making each drawings be inspired by a movie or TV show! Which is where this turns into a game. I would love for you guys to guess what these are! Some of these are SUPER obscure; there's no one who could guess all of these, not even my family members, but I thought it would be a fun game for you guys to see what movies and TV shows we have in common and to see what I've been up to.

And I also want to see how recognizable all of my drawings are, haha! I hadn't done a lot of drawing before this and I think I actually got worse as the month went along but I never stopped having fun. I used reference photos for all of these which has it's pros and cons, but you'll get to see the actual photos when I post the answers!

How it works:

• Each of these drawings is from a scene in a movie or TV show. Comment on this post (comments will be put on moderation so everyone gets a fair chance!) if you think you know the inspiration for any of these drawings. You don't need to guess the exact episode of the TV show, just the name of the show will count!
• As some of these are impossibly hard I'll give some hints, but you may be able to guess a lot from what the prompt was, so all of those are included, too.
• Have fun!

Day 1: Prompt: Mustache

Day 2: Prompt: Weave

Day 3: Prompt: Crown

Note: I had just rewatched this episode, so while it's a little out of the way it's where my mind went immediately.

Day 4: Prompt: Murky

Hint: I have talked about this scene before on this blog. Because I'm obsessed and I acknowledge that.

Day 5: Prompt: Deer

Hint: I know the obvious one to do would be Bambi. But: (a. I was trying to avoid animated films because I would compare it too much to the animated style. (b. I haven't actually seen that. So I went with something where a deer only shows up for a few seconds, but there's still a line of dialogue devoted to it.

"So she did become a deer!"

"Not relevant." 

Day 6: Prompt: Pierce

Day 7: Prompt: Starfish

Day 8: Prompt: Reckless

Hint: I didn't even know this movie existed until a couple of months ago but maybe it will make a comeback as people watch things to commemorate a certain actor.

Day 9: Prompt: Heavy

Day 10: Prompt: Sweep

Day 11: Prompt: Sting

Day 12: Prompt: Shredded

Day 13: Prompt: Drink

Day 14: Prompt: Trunk

Hint: This TV show is Very Fit (for) Drawing.

Day 15: Prompt: Ragged

Hint: I'm using the prompt ironically, but it is part of the dialogue...

Day 16: Prompt: Blunder

Day 17: Prompt: Ornate

Day 18: Prompt: Deal 

Note: No one who doesn't watch international TV dramas is going to guess this. Take this as your sign to watch international TV dramas because I am ENGROSSED.

Day 19: Prompt: Arctic

Hint: I had forgotten completely that this movie existed even though I used to watch it all the time. Takes me back to the late 2000s.

Day 20: Prompt: Rivals

Note: The problem with this one is that I drew the figure on the right first and got a little cocky which lead to me completely messing up on the figure on the left. This was the only drawing of the month that I felt so dissatisfied with it that later in the day I tried to redo it. And I guess the nearest piece of paper was a receipt, so I just put it on top of the other piece of paper. So here's another version, even though the proportions are off.

Day 21: Prompt: Blast

Hint: I don't know what's a good clue to give you guys as Sarah Seele is the only person outside of my family that I know has also watched this. But maybe you guys will prove me wrong!

Day 22: Prompt: Button

Day 23: Prompt: Firefly

Day 24: Prompt: Rowdy

Day 25: Prompt: Inferno

Hint: I keep saying I'm going to write a post about this TV show and my love for it, so maybe this should be my hint to finish that post before the second season comes out.

Day 26: Prompt: Puzzling

Hint: If you need help, maybe you should call a friend? I guess "phone a friend" is the proper direction.

Day 27: Prompt: Onion

Day 28: Prompt: Skeletal

Day 29: Prompt: Lesson

Hint: This guy is good at teaching things. Like how to fight and also read and write.

Day 30: Prompt: Vacant

Hint: The pretense for me drawing it is that I'd just rewatched it, so no farce is intended.

Day 31: Prompt: Award

Hint: I chose a strange scene from this show, but just no that I'd been thinking about it all month long, especially as I got around to watching the second season. And dressed up as one of the characters for Halloween. And I was drawing on Halloween (aka today), so sure, I'll do what's popular right now, regardless of the day of the week.

Let the guessing begin! I hope you guys have as much fun with this as I did drawing these all! Answers will be posted in a few weeks!

Chloe the MovieCritic

Book Series Review: Three Rancheros - by Kate DiCamillo

Hello, friends!

On October 16th, 2014 I read my first Kate DiCamillo book: The Tale of Despereaux. I devoured the whole thing in one day and I LOVED it. That started me on the journey of Kate DiCamillo being one of my favorite authors. By complete coincidence, I read another book of hers in totality on October 16th, 2015. When I realized that I year had passed since my first, I decided to make this accident turn into tradition and therefore read a book by her every October 16th. I consider it my "reading birthday" in a way.

Today I'll be reviewing three of her books I've read over the years that are slightly connected.

This "series"---called Three Rancheros---takes the three girls introduced in the first book---Raymie, Louisiana, and Beverly---and gives each a turn at being the main character. They are sequential in that each goes off of the background of the previous book(s), but they could also be read as stand-alones. I'll give a light overview of the premise and some thoughts, both of which will be spoiler free.

Raymie Nightingale - by Kate DiCamillo

"Are you going to be a problem causer or a problem solver?"

Premise: Raymie Clarke's father just left her, but she desperately wants him to still be part of her life. The best way she can think of to accomplish this is to make him see her picture in the paper by winning the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition and he'd be proud of her and come back. Some other girls in the competition are Louisiana and Beverly, but Raymie learns to not see them as rivals but friends, and needs their help in forming her new life.

Genres: Coming of age, Middle grade fiction

Awards: National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature, Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Middle Grade & Children's, The Magnolia Award Nominee for 6-8.

There is an updated cover for this book that is in the same style as the next two, but I just adore this original cover.

General thoughts:

Kate DiCamillo perfectly captures the feeling of a hot summer filled with a young girl's desperation to bring back what she has lost. I admire Raymie's determination to fix things. I love stories with three friends as I have two sisters and together we make up our own "three rancheros." My first instinct was to say that I was most like Louisiana due to physical appearance, but as I look back on this book I think I'm most like Raymie. Just minus the determination. The other characters form so solidly in ones imagination as Ms. DiCamillo's prose just carries you along: from youngsters to old folks and everyone in between.

"She sounded like a little cartoon bird when she talked, and this made everything that she said seem ridiculous but also possible--both things at the same time."

Ms. DiCamillo's books always have powerful character revelations and this is no exception, pulling in the historical figure of Florence Nightingale, not as a character but as a hero to admire. This book looks at the emotions when someone we think of as a hero does things we would not believe them to, and how to be heroes ourselves. It's a book about what it means to rescue things.

There are references to other great children's literature such as The Borrowers, Paddington, and Little House on the Prairie, and I would say it should go in the canon of heartfelt children's books itself.

"Well, dear, I have found that most things work out right in the end."

Louisiana's Way Home - by Kate DiCamillo

"In some ways, this is a story of woe and confusion, but it is also a story of joy and kindness and free peanuts."

Premise: One day Louisiana's grandmother tells her to get in the car and they start driving. This feels different from her grandmother's other whims and as they don't have any money they try to keep that secret as they arrange for a hotel room in a new town. But that's not the only secret her grandmother is keeping and between her health and her grandmother's, someone is bound to notice that something is wrong.

"Because that is what it means to be alive on this infinitesimally spinning planet. It means you have cares.

Doesn't it?"

Genres: Coming of age, Middle grade fiction

Awards: Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award Nominee for Grades 3-6, Vermont Golden Dome Book Award Nominee, Minnesota Book Award Nominee for Middle Grade Literature, Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Middle Grade & Children's, Whippoorwill Award.

General thoughts:

"Those who love us can't always find us, can they? Or else I would not be writing these words."

One of my notes from reading this book several years ago was "why is it so amazing and sob inducing???"

If my younger sister read this book she'd probably say that it wasn't realistic. But that's part of the point, it's seeing the world for what it could be and finding unexpected kindness in strangers. The sort of people "who give you two when you ask for one."

Through that, I adore the cast of characters in this one. Burke Allen III will forever hold a place in my heart, and his grandpop is pretty great, too. Louisiana is such a dear and her strength comes from within.

If I had to name one type of book to read for the rest of my life, it would be "fish out of water" stories, where the main character comes to a new town and the reader gets to discover all the residents at the same time the main character does. The character has been through a couple towns already and is reluctant to let these new people take up residence in their heart to only leave again. 

This book checks all of those boxes.

It's about forgiveness, kindness, and finding oneself. I couldn't ask for a better and more hopeful message.

"And perhaps what matters what all is said and done is not who puts us down but who picks us up."

Beverly, Right Here - by Kate DiCamillo

"This is the end of the road unless you have a dream."

Premise: It's 1979 and Beverly is lonely. So she decides to run away from those feelings and her town and start anew. She lies about her age to get a job at a restaurant and as an old lady's chauffeur in exchange for a place to stay. Beverly is known for being quiet, so she usually blends into the background, but that's not the same as belonging. Maybe leaving will help her find a true home. 

"I mean to say that I am afraid I've mislocated my capabilities."

Genres: Coming of age, Middle grade fiction

General thoughts:

"The fan was on the floor, turning slowly from side to side, looking for something it had lost."

This is a book where plot-wise, not a lot happens. But emotion-wise, everything happens. You've got an old lady going to bingo and an odd kid in a grocery store and a restaurant that is trying to survive and all of those are connected through Beverly. All her life she's been told she doesn't have feelings, and now they're swarming inside of her from not being released.

Of all the books in this series it's the one that feels most firmly set in a year. And as I know someone who was Beverly's age in that year, I felt it gave me a look into her life.

It's a book about trust and letting people inside, both literally and figuratively. I love the art. And the turkey scenario. And the bird motif. It has relationships with young and old folks alike that made me grin non-stop. My heart was very full after reading this book. 

It seems to me that this is the least well known of the three books, which makes me sad because it is a masterful conclusion. It's set a few years after the other books and I love the way they all connect. 

"They were such beautiful blue words.

She couldn't help it. She loved them."

Ah, Kate DiCamillo writes books that I will never get tired of and never forget. Her stories always change me and as she says in Louisiana's Way Home, "There is a great deal of power in writing things down."

Thanks for reading! Have you read any of these or Kate DiCamillo's other books? What are other books that pull at your heart? Any "fish out of water" books, like these or Moon Over Manifest? 

Happy "Kate DiCamillo day!"

Chloe the MovieCritic

Inklings // September 2025

Hello, friends!

Today's post is brought to you by Heidi's Inklings!

(Haha, I feel like someone talking about a sponsorship but I am not paid to blog in any way.)

How it works:

1. At any time during the month, on your own blog post a scene from a book or film that matches the prompt, including a link back to Heidi's blog in your post.

2. Make sure to come back and leave a link to your entry in the box on that month's post: Heidi's post for September 2025.

To add to my ongoing list of my entries, today's post is filling this month's prompt:

A forest scene in book or film

This is the perfect prompt for fall which comes with beautiful changing colors!

It gets under my skin when I haven't done a book example for a couple of months. It was only back in May that I featured a scene from a book, but I try to alternate books and movies. This month it's a book's turn!

To fill this prompt I'm going to use the opening scene of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - by Stuart Turton. There are no spoilers because this is just what it's like to pick up the book and start reading!

I forget everything between footsteps.

"Anna!" I finish shouting, snapping my mouth shut in surprise.

My mind has gone blank. I don't know who Anna is or why I'm calling her name. I don't even know how I got here. I'm standing in a forest, shielding my eyes from the spitting rain. My heart's thumping, I reek of sweat, and my legs are shaking. I must have been running, but I can't remember why.

"How did--" I'm cut short by the sight of my own hands. They're bony, ugly. A stranger's hands. I don't recognize them at all.

Feeling the first touch of panic, I try to recall something about myself: a family member, my address, age...anything,  but nothing's coming. I do't even have a name. Every memory I had a few seconds ago is gone.

My throat tightens, breaths coming loud and fast. The forest is spinning, black spots inking my sight.

Be calm.

"I can't breathe," I gasp, blood roaring in my ears as I sink to the ground, my fingers digging into the dirt.

You can breathe; you just need to calm down.

There's comfort in this inner voice, cold authority.

Close your eyes. Listen to the forest. Collect yourself.

Obeying the voice, I squeeze my eyes shut, but all I can hear is my own panicked wheezing. For the longest time it crushes every other sound, but slowly, ever so slowly, I work a hole in my fear, allowing other noises to break through. Raindrops are tapping the leaves, branches rustling overhead. There's a stream away to my right and crows in the trees, their wings cracking the air as they take flight. Something's scurrying in the undergrowth, the thump of rabbit feet passing near enough to touch. One by one, I knit these new memories together until I've got five minutes of past to wrap myself in. It's enough to stanch the panic, at least for now.

ACK, I love the mystery of it all. Fall is just the ideal time to read and watch mysteries, so some I'd recommend are Knives Out (2019), Nancy Drew (2007), The Illusionist (2006), And Then There Were None - by Agatha Christie, Moriarty - by Anthony Horowitz, and of course, The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - by Stuart Turton!

What are some of your favorite mysteries perfect for fall? Has anyone else read The 7 1/2 Deaths? Any recommendations for books with numbers in the title?

Enjoy the lovely trees and "forests" where you all live!

Chloe the MovieCritic