Difference between revisions of "Newest Dyslexia Friendly Reviews"

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[[Category:Dyslexia Friendly|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Dyslexia Friendly]]
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<!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|title=Read On - Unsolved Mysteries
+
|isbn=1800901232
|author=Keith West
+
|title=Stitched Up
 +
|author=Steve Cole
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
 
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
|summary=''Collins Read On'' books are not specifically listed as a dyslexia friendly line of books. Instead, these are what is known as hi-lo books. Book developed to motivate and engage older readers, while still being accessible to readers who are reading far below grade level. I would estimate the reading level of this book to be roughly age eight, but the subject matter is apt to appeal to children much older, or even adults. Although not designed especially for children with dyslexia like the famous Barrington Stoke range, this does have several features to make this book more appropriate to children with dyslexia than the average children's book. With the exception of a few small picture captions, this is printed in black ink with a large standard font. The print is double spaced, with short paragraphs and chapters giving the reader plenty of breaks. The paper is thick enough that print and pictures from the other side will not show through. This combined with the easy to read text will help to build a child's confidence.
+
|summary=Twelve-year-old Hanh wanted to be a fashion designer. Life in the rural village where she lived with her family was happy, if not prosperous, so when the smartly-dressed man and woman came to the village to offer Hahn a job in Hanoi it was an opportunity not to be missed. Some money changed hands and Hanh was on the mini-bus to Hanoi.  Only, Hanh and the other girls were not going to work in a shop, they were to work in virtual slavery in an illegal garment factory. You know those jeans you really wanted: the ones with intricate embroidery and beading on the legs?  The ones with the artfully-placed rips and distressed seams that felt so soft when you touched them?  It's quite possible that Hanh and her co-workers made them.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007488904</amazonuk>
+
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|author=Marcus Sedgwick
 +
|title=Wrath
 +
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Teens
 +
|summary=Meet Fitz, a young Scottish lad full of frustration at himself. Lockdown is only just over, and he should be free to do what he wants, to go where he wants and with whom he wants, but he cannot stop himself from putting his foot in it when he talks to his best friend, Cassie. They were half of a desultory school band, but Cassie was also one hundred per cent the enigmatic – saying she could hear a subhuman hum coming from the earth. Is this connected with one of her eco-warrior parents saying the end of the world is already a done deal? Is it some spooky new kind of music she's dreaming of? Is she just bonkers? And can Fitz find out the truth? Well, not when Cassie has gone missing he can't...
 +
|isbn=1800900899
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|author=Lucy Strange and Pam Smy
 +
|title=The Mermaid in the Millpond
 +
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Confident Readers
 +
|summary=There is no mermaid in the millpond. That at least is what Bess is telling herself. Neither will there be a friend for her in amongst all the other kids, who have had their entire childhoods sold to the mill-owners by the London workhouse they used to call home. Bess knows there is no time for friendship in a hand-to-mouth, every man for himself kind of existence. But despite herself Bess does find a bit of a kindred spirit in the slight little Dot, and despite everything that life has taught her about betrayal and how befriending people only leads to harm, there might be a glimmer of companionship in the tired-out mill workers. But surely that doesn't mean there is any truth in the existence of the mermaid?
 +
|isbn=180090049X
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|author=Keith Gray
 +
|title=The Climbers
 +
|rating=4
 +
|genre=Confident Readers
 +
|summary=Sully is the best tree climber in the village. He has what's known amongst the kids as 'reach'. But what happens when a new kid shows up in town? A new kid, called Nottingham, who clambers up some of the hardest trees with ease? Suddenly Sully is worried that his status is being threatened, and not only that, that his chance to name the final, unnamed big tree in the park by being the first to conquer it, might be snatched from his hands. How can Sully stop Nottingham? And will it cost him his best friend, or maybe even all of his friends, to do so?
 +
|isbn=1781129991
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Lisa Thompson
|title=Sam's Spitfire Summer
+
|title=The Small Things
|author=Ian MacDonald and Charlie Clough
+
|rating=5
 +
|genre=Confident Readers
 +
|summary=Although Anna has friends at school, she feels like she never really fits in. Her family don't have enough money to let her do after school activities, and so she feels like her life at home is boring in comparison to theirs. When a new girl joins her class, Anna is asked to partner her, but things are complicated because the new girl, Ellie, is unwell and so can't attend school in person. Instead, she joins in with the class by using a robot. Can Anna overcome the challenge of making friends with someone through a robot, and is she even interesting enough to be a good friend to Ellie?
 +
|isbn=1781129649
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|author=Emma Carroll and Kaja Kajfez
 +
|title=The Ghost Garden
 +
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Confident Readers
 +
|summary=Fran, the gardener's daughter at a posh country house, is worried.  She's just cracked her garden fork through quite a grim discovery - a large bone, buried under the potatoes.  But she's even more worried when she learns that that event coincided with Leo, the older child of the house, breaking his leg while playing cricket on the lawn.  She is due to get even more worried when she finds something else that also seems to foretell a surprise.  Tasked with shoving Leo around the grounds in his bathchair, she might have reason to be out of her mind with fear, when she learns what he is seeking - a long-forgotten burial chamber.  But surely that won't act as a premonition to anything - not here in the sultry, summery days of 1914?
 +
|isbn=1781129002
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|author=Alex Wheatle
 +
|title=The Humiliations of Welton Blake
 +
|rating=2.5
 +
|genre=Confident Readers
 +
|summary=We meet Welton Blake at the worst of times – only they should be the best of times.  He should be getting a text from the most bae-worthy girl in school in regards to a cinema date, but his phone has packed up, he's chundered last night's meal and his breakfast over another girl in class, who's duffed him up in response, and the wanna-bae seems to actually be with someone else anyway.  On a bigger scale he's living with his mother and not much income now that the dad has left the picture – yes, things are so bad they're resorting to having cabbage for dinner.  I know, right?  But surely this is just a blip, a day at school to forget, and everything (like his vomit) will all come out in the wash?  This can't be the start of a most nightmarish time for young Welton?
 +
|isbn=1781129495
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=178112938X
 +
|title=Survival in Space: The Apollo 13 Mission
 +
|author=David Long and Stefano Tambellini (illustrator)
 +
|rating=5
 +
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
 +
|summary=It's fifty years since the Apollo 13 mission was launched from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, but the story of that journey remains one of the greatest survival stories of all time.  ''Survival in Space: The Apollo 13 Mission'' is a brilliant retelling of what happened.
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1781129312
 +
|title=Sequin and Stitch
 +
|author=Laura Dockrill and Sara Ogilvie (illustrator)
 +
|rating=5
 +
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
 +
|summary=Sequin loved her mum to bits, but sometimes she got very cross with her.  It wasn't that mum wouldn't go outside their flat - Sequin coped with that - it was because she never pushed to get credit for what she did.  Mum is a seamstress and she makes the sort of clothes that you see on red carpets or at important weddings.  She's not the designer - they're the people who make a lot of money from the clothes.  Mum is the person who actually ''makes'' the garments and she's really talented, but when people talk about the dress or the suit, they talk about the designer.  The seamstress is never mentioned.
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|author=Tanya Landman
 +
|title=Jane Eyre: a Retelling
 +
|rating=5
 +
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
 +
|summary=A young woman, fresh from living with horrid relatives who could care less about her, and years in a dreary school, moves into Thornfield Hall with only one intent – to have something like the life she wants – and with only one job, to tutor a young half-French girl, whose father is almost always absent.  When he does turn up he seems to be dark, brooding and troubled – but that's nothing compared to the darker, more broody and even more troubling secret in the house.  Yes, if you know Jane Eyre then you know the rest – but if you don't, for whatever reason, this is a wonderful book to turn to.
 +
|isbn=1781129126
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1781128952
 +
|title=The Starlight Watchmaker
 +
|author=Lauren James
 +
|rating=4
 +
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
 +
|summary=This is a dyslexia-friendly, science fiction novella for young adults. It tells the tale of Hugo, an unwanted and rather lonely android, who makes a living for himself mending time-travel watches. When one of his clients demands that his broken watch be mended, Hugo realises there is a mystery to be solved and is only too ready to help. An exciting journey of discovery unfolds, which takes Hugo out of his drab attic workroom and into a scary adventure with some amazing new friends, exploring regions of the planet never before known to exist.
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1781128693
 +
|title=Special Delivery
 +
|author=Jonathan Meres
 +
|rating=4
 +
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
 +
|summary=How do you explain to children about dementia? Injuries or illnesses are obvious, but when the problem is the brain which isn't functioning quite as it used to it isn't as easy to grasp.  Frank was a normal nine-year-old and like many nine-year-olds what he wanted was a new bike.  He'd had his for about seventy-eight years and he didn't want to raise the seat any more.  Mum pointed out that it wasn't his birthday or Christmas any time soon and bikes cost a lot of money, which didn't grow on trees.  His sister Lottie had a solution: Frank could help her with her paper round.  Frank agreed despite thinking that it would take him a thousand years to save up the money for a bike AND he had to get up at six o'clock in the morning.
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1781128707
 +
|title=The Spectacular Revenge of Suzi Sims
 +
|author=Vivian French
 +
|rating=5
 +
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
 +
|summary=Suzi Simms loved running and it was her ambition to win the 100 metres race on sports day at the end of term - and that was next week.  We're going to read about what happened in her diary, although there's a warning that we really shouldn't be reading it, particularly as it's about Barbie Meek.  To say that the two girls don't get on at all well is a bit of an understatement.  Suzi wouldn't actually do anything about it, but Barbie is a troublemaker and she wants to win the 100 metres race too - by fair means or foul.
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1949471004
 +
|title=Dog on a Log Chapter Books: Step 1
 +
|author=Pamela Brookes
 +
|rating=4
 +
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
 +
|summary=What do you do when your child has dyslexia and you need books which will help them to achieve the wonder that is reading?  You can risk buying early readers, but the sounds in the book might not be the ones you've been working on and encountering words which are just too challenging can have more of a negative effect on the young dyslexic than a child without that problem.  You need to be able to buy books at a reasonable price which concentrate on what you've been working on, without anything else being thrown into the mix.  You need a story which engages the young mind and you need stages which progress steadily through the learning process without there being any large jumps.  Some online support and games wouldn't go amiss, either.  Reading - and ''learning'' to read - should be a pleasure. It should be ''fun''.
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1781128510
 +
|title=One Shot
 +
|author=Tanya Landman
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
 
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
|summary='Sam's Spitfire Summer' is billed as a thrilling WW2 adventure. In my opinion it is not. This is not a high octane adventure. Instead it is the story of a rather ordinary boy, homesick, terribly frightened and unsure of himself after being evacuated from London. This book describes the life of a child during WW2 with such realism that I honestly wonder if it might have some basis in fact. It describes Sam's loneliness, and fear, being separated from his parents as his father goes away to fight the Germans, and his Mother remains in London, with the risk of bombing. This book really gives a good glimpse at how Sam feels being evacuated. He misses his home desperately and is frightened by the large animals in the country - such as cows.  
+
|summary=''Pa and I understood each other. Our souls were cut from the same cloth.'' But Pa has since died, leaving Maggie very much alone in her family. She was the only one of three children who looked like him, and none of the others acted like him, and certainly, his wife didn't seem to fully understand him. Maggie might as well be reliving the Cinderella story, stuck with two siblings and mother that are fully against her. But at least she can sneak out at night, and shoot some game to stop them from starving? Well, no, not where her mother is concerned – the very idea of a female shooting things, when they could be preparing for a life of unhappy married drudgery, is just scandalous.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905637438</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=178112843X
 +
|title=Lark
 +
|author=Anthony McGowan
 +
|rating=5
 +
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
 +
|summary=I'll warn you first.
  
{{newreview
+
This is the fourth and last story about Nicky and Kenny. Try not to cry before you've even read the first page.
|title=The Smallest Horse in the World
+
 
|author=Jeremy Strong and Scoular Anderson
+
Things have got tense at home - again - for Nicky and his learning-disabled brother Kenny. Their mum is coming to visit - the mum who abandoned them a long time ago. They haven't seen her for years and the impending visit is stirring up a lot of uncomfortable feelings. And Nicky's girlfriend has ended things. To take their minds off it all, Nicky and Kenny plan a day out, trekking across the moors. But it doesn't go to plan and an accident puts both boys - and their dog, Tina, in terrible danger.
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1786697173
 +
|title=Mr Tiger, Betsy and the Blue Moon
 +
|author=Sally Gardner
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Confident Readers
+
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
|summary=Bella despises the new girl at school, Swan. Swan is always bragging about her rich father, her fancy house, their Ferrari etc... And to make matters worse, she is rude, bossy and much bigger than Bella. Bella has problems at home too. Her parents have split up and she misses her father; her mother is always working and she doesn't seem to have any close friends. Things look pretty dismal after an argument with Bella, but every thing changes when Bella's favourite picture breaks and out steps a real live horse. A very tiny horse, but a horse all the same, and a talking one at that. Bella would love to keep the little horse, Astra, but the horse is desperate to be reunited with her true master, Rufus.
+
|summary=Betsy K Glory lives a rather wonderful life on a peaceful island where nothing horrible ever happens. Her father, Alonso, makes the most wonderful ice cream in every flavour you could imagine. Her mother, Myrtle, is a mermaid and comes to visit regularly, although she still lives in the sea. Betsy dreams of two things: firstly, about the circus owned by a tiger and whether it would ever come to her island and secondly, about a magical ice cream made from the berries of the Gongalong bush. One scoop of this ice cream can make wishes come true.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1842999958</amazonuk>
+
 
 +
And then Mr Tiger and his circus arrive. And a journey is planned...
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1781128286
|title=Ghost Stadium
+
|title=Run Wild
|author=Tom Palmer
+
|author=Gill Lewis
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Teens
+
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
|summary=I usually buy Barrington Stoke books for my son to read on his own. He loves the short but exciting stories, and the easy-to-read text. With this book though, the temptation to turn out the lights and read this out loud by torch light was simply too much to resist. It begins as a boy's own adventure. Three boys, Lucas, Irfan and Jack have come up with the perfect plan to start their summer holidays on a high note. Their local football club has been closed for years, but the boys have a scheme to get into the stadium one last time and spend a night camping on the pitch. My son immediately realised the football pitch would be the perfect place to camp out. It is difficult to get into, but once there, it would be like being in a wilderness. The high walls would block out everything, leaving the boys completely alone in the dark. There is only one problem. Places that are very difficult to get into can also be very difficult to get out of...
+
|summary=Meet Izzy and Asha. Bullied away from the local attempt at a skatepark, they find a huge waste ground in the shadow of a derelict gasometer to practise on, which they duly do, even though they have to drag Izzy's younger brother with them. The following day they all want to return, as does the brother's schoolfriend, despite – and of course because of – there is a huge wolf living in the site. Can the children survive living in the urban wilderness, alongside such obvious dangers?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178112227X</amazonuk>
+
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=Jennings Different
 +
|title=A Different Dog
 +
|author=Paul Jennings and Geoff Kelly
 +
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
 +
|summary=Our hero is a boy, whose name we never learn. We know what he wants in life – with his mother exceedingly poor, and even his bed burnt to keep the two of them warm, he wants the prize offered by a down-a-mountain-and-back-up-and-down-again foot race. Winning the race and the large purse would also give him more status in the eyes of those kids that bully him, and it might even give him a voice – for he is almost mute. We quickly learn he never talks back to anyone, whatever the motivation, and can only speak aloud to himself – and, so it turns out, to a dog he rescues from a bad road accident he finds on his way up the hill to the start line…
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=Dawson_Grave
 +
|title=Grave Matter
 +
|author=Juno Dawson and Alex T Smith
 +
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
 +
|summary=Since Eliza died, since the night of the car crash that took her life, Sam is a broken soul. He is lost without the girl he loves, feeling as though a part of him died that night too. But he is desperate and he cannot live without Eliza. He remembers his estranged Aunt Marie and her peculiar healing powers and wonders if she might be able to help him. However, finding his Aunt Marie leads him to discover the Milk Man, which causes Sam in his grieving state to make a pact with forces he doesn't understand. Things soon turn complicated as supernatural powers start to change Sam's life in more ways than he bargained for.
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
Move on to [[Newest Dystopian Fiction Reviews]]

Latest revision as of 15:30, 13 May 2022


1800901232.jpg

Review of

Stitched Up by Steve Cole

5star.jpg Dyslexia Friendly

Twelve-year-old Hanh wanted to be a fashion designer. Life in the rural village where she lived with her family was happy, if not prosperous, so when the smartly-dressed man and woman came to the village to offer Hahn a job in Hanoi it was an opportunity not to be missed. Some money changed hands and Hanh was on the mini-bus to Hanoi. Only, Hanh and the other girls were not going to work in a shop, they were to work in virtual slavery in an illegal garment factory. You know those jeans you really wanted: the ones with intricate embroidery and beading on the legs? The ones with the artfully-placed rips and distressed seams that felt so soft when you touched them? It's quite possible that Hanh and her co-workers made them. Full Review

1800900899.jpg

Review of

Wrath by Marcus Sedgwick

4.5star.jpg Teens

Meet Fitz, a young Scottish lad full of frustration at himself. Lockdown is only just over, and he should be free to do what he wants, to go where he wants and with whom he wants, but he cannot stop himself from putting his foot in it when he talks to his best friend, Cassie. They were half of a desultory school band, but Cassie was also one hundred per cent the enigmatic – saying she could hear a subhuman hum coming from the earth. Is this connected with one of her eco-warrior parents saying the end of the world is already a done deal? Is it some spooky new kind of music she's dreaming of? Is she just bonkers? And can Fitz find out the truth? Well, not when Cassie has gone missing he can't... Full Review

180090049X.jpg

Review of

The Mermaid in the Millpond by Lucy Strange and Pam Smy

4.5star.jpg Confident Readers

There is no mermaid in the millpond. That at least is what Bess is telling herself. Neither will there be a friend for her in amongst all the other kids, who have had their entire childhoods sold to the mill-owners by the London workhouse they used to call home. Bess knows there is no time for friendship in a hand-to-mouth, every man for himself kind of existence. But despite herself Bess does find a bit of a kindred spirit in the slight little Dot, and despite everything that life has taught her about betrayal and how befriending people only leads to harm, there might be a glimmer of companionship in the tired-out mill workers. But surely that doesn't mean there is any truth in the existence of the mermaid? Full Review

1781129991.jpg

Review of

The Climbers by Keith Gray

4star.jpg Confident Readers

Sully is the best tree climber in the village. He has what's known amongst the kids as 'reach'. But what happens when a new kid shows up in town? A new kid, called Nottingham, who clambers up some of the hardest trees with ease? Suddenly Sully is worried that his status is being threatened, and not only that, that his chance to name the final, unnamed big tree in the park by being the first to conquer it, might be snatched from his hands. How can Sully stop Nottingham? And will it cost him his best friend, or maybe even all of his friends, to do so? Full Review

1781129649.jpg

Review of

The Small Things by Lisa Thompson

5star.jpg Confident Readers

Although Anna has friends at school, she feels like she never really fits in. Her family don't have enough money to let her do after school activities, and so she feels like her life at home is boring in comparison to theirs. When a new girl joins her class, Anna is asked to partner her, but things are complicated because the new girl, Ellie, is unwell and so can't attend school in person. Instead, she joins in with the class by using a robot. Can Anna overcome the challenge of making friends with someone through a robot, and is she even interesting enough to be a good friend to Ellie? Full Review

1781129002.jpg

Review of

The Ghost Garden by Emma Carroll and Kaja Kajfez

4.5star.jpg Confident Readers

Fran, the gardener's daughter at a posh country house, is worried. She's just cracked her garden fork through quite a grim discovery - a large bone, buried under the potatoes. But she's even more worried when she learns that that event coincided with Leo, the older child of the house, breaking his leg while playing cricket on the lawn. She is due to get even more worried when she finds something else that also seems to foretell a surprise. Tasked with shoving Leo around the grounds in his bathchair, she might have reason to be out of her mind with fear, when she learns what he is seeking - a long-forgotten burial chamber. But surely that won't act as a premonition to anything - not here in the sultry, summery days of 1914? Full Review

1781129495.jpg

Review of

The Humiliations of Welton Blake by Alex Wheatle

2.5star.jpg Confident Readers

We meet Welton Blake at the worst of times – only they should be the best of times. He should be getting a text from the most bae-worthy girl in school in regards to a cinema date, but his phone has packed up, he's chundered last night's meal and his breakfast over another girl in class, who's duffed him up in response, and the wanna-bae seems to actually be with someone else anyway. On a bigger scale he's living with his mother and not much income now that the dad has left the picture – yes, things are so bad they're resorting to having cabbage for dinner. I know, right? But surely this is just a blip, a day at school to forget, and everything (like his vomit) will all come out in the wash? This can't be the start of a most nightmarish time for young Welton? Full Review

178112938X.jpg

Review of

Survival in Space: The Apollo 13 Mission by David Long and Stefano Tambellini (illustrator)

5star.jpg Dyslexia Friendly

It's fifty years since the Apollo 13 mission was launched from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, but the story of that journey remains one of the greatest survival stories of all time. Survival in Space: The Apollo 13 Mission is a brilliant retelling of what happened. Full Review

1781129312.jpg

Review of

Sequin and Stitch by Laura Dockrill and Sara Ogilvie (illustrator)

5star.jpg Dyslexia Friendly

Sequin loved her mum to bits, but sometimes she got very cross with her. It wasn't that mum wouldn't go outside their flat - Sequin coped with that - it was because she never pushed to get credit for what she did. Mum is a seamstress and she makes the sort of clothes that you see on red carpets or at important weddings. She's not the designer - they're the people who make a lot of money from the clothes. Mum is the person who actually makes the garments and she's really talented, but when people talk about the dress or the suit, they talk about the designer. The seamstress is never mentioned. Full Review

1781129126.jpg

Review of

Jane Eyre: a Retelling by Tanya Landman

5star.jpg Dyslexia Friendly

A young woman, fresh from living with horrid relatives who could care less about her, and years in a dreary school, moves into Thornfield Hall with only one intent – to have something like the life she wants – and with only one job, to tutor a young half-French girl, whose father is almost always absent. When he does turn up he seems to be dark, brooding and troubled – but that's nothing compared to the darker, more broody and even more troubling secret in the house. Yes, if you know Jane Eyre then you know the rest – but if you don't, for whatever reason, this is a wonderful book to turn to. Full Review

1781128952.jpg

Review of

The Starlight Watchmaker by Lauren James

4star.jpg Dyslexia Friendly

This is a dyslexia-friendly, science fiction novella for young adults. It tells the tale of Hugo, an unwanted and rather lonely android, who makes a living for himself mending time-travel watches. When one of his clients demands that his broken watch be mended, Hugo realises there is a mystery to be solved and is only too ready to help. An exciting journey of discovery unfolds, which takes Hugo out of his drab attic workroom and into a scary adventure with some amazing new friends, exploring regions of the planet never before known to exist. Full Review

1781128693.jpg

Review of

Special Delivery by Jonathan Meres

4star.jpg Dyslexia Friendly

How do you explain to children about dementia? Injuries or illnesses are obvious, but when the problem is the brain which isn't functioning quite as it used to it isn't as easy to grasp. Frank was a normal nine-year-old and like many nine-year-olds what he wanted was a new bike. He'd had his for about seventy-eight years and he didn't want to raise the seat any more. Mum pointed out that it wasn't his birthday or Christmas any time soon and bikes cost a lot of money, which didn't grow on trees. His sister Lottie had a solution: Frank could help her with her paper round. Frank agreed despite thinking that it would take him a thousand years to save up the money for a bike AND he had to get up at six o'clock in the morning. Full Review

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Review of

The Spectacular Revenge of Suzi Sims by Vivian French

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Suzi Simms loved running and it was her ambition to win the 100 metres race on sports day at the end of term - and that was next week. We're going to read about what happened in her diary, although there's a warning that we really shouldn't be reading it, particularly as it's about Barbie Meek. To say that the two girls don't get on at all well is a bit of an understatement. Suzi wouldn't actually do anything about it, but Barbie is a troublemaker and she wants to win the 100 metres race too - by fair means or foul. Full Review

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Review of

Dog on a Log Chapter Books: Step 1 by Pamela Brookes

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What do you do when your child has dyslexia and you need books which will help them to achieve the wonder that is reading? You can risk buying early readers, but the sounds in the book might not be the ones you've been working on and encountering words which are just too challenging can have more of a negative effect on the young dyslexic than a child without that problem. You need to be able to buy books at a reasonable price which concentrate on what you've been working on, without anything else being thrown into the mix. You need a story which engages the young mind and you need stages which progress steadily through the learning process without there being any large jumps. Some online support and games wouldn't go amiss, either. Reading - and learning to read - should be a pleasure. It should be fun. Full Review

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Review of

One Shot by Tanya Landman

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Pa and I understood each other. Our souls were cut from the same cloth. But Pa has since died, leaving Maggie very much alone in her family. She was the only one of three children who looked like him, and none of the others acted like him, and certainly, his wife didn't seem to fully understand him. Maggie might as well be reliving the Cinderella story, stuck with two siblings and mother that are fully against her. But at least she can sneak out at night, and shoot some game to stop them from starving? Well, no, not where her mother is concerned – the very idea of a female shooting things, when they could be preparing for a life of unhappy married drudgery, is just scandalous. Full Review

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Review of

Lark by Anthony McGowan

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I'll warn you first.

This is the fourth and last story about Nicky and Kenny. Try not to cry before you've even read the first page.

Things have got tense at home - again - for Nicky and his learning-disabled brother Kenny. Their mum is coming to visit - the mum who abandoned them a long time ago. They haven't seen her for years and the impending visit is stirring up a lot of uncomfortable feelings. And Nicky's girlfriend has ended things. To take their minds off it all, Nicky and Kenny plan a day out, trekking across the moors. But it doesn't go to plan and an accident puts both boys - and their dog, Tina, in terrible danger. Full Review

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Review of

Mr Tiger, Betsy and the Blue Moon by Sally Gardner

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Betsy K Glory lives a rather wonderful life on a peaceful island where nothing horrible ever happens. Her father, Alonso, makes the most wonderful ice cream in every flavour you could imagine. Her mother, Myrtle, is a mermaid and comes to visit regularly, although she still lives in the sea. Betsy dreams of two things: firstly, about the circus owned by a tiger and whether it would ever come to her island and secondly, about a magical ice cream made from the berries of the Gongalong bush. One scoop of this ice cream can make wishes come true.

And then Mr Tiger and his circus arrive. And a journey is planned... Full Review

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Review of

Run Wild by Gill Lewis

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Meet Izzy and Asha. Bullied away from the local attempt at a skatepark, they find a huge waste ground in the shadow of a derelict gasometer to practise on, which they duly do, even though they have to drag Izzy's younger brother with them. The following day they all want to return, as does the brother's schoolfriend, despite – and of course because of – there is a huge wolf living in the site. Can the children survive living in the urban wilderness, alongside such obvious dangers? Full Review

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Review of

A Different Dog by Paul Jennings and Geoff Kelly

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Our hero is a boy, whose name we never learn. We know what he wants in life – with his mother exceedingly poor, and even his bed burnt to keep the two of them warm, he wants the prize offered by a down-a-mountain-and-back-up-and-down-again foot race. Winning the race and the large purse would also give him more status in the eyes of those kids that bully him, and it might even give him a voice – for he is almost mute. We quickly learn he never talks back to anyone, whatever the motivation, and can only speak aloud to himself – and, so it turns out, to a dog he rescues from a bad road accident he finds on his way up the hill to the start line… Full Review

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Review of

Grave Matter by Juno Dawson and Alex T Smith

4.5star.jpg Dyslexia Friendly

Since Eliza died, since the night of the car crash that took her life, Sam is a broken soul. He is lost without the girl he loves, feeling as though a part of him died that night too. But he is desperate and he cannot live without Eliza. He remembers his estranged Aunt Marie and her peculiar healing powers and wonders if she might be able to help him. However, finding his Aunt Marie leads him to discover the Milk Man, which causes Sam in his grieving state to make a pact with forces he doesn't understand. Things soon turn complicated as supernatural powers start to change Sam's life in more ways than he bargained for. Full Review

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