Difference between revisions of "Newest Emerging Readers Reviews"

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[[Category:Emerging Readers|*]]
 
[[Category:Emerging Readers|*]]
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[[Category:New Reviews|Emerging Readers]]__NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=George Szirtes and Tim Archbold
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|author=Nigel Baines
|title=How to be a Tiger
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|title=A Tricky Kind of Magic
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Children's Rhymes and Verse
 
|summary=''Wet again, yet again!  Down it drips, little fingertips, tapping and snapping as if the rain were cross.''<br>
 
''See the branches toss?  See the puddles grow?  Has it stopped raining?
 
NO.''
 
 
Yes, sometimes only a quote will do.  After all, we do come to poetry for snappy concision, and that's what we get here…
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910959200</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Julian Gough and Jim Field
 
|title=Rabbit and Bear: The Pest in the Nest
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=Rabbit was strugglingThere he was having a nice, peaceful sleep in his friend Bear's cave when a terrible noise woke him.  Was it thunder?  No, it was Bear snoring.  Very loudly.  Rabbit tried putting his paws over his ears although that's not very successful when you have small paws and very big ears.  But there was something good: when Rabbit went outside the cave he realised that spring had sprung.  Suddenly he felt ''strong''.  After a winter spent in his friend Bear's cave it was time to go home to his burrow.  Only there was a surprise lurking there - and it looked suspiciously like a snake.
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|summary=Cooper loves to perform magic tricksHis father was a magician, and named Cooper after the great Tommy Cooper.  But sadly Cooper's father died suddenly, and now Cooper doesn't quite know who to be, or how to be.  And when his dad's prop rabbit starts talking to him, he ''really'' doesn't know what's going on anymore!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444934260</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1444960261
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Amy Lee
 
|title=Amy Lee and the Darkness Hex
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|summary=Amy Lee wakes up from one of her usual dreams, where she combats an evil pirate.  You would think that was the only nastiness in her life – she lives in a lovely place in the Land of Love, and doesn't have to worry about paying for steaks for her nine dogs, nor salmon for her cats.  She can go to her favourite tree who will entertain her with a story, and she can go adventuring with her bottomless rucksack, and spend all day daydreaming of a wicked new house for her dogs…  Until she sees threatening purple clouds over the forests.  And not even in this fantasy world do you want to see purple clouds…
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1407172239</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Hilary McKay
 
|title=The Sticky Witch
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
 
|summary=Tom and Ellie's parents have set sail around the world on a raft made of rubbish!  They tell the children that they will be gone for three years, but it will go by very quickly and they'll be safe and happy in the company of Aunt Tab.  But who is this strange lady who applied for the job of caring for two wonderful children and their cat, Whiskers?  She doesn't seem to be the kind guardian that the children need, and why is everything in her house so very, very sticky?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781125996</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Michael Escoffier and Kris Di Giacomo
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|author=Jane Lightbourne
|title=Where's the BaBOOn?
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|title= My Cat Called Red
|rating=3.5
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|rating= 4
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=The title of a book can be an important indication of what you are about to get yourself into. ''Where's the BaBOOn?'' is a subtly different than ''Where's the Baboon?''  Can you spot the surprising difference?  One book is about finding the missing monkey, the other is waiting for the missing monkey to find you. Therefore, grab this book at your peril, knowing that at some point a Baboon will say BOO!
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|summary= Robin has red hair. He hates it, and the freckles that go along with it. He's been bullied and mocked at school because of it. ''Ginger Minger! Carrots!'' Kids are mean.  But red hair is not Robin's only misery in life. He's already lost his dad to a mountaineering accident when his mum gets ill and is taken into hospital. She doesn't come home again.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783444827</amazonuk>
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|isbn= 1838216812
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Andy Croft and Alan Marks
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|author=Francesca Simon and Steve May
|title=Tarzan and the Blackshirts
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|title=Two Terrible Vikings
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=4
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=1930s London, and the streets are rife with racial divides, to the extent that people on one side of the road, generally of one ethnic origin, hate the residents from some other background living on the other.  Our narrator Sam has no reason to hate anyone, apart from those in the other gangs, like Alf. But when they latch on to each other as best friends, despite Sam being Jewish and Alf having Irish blood, it seems nothing can stop them.  But in times like that – and, of course, in times like 2017 – that doesn't necessarily mean friendships can't be broken…
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|summary=In a small Viking village there live two twins, Hack and Whack, who are eager to be the very worst Vikings ever!  Nothing can stop their mad marauding, as they cause havoc at a birthday party, chaos whilst tracking a troll, and undertake a grand journey to raid Bad Island with their friends! They get up to all kinds of mischief and naughty behaviour, along with their wolf-cub Bitey-Bitey, and their crazy cast of friends.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910170399</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0571349498
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Jody Revenson
+
|isbn=1838593187
|title=Incredibuilds: House-Elves: Deluxe Book and Model Set (Harry Potter)
+
|title=Guess What I Found in the Playground!
 +
|author=Victoria Thompson
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
+
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=How do you create a house-elf like Dobby? Well, you have a tennis ball on a string, and point actors so they look at it, and say their lines to a pretty-much empty spaceYou then film Toby Jones doing the elf's lines, and use that sound file and his facial expressions as basis for your CGI creation – the first major character to come from the digital realm in the ''Harry Potter'' filmsYou can throw in a few puppets, and now and again a gifted small person, particularly at the end of film #7… Or, of course, you can get this gift set, and press the wooden parts out, muckle them together – and lo and behold, a six inch tall Dobby for your windowsill.
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|summary=Tilly is excited. She's just come dashing out of the classroom, pigtails flapping behind her and a big grin on her faceDad's come to collect her and her brother and he ''has'' to try to guess what she found in the playground today, although she concedes that he will never guess.  Dad wants to know how school was, but ''obviously'' that's not importantCould Tilly have found more collectable things for her scrap box?  (Isn't that so much more sensible than a scrap ''book''?)  Well, actually, Tilly did find exciting stuff. There are sequins, glittered paper and all sorts of other things in her pocket, but that's not what she wants Dad to guess.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783707070</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Paul Thurlby
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|author=Innosanto Nagara
|title= NY is for New York
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|title=M is for Movement
|rating= 5
+
|rating=4
|genre= Emerging Readers
 
|summary= Long gone are the days when children didn't travel, and picture books had to be about animals. And while your pre-schoolers might not be planning solo trips to the States any time soon, it's never too early to get them and older siblings interested in other places and other cultures. ''NY is for New York'' is a themed alphabet book, based around the city that never sleeps, and it's chock full of facts and figures about a city I love, teaching me many new things I didn't know about a place I'm familiar with from visits and TV shows and many, many Manhattan books.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444930311</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Dr Seuss
 
|title=Dr Seuss: A Classic Treasury
 
|rating=5
 
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=Sitting on my shelf is well thumbed book.  I have had it since a child and even to this day pick it up once in a while and read its contentsWhat is this tome?  A slice of classic children's literature that taught me all about the absurd and that words could be played with.  This was not ''Wind in the Willows'' or 'Swiss Family Robinson'', my classic is a Dr Seuss Omnibus that contained four of his books.
+
|summary=Set in Indonesia, in the not too distant past, this is a story about social change.  Dealing with some difficult issues, such as political corruption and nepotism, the book is neither boring nor preachyIt educates gently, with vibrant, challenging illustrations, and it portrays how social movements need people who will try, even when it seems that they will failThe message is a positive one; that in an increasingly uncertain world, we do still have the power to instigate change.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007234260</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1609809351
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Alex T Smith
+
|isbn=1949471004
|title=Santa Claude
+
|title=Dog on a Log Chapter Books: Step 1
|rating=5
+
|author=Pamela Brookes
|genre=For Sharing
+
|rating=4
|summary=Ah Claude!  He is such an endearing little dog. He's back on an adventure with Sir Bobblysock and this time it is a Christmas adventureThere are baubles and trees and carols and reindeer and, of course, there's trouble! For who else but Claude would accidentally handcuff Santa to an armchair on Christmas Eve, and then need to deliver all the presents himself?
+
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444926497</amazonuk>
+
|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 mixYou 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''.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Benji Davies
+
|isbn=099334030X
|title= The Storm Whale in Winter
+
|title=Can You Draw the Dragosaur?
|rating= 4.5
+
|author=Peter Lynas and Charlie Roberts
|genre= For Sharing
+
|rating=4.5
|summary= The Storm Whale in Winter is a sequel to the highly popular The Storm Whale.  Noi's father embarks on one last fishing trip before the Arctic Winter sets inAll alone, with his six cats, Noi patiently waits for his father's returnAs night sets and the sea begins to freeze, Noi starts to worry and believes he can see his Dad's boat from his bedroom windowFull of courage, he sets off out in the snow to find his DadGetting lost in the blizzard, Noi is in need of help which comes in the form of his old friend.
+
|genre=Crafts
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>147111998X</amazonuk>
+
|summary=You're going to get a hint of what this book's about very quicklyWhen you see the title page, you'll find out what the book's called and that it's been written by Peter LynasThen we move on to who has done the illustration - and there's a gap.  ''You'' are going to put your name thereIt's ''your'' responsibility to provide the pictures for this book about one of the largest creatures ever to roam the earthThere's some help available, but your name is on the title page - and you have work to do!
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Jill Tomlinson and Paul Howard
+
|isbn=1609809335
|title= The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark
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|title=The Lizard
|rating= 5
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|author= Jose Saramago, J Borges, Nick Caistor (translator) and Lucia Caistor (translator)
|genre= Emerging Readers
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|rating=2
|summary= If you think you know everything about owls, think again. Even the basic things that you THINK are a given may turn out to be wrong. Plop is an adorable 8 week old baby owl and he has the feathers and the beak and the all-around owl look, with two crucial differences: he's not very good at flying, and he's afraid of the dark. Which, for a nocturnal creature, is a bit of a problem.
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|genre=Emerging Readers  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405281847</amazonuk>
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|summary=One day a giant lizard appears in the city. We don't even get told how it arrived, but it certainly appeared.  People took against it, and if they weren't shrugging it off as a hallucination brought on by tiredness just as they fled it, they wanted something done about it. Can something be done about it, though?
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Beatrix Potter and Quentin Blake
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|isbn=1789016320
|title=The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots
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|title=Tadcaster and the Bullies
 +
|author=Richard Rutherford
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=For Sharing
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|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=At night a serious, well-behaved and (let's be honest) rather ''superior'' young black cat goes out huntingWell, if we're being ''totally'' honest, there's a little bit of poaching in there tooBy day she is Miss Catherine St Quintin, although her owner calls her KittyOther cats call her ''Q'', or ''Squintums'', but they are very common cats and Kitty's owner would have been scandalised had she known that there was an acquaintance.  The reaction would have been even stronger had she known that Miss Kitty went out in a gentleman's Norfolk jacket and fur-lined boots.  With a gun.
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|summary=In some ways it was a gentler time: video games were around, but children usually went outside to enjoy themselvesThey flew kites and went sledging if there was snow around.  Tim and Mary's great-grandfather started a business in 1899 so our story is probably set in the nineteen seventiesSomething which hasn't changed, unfortunately, is bullying and two lads are making life miserable not just for Tim and Mary but for other children who gather in the playgroundTim's probably about ten - just at the stage where he's beginning to feel responsible for his younger sister, who's two years younger than him, but he's not yet at the stage where he knows how to deal with bullies.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241247594</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=B01N0OZQOD
|author=Allan Plenderleith
+
|title=Nickerbacher
|title=The Snowman Strikes Back
+
|author=Terry John Barto
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Emerging Readers
+
|genre=Emerging Readers  
|summary=It's not easy being a snowman, you know - particularly when you are made by Ernest Green-Bogle, who delights in tormenting you.  Sometimes he'd make you upside down or looking like a pig (it's just plain ''undignified'', you know).  That's not the worst of it.  He has been known to attack snowman with a hairdryer, feed his carrot nose to a rabbit and even encase him in a block of ice. The snow clown was ''not'' funny and the snow ice cream cone even less so.  But one day everything changed when Ernest came home and there was a big boy with him.  Ernest had a black eye and the big boy was threatening him.
+
|summary=Nickerbacher is doing his dragonly duty as all dragons do. That dragonly duty is, of course, princess-guarding. That's what dragons are for, after all. But Gwendolyn isn't any princess. She finds the whole princessing thing quite boring really and she is much less interested in fairy tales than she is in watching comedy on ''The Late Knight Show''. Nickerbacher likes ''The Late Knight Show'' too - in fact, it's his favourite TV show because he wants to be a stand-up comedian himself. He tries out his jokes on Princess Gwendolyn but they don't always come off quite as Nickerbacher intended.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841613932</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Dr Seuss
+
|isbn=0008265836
|title=The Lorax
+
|title=Rory Branagan Detective
 +
|author=Andrew Clover and Ralph Lazar
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Emerging Readers
+
|genre=Emerging Readers  
|summary= It seemed to me that environmentalism was invented sometime in the early 90s. All of a sudden my schooling was about Greenhouse gases and how we the children have the future in our hands.  Could this Generation X solve the problems caused by Generations A-W? I doubt it because if you look back to 1971 and the publishing of ''The Lorax'', you will see that for decades before people like Dr Seuss have been trying to teach the kids to think green.
+
|summary=Ten-year-old Rory Branagan isn't just a normal kid. He's a detective and he has a mystery to solve – why did his dad disappear when he was three? Rory doesn't know where to start but, then, Cassidy moves in next door and he discovers he has an accomplice who is full of ideas. This is just as well as they soon discover a very serious crime: Corner Boy's dad has been poisoned and is at risk of dying but no-one else will believe he's in danger. It's up to Rory and Cassidy to uncover the truth and save a life.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007455933</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Gavin Puckett and Tor Freeman
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|isbn=0192758748
|title=Colin the Cart Horse
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|title=Horace & Harriet Take on the Town
|rating=5
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|author=Clare Elsom
|genre=Children's Rhymes and Verse
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|rating=4
|summary=Meet Colin. He's a perfectly regular cart horse, carrying the crops, tools and children around the farm. He's happy with a life of labour, resting after his shift is done about three every afternoon, and a life of hay – that is, however, until he wonders what his fellow farm animals are eating.  What could be the consequence of him trying out every other farm food on the market?
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|genre=Emerging Readers
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571315437</amazonuk>
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|summary=When Harriet, aged seven and a quarter, decides to go to Princes Park to practise 'Going to the Park on Her Own' (i.e. with her Grandad walking at least thirty steps behind) she can't believe her eyes. The statue of Lord Commander Horatio Fredrick Wallington Nincompoop Maximus Pimpleberry the Third (or Horace for short) starts to move. He not only moves but stamps his foot, shouts something that would get him in serious trouble with Harriet's mum, and climbs down from his pillar. Understandably Harriet can't resist following and quickly finds herself dragged all around the town as Horace searches for a new – and more suitable – home. His sights are firmly set on the Mayor's mansion and it, therefore, falls to Harriet to persuade him that there must be a better alternative. Sadly, Horace's visits to the museum, cinema, train station, playground, bank and library all cause mayhem. Luckily, however, a competition in the park reveals the perfect answer.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Andrea Beaty and David Roberts
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|isbn=Saulles_Bee
|title= Ada Twist, Scientist
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|title=Bee Boy: Clash of the Killer Queens
|rating= 5
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|author=Tony De Saulles
|genre= Emerging Readers
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|rating=4.5
|summary= The first thing you must know about Ada Marie is the way she said nothing until the day she was three. Now that's a way to pique your interest from the start. After all what sort of child does not speak until she turns three? In this case it's a very smart little girl.
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|genre=Emerging Readers  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1419721372</amazonuk>
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|summary=Young Mel's friend has left and the beehive is now his to look after. Unfortunately, Mel lives in a tower block and not all of his neighbours agree that it is the correct place for a hive. Things change when Mel suddenly realises he has an amazing superpower; he can become a bee.
 
}}
 
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=Davidson_Night
 +
|title=Night Zookeeper: The Giraffes of Whispering Wood
 +
|author=Joshua Davidson
 +
|rating=5
 +
|genre=Emerging Readers
 +
|summary=A straight-laced student makes one defiant act of creativity and has a world of magic and imagination opened up for him. Will is the new Night Zookeeper and his tenure in the role of protector to a magical world starts with the repulsion of a dangerous invasion.
  
{{newreview
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Joshua Davidson has written about the Night Zookeeper before and there are online cartoons devoted to the character but this marks a new launch and a new series. This is not just a book but a whole online event with huge educational tie-ins and a push to get children using their own imagination. The story itself mirrors what the author is trying to achieve in real life; the power of the imagination makes everything better.
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=Seuss_Read
 +
|title=I Can Read With My Eyes Shut
 
|author=Dr Seuss
 
|author=Dr Seuss
|title=Horton Hears a Who
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Emerging Readers
+
|genre=Emerging Readers  
|summary=Some books are classics and they prove this by never going out of print. Do you want to pick up a copy of a Dr Seuss novel? The chances are that you will be able to find a brand new one in any book shop.  However, do these tales still stand the test of time?  Can Horton’s adventures with the Whos remain the wonderful story it was the day it was written?
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|summary=''The more that you read,''<br>
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007455941</amazonuk>
+
''The more things you will know.''<br>
 +
''The more that you learn,''<br>
 +
''The more places you'll go.''
 +
 
 +
This is a classic Dr Seuss quote from this book, and one that I painstakingly stickered onto the wall of my children's school library! The book is very silly, as Dr Seuss always is, but is also a good rhyming ode to the joys of reading.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Rose Lagercrantz and Eva Eriksson
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|isbn=Neal_Words
|title= Life According to Dani
+
|title=Words and Your Heart
|rating=5
+
|author=Kate Jane Neal
|genre=Emerging Readers
+
|rating=4
|summary=Meet Dani – and if you haven't throughout [[:Category:Rose Lagercrantz and Eva Eriksson|the three previous books]] then you certainly should.  Her life has been up and down, considering she's only just finished the first year of primary school, but at the moment it's on the up, with caveats.  She's in an idyllic place – staying with the best friend imaginable for the entire summer holidays, on what might as well be a private island, and in constant contact with her father. The caveats concern what happened in [[When I Am Happiest by Rose Lagercrantz and Eva Eriksson|book three]] and the fact that her father has been run over, but at least he calls every night at teatime.  Until, that is, the night that he doesn't…
+
|genre=Emerging Readers  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1776570715</amazonuk>
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|summary=Trolling, bullying, cyber-shaming, whatever-it's-called-this-week-ing – all act as proof that the adage about sticks and stones is actually a lot of piffle. In a world where we all have hearts, we should have a heart that what we say to other people is positive. We can examine our world and the sound it makes through communication, we can make each other smile, laugh, sing and be happy together, and bit by bit the world can be a better place. And hang the 'no, after you' attitude some people would have in response. There, I've given the entire plot of this book away in my summary, but that's not really an issue.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Sharon Rentta
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|isbn=Tavares_Red
|title=A Day at the Animal Post Office
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|title=Red and Lulu
|rating=3
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|author=Matt Tavares
|genre=Emerging Readers
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|rating=4.5
|summary= Some people love their work and I have to say that I enjoy mine, but give me the option of winning the Euro Millions and spending the rest of my days drinking Pina Coladas on a superyacht, or the office, and I choose the beach.  For children there is sometimes a glamour that emanates from the working week; what tales of majesty can Bob the Builder tell me?  The fact is that work can be dull at times and repetitive, but a book written for children about gainful employment should make it sound fun?
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|genre=Emerging Readers  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1407162543</amazonuk>
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|summary=Meet Red and Lulu. They're a committed couple of cardinals and they have lived for some time in someone's garden, safely in an evergreen tree. It seems to them that every year people mention their home in a lovely song, which tells the tree thy leaves are so unchanging. But one year, just as the seasons turn for the cold of winter, the tree vanishes, taking Lulu with it…
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Clara Vulliamy
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|isbn=Dickens_Search
|title=Dotty Detective
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|title=Search and Find A Christmas Carol
|rating=4
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|author=Charles Dickens, Sarah Powell and Louise Pigott
|genre=Emerging Readers
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|rating=3.5
|summary=Dorothy Constance Mae Louise, otherwise known as Dot, has just moved house and has had to change schools. Luckily she soon finds a friend, Beans, and together they form the top-secret 'Join the Dots Detectives'. Both Dot and Beans are huge fans of the TV programme 'Fred Fantastic – Ace Detective'. They've watched every episode and memorised all Fred's techniques. It's just as well they have because their classmate Laura has hatched a plot to prevent shy Amy singing in the talent contest and it's up to Dot and Beans to uncover the plan.
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|genre=Emerging Readers  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0008132496</amazonuk>
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|summary=Recently I got to applaud a book that branched away from the Where's Wally? style volume, and taught the explorer about a non-fiction subject as they went a-searching. Well, it seems tweaking the form is going to be a big thing, for this book tries yet another different approach – to teach us about a fictional story. They've started at the deep end, with a book hastening towards being two centuries old, and one that has been adapted countless times before now, yet always has people returning to it at a certain time of the year for its ageless lesson. But does the rich content of Dickens, even at his most populist, survive this quirky variation?
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Elli Woollard
 
|title=The Secret Pirate (Swashbuckle Lil: The Secret Pirate)
 
|rating=4
 
|genre= Emerging Readers
 
|summary= School girl Lil is a secret pirate. Her classmates think she's an ordinary girl and assume they're just imagining things when they hear her bag squawk. They don't know that's where she keeps her parrot (whose name is Carrot). Her teacher, Miss Lubber, thinks Lil's naughty and is unaware that Lil's really trying to save the teacher from being kidnapped by the wicked pirate, Stinkbeard. But Lil doesn't mind because she knows the truth – she's a bold and brave pirate and all her adventures are true (at least to her).
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1509808825</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=Seuss_Eggs
 +
|title=Scrambled Eggs Super
 
|author=Dr Seuss
 
|author=Dr Seuss
|title=Oh, the Places You'll Go
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|summary=''Oh, The Places You'll Go'' is the classic Dr Seuss tale of one man's journey through a bizarre land.  The book takes you on a trip into the imagination of an author who was never shy of the bizarre.  You will sail high into the sky in a hot air balloon and walk through strange forests with trees that you have never seen.  One thing is for sure, this will not be a dull outing and if you are new to Dr Seuss, one you may never forget.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0008122113</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Pip Jones
 
|title=Squishy McFluff: Seaside Rescue!
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre= Children's Rhymes and Verse
 
|summary= Ava and her invisible cat – Squishy McFluff – are off to the seaside for their latest adventure together. They have great fun digging in the sand towards Australia and sitting on the beach eating ice cream. (Although the adults who fall in their hole and the ice cream man may not share their enthusiasm.) Everything is purr-fect until invisible cat Squishy decides to chase an invisible fish. Now it's up to Ava to stage a 'seaside rescue'…
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571320686</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Posy Simmonds
 
|title= Lulu and the Chocolate Wedding
 
|rating= 5
 
|genre= Emerging Readers
 
|summary= Unusual, quirky children's books can be hit or miss, but this one is a definite hit. Told in cartoon strip form, with illustrations reminiscent of the brilliant ''Raymond Briggs'', it mixes the real world with dreamy fantasies that have a touch of [[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and Sir John Tenniel]] to them.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178344407X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Swapna Haddow
 
|title=Dave Pigeon
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Emerging Readers  
 
|genre=Emerging Readers  
|summary=The tag line on the cover of ''Dave Pigeon'' probably sums this story up. It's about ''How to Deal with Bad Cats and Keep (most of) Your Feathers''. Or, if you want a bit more, it's about two Pigeons – Dave and his trusty friend Skipper – who are unceremoniously attacked by a cat while on a routine croissant heist. Dave's wing is injured so he and Skipper set out to get their own back at the vicious cat. They plan to evict Mean Cat from his home and install themselves in his place with the kind Human Lady and her enviable supply of biscuits. You won't be surprised that things don't go exactly to plan.
+
|summary=Peter T. Hooper doesn't mean to show off, but he is ''very'' good at cooking. Some would say he is ''The Best'' capital T, capital B. And his signature dish is scrambled eggs. You might think that's quite an easy dish, one with which it's a little hard to showcase one's prowess, but not so. For Peter T. Hooper, what makes his scrambled eggs so super is the choice of the egg itself, and he will go out of his way to procure the best of the best from whatever nest.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571323308</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Elys Dolan
 
|title= Steven Seagull Action Hero
 
|rating= 4.5
 
|genre= Emerging Readers
 
|summary= Steven Seagull is a retired cop. He used to patrol Beach City but those days are over. He was fired, you see, so that retirement wasn't entirely voluntary. Fired for being ''a renegade'' (quite a fancy word). But a crime wave is underway and no one has been able to find the culprit. Can Steven be coaxed out of retirement to see if he can help?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0192738704</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
Move on to [[Newest Entertainment Reviews]]

Latest revision as of 13:05, 8 December 2022

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Review of

A Tricky Kind of Magic by Nigel Baines

4.5star.jpg Emerging Readers

Cooper loves to perform magic tricks. His father was a magician, and named Cooper after the great Tommy Cooper. But sadly Cooper's father died suddenly, and now Cooper doesn't quite know who to be, or how to be. And when his dad's prop rabbit starts talking to him, he really doesn't know what's going on anymore! Full Review

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Review of

My Cat Called Red by Jane Lightbourne

4star.jpg Emerging Readers

Robin has red hair. He hates it, and the freckles that go along with it. He's been bullied and mocked at school because of it. Ginger Minger! Carrots! Kids are mean. But red hair is not Robin's only misery in life. He's already lost his dad to a mountaineering accident when his mum gets ill and is taken into hospital. She doesn't come home again. Full Review

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Review of

Two Terrible Vikings by Francesca Simon and Steve May

4star.jpg Emerging Readers

In a small Viking village there live two twins, Hack and Whack, who are eager to be the very worst Vikings ever! Nothing can stop their mad marauding, as they cause havoc at a birthday party, chaos whilst tracking a troll, and undertake a grand journey to raid Bad Island with their friends! They get up to all kinds of mischief and naughty behaviour, along with their wolf-cub Bitey-Bitey, and their crazy cast of friends. Full Review

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Review of

Guess What I Found in the Playground! by Victoria Thompson

4.5star.jpg For Sharing

Tilly is excited. She's just come dashing out of the classroom, pigtails flapping behind her and a big grin on her face. Dad's come to collect her and her brother and he has to try to guess what she found in the playground today, although she concedes that he will never guess. Dad wants to know how school was, but obviously that's not important. Could Tilly have found more collectable things for her scrap box? (Isn't that so much more sensible than a scrap book?) Well, actually, Tilly did find exciting stuff. There are sequins, glittered paper and all sorts of other things in her pocket, but that's not what she wants Dad to guess. Full Review

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Review of

M is for Movement by Innosanto Nagara

4star.jpg Emerging Readers

Set in Indonesia, in the not too distant past, this is a story about social change. Dealing with some difficult issues, such as political corruption and nepotism, the book is neither boring nor preachy. It educates gently, with vibrant, challenging illustrations, and it portrays how social movements need people who will try, even when it seems that they will fail. The message is a positive one; that in an increasingly uncertain world, we do still have the power to instigate change. Full Review

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Review of

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

4star.jpg Dyslexia Friendly

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

Can You Draw the Dragosaur? by Peter Lynas and Charlie Roberts

4.5star.jpg Crafts

You're going to get a hint of what this book's about very quickly. When you see the title page, you'll find out what the book's called and that it's been written by Peter Lynas. Then we move on to who has done the illustration - and there's a gap. You are going to put your name there. It's your responsibility to provide the pictures for this book about one of the largest creatures ever to roam the earth. There's some help available, but your name is on the title page - and you have work to do! Full Review

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Review of

The Lizard by Jose Saramago, J Borges, Nick Caistor (translator) and Lucia Caistor (translator)

2star.jpg Emerging Readers

One day a giant lizard appears in the city. We don't even get told how it arrived, but it certainly appeared. People took against it, and if they weren't shrugging it off as a hallucination brought on by tiredness just as they fled it, they wanted something done about it. Can something be done about it, though? Full Review

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Review of

Tadcaster and the Bullies by Richard Rutherford

4star.jpg Emerging Readers

In some ways it was a gentler time: video games were around, but children usually went outside to enjoy themselves. They flew kites and went sledging if there was snow around. Tim and Mary's great-grandfather started a business in 1899 so our story is probably set in the nineteen seventies. Something which hasn't changed, unfortunately, is bullying and two lads are making life miserable not just for Tim and Mary but for other children who gather in the playground. Tim's probably about ten - just at the stage where he's beginning to feel responsible for his younger sister, who's two years younger than him, but he's not yet at the stage where he knows how to deal with bullies. Full Review

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Review of

Nickerbacher by Terry John Barto

4star.jpg Emerging Readers

Nickerbacher is doing his dragonly duty as all dragons do. That dragonly duty is, of course, princess-guarding. That's what dragons are for, after all. But Gwendolyn isn't any princess. She finds the whole princessing thing quite boring really and she is much less interested in fairy tales than she is in watching comedy on The Late Knight Show. Nickerbacher likes The Late Knight Show too - in fact, it's his favourite TV show because he wants to be a stand-up comedian himself. He tries out his jokes on Princess Gwendolyn but they don't always come off quite as Nickerbacher intended. Full Review

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Review of

Rory Branagan Detective by Andrew Clover and Ralph Lazar

5star.jpg Emerging Readers

Ten-year-old Rory Branagan isn't just a normal kid. He's a detective and he has a mystery to solve – why did his dad disappear when he was three? Rory doesn't know where to start but, then, Cassidy moves in next door and he discovers he has an accomplice who is full of ideas. This is just as well as they soon discover a very serious crime: Corner Boy's dad has been poisoned and is at risk of dying but no-one else will believe he's in danger. It's up to Rory and Cassidy to uncover the truth and save a life. Full Review

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Review of

Horace & Harriet Take on the Town by Clare Elsom

4star.jpg Emerging Readers

When Harriet, aged seven and a quarter, decides to go to Princes Park to practise 'Going to the Park on Her Own' (i.e. with her Grandad walking at least thirty steps behind) she can't believe her eyes. The statue of Lord Commander Horatio Fredrick Wallington Nincompoop Maximus Pimpleberry the Third (or Horace for short) starts to move. He not only moves but stamps his foot, shouts something that would get him in serious trouble with Harriet's mum, and climbs down from his pillar. Understandably Harriet can't resist following and quickly finds herself dragged all around the town as Horace searches for a new – and more suitable – home. His sights are firmly set on the Mayor's mansion and it, therefore, falls to Harriet to persuade him that there must be a better alternative. Sadly, Horace's visits to the museum, cinema, train station, playground, bank and library all cause mayhem. Luckily, however, a competition in the park reveals the perfect answer. Full Review

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Review of

Bee Boy: Clash of the Killer Queens by Tony De Saulles

4.5star.jpg Emerging Readers

Young Mel's friend has left and the beehive is now his to look after. Unfortunately, Mel lives in a tower block and not all of his neighbours agree that it is the correct place for a hive. Things change when Mel suddenly realises he has an amazing superpower; he can become a bee. Full Review

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Review of

Night Zookeeper: The Giraffes of Whispering Wood by Joshua Davidson

5star.jpg Emerging Readers

A straight-laced student makes one defiant act of creativity and has a world of magic and imagination opened up for him. Will is the new Night Zookeeper and his tenure in the role of protector to a magical world starts with the repulsion of a dangerous invasion.

Joshua Davidson has written about the Night Zookeeper before and there are online cartoons devoted to the character but this marks a new launch and a new series. This is not just a book but a whole online event with huge educational tie-ins and a push to get children using their own imagination. The story itself mirrors what the author is trying to achieve in real life; the power of the imagination makes everything better. Full Review

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Review of

I Can Read With My Eyes Shut by Dr Seuss

4.5star.jpg Emerging Readers

The more that you read,
The more things you will know.
The more that you learn,
The more places you'll go.

This is a classic Dr Seuss quote from this book, and one that I painstakingly stickered onto the wall of my children's school library! The book is very silly, as Dr Seuss always is, but is also a good rhyming ode to the joys of reading. Full Review

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Review of

Words and Your Heart by Kate Jane Neal

4star.jpg Emerging Readers

Trolling, bullying, cyber-shaming, whatever-it's-called-this-week-ing – all act as proof that the adage about sticks and stones is actually a lot of piffle. In a world where we all have hearts, we should have a heart that what we say to other people is positive. We can examine our world and the sound it makes through communication, we can make each other smile, laugh, sing and be happy together, and bit by bit the world can be a better place. And hang the 'no, after you' attitude some people would have in response. There, I've given the entire plot of this book away in my summary, but that's not really an issue. Full Review

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Review of

Red and Lulu by Matt Tavares

4.5star.jpg Emerging Readers

Meet Red and Lulu. They're a committed couple of cardinals and they have lived for some time in someone's garden, safely in an evergreen tree. It seems to them that every year people mention their home in a lovely song, which tells the tree thy leaves are so unchanging. But one year, just as the seasons turn for the cold of winter, the tree vanishes, taking Lulu with it… Full Review

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Review of

Search and Find A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Sarah Powell and Louise Pigott

3.5star.jpg Emerging Readers

Recently I got to applaud a book that branched away from the Where's Wally? style volume, and taught the explorer about a non-fiction subject as they went a-searching. Well, it seems tweaking the form is going to be a big thing, for this book tries yet another different approach – to teach us about a fictional story. They've started at the deep end, with a book hastening towards being two centuries old, and one that has been adapted countless times before now, yet always has people returning to it at a certain time of the year for its ageless lesson. But does the rich content of Dickens, even at his most populist, survive this quirky variation? Full Review

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Review of

Scrambled Eggs Super by Dr Seuss

4.5star.jpg Emerging Readers

Peter T. Hooper doesn't mean to show off, but he is very good at cooking. Some would say he is The Best capital T, capital B. And his signature dish is scrambled eggs. You might think that's quite an easy dish, one with which it's a little hard to showcase one's prowess, but not so. For Peter T. Hooper, what makes his scrambled eggs so super is the choice of the egg itself, and he will go out of his way to procure the best of the best from whatever nest. Full Review

Move on to Newest Entertainment Reviews