Difference between revisions of "Newest Emerging Readers Reviews"

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[[Category:Emerging Readers|*]]
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Michael Morpurgo and Shoo Rayner
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|author=Nigel Baines
|title= Mudpuddle Farm: Hee-Haw Hooray
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|title=A Tricky Kind of Magic
|rating= 4
+
|rating=4.5
|genre= Emerging Readers
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|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=Two collected stories from Mudpuddle Farm series – ''Nowt to Worry About'' and ''Tickety-Boo''. How will the animals react when the sky goes strange and horrifying noises abound? Changes are afoot that could mark the end of Mudpuddle farm; or is it just a new beginning?
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|summary=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!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0008241988</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1444960261
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Sarah Powell
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|author=Jane Lightbourne
|title= Search and Find: Pride & Prejudice: A Jane Austen Search and Find Book
+
|title= My Cat Called Red
 
|rating= 4
 
|rating= 4
|genre= Emerging Readers
+
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary= Search and find books are usually aimed at children. They are a good bit of fun, but they are also a good study tool for adult readers alike. Jane Austen is a fantastic novelist, but her style of writing can be daunting for those not used to such heavy prose. It is very easy to become lost in the myriad of dialogue, characters and events. I find a good plot summary helps when approaching her works, this was especially so in the case of the perplexing and long-winded Emma.  
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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>1783708271</amazonuk>
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|isbn= 1838216812
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Pip Jones and Adam Stower
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|author=Francesca Simon and Steve May
|title=Piggy Handsome: Guinea Pig Destined for Stardom!
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|title=Two Terrible Vikings
|rating=3.5
+
|rating=4
|genre=Emerging Readers  
+
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=Meet Piggy Handsome.  He is a very bequiffed guinea pig, and he is frustrated that everyone in his long line of Handsome guinea pigs has become famous for something, except him.  Annoyed that he has not even got his face in the local newspaper, he has complained to his friend Jeffry the Budgie more than once. But on this day, Jeff has a chance to solve the issue and get some peace and quiet for himself – there is a chip eating contest in town. But can Piggy get there in time, can he down a bowl of chips quickly enough to win, and what about the pair of idiot thieves that also have something on their mind?
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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>0571327540</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0571349498
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Michael Morpurgo and Shoo Rayner
 
|title= Mudpuddle Farm: Alien Invasion
 
|rating= 4
 
|genre= Emerging Readers
 
|summary=This collected edition contains two stories from Mudpuddle Farm: ''Alien Invasion'' and ''Mum's the Word''. When the bees swarm the animals panic over a new creature that appears in the farm. In the second story that greedy goat has vanished and when he returns something darned odd happens…
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007275137</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=David Roberts and Alan MacDonald
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|isbn=1838593187
|title=My Burptastic Body Book (Dirty Bertie)
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|title=Guess What I Found in the Playground!
 +
|author=Victoria Thompson
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Oh, to be young and innocent, and to be full of questionsQuestions like 'is eating my bogies good for me', or 'why is poo brown', or 'what makes sweat smell'You don't have to be a kid like Dirty Bertie to want to know the answers – respectively, no; it's down to dead bacteria; and it doesn't – it's other bacteria againIf you think you have a lad (or, let's face it, a lass) interested in learning such stuff, this book could well be the place to turn.
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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 guessDad 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>1847156754</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Michael Bond and R W Alley
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|author=Innosanto Nagara
|title=Best-loved Paddington Stories
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|title=M is for Movement
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=For Sharing
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|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=With the sad passing of Michael Bond there is no time like the present to revisit some of the adventures of his most iconic creation; PaddingtonAs the character has proved so timeless regular re-issues of the books have appeared and ''Best-loved Paddington Stories'' brings three of these stories togetherDoes this collection really reflect the best that the bear has to offer or are they just three random tales stuck together with marmalade?
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|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>0008245037</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1609809351
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Enid Blyton
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|isbn=1949471004
|title= The Seaside Family
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|title=Dog on a Log Chapter Books: Step 1
|rating= 4.5
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|author=Pamela Brookes
|genre= Emerging Readers
 
|summary= The Caravan Family (Mummy, Daddy, Mike, Belinda and Ann) are all ready for the holidays, and what better place to spend time together than at the seaside? They can play in the sea, picnic on the sand and generally enjoy each other's company. It will be marvellous.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405286733</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Robyn Swift and Sara Lynn Cramb
 
|title=National Trust: Complete Night Explorer's Kit
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
|summary=There is a misfortune to the modern world, in that we have killed off a common hobby from when I was a ladNowadays  light pollution is so awful it's certainly not uncommon for people to hardly see any of the stars and to get to learn the constellations, and while I only went out to go 'meteor hunting', it's patently obvious that the chance to lie down and stargaze is a dying oneElsewhere the nocturnal youth can struggle to have much opportunity to explore the night-time nature as this book suggests – it begins with setting up a tent in your back garden, and too many don't even get that chance, for want of possession of oneYes, if this book is only read once in the daytime and never referred to again, due to lack of opportunity, it really will be a crying shame.
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|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 problemYou 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, eitherReading - and ''learning'' to read - should be a pleasure. It should be ''fun''.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857638777</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=David Walliams and Tony Ross
+
|isbn=099334030X
|title=The World's Worst Children 2
+
|title=Can You Draw the Dragosaur?
 +
|author=Peter Lynas and Charlie Roberts
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
+
|genre=Crafts
|summary=I sometimes wonder if David Walliams gets sick of the comparisons with Roald Dahl that he gets.  It's such an easy comparison to make, however, because both wrote very funny, and yet really very dark stories for childrenThey don't shy away from the nastiness, and ugliness in life and instead face it head on, and flip it around, and make you laugh along the wayThis is a rollercoaster ride through a wide range of truly dreadful children who range from being a fussy eater, to a spoiled brat, to Harry, who never, ever did his homework! Yes, their dark deeds vary in despicableness, and along with dreadfulness galore there are fabulous illustrations, a large variety of fonts, unusual page layouts and a Royal introduction from the Queen...
+
|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 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!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0008259623</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Jeff Brown and Rob Biddulph
+
|isbn=1609809335
|title=Stanley and the Magic Lamp (Flat Stanley)
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|title=The Lizard
|rating=3.5
+
|author= Jose Saramago, J Borges, Nick Caistor (translator) and Lucia Caistor (translator)
|genre=Emerging Readers
+
|rating=2
|summary=It was far too recently that I picked up [[Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown and Rob Biddulph|Flat Stanley]] and met with a character now fifty years old for the first time, and found out how he got to be flat and what happened as a resultBizarrely, however, despite the success of that first book it was twenty full years before the author picked up the pen to give Stanley this sequelOr perhaps it's not such a surprise – without giving too much away, the character had met with a certain change at the end of book one, and therefore wasn't exactly ready for more of the same.  Well, over the decades there have been six official books by Jeff Brown, and this was the first instance where I could find out for myself if '''I''' was ready for more of the same…
+
|genre=Emerging Readers  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140528806X</amazonuk>
+
|summary=One day a giant lizard appears in the cityWe don't even get told how it arrived, but it certainly appearedPeople 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 itCan something be done about it, though?
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Giles Chapman and Us Now
 
|title=The Story of the Car
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Dinosaurs… farm machinery… science fiction… trains… cars.  I can't think of many other subjects that inspired the young me to have a full non-fiction book about them on my juvenile shelves.  Most of course I lost interest in with maturity.  But the young child these days won't be much different, for good or bad, and so they will like as not want a book about broom-brooms for the shelfAnd this is pretty much the go-to volume for such an interest.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1526360268</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Libby Walden
+
|isbn=1789016320
|title=In Focus: Cities
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|title=Tadcaster and the Bullies
 +
|author=Richard Rutherford
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
+
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=The [[In Focus: 101 Close Ups, Cross-Sections and Cutaways by Libby Walden|first book in this series]] promised 101 close-ups, cross sections and/or cutways, but here we're restricted to just tenWhy? Because the subject matters are so much bigger – one is home to 37 million people, of all thingsYes, we're talking cities, and while this book tries to follow the previous – different artist every page, an exclusive inside look within the volume, and a self-deceiving page count – we are definitely in new territoryWe're seeking the trivial, the geographical and the cultural, all so that the inquisitive young student can find out the variety to be had in the world's metropolises.
+
|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>1848575912</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Geraldo Valerio
+
|isbn=B01N0OZQOD
|title=My Book of Birds
+
|title=Nickerbacher
 +
|author=Terry John Barto
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction 
+
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=I never really caught the bird-watching habit, even with the opportunity of growing up on the edge of a village in the middle of nowhere. It was in the family, too, but I resigned myself to never seeing much that was spectacular, and once you've seen one blackbird you've seen them all, was my thinking. If I'd had this book as a youngster, who knows – I may have come out of it differently, having been shown the diversity of the bird world in snippets of text, and some quite unusual illustrations…
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|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>1526360004</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Danna Smith and Bagram Ibatoulline
+
|isbn=0008265836
|title= The Hawk of the Castle: A Story of Medieval Falconry
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|title=Rory Branagan Detective
 +
|author=Andrew Clover and Ralph Lazar
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Children's Rhymes and Verse
+
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=I don't know why I was surprised by this book – I've read enough volumes for the young audiences to know that as far as subject matter is concerned, pretty much anything goes. But this is about falconry, of all things – the use of a once-wild and still pretty much free-spirited bird of prey to hunt down animals, either for the heck of it or for the pot. An attractive girl and her father get their hawk ready, and leave the castle with all the equipment in tow – bells to hear the landed bird and what it's captured, the hood to act as blinkers for it on the way there, the lure if necessary.  The story concerns just one trip out, girl, father, hound – and hawk. But while that may surprise you as a subject matter of choice, it was the whole artistic approach that won me over here…
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|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>1406376698</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Gareth P Jones
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|isbn=0192758748
|title=Beards From Outer Space
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|title=Horace & Harriet Take on the Town
 +
|author=Clare Elsom
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Emerging Readers
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|genre=Emerging Readers  
|summary= You might not realise it but Earth is under constant alien attack. Luckily we humans don't need to worry because the Pet Defenders (a secret society of our domestic pets) are always on standby to keep us safe. The activities of the Pet Defenders are normally kept secret but Stripes Publishing are kindly allowing human children a brief glimpse into their exciting adventures. In ''Beards From Outer Space'' we are able to read how a dog and cat secret agents Biskit and Mitzy – team up to rid the world of an army of alien beards.
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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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847157858</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Ghillian Potts and Ed Boxall
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|isbn=Saulles_Bee
|title=The Old Woman from Friuli
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|title=Bee Boy: Clash of the Killer Queens
|rating=4
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|author=Tony De Saulles
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|summary=On top of a hill in Italy there was a castle and in that castle there lived a duke.  Every day he would go up to the highest tower and look out at all that he could see and marvel that he owned it all.
 
 
Except that is for one small house, a sturdy house with stone walls and a solid wooden door, a garden and a field.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>190920840X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Holly Webb
 
|title=The Homeless Kitten
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Emerging Readers
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|genre=Emerging Readers  
|summary= Lily loves their rescue dog, Hugo. However, Lily also really wants a cat – or better still a kitten. She, therefore, can't believe her luck when Hugo sniffs out three abandoned kittens while out of his walk with Lily and her dad. Better still (from Lily's point of view at least) the animal shelter is full so Lily's mum and dad reluctantly offer to hand-rear the tiny kittens until they're old enough to be rehomed. Lily's in heaven looking after the kittens, especially the little fluffy white one whom she names Stanley. There is just one problem – it's going to break her heart when the time comes to say goodbye.
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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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847157831</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Matthew Clark Smith and Matt Tavares
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|isbn=Davidson_Night
|title=Lighter than Air: Sophie Blanchard, the First Woman Pilot
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|title=Night Zookeeper: The Giraffes of Whispering Wood
|rating=4.5
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|author=Joshua Davidson
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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|rating=5
|summary=We're in Paris, and – not to be too rude about things – we seem surrounded by idiots. For one, it seems they think the perfect place to experiment with manned hot air balloon flights is in the middle of the biggest city in the world. For another, they think only men could suffer the slightly colder and slightly thinner air experienced on such an adventure – women would never be able to cope. Meanwhile, a young girl is dreaming of flight, as so many are wont to do, completely unaware that she will soon marry one of the most famed balloonists. They will have joint journeys skyward, before his early demise – leaving the young woman, Sophie Blanchard, to go it alone and become the first female pilot.
+
|genre=Emerging Readers
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0763677329</amazonuk>
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|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.
 +
 
 +
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.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Catherine Barr, Steve Williams and Amy Husband
+
|isbn=Seuss_Read
|title=The Story of Space
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|title=I Can Read With My Eyes Shut
 +
|author=Dr Seuss
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
+
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=I have no actual idea how I first got an interest in space.  Perhaps it's there because I'm so old to almost coincide with the last Apollo astronauts being on the moon (and that's pretty old, it's been so long) and it kind of rubbed off on me.  Perhaps in fact all young children are interested in space anyway, and don't need any impetus or reason to look up in wonder.  But if they do, this is the newest way of nudging the newer child towards a keenness for all things celestial. And it's a pretty good way indeed.
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|summary=''The more that you read,''<br>
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847807488</amazonuk>
+
''The more things you will know.''<br>
}}
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''The more that you learn,''<br>
{{newreview
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''The more places you'll go.''
|author=Philip Ardagh and Tom Morgan-Jones
+
 
|title=Norman the Norman from Normandy (Little Gems)
+
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.
|rating=5
 
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
 
|summary=Meet Norman.  Norman the Norman, from Normandy.  Not Big Bad Norman the Norman from Normandy, and not Norma the Norman from Normandy – and not even Nora the Norman from, well it doesn't say, but my guess is Normandy.  Norman isn't very big at all – he's just a little boy, and he's not bad. Or at least he doesn't think he is.  But because his father, Big Bad Norman, is buried in three parts (don't ask), and little baby Norman has inherited Big Bad Norman's big bad Norman sword, he's going to visit the three parts – but only good will happen…  Right?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781126976</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Ryan Tubridy and P J Lynch
+
|isbn=Neal_Words
|title=Patrick and the President
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|title=Words and Your Heart
 +
|author=Kate Jane Neal
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Emerging Readers  
 
|genre=Emerging Readers  
|summary=Meet Patrick.  Such a direction is a little facetious here, because it's who ''he's'' going to meet that's the key. He lives in New Ross, County Wexford, and his school has been chosen to perform as a choir for the much-anticipated arrival of President J F Kennedy, as the man traces the path of his Irish ancestry, in what (in addition to stop-overs in England and Italy on the same trip) was to be his last state visit abroad. But surely just being one among three hundred on such an auspicious, yet brief, occasion is not enough for such an enterprising lad?  Well, no, for his connected parents have got another trick up their sleeve for him…
+
|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1406366927</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Adam Hancher
+
|isbn=Tavares_Red
|title=Taking Flight: How the Wright Brothers Conquered the Skies
+
|title=Red and Lulu
 +
|author=Matt Tavares
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
+
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=Flight. It happens all around us, wherever we may be, and many are the young audience members for this book who have taken to the air already.  But it was once something impossible to take for granted, and this book easily takes us back to those days. It presents us with danger, determination, and a certain pair of American brothers going all out to get both their names in the history books and their feet in the skies…
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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…
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847809286</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Hilda Offen
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|isbn=Dickens_Search
|title=Message from the Moon
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|title=Search and Find A Christmas Carol
|rating=4
+
|author=Charles Dickens, Sarah Powell and Louise Pigott
|genre=Children's Rhymes and Verse
+
|rating=3.5
|summary=Yes, that is really a 'Message from the Moon' you receive courtesy of this book.  You also get the point of view of the sea itself, as well as children seeing the city night from their bedroom window and other people witnessing geese flying over, and you even get a message from a snail.  The range of verses in this book is however but one of its many qualities…
+
|genre=Emerging Readers
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1909991430</amazonuk>
+
|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=Phil Earle
 
|title= SuperDad's Day Off
 
|rating= 4.5
 
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
 
|summary= Stanley's dad is tired. It can be exhausting work being a Superhero. For six days of the week he saves the world from disasters and defeats the baddies as Dynamo Dan. Stanley decides his poor dad needs a day off and is determined to make sure that he gets a proper rest. So they head off to the park for some much needed Dad and Son bonding time. However people don't seem to understand that even Superheroes need time to recuperate. The requests for help keep on coming so what can poor Stanley do other than step in to save the day.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781126844</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Yuval Zommer
+
|isbn=Seuss_Eggs
|title=The Big Book of Beasts (Big Books)
+
|title=Scrambled Eggs Super
 +
|author=Dr Seuss
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
+
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=One of the many issues people have with the TV nature programme, such as [[Planet Earth II by Stephen Moss|Planet Earth II]], is the obvious one of all the blood and guts it features – yes, in amongst all the cutesy, comical animal life are creatures eating other creatures (normally the cutesy, comical ones, what's worse). You'll be pleased to know, however, that this book is very light on death and destruction. Yes, here are lions sharing some chunks of meat (while the females that caught and killed it sit and wait their turn), here are salmon seemingly willingly flying towards brown bears, and here is a red fox stashing a dead mouse while in a time of plenty, but there is so little to make this even a PG book – it will be perfect for the home shelf or that in a primary school.
+
|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>050065106X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Quentin Blake
 
|title= The Story of the Dancing Frog
 
|rating= 4.5
 
|genre= Dyslexia Friendly
 
|summary= When Jo's Great Aunt Gertrude's sea captain husband is drowned at sea she is grief-stricken and, in despair, she goes for a walk alone. During this walk she notices a small frog on a lily-pad.  But he is no ordinary frog - he's a dancing frog and the two quickly become good friends. Soon the duo are touring the world with their routine, spreading joy and fun - and carrying out the occasional rescue - wherever they go.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781125910</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=DK
 
|title=Forest Life and Woodland Creatures
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=This book knows that if you're going to learn about forest life and the animals, plants and trees in it, then you're only going to be itching to go and explore the woods for yourself.  It's for a very young audience, so always expects an adult hand to guide you – but provides a warm companion itself through several quick and easy tasks, and a few lessons. The balance between carrot and stick, or duty and reward, is great – but what exactly is the edutainment going to provide, and what will it demand of us?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241273110</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=DK
 
|title=Sharks and Other Sea Creatures
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Never before have I found much cause to point out the sort of lower-case, almost-a-subtitle wording on the front of a book.  I say that because very little of this is about sharks – so if you have a youngster intending to come here and learn all their bloodthirsty imagination can hold, then they may well be disappointed.  If you take it on board that the 'other sea creatures' make up the bulk of the book, then all well and good. And even better, if you expect yourself to ''make'' the bulk of said creatures…
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241274389</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

Davidson Night.jpg

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

Seuss Read.jpg

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

Tavares Red.jpg

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

Dickens Search.jpg

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

Seuss Eggs.jpg

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