Difference between revisions of "Newest Emerging Readers Reviews"

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[[Category:Emerging Readers|*]]
 
[[Category:Emerging Readers|*]]
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Nigel Baines
|author= Michael Morpurgo and Emma Chichester Clark
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|title=A Tricky Kind of Magic
|title= Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of The Wizard of Oz
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|rating=4.5
|rating= 4
 
|genre= Emerging Readers
 
|summary= The timeless story that we all know as The Wizard of Oz is given a twist in this original interpretation by master story-crafter Michael Morpurgo. It's the tale of a character that seems to be so often overlooked in the well-known story: Dorothy's faithful dog, Toto. We hear the whole story from his point of view, told in first person narrative from the moment the tornado sweeps across Dorothy's Kansas farm. Toto continues to tell the story as it happens to him in a witty and charming manner as their house is lifted into the air and whisked away to the mysterious land of Oz. Of course, Toto and Dorothy meet the absurd but loveable scarecrow without a brain, tin man without a heart and lion who lacks courage, and together they set off along the yellow brick road to find the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, hoping that he might help Toto and Dorothy return home. Along the way, the tin man, scarecrow and lion learn that what they think they are missing might have been there all along.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0008134596</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Dodie Smith, Peter Bently and Steven Lenton
 
|title=The Hundred and One Dalmatians
 
|rating=5
 
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=A dog is for life, not just for Christmas, as we were constantly told when I was young – I dare say people are still saying it, but it was quite prevalent way back thenI'm sure many people reading this will know that the Dearlys end up with 101 Dalmatians for Christmas themselves, and it must be debatable whether they stayed in the same house as them all come the new yearBut what is beyond doubt is that the getting of so many cute pups was full of drama – drama that fills this young reader to bursting, and drama that comes in illustrations like these with no end of charm.
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|summary=Cooper loves to perform magic tricks.  His father was a magician, and named Cooper after the great Tommy CooperBut 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>1405281669</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1444960261
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Anna Wright
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|author=Jane Lightbourne
|title=The Twelve Days of Christmas (Magnificent Creatures)
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|title= My Cat Called Red
|rating=4.5
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|rating= 4
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=One of the problems a Christmas-themed book has is in making itself relevant at other times of the yearThis charming little encapsulation of the well-known yuletide poem (known in English in 1780, but older than that, trivia fans) gets round that by (a) being a counting book for the very young that they could gain from on any date they chose, and (b) just being really pleasing to look at.
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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 meanBut 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>0571338933</amazonuk>
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|isbn= 1838216812
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Cynthia Ryland and Mary Blair
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|author=Francesca Simon and Steve May
|title=Walt Disney's Cinderella: Illustrated by Mary Blair (Walt Disney Classics)
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|title=Two Terrible Vikings
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=I'm sure almost all my readers are au fait with the story of Cinderella, and of how she went from the gutter to the stars in one romantic swoop. It's only a good thing the relevant people didn't have foot fetishes or phobias, for then the tale would have been utterly different. Disney made it slightly different, of course, when they made the animated classic based on the legend, and this book, complete with art from the time the film was being made, is evidence of just how the look and the emotion of the piece were intended to be.
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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>1405286997</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0571349498
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Jon Scieszka and Mary Blair
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|isbn=1838593187
|title=Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland: Illustrated by Mary Blair (Walt Disney Classics)
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|title=Guess What I Found in the Playground!
 +
|author=Victoria Thompson
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=For Sharing
 +
|summary=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.
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Innosanto Nagara
 +
|title=M is for Movement
 +
|rating=4
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=I'll take is as read you have some knowledge of the story of Alice in Wonderland – certainly when she got to be 150 years old a couple of years back there were no end of editions of her story.  And as you know, 150 years is a heck of a lot of unbirthdaysBut her story got to be slightly different, and if anything only more loved, courtesy of the Disney cartoon, and the fact that this book features artwork that was generated during the production of that film is the unique selling point.
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|summary=Set in Indonesia, in the not too distant past, this is a story about social changeDealing 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 fail.  The message is a positive one; that in an increasingly uncertain world, we do still have the power to instigate change.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405287004</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1609809351
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre
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|isbn=1949471004
|title=Pug-a-Doodle-Do!
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|title=Dog on a Log Chapter Books: Step 1
|rating=4.5
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|author=Pamela Brookes
|genre=Crafts
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|rating=4
|summary=I was reading a book so utterly different to this the other day, it has to bear mention.  It was an exceedingly academic book about graphic novels and comics for the YA audience, and it featured an essay picking up on the way books like the fill-in-bits-yourself entries in the Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries series (such as [[Dork Diaries: How to Dork Your Diary by Rachel Renee Russell|this one]]) let you interact with the franchise, and also to create your own content.  There was some weird high-falutin' academic language to describe such books – but you know what?  I say (redacted) to that – let's just hang it and have fun.  And this book, spinning off from the four books this partnership has so far been responsible for, is certainly a provider of that.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0192764047</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jeremy Strong and Jamie Smith
 
|title=Nellie Choc-Ice, Penguin Explorer (Little Gems)
 
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
 
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
|summary=Meet Nellie Choc-Ice.  Thus named by her grandparents (and grandparents have a habit in this book of making unusual names for their grandchildren, whichever species they belong to), she is a pretty little Macaroni penguin, complete with pink feet, bright yellow eyebrows and a woolly hat with the world's biggest pompom on the endShe has a habit of going exploring and finding out what's over the next ridge in the ice, and the next, and the nextBut when disaster happens and the ice she is on is knocked off Antarctica by a submarine, even she can have no idea as to where she will end up…
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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 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, eitherReading - and ''learning'' to read - should be a pleasure. It should be ''fun''.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781127212</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Lisa Papp
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|isbn=099334030X
|title=Madeleine Finn and the Library Dog
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|title=Can You Draw the Dragosaur?
 +
|author=Peter Lynas and Charlie Roberts
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=For Sharing
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|genre=Crafts
|summary=Madeleine Finn doesn't like to read - not anything.  It's not really her fault, you knowHer teacher tries to encourage her, but some of the other kids giggle when she makes mistakesAnd they pull faces of the type which would have given me my head in my hands to play with when I was a childThe words just don't seem to come out right for herThe other children are getting gold stars (I've ''never'' liked that system) but all Madeleine gets is a heart sticker which tells her to keep tryingShe's got plenty of those.  All week she tries her best but doesn't get the star she longs for.
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|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!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910646326</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Heather Alexander and Andres Lozano
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|isbn=1609809335
|title=Life on Earth: Dinosaurs: With 100 Questions and 70 Lift-flaps!
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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=Children's Non-Fiction
+
|rating=2
|summary=I was a big fan of dinosaurs when I was a nipper.  Since then the science regarding them has evolved leaps and bounds.  We've got in touch with them perhaps being feathered, and have assumed colours and noises they made – we can even extrapolate from their remains what their eyesight, hearing and so much more may have been likeBut science will never stop, and the next generation will need to be on board with the job of discovering them, analysing them, and presenting them to a world that never seems to get enough of the nasty, superlative beasties of Hollywood renownAs you're the kind of person to ask questions, you may well ask 'how do you get that next generation ready for their place in the field and in the laboratory?'  I would put this as the answer – even if it is made itself of a hundred questions.
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|genre=Emerging Readers
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847808972</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 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
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{{Frontpage
|author=Heather Alexander and Andres Lozano
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|isbn=1789016320
|title=Life on Earth: Jungle: With 100 Questions and 70 Lift-flaps!
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|title=Tadcaster and the Bullies
|rating=4.5
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|author=Richard Rutherford
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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|rating=4
|summary=We're constantly being asked to save somethingSave the hedgerows, save the elephant, save our seasThere's absolutely nothing wrong with any of those goals – some of them are larger than the others, and more demanding, but they are all worthyBut seeing as it's (a) the largest land feature we need to save, and (b) it's the most worthwhile to save, why not just go for the jugular – and try and save the Amazonian rainforest? Forget jugular, you'll be saving the jaguar; you'll be protecting the source of a lot of our food, spices and medicines – and when did a hedgerow near you have almost fifty different species of ant on a singular tree?  The first step to saving anything is to understand it, to let us appreciate it, and this primer is how we get in touch with what's important about jungles so we can deem them worthwhile.
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|genre=Emerging Readers
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847809014</amazonuk>
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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 aroundTim 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 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.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Elizabeth Dale and Giusi Capizzi
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|isbn=B01N0OZQOD
|title=Cool Duck and Lots of Hats (Early Reader)
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|title=Nickerbacher
|rating=4.5
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|author=Terry John Barto
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|summary=Children are a little like Pokemon; you may not be able to house them in a Pokeball, but they are always evolving.  Your little kiddo may have spent the first couple of years or so intent to sit on your lap and listen to you read a story, but at some point they are going to want to read themselves.  This is not the moment to lend them your copy of ''Lord of the Rings'' as their own first books will actually be simpler stories than the books that you have shared together.  You need to know your ducks and your hats before you can tackle what on Earth a Gruffalo is.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848862490</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Peter Schossow
 
|title=Where is Grandma?
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|summary=Meet Henry.  He's a young lad being taken by a nanny to hospital to check up on his grandma, who's in having had an accident.  It's a shame, then, that said nanny is so busy yacking into her phone to look after him, for he ends up going off on his own adventure to find his gran.  And what an adventure – babies being born, people with stomach problems, chemo, beans stuck up their nose… all life is here in this hospital, and both that and the lad's mishap are clearly and very pleasantly conveyed.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1776571541</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jill Atkins and Barbara Vagnozzi
 
|title=Peck, Hen, Peck! and Ben's Pet (Early Reader)
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=For Sharing
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|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=It probably sounds obvious, but you really shouldn't keep your pet chickens in a bag!  Well, that's what I learned from this book which tells us first the story of Tom who puts his hen in a bag. The hen pecks through the bag, as hens are wont to do, and escapes!  A simple and somewhat tragic tale!  This is swiftly followed by a story about Ben's pet. Will it be another hen, I wondered?  No, actually, after several incorrect guesses, we discover that Ben's pet is only a rabbit!
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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>1848862482</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Alice Hemming and Louise Forshaw
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|isbn=0008265836
|title=Buzz and Jump! Jump! (Early Reader)
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|title=Rory Branagan Detective
 +
|author=Andrew Clover and Ralph Lazar
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=For Sharing
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|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=After hearing a mysterious buzzing in the kitchen, mum traps a fly in a jar, but then she hears the buzzing again...what could be going on?  Meanwhile, Ken the Kangaroo (who declares himself to be the best at jumping), is jumping everywhere he can. In this red level book, aimed generally at those who have completed their reception year in school, there are two simple, sweet stories in one book, perfect for those who are just learning to read.
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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>1848862504</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Alice Hemming and Julia Seal
 
|title=Bamboo and I Wish (Early Reader)
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=With two stories in one book, there's plenty to like about this simple, and funny, early reader.  The first story, Bamboo, deals with a cheeky panda who has run off to hide.  Where can he be?  The second story is about a wishing well which is granting wishes left, right and centre!  Evaluated as a red level book, it sets itself as being about the right level for those around the end of their reception year.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848862512</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Stephan Lomp
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|isbn=0192758748
|title=Wilfred and Olbert’s Totally Wild Chase
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|title=Horace & Harriet Take on the Town
 +
|author=Clare Elsom
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=Meet Wilfred and Osbert.  They're not only the kind to completely flout the rules of the natural history explorer's club they belong to, but when they both spot an undiscovered butterfly together, they are the kind to fight tooth and claw to be the first to lay claim to it alone, and devil take the other one. What they don't know is that the drama that ensues when they're tailing this particular specimen will involve no end of peril – nearly drowning, almost being eaten by a lion, crashing a hot air balloon one of them just so happened to have in his pocket…  This, then, is a fun and silly biology lesson – but that's only the best kind, surely?
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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>1848696795</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Libby Walden and Stephanie Fizer Coleman
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|isbn=Saulles_Bee
|title=Hidden World: Forest
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|title=Bee Boy: Clash of the Killer Queens
 +
|author=Tony De Saulles
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=Sometimes, less is more. But a wood doesn't understand that, does it – it just stretches on and on, expanding outwards and outwards, and upwards and upwards – it's quite a galling thing for a young person to understand. This book reverts to the very basic detail that will let the very young student get a grip on the life in the forest, whether they can actually see it for the trees in real life or not…
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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>1848575971</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Craig Shuttlewood
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|isbn=Davidson_Night
|title=Town and Country (Turnaround Book)
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|title=Night Zookeeper: The Giraffes of Whispering Wood
 +
|author=Joshua Davidson
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=For Sharing
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|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=I know I should have been working but I've just spent the last hour pouring over ''Town and Country''. On the face of it there's a very simple idea here: on each double-page spread you get examples of what happens in towns and what happens in the countryside with regard to various activities, modes of transport and even things like beaches and snow. You turn the book one way for the country scene and then flip it over for what happens in the town. Down the side of each page there's a list of things for you to find, complete with a thumbnail of what it is you're looking for.
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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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782404422</amazonuk>
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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.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Michael Morpurgo and Shoo Rayner
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|isbn=Seuss_Read
|title= Mudpuddle Farm: Cock-A-Doodle-Doo
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|title=I Can Read With My Eyes Shut
|rating= 5
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|author=Dr Seuss
|genre= Emerging Readers
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|rating=4.5
|summary= This is an anthology book containing two titles from the Mudpuddle Farm series (''Mossop's Last Chance'' and ''Albertine, Goose Queen''). In the first of these we see all the animals work together to save the saggy old cat-puss from being fired. The second story sees our resident genius tested by an encounter with a crafty fox whilst the farmer decides to avoid all the fuss by going for a shave.
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|genre=Emerging Readers  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007270127</amazonuk>
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|summary=''The more that you read,''<br>
 +
''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=Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson and Mary Blair
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|isbn=Neal_Words
|title=Walt Disney's Peter Pan: Illustrated by Mary Blair (Walt Disney Classics)
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|title=Words and Your Heart
|rating=3.5
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|author=Kate Jane Neal
|genre=Emerging Readers
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|rating=4
|summary=I'll take it pretty much as read that you know the story of Peter Pan, the young boy who left his shadow behind, and in collecting it took three children with him to a fantasy world full of nasty men, danger and mystery. I know, the lad is totally irresponsible. You may well know it from panto, or from Disney – and it's the latter that this book is concerning.  It's a very snappy capture of the story that won't take long at all to read, but it's what that text is paired with that makes it worth attention.
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|genre=Emerging Readers  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405287012</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=Jeff Brown and Rob Biddulph
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|isbn=Tavares_Red
|title=Flat Stanley
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|title=Red and Lulu
 +
|author=Matt Tavares
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Emerging Readers
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|genre=Emerging Readers  
|summary=''Stanley was four feet tall, about a foot wide, and half an inch thick.''
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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…
 
Yes, there's proof that this is the original text of this classic children's book – at least it's not been updated to metric. So while the illustrations are new, we get the real deal, with the young Stanley squished one night, to such an extent he can limbo under shut doors, get airmailed to America to visit relatives, become a kite for his younger brother to play with, and more. But then you don't need to update perfection.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405288108</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Philippa Pearce and Cate James
 
|title=The Ghost in Annie's Room (Little Gems)
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
 
|summary=Emma is on a family holiday in an older relative's seaside cottage, where she is to sleep in the room in the attic. Her brother has passed on what he says he has overheard – that it is haunted.  But even with the mementos of the person that once lived there all around her, and with a strange feeling of being watched, even with the stormy winds knocking tree limbs on to the window – Emma can sleep through it all.  But that's not to say things will forever be that way…
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781126852</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Michael Morpurgo and Shoo Rayner
+
|isbn=Dickens_Search
|title= Mudpuddle Farm: Hee-Haw Hooray
+
|title=Search and Find A Christmas Carol
|rating= 4
+
|author=Charles Dickens, Sarah Powell and Louise Pigott
|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?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0008241988</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Sarah Powell
 
|title= Search and Find: Pride & Prejudice: A Jane Austen Search and Find Book
 
|rating= 4
 
|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.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783708271</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Pip Jones and Adam Stower
 
|title=Piggy Handsome: Guinea Pig Destined for Stardom!
 
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
 
|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?
+
|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?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571327540</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Michael Morpurgo and Shoo Rayner
+
|isbn=Seuss_Eggs
|title= Mudpuddle Farm: Alien Invasion
+
|title=Scrambled Eggs Super
|rating= 4
+
|author=Dr Seuss
|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
 
|author=David Roberts and Alan MacDonald
 
|title=My Burptastic Body Book (Dirty Bertie)
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
+
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=Oh, to be young and innocent, and to be full of questions.  Questions 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 again. If 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.
+
|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>1847156754</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