Difference between revisions of "Newest Emerging Readers Reviews"

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[[Category:Emerging Readers|*]]
 
[[Category:Emerging Readers|*]]
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Elys Dolan
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|author=Nigel Baines
|title= Steven Seagull Action Hero
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|title=A Tricky Kind of Magic
|rating= 4.5
 
|genre= Emerging Readers
 
|summary= Steven Seagull is a retired cop. He used to patrol Beach City but those days are over. He was fired, you see, so that retirement wasn't entirely voluntary. Fired for being ''a renegade'' (quite a fancy word). But a crime wave is underway and no one has been able to find the culprit. Can Steven be coaxed out of retirement to see if he can help?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0192738704</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Michael Bond
 
|title=Love from Paddington
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
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|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=Consider some of the more pertinent questions of literatureWould things have been better if Rhett Butler ''did'' give a damn? What would Jane Eyre have done if the men with the truth hadn't made the church in time?  And, of course, how does a little bear with a fondness for marmalade actually turn up in Paddington Station, so very, very far from home?  Well, while the actual short stories may never have answered any of those questions, this work does – in amongst suggesting why bears don't play cricket, and a host moreAs a result it may have a very different structure to the original books of linked short stories, but it's just as wonderful and characterful.
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|summary=Cooper loves to perform magic tricksHis father was a magician, and named Cooper after the great Tommy Cooper. But sadly Cooper's father died suddenly, and now Cooper doesn't quite know who to be, or how to beAnd when his dad's prop rabbit starts talking to him, he ''really'' doesn't know what's going on anymore!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0008164355</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1444960261
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Harriet Whitehorn and Becka  Moor
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|author=Jane Lightbourne
|title=Violet and the Smugglers
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|title= My Cat Called Red
 
|rating= 4
 
|rating= 4
|genre= Confident Readers
 
|summary= Violet's godfather has inherited a sailing boat and invites Violet and her family and friends to join him on a sailing adventure in the Mediterranean. How could Violet possibly say no? This turns out not to be quite as relaxing as you may imagine. It is not long before our heroine has suspicions about the captain of another boat and Violet's detective skills are needed again. With the help of her friends, Rose and Art, Violet is determined to solve the mystery. Will she be able to put a stop to a dangerous smuggling ring?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471122638</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Elizabeth Schaefer and Brian Rood
 
|title=Star Wars The Force Awakens Illustrated Storybook
 
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…  Well, ours, last year, really…  A film came along that seriously impressed lots of mature audience members who had very valid reasons to doubt it, and that made goggle-eyed popcorn munchers of a lot of youngsters. It had rollicking spacecraft dog-fights, it had emotional revisits for well-loved characters, and had a sting in its tail that lasted at least a couple of days before being leaked to the wider worldI know there is a DVD and Blu-Ray of it coming within days of me writing this, but I can only assume the reason the junior books about the film are being released now and not in time with its cinematic release is down to the chatter of the young and their rampant ability to say what they shouldn't – which includes what happens about eighteen pages before the end of the story here.
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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>1405284021</amazonuk>
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|isbn= 1838216812
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Katrina Pallant and Robert Ball
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|author=Francesca Simon and Steve May
|title=Star Wars Bounty Hunt: Lift the Flap
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|title=Two Terrible Vikings
|rating=3
+
|rating=4
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=If you need to give credit to the Star Wars universe for anything, beyond sheer entertainment, it may be the way it makes such great store of putting evil characters to the fore. They're often the more memorable for being in tune with the dark side of the Force, and even if we're not meaning full-on Darth Vader or the like we're talking about Hutts, bounty hunters and sheer nasty people as the focus of the stories.  All in all the good guys will win the day, but the baddies have a heck of a lot more attention given them than in some franchises. And such is the case here, where we have a small episode in the life of devious and dogged bounty hunter Bossk, who was in films 5 and 6 and the Clone Wars animation, but isn't generally well-known on the street.  Or in the nursery school, for this is seriously geared at the younger end of the SW audience.
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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>1405279907</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0571349498
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Alex T Smith
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|isbn=1838593187
|title=Claude Going for Gold!
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|title=Guess What I Found in the Playground!
 +
|author=Victoria Thompson
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=I've been a fan of Claude from the beginningHe charmed me from the start, with his plump tummy, little legs, red jumper and rather fetching beretI can't help but love a dog who wears a beret! He also has a charming best friend, Sir Bobblysock, (who is indeed a woolly sock) who always makes me laughIn this particular book they are off on another hunt for an adventure, and although it seems for a while that there is simply no fun to be had outside of the house they finally fall, literally, into a Very Exciting Sports Competition!
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|summary=Tilly is excited.  She's just come dashing out of the classroom, pigtails flapping behind her and a big grin on her faceDad's come to collect her and her brother and he ''has'' to try to guess what she found in the playground today, although she concedes that he will never guess.  Dad wants to know how school was, but ''obviously'' that's not importantCould Tilly have found more collectable things for her scrap box?  (Isn't that so much more sensible than a scrap ''book''?) Well, actually, Tilly did find exciting stuffThere 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>1444926489</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=A A Milne and E H Shepard
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|author=Innosanto Nagara
|title=Eeyore Loses a Tail (Winnie the Pooh Classics)
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|title=M is for Movement
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|summary=Eeyore, the Old Grey Donkey stood in the thistly corner of the forest and thought about things.  He was quite a philosopher in his own way, but his most profound thought occured when Winnie-the-Pooh came along and enquired as to how he was.
 
 
 
''Not very how'', he said.  ''I don't seem to have felt at all how for a long time.''
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405281359</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Polly Faber and Clara Vulliamy
 
|title= Mango and Bambang: Tapir All At Sea
 
|rating= 5
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|summary= Mango is a sensible, resourceful little girl who is good at a great many things including playing the clarinet and karate. Most importantly she is good at being kind, especially to her best friend, Bambang, a slightly timid Malaysian tapir. In this second book in the series Bambang learns to become a little braver. He has to really, as he becomes involved in a series of daring escapades involving dancing classes, a diamond ring, time spent behind bars and a particularly dangerous enemy. Throughout all of this Bambang is accompanied by his faithful friend, Mango. Sometimes, even the closest friendship may be taken for granted. Will Bambang remember what matters most?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140636147X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Neil Griffiths and Janette Louden
 
|title=The Dog with No Name
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
 
|summary=Ella and Harry had been nagging their parents ''forever'' about getting a dog, but it wasn't until after the death of the goldfish ''and'' the Russian hamster, which they'd only seen five times because it was nocturnal, that their parents relented.  Off they went to the dog rescue centre and after what seemed like ''ages'' and lots of red tape they had their very own dog.  He'd not been in the centre long and had no name but the whole family fell for him and brought him home.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1908702249</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jenny Colgan
 
|title=Polly and the Puffin
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|summary=Polly was in bed when there was LOUD bang from downstairs.  It wasn't the storm which was raging outside.  It wasn't a monster or an alien from outer space.  It was a puffin who had crashed through the front door and he had a broken wing.  Polly's mummy got the first aid kit out whilst Polly went to get the puffin some food and the next day they went to see the vet.  By then Polly had decided that the puffin would be called Neil and the vet asked her if she would be able to look after Neil until his wing was better, on the strict understanding that he would then have to return to the wild.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0349131902</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Ian Beck
 
|title=Grey Island Red Boat
 
|rating=5
 
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=Princess Opal lived with her father, the king, on the Island of AshesIt was a grey island, set in a grey sea and Opal lived in a grey castle surrounded by a cold grey moatThe gardens were grey and so were the trees and flowers.  Princess Opal even sat on a grey granite throne in a grey granite room - and she wished that her life could be differentShe couldn't help but think that something was missing.
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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 failThe message is a positive one; that in an increasingly uncertain world, we do still have the power to instigate change.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178112521X</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1609809351
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Michael Morpurgo and Sam Usher
+
|isbn=1949471004
|title=We Are Not FROGS!
+
|title=Dog on a Log Chapter Books: Step 1
 +
|author=Pamela Brookes
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
 
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
|summary=After the storm the frogs and the toads all came out onto the lawn to play long jump.  This was the frogs' choice as they could jump further and the toads just wanted an easy lifeBut - through a series of unfortunate incidents involving lorries, dogs, children, a cart and an ice cream container, first the toads ended up in the ice cream container and after they sold the frogs down the river in exchange for being put into a muddy ditch, the frogs - all twenty two of them - were in the same prison and it was only thanks to Mutt the dog that they escaped.
+
|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, either.  Reading - and ''learning'' to read - should be a pleasure. It should be ''fun''.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781125120</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Holly Webb
+
|isbn=099334030X
|title= Sammy the Shy Kitten
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|title=Can You Draw the Dragosaur?
|rating= 4.5
+
|author=Peter Lynas and Charlie Roberts
|genre= Emerging Readers
+
|rating=4.5
|summary= An adorably, warm and cute story about what happens when Emma falls in love with a tiny sweet feral kitten whom she names Sammy. To persuade Mum and Dad to let her keep him she must learn all she can about taming wild kittens – and, of course, win little Sammy's confidence and trust.
+
|genre=Crafts
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847156487</amazonuk>
+
|summary=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!
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Rachel Hamilton
+
|isbn=1609809335
|title=Unicorn in New York: Louie Lets Loose!
+
|title=The Lizard
|rating=4
+
|author= Jose Saramago, J Borges, Nick Caistor (translator) and Lucia Caistor (translator)
 +
|rating=2
 
|genre=Emerging Readers  
 
|genre=Emerging Readers  
|summary=Louie's parents are worried when Louie announces he wants to leave home to enrol at the New York School of Performing Arts. He's a unicorn and they can't believe he'll be happy without the sunlit meadows, enchanted waterfalls and beautiful maidens of Story Land. But, like all good parents, they accept that Louie must make his own way in the world. Luckily Louie always looks for the positive in life – a skill that's going to prove essential when he arrives in New York.
+
|summary=One day a giant lizard appears in the city. We don't even get told how it arrived, but it certainly appeared.  People took against it, and if they weren't shrugging it off as a hallucination brought on by tiredness just as they fled it, they wanted something done about it. Can something be done about it, though?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0192744976</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Wenhua Wang, Amann Wang and Yu Yan Chen (translator)
+
|isbn=1789016320
|title=Mr Horton's Violin
+
|title=Tadcaster and the Bullies
 +
|author=Richard Rutherford
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Emerging Readers
+
|genre=Emerging Readers  
|summary=Meet Mr HortonHe is one of the world's most famous and rich musical instrument players, and has done it all – except, that is, stumble on a music treeYou have to stumble on them, for not carpenters, not sculptors, not even simple woodsmen would give them a second look and think of them as anything special.  But when Mr Horton does find one he is able to fashion the best, most magical violin imaginable out of its wood. The only problem after that is working out who deserves to play it…
+
|summary=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 aroundTim 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 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>0993215459</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Wenhua Wang, Amann Wang and Yu Yan Chen (translator)
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|isbn=B01N0OZQOD
|title=The Chief Cellist
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|title=Nickerbacher
 +
|author=Terry John Barto
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Emerging Readers
+
|genre=Emerging Readers  
|summary=Meet the Chief.  A new cellist in a quite horrible orchestra, he has suddenly turned their fortunes – and his – round. He is now a superstar, and asking for more and more grandeur and help in his life. But one night, when his chauffeur doesn't turn up for him after yet one more sterling performance, he finds himself alone in a world that doesn't care how good a cellist he is, but one where destiny might just depend on him learning the power of teamwork…
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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>0993215440</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Chris Judge and Andrew Judge
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|isbn=0008265836
|title=Create Your Own Alien Adventure
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|title=Rory Branagan Detective
|rating=4
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|author=Andrew Clover and Ralph Lazar
|genre=Emerging Readers
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|rating=5
|summary=Choose Your Own Adventure books were massive during the 80s. They allowed the young reader to pick up a book and be the hero; your choices determined if you live or die.  Invariably, it was a game of leaving your finger in the previous page to make sure you could skip back should the fate that befell you not be to your liking.  Well, its 2016 and just choosing your adventure is no longer enough, we want to interact even more with the story, we want to create our own adventure.
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|genre=Emerging Readers  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1407158090</amazonuk>
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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.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Isabel Sanchez Vegara and Eng Gee Fan
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|isbn=0192758748
|title=Little People, Big Dreams: Frida Kahlo
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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=Frida Kahlo was born in Mexico.  When she was a young schoolgirl she contracted polio and was left with a leg which was ''skinny as a rake'', but she bore the problem stoically and in some ways delighted in being different. Then one day Frida was in a bus which crashed into a car. She was badly injured and even when she was over the worst she still had to rest in bed and filled the time by drawing pictures, including a self portrait. Eventually she showed her pictures to a famous artist - Diego Rivera - who liked the pictures, ''and'' Frida. They married and Rivera encouraged Frida's painting.  She exhibited, eventually in New York, to great acclaim.
+
|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>1847807704</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Isabel Sanchez Vegara and Ana Albero
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|isbn=Saulles_Bee
|title=Little People, Big Dreams: Coco Chanel
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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
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|rating=4.5
|summary=Gabrielle Chanel lived in an orphanage in a French town and after the death of her mother she went to a strict convent school.  The fact that she was ''different'' didn't make her life ''easy'', but there were early indications that she was going to be a seamstress.  After she left school she sewed by day and sang by night and it was as she sang that she gained her nickname - ''Coco'' - which came from the soldiers in the audience.  But her dream was designing clothes and the first step was designing and making hats: this led to her opening a hat shop. One evening, at a party she realised that a lot of the women weren't dancing: their corsets were so tight that they could hardly breathe and it was this that prompted Coco to create a new style. Her clothes were simple, straight and comfortable to wear.
+
|genre=Emerging Readers  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847807712</amazonuk>
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|summary=Young Mel's friend has left and the beehive is now his to look after. Unfortunately, Mel lives in a tower block and not all of his neighbours agree that it is the correct place for a hive. Things change when Mel suddenly realises he has an amazing superpower; he can become a bee.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Terry Deary
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|isbn=Davidson_Night
|title=Ghost for Sale
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|title=Night Zookeeper: The Giraffes of Whispering Wood
|rating=4.5
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|author=Joshua Davidson
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
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|rating=5
|summary=When Mr and Mrs Rundle see an advert in the paper for a wardrobe for sale, complete with ghost, Mrs Rundle decides that they absolutely ''must'' have it!  They own The Dog and Duck Inn and Mrs Rundle feels that addition of a ghost will add interest to their Inn and bring them custom. The arrival of the wardrobe certainly shakes things up for the Rundles, though perhaps not in the way they'd imagined!
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|genre=Emerging Readers
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178112518X</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=Julian Gough and Jim Field
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|isbn=Seuss_Read
|title=Rabbit and Bear: Rabbit's Bad Habbits
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|title=I Can Read With My Eyes Shut
 +
|author=Dr Seuss
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=For Sharing
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|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=When Bear wakes up early from her hibernation, she decides that if she can't sleep then she might as well do something which she's always wanted to do - build a snowman. It's whilst she's doing this that she meets Rabbit, who tells her that he's an Expert in Gravity. Whatever he is, it doesn't seem to make him particularly happy as he never smiles and isn't exactly big on fun.  But there are avalanches around as well as hungry wolves and Rabbit soon comes to the conclusion that it's good to have a friend on your side - even if you have just stolen their food.
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|summary=''The more that you read,''<br>
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444929313</amazonuk>
+
''The more things you will know.''<br>
 +
''The more that you learn,''<br>
 +
''The more places you'll go.''
 +
 
 +
This is a classic Dr Seuss quote from this book, and one that I painstakingly stickered onto the wall of my children's school library! The book is very silly, as Dr Seuss always is, but is also a good rhyming ode to the joys of reading.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Helen Craig
+
|isbn=Neal_Words
|title=The Orchard Book of Bedtime Fairy Tales
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|title=Words and Your Heart
 +
|author=Kate Jane Neal
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Emerging Readers
+
|genre=Emerging Readers  
|summary=Fairy Tales have been around for centuries and reflect the tradition of oral history; stories spoken from one person's memory to another.  This is why some Fairy Tales seem to have subtle differences depending upon where you were brought up. Did you hear that the three little pigs boiled the wolf alive, or perhaps you think he just walked away in frustration?  Helen Craig is a talented illustrator who has decided to tackle the tricky Fairy Tale compilation. Will her retelling of classic stories match your own?
+
|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>1408338408</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Keris Stainton
+
|isbn=Tavares_Red
|title= Lily and the Christmas Wish
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|title=Red and Lulu
|rating= 4.5
+
|author=Matt Tavares
|genre= Emerging Readers
 
|summary=I In the small town of Pinewood the people are busy preparing for Christmas. This year they are doing something special to celebrate. Each person will write down a secret wish and tie it to the Christmas tree in the town square. Although nine year old Lily likes this idea she is more than a little sceptical that wishes can come true, no matter how much you may want them to. Then a strange storm blows in and scatters all the wishes across the town. Lily wakes up the following morning to discover that Bug, her pug puppy, can talk! That was not what Lily had wished for but maybe it was someone else's wish? The Christmas magic has definitely gone wrong. Can Lily, her younger brother Jimmy and, of course, Bug put things right before Christmas Day?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471405125</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Anthea Bell and Anna Morgunova
 
|title=Vasilisa the Beautiful (Russian Folktales)
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Emerging Readers
 
|summary=When I say to you the first response I had on picking up this book was 'Ooh, someone knows their Klimt', and that I thought I had seen Kandinsky in the art inside, it tells you the aesthetic is definitely to the fore here.  (That latter claim was a bit false – but there's definitely a touch of Picasso.)  Of course there is a story, and a more-than decent story it is too, but with the intriguing, detailed and unusual artwork of Anna Morgunova, this picture book with many words really does come to life.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>9888342517</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Luke Pearson
 
|title=Hilda and the Troll
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
+
|genre=Emerging Readers  
|summary=Hilda, a rather delightful small, blue-haired girl, is never far from an adventure. She is confident and excitable, brave and creative, and her stories are slightly mad, and very, very readable!
+
|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>1909263788</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Lindsay Mattick and Sophie Blackall
+
|isbn=Dickens_Search
|title=Finding Winnie: The Story of the Real Bear Who Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh
+
|title=Search and Find A Christmas Carol
|rating=5
+
|author=Charles Dickens, Sarah Powell and Louise Pigott
|genre=For Sharing
+
|rating=3.5
|summary=A little boy called Cole wanted a story. He particularly wanted a true story and it had to be about a bear.  It was getting late, but Mummy said that she would do her best.  Her story began about a hundred years before Cole was born and it was about a man called Harry Colebourn who lived in Winnipeg. He was a vet and was on his way to Europe to look after the horses of the soldiers fighting in the Great War when he met a trapper with a baby bear: his head might have said that there was nothing he could do, but his heart told him to get hold of the bear and he gave the trapper $20. Winnipeg, as he named the bear, went on the train with Captain Coulbourn and his troop, across the ocean and finally arrived in England.
+
|genre=Emerging Readers
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408340232</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
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Chris Higgins and Lee Wildish
+
|isbn=Seuss_Eggs
|title= My Funny Family Gets Funnier
+
|title=Scrambled Eggs Super
 +
|author=Dr Seuss
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre= Emerging Readers
+
|genre=Emerging Readers  
|summary= Mattie is nine years old and the second child in a wonderfully big and loving family, where all sorts of very funny things are prone to happen. Like the day Uncle Vez's brother and his wife, Uncle Bruce and Aunty Sheila (not their real names!) turn up on the doorstep. They're visiting from their home in Australia and it isn't long before they're causing quite a stir in the Butterfield household – and beyond.
+
|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>144492575X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
Move on to [[Newest Entertainment Reviews]]

Latest revision as of 13:05, 8 December 2022

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Review of

A Tricky Kind of Magic by Nigel Baines

4.5star.jpg Emerging Readers

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

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Review of

My Cat Called Red by Jane Lightbourne

4star.jpg Emerging Readers

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

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Review of

Two Terrible Vikings by Francesca Simon and Steve May

4star.jpg Emerging Readers

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

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Review of

Guess What I Found in the Playground! by Victoria Thompson

4.5star.jpg For Sharing

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

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Review of

M is for Movement by Innosanto Nagara

4star.jpg Emerging Readers

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

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Review of

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

4star.jpg Dyslexia Friendly

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

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Review of

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

4.5star.jpg Crafts

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

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Review of

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

2star.jpg Emerging Readers

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

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Review of

Tadcaster and the Bullies by Richard Rutherford

4star.jpg Emerging Readers

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

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Review of

Nickerbacher by Terry John Barto

4star.jpg Emerging Readers

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

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Review of

Rory Branagan Detective by Andrew Clover and Ralph Lazar

5star.jpg Emerging Readers

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

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Review of

Horace & Harriet Take on the Town by Clare Elsom

4star.jpg Emerging Readers

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

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Review of

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

4.5star.jpg Emerging Readers

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

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Review of

Night Zookeeper: The Giraffes of Whispering Wood by Joshua Davidson

5star.jpg Emerging Readers

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

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

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