Book review challenge to Woodlands Park School children and whanau

Kia Ora Woodlands Park whanau,

So it's day two of Alert Level 3 and I'm sure you're all busy zooming with teachers and doing online schoolwork. If you're looking for an extra activity, how about you start writing some book reviews for the library blog? Parents, you could work on this with your children if you like, or post reviews you have written about children's books.

Here is a post about "How to write a review". This is aimed at the teens who write reviews for Hooked on  Books He Ao Ano. https://hookedonbooks.org.nz/how-to-write-a-review/

If you would like to have your book review featured on this blog, so that children can benefit from your recommendation, please send your review to library@woodlandspark.school.nz

I suggest you write reviews about the books you enjoyed so that we are not posting - "I hate this book". Criticism needs to be fair and explained.

Nga mihi
Kate

Lizard's Tale - book review

In Lizard's Tale by Weng Wai Chan, Young Lizard lives from hand to mouth in Singapore’s streets, after his uncle mysteriously goes missing. He becomes embroiled in a web of theft, war espionage and danger, hoping all the while that he can be reunited with his uncle. The story is set in 1940 when Singapore was a British Colony and the Japanese invasion loomed. 

There is more to his friend, Lili, than he realises. Each character keeps secrets from the others, cleverly told using an omniscient point of view. The characters are lively, the setting is vividly rendered (engaging all the senses) and the plot is clever and intriguing. 

Congratulations to Weng Wai Chan on winning the NZ Junior Fiction award. I would recommend this to year sixes and middle schoolers.

Review by Kate
Librarian

Flora & Ulysses - movie trailer.

 

Sunken Forest - book review

Sunken Forest by New Zealand author, Des Hunt, is an intriguing adventure with a touch of mystery and a wonderful sense of place. Set initially in an urban setting, Matt is falsely accused of theft. Disgraced, he is sent to a camp with a strict teacher and a couple of bullies. 

He develops a bond with a giant eel and forms a few other friendships. The story comes to a head with a natural disaster. Hunt weaves together many stories within the novel, including a lost Swiss watch and an ill-conceived plot to get justice. There are themes of friendship and bullying. Des Hunt, once a science teacher, educates as he writes, threading science and environmental issues into his tales. 

In this story, I enjoyed learning about how Lake Waikaremoana was formed and visualising the sunken forest. I loved the descriptions and education about Lake Waikaremoana. I may never be up for the great walk, but I definitely want to go there one day, and like Loch Ness, I won’t be able to help but keep an eye out for Elsa the giant eel!

Perfect for year 5/6 up. Another exciting NZ adventure from Des Hunt.

Review by Kate - Librarian

Flora & Ulysses - book review

Flora & Ulysses by Kate Di Camillo is quirky, imaginative and hilarious! It is a chapter book with illustrations and occasional cartoon strip pages that perfectly capture the story and characters. The story begins with Mrs Tootie Tickham, who inadvertently vacuums up a squirrel while vacuuming her lawn! Like many superhero stories, a strange happening is required for the superpowers to come into being. In the case of Ulysses, the squirrel, he is transformed at this moment. Self-professed ‘child cynic’, Flora saves him and names him after the Ulysses Super-Suction, Multi-Terrain 2000X.

Flora, who reads comics like “The Illuminated Adventures of the Amazing Incandesto!” and its companion, “Terrible Things Can Happen to You!” – feels well equipped to understand that the rescued squirrel is developing superpowers. He types poetry, can fly and is strong enough to lift the vacuum cleaner with one paw. Flora lives with her mother, a self-absorbed romance writer, and in her struggle to deal with her parent’s divorce, she has become cynical.

Every superhero needs an arch-nemesis, and Ulysses’ turns out to be someone close to home. Flora befriends (begrudgingly), Tootie’s great-nephew, an eleven-year-old boy who is precociously intelligent and temporarily blind due to earlier trauma. Through a series of hilarious scenes, Ulysses’ powers are revealed, his nemesis tries to have him ‘dealt with’, and his friends need to rescue him.

There is a terrifying cat named Mr Klaus, a doctor of Philosophy called Dr Meescham, a nosy waitress at Do-Nut world and Flora’s Dad, who introduces himself whenever he enters a room. My favourite character is Ulysses, who sniffs his tail, craves food and is vividly squirrel-like – yet somehow, anthropomorphic. He types a poem to Flora which reads:

I love your round head,

the brilliant green,

the watching blue,

the letters,

this world, you.

I am very, very hungry. [p. 65]

Some of the child characters use unique words like “malfeasance, capacious, obfuscation”. This rich language adds a delicious texture to the story. By including a few words that children may not know, word-power is added, but meaning is not lost. The story is accessible to young readers, aided by the delightful illustrations by K.G. Campbell.

I often find Di Camillo’s characters to be eccentric, or at least utterly unique, and well-drawn. However, unlike some of her more serious work (The Tale of Desperaux) and (The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane), Flora and Ulysses is a light-hearted rollicking joy. Yet there are deeper themes, and they pack a rewarding emotional ending.

I recommend this book to 8 to 12-year-olds. It would also make a good read-aloud for teachers from about year 3 upwards.

I have recently learnt that Disney + have produced a film. I will post a trailer soon. It looks like an exciting adventure; however, I encourage you to read the book and enjoy Di Camillo’s wonderful wordplay and characterisation first. I am disappointed to see that Flora has long hair in the film, as the tomboyish character in the book wears her hair short and it suits her unique personality. Nevertheless, I’m sure the film will encourage WPS children to read the book which is great. I think it is launching on 19th Feb.

We have one copy of the book at school, but you can ask me to place a reserve for you.

Tilly & the Bookwanderers - Book Review

Well, here we are at Alert Level 3 in Auckland, after a long period of relative freedom and safety. A good opportunity for me to write some book reviews.

I read a few children's books over the summer holidays - and I am excited to share them with you. 

Tilly and the Bookwanderers

Tilly and the Bookwanderers is book one of the series, Pages & Co. written by Anna James. Eleven-year-old Matilda Pages lives with her grandparents above their bookshop called Pages & Co. She has lived with them ever since her mother disappeared after she was born. The bookshop is a delightful setting for book lovers. Tilly often nibbles on tasty book-themed delights from Jack's cafe within the book shop. Tilly has her favourite cosy sofa and access to endless worlds to be explored behind the covers of books. Tilly is an avid reader, who often returns to her favourite books - Anne of Green Gables and Alice in Wonderland. Anne and Alice begin to appear in Tilly's world, leading her to search for answers about this unusual gift. The author captures the voice of Anne Shirley delightfully. Alice seems to have become almost as quirky as the characters in Wonderland, who have clearly rubbed off on her. I happened to read Alice in Wonderland last year, and Anne of Green Gables in 2019, so they were both relatively fresh, making this revisit of their characters enjoyable.

Matilda struggles with a deep sense of loss over her mother's disappearance and wants to understand what happened and find her mother - if possible. This longing, as well as the otherworldly happenings, make intriguing hooks. There is an antagonistic, creepy character called Enoch Chalk, who frequently appears as if he is following Tilly. There are also visits to a magical Underlibrary where librarians are either heroes or bureaucrats. 

Tilly develops a friendship with Oskar, who hangs out at the cafe next door to the bookshop. So in addition to Tilly's interaction with book characters, there is plenty of real-world friendship to enjoy here too. 

This book combines the love of book characters, with mystery and fantasy in an exciting way. There is also a contemporary feel to the story - with authentic relationships between Tilly and her grandparents and friends.

I highly recommend this book to confident readers. I know many of you love the Land of Stories by Chris Colfer, which also brings characters to life - so I am sure you'll love Tilly & the Bookwanderers. 

Here's the good news - I have bought the first three books in the series!