Book review challenge

Hi again,

What are you reading at the moment? We usually do verbal book reviews at book club. 

How about you share your book reviews with me and I can post them to this blog for others to enjoy? This challenge is for all the children at WPS, not just the book club.

You can email your book reviews to library@woodlandspark.school.nz

Here are some tips on how to write a book review:

https://hookedonbooks.org.nz/how-to-write-a-review/

I'll start. 

Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell

When Sophie is a baby, she is found amongst the debris of a shipwreck, floating in a cello case. She is adopted by Charles, the man who found her. They live an atypical life - surrounded by books. Sophie is allowed to write on the wallpaper, and wear pants (it's the olden days). Her bookish, but untraditional upbringing raises eyebrows. When Sophie and Charles hear that she is to be taken away and put into a children's home, they decide to escape to Paris, and search for her mother. Sophie has always believed her mother survived the shipwreck. 

While staying in Paris, Charles instructs her to stay in her room during the day. He is following leads about the suspicious sinking of the ship. But Sophie finds a ceiling window that opens to the roof, and begins to explore. She meets Matteo, a French boy, who lives on the roof. He calls himself a 'rooftopper', and he survives by shooting pigeons with a bow and arrow and cooking meat over a fire. He has also made a shelter out of feathers. He is a wild and innovative boy. He shows Sophie another view and perspective of the world. He introduces them to the sisters who live in trees. Together, Sophie's new friends will help her search for her mother, by following the notes played by a cello.

I loved the author's use of unique metaphors and descriptive language to bring people and places to vivid life. This is a beautiful read for children, and adults who love children's books. I recommend it for years 4-6.

Five stars!

Joe & the Stars - Book Review

"In the red dust, where the sky is wide, Joe loves watching the stars. He marvels at their mystery and wonder. But when his family moves to the city... the stars are hard to see. Will Joe find a way to make them shine again? A twinkling tale of resilience, family and friendship."  (Publisher)

I seem to be reading a few books about moving house lately. I'm currently listening to the audiobook of The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, and reading The Wishing Spell, which both start out with the painful prospect of a house move.

Joe & the Stars captures the world changing upheaval of a move to a dramatically different environment. They shift from what looks like the Australian outback, to a concrete jungle. Here, he can't climb a tree and enjoy looking at the constellations, listening to the tinkling of a windchime. Joe has lost his starry skies, however, through creativity and friendship he finds a new sparkle in his life.

This book is currently being covered and will be available soon!

Kate

I talk like a river - Book Review

I talk like a river, written by Jordan Scott and illustrated by Sydney Smith is the story of a boy with a stutter, who wakes up in the morning aware of the sounds of words, but finds they grow roots, get tangled, or stick in his throat. Some days are worse than others. He struggles to articulate when he finds all the classmates turning and looking at him.

The boy's dad picks him up from school and says, "It's just a bad speech day." His father takes him "somewhere quiet." They go to a river, where they walk along the shore looking for colourful rocks and bugs. He thinks about "all those mouths giggling and laughing." His dad points at the churning water, and says, "See how that water moves? That's how you speak." He looks at the water, "bubbling, whirling, churning and crashing." Then he realises, "Even the river stutters. Like I do."

In an afternote, the author says that when his father, in real life, pointed to the river, "he connected my stuttering to the movements of the natural world and I delighted in watching my mouth move outside of itself."

This is a stunningly beautiful book, rich with metaphorical language. The story is moving, and brought to life by the captivating watercolour illustrations. The illustrator, Sydney Smith, expresses a feeling of disconnect and disorientation with the world, and words - initially - but at the river - there is profound peace and an awakening. Take time to read this slowly, pouring over the pictures and words. 

Book review by Kate, Librarian

The Dog Runner - Bren MacDibble

A red fungus has destroyed all grass and grains. City people are starving. Ella and her half brother, Emery need to escape the city to find their mother and find food. But how will they traverse a dry and dangerous land? With a land-sledge and five "doggos" (dogs).

The characters embark on a gruelling cross country journey where they are challenged to the maximum. They go mushing and meet some dodgy criminals along the way. 

Emery is injured, and Ella has to dig deep. She has always been under his shadow, but now she has to step up and make life-saving decisions. Ella's character arc is subtle and believable.

I personally love the doggos and their interaction with the characters. As a dog lover, I felt that Bren did an excellent job in capturing the body language and behaviour of dogs. The story is dystopian and otherworldly, and the plot charges along at a breathtaking pace. 

Although bleak, there is a glimpse of hope at the end. Thankfully the ancient grains, mushrooms and wisdom of the first people - may be enough for them to begin to produce food for the planet again.

I would recommend this book to our seniors.

Teacher notes:

https://www.allenandunwin.com/documents/teachers-resources/1454-dogrunner9781760523572tt

Awards:

Winner Aurealis Awards 2019 - Best Children's Fiction

Winner of the Junior Fiction Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award in the 2019 NZ Book Awards for Children & Young Adults 

CBCA Shortlist: Book of the Year-Younger Readers  

Three books by Bren MacDibble

Kia Ora,

I hope you're all doing okay today.

I want to share three books with you, written by multiple award-winning author, Bren MacDibble. Bren was born in Whanganui, New Zealand. She has lived in "a muddle of backwater villages, farms and towns in heartland New Zealand" (http://macdibble.com/about.html). Bren lives in Australia currently. After a house fire, she moved into a bus. 

How to Bee, The Dog Runner and Across the Risen Sea, are written for teens. I would recommend them to the stronger readers at our school, who are not overly sensitive. All three books tackle a different aspect of anticipated environmental issues - through the telling of an exciting narrative.

How to Bee:

In a futuristic world, where bees are extinct, the children of poorer farming communities vie for positions as "Bees". The nimble and quick tree climbers use feathered "wands" and pollen carrying satchels to pollinate the fruit trees by hand. Immediately the reader is thrust into a different world, with unique challenges and unusual sayings. 

I was initially hooked in, trying to interpret this new and strange world. Peony is a delightfully lively girl. She is nine, and you need to be ten to be a bee pollinator. Her life's ambition is to qualify as a "Bee". Her character is instantly likeable.

She is unaware of how poor they are on the communal farm, and of how simply they live until she is snatched and taken to the city by her mother, who is looking for a better life. Like the Hunger Games, the divide between the rich and poor is striking. There are moments of domestic abuse which may be unsettling for the more sensitive reader - however, the book is not without its lighter moments. 

I enjoyed the friendship Peony develops with Esmeralda. It reminded me a little of the Secret Garden. Esmeralda is cosseted and afraid of the outdoors. Feisty Peony helps to draw her out of her shell, while Esmeralda learns to be brave and helps Peony back to the place she calls home.

Here are some teacher resources if you would like to explore this book further:

https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/childrens/childrens-fiction/How-to-Bee-Bren-MacDibble-9781760294335

Book reviews for the next two books will follow soon!

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

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!

An exciting adventure set on a beautiful island. Two young brothers, Flynn and Paddy, use their skills with a slingshot and a bow and arrow in an attempt to defend the island's dragons from evil poachers who are after an egg and a dragon trophy. With the help of their faithful pets (including a tame dragon), they will need to be brave if they can overcome Pitbull and his ghastly team. The author has cleverly used an app to add interest. A choice book for reluctant readers wanting a chapter book adventure, similar to the Famous Five adventures.

We have the first three books in the series in our school library, and enjoyed a visit from James Russell a few years ago! 

Tui Street Tales - Anne Kayes

 Book Review

A cool neighbourhood of Kiwi kids, parents, teachers and some nasty characters are weaved together into a set of fairy tales that will enchant younger readers. The neighbourhood friendships grow throughout the story, making it feel familiar and friendly. I love the interplay between old fairy tales, modern technology and the New Zealand flavour. Anne visited our school and had the children begging her to continue her dramatic reading. Perfect for a class read aloud, especially for year 3-6s.

Kate

The ACB with Honora Lee

Book Reviews by Black & White Inc. Book Club

Do you have a gran who is always forgetting things? Meet Honora Lee, the main character of this book. This is a story of Perry, who wants Gran to cooperate and help with the ACB; Gran who is stubborn and always hurrying about and forgets most of what everyone tells her, and all the others at Santa Lucia. Doris with her airy kisses and love for Nina's baking, Dorothy who wears lots of jewellery and is always playing the piano, and Melvyn Broome who Gran steals mints from, who used to play cricket every weekend. 

This is a hilarious book and I recommend to anyone who likes reading. Join Gran and Perry as they write this crazy, mixed-up alphabet book called the ACB. I think this is a great book and I hope you do too.

By Alex, Room 14.