Excellent Reads

ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell 144 pp. Penguin Group. £8.99. (Ages 13 and up) ISBN 9780141182704 Rating: ? Stars     This book is set in a future when animals are much cleverer than now. And because of their cleverness, the pigs started a revolution against the humans. Pigs could speak fluently in English unlike the other animals, and that gave them the power to be leaders. But, the story that follows only happened a few years after that...     Their first leader, Old Major, was kind and fair who knew animals should be equal. But when Napoleon became the leader it was very unpleasant. He made a rule that allowed the pigs to have better food and that forced all of the other animals to work crazily hard every day and night. That wasn’t enough, Napoleon wanted more power.     He decided to kill his brother, Snowball, so that he would be the only leader. Snowball was admired because he came up with a clever idea to build windmill. Sn...

GHOST KNIGHT By Cornelia Funk 352 pp. Orion Books. £6.99. (Ages 8 and up) ISBN 9781444008494 Rating: 5 Stars This story is about a boy called Jon who is 11 years old. When he goes to Salisbury’s boarding school, he finds out that the place is haunted with ghosts, so Jon gets a girl called Ella to find somebody to help. I like it because it has got ghosts and well illustrated pictures. It has got really good chapter names to hook the reader with action and magic. I think it could be more scary because the ghosts could be better. I think 6 to 12 year olds should read this book because 6 year olds like picture books and children over 12 might get bored of it. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

THE HORRIBLE HISTORIES: SAVAGE STONE AGE by Terry Deary Illustrated by Martin Brown 144 pp. Scholastic. £5.99. (Ages 8 and up) ISBN 9781407104287 Rating: 5 Stars     I enjoyed reading this book because it had good illustrations and it was very funny also I learned a lot from reading it. The topic of this book is the Stone Age peoples! And it tells you about their way of life. I liked the illustrations because they look like comic books strips. Also the people in the illustrations act in funny ways.     This book is written in a special way because most history books just give you the nice facts of history, but this book tells you all the horrible things in history. As a result, this book was scary and happy. So I guess that if you add up scary and happy at the same time that will make the book funny!     The most interesting fact in the book is that hunters used to keep mammoth brains as souvenirs to show off with the other...

THE UNLIKELY ADVENTURES OF MABEL JONES by Will Mabbitt Illustrated by Ross Collins 304 pp. Puffin. £6.99. (Ages 8 and up) ISBN 9780141355146 Rating: 5 Stars     This book is about a girl called Mabel Jones and she gets kidnapped by pirates. Then she becomes a pirate too and Mabel Jones has to help the crew find all the X’s so they can get through the map to the treasure, but along the way there are many ways to die.     My favorite character is Mabel Jones because she is a tomboy that is very clever and not scared of anything!     I think this book is special because most pirate books do not have time machines in them but this book does have them.     I like this book because of what happened when I started reading it. At the time I was reading a boring book and picked up this one instead to try it. This book was so good, it made me never want to stop reading it and I finished it in less than a day even ...

I AM THE ARCHITECT by Moon Illustrated by Rosanna Tasker 48 pp. Moon. £7.00. (Ages 6 and up) Rating: 5 Stars     This book is about Archie and his mom .In the story Archie decided to design his own house.     I like that in the book what’s funny is Archie used his mom’s M&S card to buy his items. Also I like the illustrations and how they are designed by the illustrator.     I think this book is special because it tells you what an architect is and also it has a competition!.     I like this book because it is very funny. I think the age you should be is 6-9 because it has hard words to understand. I will give this book 5 stars.

BUFFALO SOLDIER by Tanya Landman 368 pp. Walker. £7.99. (Ages 14 and up) ISBN 9781406314595 Rating: 4 Stars     The book is about the times when American had slaves. The main characters are Charlotte and Abe (her horse), and the Indians they were fighting.     My favourite part is when she joins the army. My favourite character is Abe because she is an animal. My least favourite parts are when she falls in love and when her horse died. My least favourite character is the boss of the army.     I liked how there are not many books that show you how awful it is to be a slave. It is written so you know what her voice sounds like (her accent). That made it special.     Did we like this book? Yes and no. It was too intense for a child to finish, and the parent reading had to not read everything because there were swear words and very violent parts that the child did not want to hear. However, for a teenager or an ...

WILD FRIENDS: ORANG-UTAN ADVENTURE by Linda Chapman and Michelle Misra Illustrated by Rob McPhillips 75 pp. Red Fox. £4.99. (Ages 5 and up) ISBN 9781849416955 Rating: 3 Stars     This book is about Emily and Molly who are going to Borneo to see orangutans with Emily’s mom and dad, but there are some loggers that are destroying the rainforest.     My least favourite part was the ending of the story because Emily did not stop the loggers! And then she even went back to look at more animals rather than trying to stop the loggers. I would try to sort out the problem if I was in her shoes.     I like that in the book Emily and her friend and family explore the rainforest like what I did. But, we did different things like Emily cuddled orangutans, and I saw monkeys. I think the age for the book should be 5-8 because the book is not scary at all !!!. I will give this book 3 stars. also on the Guardian Children's Books Site

DEMON HEADMASTER by Gillian Cross 160 pp. OUP Oxford. £6.99. (Ages 9 and up) ISBN 9780192755827 Rating: 5 Stars      The story is about a girl and 2 boys and a very mean headmaster. When you look in his eyes he says "You are so so tired" and then you fall asleep. Except for the Splat group…      The most scary part was when the demon headmaster nearly killed Splat with learning children - but a noise interruption by Dinah stopped it. I like how there is always excitement in the chapters.      I enjoyed this book and I will give this book 5 stars. I think 8 – 11 year olds will like this book because it is not that scary at all like it has a many bits of scariness.

THE STORY OF THE WORLD CUP by Richard Brassey 24 pp. Orion Childrens. £4.99. (Ages 7 and up) ISBN 9781444009460 Rating: ? Stars     This book review is for football fans just in time for the World Cup. This is a nonfiction book about the FIFA World Cup. People fight in football. English people decided the rules for football. A team close to England called Scotland won the 1888 World Cup, before the FIFA World Cup started. Pele is the best football player in Brazil, the world, and forever.     I like how the book includes sets from the FIFA World Cup. I think that 6,7,8, 9 and 10-year-olds would like this book because it has easy words and hard words. Girls should buy this book. also on the Guardian Children's Books Site

YOUNG WEREWOLF by Cornelia Funke 64 pp. Barrington Stoke Ltd. £6.99. (Ages 8 and up) ISBN 9781781122686 Rating: ? Stars When I stared to read chapter 2 I noticed that I saw a dirty word called "stupid". So, if I changed it to "not very good" it would make it a better book. Wonder how does the boy called Matt turn in to a werewolf? Read the book to find out.

FRANKIE VS THE MUMMY'S MENACE Frankie's Magic Football book 4 by Frank Lampard Illustrated by Mike Jackson 112 pp. Hachette £4.99. (Ages 5 and up) ISBN 9780349001630 Rating: ? Stars     This book is about four characters that are friends and go on a school trip. Suddenly they start to play football at the museum, so the teacher called Mrs Murray tells them off. But suddenly they go on a magic adventure to the pyramids to see the king's sister. But they did not have any football tickets for the ancient king.     I liked the book because I like football – mostly for tackles! I think 6 and 7 year olds will like this book because it is about time travel and because the book is short. I like the ways that the writer makes the book exciting and fun to read. also on Guardian Children's Books Site

MR MOLE AND THE MOST POWERFUL BEING IN THE WORLD by Andrew Fusek Peters and Polly Peters Illustrated by Didier Conrad 32 pp. International Baccalaureate Organization (UK) Ltd. $10.99. (Ages 5 and up) ISBN 9781906345884 Rating: 3.5 Stars This book review is about Mr Mole trying to find a smart husband for his daughter to marry. And the man Mr Mole wanted her to marry was in the sky, but every time they said no. I think 7 year old children in the Infants Years would like this book because I am 7 and I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed this book but it is a little boring because the same thing basically keeps happening, so I will give this book 3 and a half stars.

  ASTERIX AND THE PICTS by Jean-Yves Ferri Illustrated by Didier Conrad 48 pp. Orion Children's Books. £10.99. (Ages 10 and up) ISBN 9781444011678 Rating: 4.5 Stars              This story starts with Asterix and Obelix finding a Pict man stuck in ice. Quickly, they call all of the Gauls to help them free the Pict man.  Together they take the Pict man to Getafixi's hut.  Suddenly the Pict man pops out of the ice and starts to walk. The Pict man sees a tiny man with a stone tablet talking to him and also writing things down on his stone tablet.  As the Pict man can't speak he tells them his story in actions and carves the way to his land on one of Obelix's menhirs.  Then the Gauls decide to have Asterix and Obelix take him back to his land: the land of the Picts. While on the boat the Pict man gets his voice back and tells them his name is MacAroon.                If you didn't already know this book wasn't written by the same writer then you woul...

SPIDER-MAN 2: THE DAILY BUGLE STORIES By Jacob Ben Gunter. 144 pp. HarperFestival. £4.99. (Ages 7 and up) ISBN 9780060571320 Rating: ? Stars SPIDER-MAN IS QUITE GOOD. FIRST HE WRITE A NEWSPAPER. WILL HE FIGHTS SOME MARSDERSE. BUT SOME PEOPLE HE A BADDIE. :-)

NOAH'S ARK By Georgie Adams 
Illustrated by Anna C. Leplar 64 pp. Orion. £4.99. (Ages 4 and up) ISBN 9781444007893 Rating: 5 Stars The book is called Noahs Ark I like it because Noah listens to God. I will tell you about the story. Things have gone very wrong in the world he said to Noah I’m going to send the biggest flood ever. I will keep you family safe. When the flood is over I’ll start. I will tell you more about the story. so Noah got a girl and a boy firm each animals so he put the animals in the Ark. 5 out of 5 stars.

THE QUEEN By Richard Brassey 24 pp. Orion. £4.99. (Ages 7 and up) ISBN 9781444001273 Rating: ? Stars       This story is not really about anything I could say without giving away the story. It is basically about the queen, in longer words it is about the queen's childhood, as she grew up and turned into queen.       What really caught me and half made me laugh was when the queen and Crawfie (her governess)  disguised themselves as normal people and went for tea. The funny thing about this was that when they went there they had to carry their own tea and that even though they made good efforts people still knew who they were and they were stared at. I really liked Queen Salote of Tonga because she ignored the rain and waved cheerily from an open window.       I think the average age to read this book (or have it read to) is five. The reason I think the average age is five is because it is not exactly a baby book...

THE BIG SNUGGLE-UP By Brian Patten Illustrated by Nicola Bayley 32 pages. Andersen Press Ltd. £10.99 (Ages 0+) ISBN 9781849392082 Rating: 4 Stars This book tells you about an old scarecrow and lots of animals in a house. It is about a scarecrow and nine animals going together in a house. First an old scarecrow and a mouse go in the house. Then a robin and a butterfly go into the house. After that a squirrel and a rabbit come into the house. Next a cat and a dog come into the house. Then a fawn, a lamb, and a donkey came into the house. Lastly a heron, a fox, and an owl came into the house. My favourite character is the dog. My favourite part is when the donkey comes in. I think the pictures are amazingly real. I think ages four and five should read this book. I think this book deserves four out of five stars. also on Guardian Children's Books Site (communicated by Agustinia ligabuei ; written by Bellusaurus sui )

I AM BATMAN By Catherine Hapka. Illustrated by Adrian Barrios and Kanila Tripp. 30 pp. HarperCollins Children's Books. £2.99. (Ages 5 and up). ISBN 9780007865109 Rating: 5 Stars [INTERVIEW-STYLE REVIEW] What is this book called? I am Batman. What is this book about? Batman. Who is in the book? Batman and the Joker, other people too. What happens in the story? Batman have a car and he has a really big thing that goes really fast and he lives in a building and he have a Batman costume. And there's lots of nice people and there's the Joker. When the Joker comes someone thinks he's a clown and then kills everybody before all his smoke and makes them die. And the baddy have lots of money and the baddy took a big money bus and he hit a money bus guy and he throwing him on the road. He got a favourite piece of paper and a painting. And some person helps him. What is the best thing about the book? The good people and the Batman. And the Batman took money the Joker put. An...

THE ENORMOUS CROCODILE By Roald Dahl. Illustrated by Quentin Blake. 64 pp. Puffin. £5.99 (Ages 5 and up) ISBN 9780141323756 Rating: 5 Stars I really liked this book it actually is my favourite book. This book is about an enormous silly crocodile. Who wants to eat all the children and does lots of tricks on them but all the animals tell the children to run away. But elephant swings the enormous crocodile round and then the crocodile flew to the sun and burns up like a sausage. and my favourite part is when the crocodile tries to eat the children. I think 3,4,5 and 6 year olds should read this wonderful book. (communicated by Agustinia ligabuei ; written by Bellusaurus sui )