Category: Book reviews by kids

Book reviews by kids

Book review: Astonishingly Good Stories

Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY HANNAH, 10, QLD

Astonishingly Good Stories by RA Spratt, Penguin Australia, ISBN 9780143779261

Hannah reviewed her own copy of this title.

Image shows the cover of a book of short stories for children: Astonishingly Good Stories by RA Spratt. The cover illustration is filled with tiny illustrations of characters from inside the book: a child with an axe, a monster with a giant lollipop, a mer-pig.

Astonishingly Good Stories is a very funny, heart-warming collection of short stories including characters from RA Spratt’s other book series. The stories include Fractured Fairytales and stories of Nanny Piggins’ stunningly beautiful relatives (aunts and grandmothers). For Friday Barnes fans there is a short Friday Barnes story based on Christmas.

I like a lot of the stories but I actually liked the Friday Barnes one best. I am surprised by this because I thought Friday Barnes was too old for me and I didn’t understand the plot of other Friday Barnes stories, but I did understand the plot of this story and it was really good.

The prequel to Astonishingly Good Stories –Shockingly Good Stories – was equally good and I suggest you read both of them. I would not change this book at all.

I’d recommend this book to people who like books that make you laugh and ‘myths and legends as you’ve never read them before’. Ideal for ages 8 and up.

Take a look inside this book on the publisher’s website.

This is Hannah’s first review for Alphabet Soup! To send us YOUR book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Book reviews by Elizabeth, Book reviews by kids

Book review: Veena Sahajwalla

Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY ELIZABETH, 9, NSW

Veena Sahajwalla: ‘Green’ engineer and recycling champion by Julianne Negri, Wild Dingo Press, ISBN 9781925893250

The publisher provided a review copy of this title.

Veena is an inspiring person to the next generation because she changed the world by inventing green steel. When Veena was little she just liked to ride on her dad’s scooter around Mumbai all the time. But she did not think that she would become the recycling champion in the future. 

From reading this book, I  learnt that Veena is a very diligent, persistent and resilient person. When she was in school she did extra work because she loved doing homework. She was the only girl in the class in her  university studies and she tried her best.

I rate this book 10/10 because this has even inspired me to be an engineer.

Veena Sahajwalla: ‘Green’ engineer and recycling champion is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.

Elizabeth is a regular reviewer for Alphabet Soup. You can read more of her reviews here. To send us YOUR book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Book reviews by Gabriel, Book reviews by kids

Book review: The Jammer

Alphabet Soup
Image shows the cover of a children's book with a girl wearing shirt and shorts, helmet, long socks, knee pads and roller skates. She's crouching and looks serious.

REVIEWED BY GABRIEL, 12, NSW

The Jammer by Nova Weetman, University of Queensland Press, ISBN 9780702265426

The publisher provided a review copy of this title.

Being someone who others would consider nomadic is the norm for Fred, the main character. But in her life, there were always two constants – family and roller derby – until there weren’t anymore. This foundation crumbles to rubble in the first chapter.

After arriving in Melbourne, where her mum grew up, Fred soon discovers that everyone she meets knew a different side to her mum. 

How does Fred get used to this unwanted new life? Does she go back to roller derby or are the memories too much? How does Fred sew up the gaping hole of loss that she feels?

I recommend this book for readers who like roller derby and also those aged eight to thirteen, especially if they have lost loved ones unexpectedly. I like this book due to the way Nova Weetman puts this fantastic idea into words.

The Jammer is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.

Gabriel is a regular book reviewer at Alphabet Soup. You can read more of his reviews here. To send us YOUR book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Book reviews by Joshua, Book reviews by kids

Book review: Emma Johnston, Marine Biologist and TV Presenter

Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY JOSHUA, 13, NSW

Emma Johnston: Marine Biologist and TV Presenter by Dee White, Wild Dingo Press, ISBN 9781925893762

Joshua received a review copy of this book.

Professor Emma Johnston, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sydney, has a genuinely encouraging life story.

“Emma was a sponge …“

She loved the beach, science and asking her parents questions about the wonderful world around her. She always enjoyed looking at the fascinating marine life under the water’s surface. Her curiosity and the questions her parents answered only gave her the thirst for more knowledge. Moving to Japan, she found the curriculum way more advanced, so she enjoyed the challenge and found class engaging. After returning to Australia, she was shocked by the discrimination against the girls at her high school and she moved to Uni High, a different school, accepted in with a music scholarship. She knew she loved science, communicating with others and playing music on her flute. 

What did she do with her curious mind and knowledge of science as she grew up in this big world?

Find out in Dee White’s extraordinary biography of Emma’s inspiring story. Reading her life story motivated me to look more into science again and rediscover my passion for science I lost a couple years ago. It helped me to relate to Emma as we both love science and I can feel her struggles, opinions and feelings throughout the book.

I loved this book and would rate this book a strong 4 out of 5 for ten to thirteen year olds.

Read our interview with the author, Dee White.

Joshua is a regular contributor to Alphabet Soup. Check out more of Joshua‘s reviews here.  If YOU would like to send us a book review, please refer to our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Book reviews by Elizabeth, Book reviews by kids

Book review: Team Trouble!

Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY ELIZABETH, 9, NSW

Team Trouble! by Eddie Woo & Dave Hartley, illustrated by Mitch Vane, Pan Macmillan Australia, ISBN 9781760983000

The publisher provided a review copy of this book.

Have you ever had a mystery to solve with your friends?  Well, then you should read this book. Team Trouble! is written by Eddie Woo and Dave Hartley and illustrated by Mitch Vane. This book is about Eddie and his sidekicks (DT and Rusty) who all love skateboarding.

In this book, the mystery is about Mr Appleby. Mr Appleby helped Eddie’s Mum and Dad when they arrived in Australia from Malaysia in the 1990s, but now Mr Appleby is old. Mr Appleby’s aged care home is closing down. What do Eddie and his friends do? What will happen next?

I like this book because it has mental and physical challenges for Eddie and his friends. I rate this book 10/10. This book is suitable for age kids 8 and over. 

Read the first chapter of this book on the publisher’s website.

Elizabeth is a regular reviewer for Alphabet Soup. You can read more of her reviews here. To send us YOUR story, poem, artwork or book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Book reviews by Gabriel, Book reviews by kids

Book review: Time Out!

Alphabet Soup
Photo shows the cover of a children's novel: Time Out! by Eddie Woo and Jess Black and illustrated by Mitch Vane. The cover illustration features a giant question mark, and a boy in a red shirt holding a magnifying glass up to his eye.

REVIEWED BY GABRIEL, 11, NSW

Time Out! by Eddie Woo and Jess Black, illustrated by Mitch Vane, Pan Macmillan Australia, ISBN 9781760982997

The publisher provided a review copy of this book.

Searching for a new book to dive into over the holidays or when you are bored? Or figure you are a bit of a detective? Time Out! is a mystery novel by Eddie Woo & Jess Black. It is part of the Whodunnit? series currently containing two novels, the other one being Team Trouble. The main protagonist of the book is young Eddie Woo, a super sleuth and maths whizz. Together with his friends, Rusty and DT, they accidentally stumble across a treasure hunt created by Henry Cedric James in the 1880s. Even though their suburb of Red Hill is small there can still be an action-packed adventure. 

Henry was the founder of Red Hill and hand-built many public buildings like the Council school, lighthouse, old cathedrals, parks and many homes. In some of these locations he left hints and ciphers to where the next clue might be. It is rumoured that Henry worked at the Ballarat Goldfields before founding the new suburb. When he passed away, he left most of his gold hidden, rumoured to be at the end of the treasure hunt. But every good story needs an antagonist so, someone is going to take drastic measures to ensure Eddie doesn’t reach the end!

This is an awesome book including maths and instrumental talents. I rate this book 5 stars out of 5 as it has a good climax, resolution and includes maths to explain things.

Gabriel is a regular book reviewer at Alphabet Soup. You can read more of his reviews here. To send us YOUR book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Book reviews by Joshua, Book reviews by kids

Book review: All Four Quarters of the Moon

Alphabet Soup
Image shows the cover of a children's novel: All Four Quarters of the Moon by Shirley Marr. The cover illustration shows two sisters with dark hair facing each other and holding hands around a tiny paper rabbit. Behind them is the night sky with a giant full moon.

REVIEWED BY JOSHUA, 13, NSW

All Four Quarters of the Moon by Shirley Marr, Penguin Australia, ISBN 9781760899554

Joshua received a review copy of this book.

Peijing is not from this country. Australia is such a different place to Singapore. Accompanied by Ba Ba (her Dad), Ma Ma (her Mum), her sister Biju and Ah Ma, her grandmother, Peijing is unsure of the strange new cultures and the adaptations she will have to make to fit into Australia. To Peijing’s realisation, her family are all fighting their own uncertainties in their new life. Little Biju is only in kindergarten and is struggling as her English isn’t as fluent as everyone else’s. Ma Ma doesn’t do much as she is alone without all her friends around and she can’t speak English. The only thing she finds she can do is to clean the house incessantly. Ba Ba doesn’t talk to anyone now, though he used to talk to the other men in the family. The family first moved to Australia so he could get a promotion. Ah Ma, who sits at the TV all day has nothing to do, like Ma Ma, and she also keeps forgetting things like who Peijing is, to chew food, and she dangerously wanders away from the house.

With all these problems in her family’s lives, Peijing feels that she cannot express her own issues to them so she steps up to care for the family especially Biju, who is still young and believes everything her sister says.

Helpless, the only thing Peijing knows she can control is the little world – a precious paper world where the two sisters create stories with their paper animal and plant creations. The world is filled with different creatures, real and fantasy but there are no people. To Peijing, the little world is a sanctuary of peace, a place of safety and security where she forms new stories from the shapes of different creatures.

As Peijing starts to feel at home in Australia, she questions what she can do to help her family in this foriegn land. Follow Peijing in this heartwarming book and how she leads her family through the struggles of culture shock and change. 

I particularly resonated with this book as I moved back to Australia after 11 years of living overseas and had to face changes in my lifestyle, different cultural expectations and ideals. I love the theme of identity that is interwoven throughout this book.

I would recommend this book for readers aged 9 and above. I’m sure you will enjoy this exceptional fiction novel. I rate this amazing book 5/5.

Read our interview with the author, Shirley Marr.

Joshua is a regular contributor to Alphabet Soup. Check out more of Joshua‘s reviews here.  If YOU would like to send us a book review, please refer to our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Book reviews by Anwen, Book reviews by kids

Book review: Fantastically Great Women Artists and their Stories

Alphabet Soup
Image shows the cover of a children's nonfiction book: Fantastically Great Women Artists and their Stories by Kate Pankhurst. The cover is predominantly red and shows drawings in a cartoon-like style of some of the women artists at work.

REVIEWED BY ANWEN, 8, WA

Fantastically Great Women Artists and their Stories by Kate Pankhurst, Bloomsbury, ISBN 9781526615343

The publisher provided a review copy of this book.

Fantastically Great Women Artists and their Stories is a non-fiction book. It is written by Kate Pankhurst and is about seven artists and one art collector. The artists in the book are Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun, Frida Kahlo, Amrita Sher-Gill, Kathe Kollwitz, Dame Laura Knight, Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Faith Ringgold. The art collector is Peggy Guggenheim. She created one of the most important art collections in the world.

I learnt about the lives of these women. I knew a bit about Frida Kahlo already but I learnt more from this book. I found Kathe Kollwitz the most interesting of them all. At a time of war she showed parents and children grieving in her art works. The book made me feel sorrow and happiness. It made me feel inspired too.

The illustrations are detailed and show what the lives of the women were like. Although they have no colour they are spectacular.

I recommend this book for people who like doing art. It is good for people who are seven and over.

Anwen is a regular book reviewer for Alphabet Soup. You can read more of her reviews here. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Book reviews by Elizabeth, Book reviews by kids

Book review: Creswell Eastman, the Man Who Saved a Million Brains

Alphabet Soup
The image shows the cover of a children's biography: Cresswell Eastman, the Man who Saved a Million Brains by Penny Tangey. The cover is predominantly orange and shows a hand drawn illustration of Cresswell Eastman in a white surgical coat, holding a microscope. He's surrounded by doodle style illustrations of a stethoscope, a needs and a glowing lightbulb.

REVIEWED BY ELIZABETH, 9, NSW

Creswell Eastman, the Man Who Saved a Million Brains by Penny Tangey, Wild Dingo Press, ISBN 9781925893526

The publisher provided a review copy of this book.

Creswell Eastman was the smartest child in the class. One day, Sister Francis asked Creswell to follow her in the hall. They walked through the senior school, into the classroom and he saw his older sister. He was tested to see if he was better at maths than anyone else. That afternoon a boy punched him for being better at maths. The next day at lunchtime his teacher, who was a nun, taught Creswell to defend himself. The following day the boy was waiting for Creswell. What would Cres do?

The thing I enjoyed the most about the book by Penny Tangey was learning how Creswell used medicine to help people. It is amazing that he saved so many people’s lives in Asia.

I recommend this book to 8 years old and up because it is wonderful and interesting. I rate this book 10 out of 10.

Read chapter one on the publisher’s website.

Elizabeth is a regular reviewer for Alphabet Soup. You can read more of her reviews here. To send us YOUR story, poem, artwork or book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Book reviews by Emily, Book reviews by kids

Book review: Wednesday Weeks and the Dungeon of Fire

Alphabet Soup
Image shows the cover of a children's science fiction novel: Wednesday Weeks and the Dungeon of Fire by Denis Knight and Cristy Burne. The cover of the image shows two kids and an adult running from a huge fire. The three look determined, not afraid. The boy carries a sword and the adult is wearing a cloak and carrying a staff.

REVIEWED BY EMILY, 10, WA

Wednesday Weeks and the Dungeon of Fire by Denis Knight and Cristy Burne, Lothian Children’s Books, ISBN 9780734420237

Emily received a review copy of this book.

Wednesday Weeks and the Dungeon of Fire is a thrilling science fiction book and the third book of the Wednesday Weeks series. In this adventure book Wednesday is given the chance to eliminate the tyrannical Goblin King, Gorgomoth, once and for all. But in order to do that she must beat the savage Gorgomoth to the powerful Stone of Power. To get to the Stone of Power Wednesday must face physical and mental challenges, all to save the world. 

I loved this book because it’s a bit different from the other Wednesday Weeks books, seeing that the challenges that Wednesday and her friends have to confront are more exciting and harder. Another outstanding feature of this book is to explain about how meaningful having friends is.

I recommend this book to ages 7+ but it can be enjoyed by people of any age. Fans of Wednesday Weeks and the Tower of Shadows and Wednesday Weeks and the Crown of Destiny will also love this book.

I rate this book a 6 out of 5!

Emily is a regular reviewer for Alphabet Soup. Read more reviews by Emily here. To send us YOUR book review, read our submission guidelines. Happy reading!