Category: Book reviews by kids

Posted in Book reviews by kids

Book review: Spooky Sleuth and Solve

Posted on by Alphabet Soup
The cover of a children's book featuring a colourful cover illustration of spooky halloween style characters/creatures. The book shown is Spooky Sleuth & Solve, Decode Mind-Twisting mysteries inspired by classic creepy characters by Victor Escandell

Spooky Sleuth & Solve: Decode mind-twisting mysteries inspired by classic creepy characters by Victor Escandell (an adaptation of mysteries by Ana Gallo), Chronicle Books, ISBN 9781797205908

REVIEWED BY ARJAN, 11, NSW

Arjan reviewed his own copy of this book.

This is a nice adaption of spooky stories for kids to read and added twist of detective work. I liked its goofy and hideous drawings.

I learned that you need to fully read and absorb the information given to be able to solve the mystery. The book helps with building comprehension skills. When I read the first story, I didn’t get the answer but by the third story I had improved my thinking and observation skills. It was fun solving the questions and decrypting the answers.

I recommend this book for kids to read for Halloween, and it gives ideas for Halloween costumes. It’s a fun book that has twists on classic scary stories. When I first started reading the book, I found it was quite creepy and dark, but the more I read, the stories became funny and interesting. My personal favourite story was ‘The Loch Ness Monster’ because you had to read the text thoroughly to get the answer.

Arjan is a regular book reviewer for Alphabet Soup. You can read another of his reviews here. To send us YOUR book review, read our submission guidelines.

Posted in Book reviews by kids

Book review: Wonder

Posted on by Alphabet Soup
The cover of a childen's novel: Wonder by RJ Palacio

Wonder by RJ Palacio, Random House UK, ISBN 9780552565974

REVIEWED BY EMILY, 10, New York, USA

Emily reviewed her own copy of this title.

Wonder by RJ Palacio is an incredible book. It is about the main character, Auggie Pullmen and the challenges he has to face at a real school because of a facial disorder that he was born with. This is a book of mixed emotions – some of his feelings were happy, sad, mad and embarrassed.

Auggie had many struggles at school and with his friends because he was different.  One example of when Auggie felt embarrassed is when Auggie trusted Jack with secrets of his surgeries, but Jack let him down by making fun of him with other kids behind his back. Even though this made him feel sad he didn’t forget about his other friendships. Another friend, Summer, made Auggie feel stronger about himself. Summer was always there for him and she didn’t care what other kids thought about his face. And Summer was very kind to Auggie. The way Jack treated Auggie made me feel unhappy and sad because you should always treat others the way you want to be treated. But Jack was unkind and didn’t care about how Auggie felt.

The life lesson of this book is to be brave and to not care what other people think of you. And to try and overcome those challenges in life even if it’s hard.

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

Posted in Book reviews by kids

Book review: D-Day Dog

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

D-Day Dog by Tom Palmer, illustrations by Clohosy Cole, HarperCollins, ISBN 9781781128688

REVIEWED BY Arjan, 11, NSW

Arjan reviewed his own copy of this title.

D-Day Dog is a book that teaches kids about the D-Day landings on 6th June 1944. Eleven-year-old Jack has an admiration for war heroes, particularly men on D-Day. But his beliefs are questioned when his dad is called up for active service in Afghanistan. Out of the blue, Jack’s class is taken on an excursion to Normandy. There he learns the true story about D-Day and how one paratrooper took his dog with him at the airborne landings. Sadly neither of them survived.

I loved the shared dialogue between the different characters as well as the descriptions of the characters and the places. I liked the dream sequence, it showed Jack’s emotional turmoil.

The book teaches kids that war is not a good thing and empathises with different characters and their common traits.

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

Posted in Book reviews by kids

Book review: Escape From Marigold Manor

Posted on by Alphabet Soup
The cover of a children's book: Escape from Marigold Manor by Rachel Jackson.

Escape From Marigold Manor by Rachel Jackson, Riveted Press, ISBN 9781763526068

REVIEWED BY ELLA, 9, WA

The publisher provided a review copy of this title.

Escape from Marigold Manor is a detective book with lots of cases, which the reader sometimes has to help solve.

This is not the kind of book I would usually read, but I enjoyed the surprising endings and interesting challenges. I did find some of the challenges a little bit tricky! 

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries and puzzles, and choose-your-own-adventure books! 

Read Alphabet Soup’s interview with the author

Ella is a regular book reviewer for Alphabet Soup. You can read another of her reviews here. To send us YOUR book review, read our submission guidelines.

Posted in Book reviews by kids, Book reviews by Marley

Book review: Higher Ground

Posted on by Alphabet Soup
The cover of Higher Ground, a children's hardback book.

Higher Ground by Tull Suwannakit, New Frontier Publishing, ISBN 9781922326997

REVIEWED BY MARLEY, 9, WA

The publisher provided a review copy of this book.

Higher Ground is a picture book about a grandma, brother, sister and one rabbit who get stranded on a really tall apartment building in the rooftop garden, because of a huge flood and lots of rain. There’s nowhere to go unless they take a boat. The water is filled to the brim.

Their grandmother teaches them ways to survive with a scarce amount of food. She taught them how to tie knots and how to eat every part of a fish. She teaches them all of the knowledge she has so they can pass it on in the future.

My favourite page is where the illustrations show how they have all grown up over time. You can even see at this point, in their faces, that they have lost hope. 

They end up never giving up and have enough hope that something great will happen. The moral of this book is to never give up and keep on pursuing what you believe in.

My favourite thing about this book is that there is always a cliffhanger to keep it interesting. 

The book itself feels really high quality with an embossed cover and thick pages of illustrations. 

I really enjoyed this book and people that like big cliffhangers and that are into adventure books and like learning new things would enjoy this book too.

Read Alphabet Soup’s interview with Tull Suwannakit, the author of Higher Ground.

Marley is a regular book reviewer for Alphabet Soup. You can read her earlier reviews here. To send us YOUR book review, read our submission guidelines.

Posted in Book reviews by Edith, Book reviews by kids

Book review: Meet the Mubbles

Posted on by Alphabet Soup
The cover of a children's graphic novel: Meet the Mubbles by Liz Pichon

Meet the Mubbles by Liz Pichon, Macmillan Children’s Books, ISBN 9781035068326

REVIEWED BY EDITH, 9, WA

The publisher provided a review copy of this book.

Meet the Mubbles is a vibrant comic book adventure for younger readers aged between 6–8.

I had lots of fun reading this book because of the detail, colour and interesting concepts on every page.

Edith is a regular book reviewer for Alphabet Soup. To send us YOUR book review, read our submission guidelines.

Posted in Book reviews by Edith, Book reviews by kids

Book review: Lexie Moon and the Word Burgling Bungle

Posted on by Alphabet Soup
The book cover of Lexie Moon and the Word Burgling Bungle by Melissa Garside and illustrated by Lauren Mullinder

Lexie Moon and the Word Burgling Bungle by Melissa Garside, illustrated by Lauren Mullinder, Riveted Press, ISBN 9781763526037

REVIEWED BY EDITH, 9, WA

The publisher provided a review copy of this book.

This book centres around the main character, Lexie Moon, who builds a contraption that takes someone’s words and gives them to someone else but alas Lexi’s invention gets stolen by a technology-crazy burglar.

Lexi Moon and the Word Burgling Bungle is perfect for tween readers who want a fun and interesting book. I absolutely loved keeping up with Lexi’s antics and the plot kept me guessing till the very end. I cannot wait to join Lexie Moon on her next adventure!

Read our May 2025 interview with the author of Lexie Moon and Word Burgling Bungle.

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

Posted in Book reviews by kids, Book reviews by Marley

Book review: Little Bones

Posted on by Alphabet Soup
The cover of a book: Little Bones by Sandy Bigna

Little Bones by Sandy Bigna, illustrations by Tamlyn Teow, UQP, ISBN 9780702268878

REVIEWED BY MARLEY, 9, WA

The publisher provided a review copy of this book.

Little Bones is about a girl called Bones and she loves collecting animal bones for her collection. She doesn’t have many friends at school and people think she’s a freak. She ends up finding a little skeleton of a bird at the wetlands, she brings it back to her house and wishes the bird would come alive again. And guess what? He came alive.

The book is very different to other books I’ve read. It’s way more heart-warming and has different formatting. And I love the front cover.

I liked how there was always a cliff hanger and you could never stop reading the book without finding out what happened next.

My favourite character was Tenny, because Tenny is really sweet and kind. They are the perfect match for Bones as they are kind of Bones’ happy shadow. I liked the inclusion of diverse characters.

I liked the setting because it has very big home cosy vibes and it makes it feel more realistic.

I found the story very interesting because there aren’t many stories about people dying in kids books, but i think more should because you can’t just hide away what’s sensitive from kids. I didn’t find myself being sad, but intrigued to see how Bones would overcome her own sadness and regret.

I think people that are not super sensitive would enjoy this book. Its a mix between fantasy and adventure and about overcoming your fears. Also people that don’t feel like they belong might be intrigued to find out what’s in this book.

Read Alphabet Soup’s interview with the author of Little Bones.

Marley is a regular book reviewer for Alphabet Soup. You can read her earlier reviews here. To send us YOUR book review, read our submission guidelines.

Posted in Book reviews by kids

Book review: Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra

Posted on by Alphabet Soup
Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra by Cassy Polimeni, illustrated by Hykie Breeze

Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra by Cassy Polimeni, illustrated by Hykie Breeze, UWA Publishing, ISBN 9781760802899

REVIEWED BY ELLA, 9, WA

The publisher provided a review copy of this book.

Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra is a fiction book with lots of facts about frogs. The story is about Ella, who moves house and finds frogs near her new home.

I really liked the author’s descriptions of all the details in the book, and all the onomatopoeia, that made me feel like I was actually there. I thought Ella was a fun and likeable main character. The illustrations were really good, I just wish they had more colour in the book. 

I think that anyone aged 5-9 would enjoy this book. Anyone who likes frogs or wants to learn about frogs, would love this book. 

I loved this book!

Read Alphabet Soup’s interview with the author

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

Posted in Book reviews by Aashi, Book reviews by kids

Book review: Crunch

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

Crunch by Kayla Miller, Walker Books Australia, ISBN 9781760655181

REVIEWED BY AASHI, 10, VIC

Aashi reviewed her own copy of this book.

I recently read Crunch and I LOVED it! It is a must read for any avid readers from the age 8 to 12. This graphic novel is part of the Click series. The whole Click series is about Olive, a smart and kind sixth grader.

Olive loves to try new things with a positive attitude, so she signs up for many things. Between film making, homework, scouts and even a fashion show, Olive feels overwhelmed. Olive begins to wonder if she really can juggle all of her actives or will she fail at everything?

One of the best things about Crunch is the pictures. They are full of colour and pop. It makes you want to keep reading. The pictures look really good and make you feel like you are in the book.

Olive is not perfect, no-one is, and this made me really like her. She is really brave and outgoing. By the end of the book she learns how to say No and how to juggle her life.

I think that anyone who loves friendship and school stories will enjoy Crunch. Be sure to check out the rest of the Click series.

Happy Reading!

Take a look inside Crunch.

Aashi is a regular book reviewer for Alphabet Soup. You can read more of her book reviews here. To send us YOUR book review, read our submission guidelines.

Happy reading!