Category: Book reviews by kids

Posted in Book reviews by kids, Oxley Christian College

Book review: Along the Road to Gundagai

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY AIMEE, 9, VIC

Along the road to Gundagai (cover)

Along the road to Gundagai by Jack O’ Hagan, illustrated by Andrew McLean, Omnibus Books, ISBN 9781862919792

Aimee read this book in her school library.

A soldier remembers his home and his home town where his daddy and mother will be waiting for him.

He is yearning just to be returning along the road to Gundagai.

He’s gone off to war, but wants to be a kid at home again.

The pictures, not just the words, tell you some of the story.

This book is suitable for primary grade students from Year 1 to Year 6.

If you like picture books then you would love this book.

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Aimee attends Oxley Christian College and this is her first book review for Alphabet Soup. If you’d like to read more book reviews by Oxley Christian College students, you can click on ‘Oxley Christian College’ in the grey categories box in the right column of this blog. To send us YOUR book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Posted in Book reviews by kids, Oxley Christian College

Book review: Max

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY CHARLIE, 9, VIC

Max (cover)

 

Max by Marc Marten, Penguin Books Australia, ISBN 9780670077434

Charlie read a copy of this book in his school library.

Bob, a fish and chip shop owner, is best friends with Max the seagull.

One day, Max comes to the shop but Bob is not there.

He waits, but when Bob doesn’t come, he flies high into the sky. Eventually, a salty and familiar smell comes over the air and he flies towards it. Does he find Bob?

I recommend this book for 6 year olds because the story is simple and fun to read.

I like it because it’s based on the reality that friends sometimes move away, but still like to reconnect and do what they did before when they meet up. Like Bob, I wouldn’t want my friend going away from me to live somewhere else.

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Charlie attends Oxley Christian College and this is his first book review for Alphabet Soup. If you’d like to read more book reviews by Oxley Christian College students, you can click on ‘Oxley Christian College’ in the grey categories box in the right column of this blog. To send us YOUR book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Posted in Book reviews by kids, Oxley Christian College

Book review: Emu

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY ANTONY, 9, VIC

Emu (cover)

Emu by Claire Saxby, illustrated by Graham Byrne, Walker Books Australia, ISBN: 9781922179708

Antony read a copy of this book in his school library.

Emu is a very interesting combination of fiction and nonfiction. It’s about an emu’s birth and its life. There are lots of fun facts, predators like lizards and adventures like running away from circling eagles.

Did you know that:

emus will only fight if cornered. They will peck with their strong beaks or strike out with their clawed feet.

The story is set in the outback in spring. The main character is a male emu who is protecting his chicks. Will they survive?

The detail and illustrations are mind blowing. Readers will wonder how the illustrator made the drawings so realistic.

I think this is a really astonishing book for children aged 6 and up who want to learn more about emus and their lifestyle in a fun way.

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Antony attends Oxley Christian College and this is his first book review for Alphabet Soup. If you’d like to read more book reviews by Oxley Christian College students, you can click on ‘Oxley Christian College’ in the grey categories box in the right column of this blog. To send us YOUR book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

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Check out more reviews of Emu in earlier posts.

Posted in Book reviews by Joseph, Book reviews by kids

Book review: Adam Spencer’s Big Book of Numbers

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY JOSEPH, 11, WA

Adam Spencer's big book of numbers

Adam Spencer’s Big Book of Numbers: Everything you wanted to know about the numbers 1 to 100 by Adam Spencer, Xoum Publishing, ISBN 9781921134326.

Joseph reviewed his own copy of this book.

Do you know what a narcissistic number is? Or a Leyland Prime? Or a Cunningham Chain? These are three number concepts that you’ve probably never heard about before and they are explained in this book.

When I first saw this book I thought it would be way too complicated and I wouldn’t be able to understand any of it but Adam Spencer turns out to be a very chatty writer. And so this book is very easy to enjoy and it is not like a textbook.

Inside you will find detailed facts about the numbers 1 to 100 with some quiz questions/activities along the way. The 5X5 magic squares were my favourite because I found them challenging but do-able and satisfying to finish.

Anybody aged 10+ would love this book. It doesn’t matter if you are good at maths or not, it’s informative and interesting.

If you can’t sleep at night, reading this book is better than counting sheep.

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Joseph is one of our regular book reviewers. His most recent review (if you don’t count this one) was of Sister Heart. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Posted in Book reviews by kids, Book reviews by Matilda

Book review: Bella and the Wandering House

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY MATILDA, 9, WA

Bella and the Wandering House

Bella and the Wandering House by Meg McKinlay, ill. Nicholas Schafer, Fremantle Press, ISBN 9781925162301

A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.

This is another book by Meg McKinlay. I have also read Duck for a Day, Definitely No Ducks, and Ten Tiny Things. This is a novel with occasional pictures in black and white.

Bella is a girl who lives in a house that seems to be moving at night and then stops at different places. It’s hard for her mum and dad to get to work every day from a different place. But then things really get out of hand when Bella finds out the movers will cut her house in half to move it back to where it belongs.

A house that wanders around reminds me of Baba Yaga’s house with chicken legs from folktales.

It was a very imaginative book. I wouldn’t like it if my house walked away at night. I recommend this book for ages 6 and up.

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Matilda is one of our regular book reviewers. Her most recent review (if you don’t count this one) was of  Molly and Pim and the Millions of Stars. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Posted in Book reviews by Joseph, Book reviews by kids

Book review: Sister Heart

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY JOSEPH, 11, WA

Sister heart (cover)

Sister Heart by Sally Morgan, Fremantle Press, ISBN 9781925163131

A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.

Sister Heart is a book about Annie — an Aboriginal girl who is suddenly taken from her parents (part of the Stolen Generation). She’s taken to a government-run school where she meets Nancy, Janey, and Janey’s brother Tim. It’s a shock for Annie and she doesn’t feel like talking.

This is a verse novel told from Annie’s point of view and it’s about finding courage in a new place.

I knew a little bit about the Stolen Generation and this book deepened my understanding because it showed the emotions of the stolen children and how they coped. This is a serious and engaging read, it’s emotional and you feel everything that the characters feel.

I’d recommend this to readers aged 10 to 13.

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Joseph is one of our regular book reviewers. His most recent review (if you don’t count this one) was of The Invention of Hugo Cabret. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Posted in Book reviews by Joseph, Book reviews by kids

Book review: The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY JOSEPH, 11, WA

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, Scholastic Press, ISBN 9780439813785

Joseph borrowed a copy of this book from his local library.

Hugo is an orphan and his job is to check that all the clocks in the Paris station are the correct time. It was really his uncle’s job — Hugo can’t show his face to anyone official (like the station inspector) because then they’ll realise his uncle is gone and send Hugo to an orphanage. His uncle’s uncashed cheques are no good because Hugo can’t cash them. One day he finds an automaton his father was working on before he died. When his father’s notebook (the only thing Hugo has left to remind him of his father) is taken away, he relies on a girl called Isabel to get it back.

Will the automaton write him a message that will solve his problems?

This book has words and pictures. It’s a combination of graphic novel and a regular novel and it means you are satisfied that you read about 520 pages, when 284 pages were text-free!

It’s definitely worth reading. It has an original idea and the setting is not something I’d come across in everyday life.

I’d recommend this book to readers aged 9 and over, particularly kids who are fascinated by machinery. I give it five stars.

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Joseph is one of our regular book reviewers. His most recent review (if you don’t count this one) was of On Track. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Posted in Book reviews by kids, Book reviews by Matilda

Book review: Molly and Pim and the Millions of Stars

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY MATILDA, 9, WA

Molly and Pim and the millions of stars (cover)

Molly and Pim and the Millions of Stars by Martine Murray, Text Publishing, ISBN 9781925240085

A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.

This is a story about working together and going and going at it and not stopping. I liked how it’s a book about magic. Molly and a boy called Pim are trying to fix the shocking accident that happens to Molly’s Mama early in the book. (Before he starts helping, Molly thinks that Pim is weird because he does all this weird stuff at school.)

The cover looked kind of gentle with the hat and the girl and the dog and I liked how they used glittery bits for the stars. But I didn’t think the title was the best title for this book. I would have called it ‘Molly and Pim and the Mama Tree’.

I liked how this book made me laugh out loud and how it was short and sharp. My favourite character is Prudence Grimshaw. She’s mean and she’s a really picky lady. I can really imagine her voice in my head as I read.

Girls from ages 9 to 11 would enjoy this book most.

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Matilda is one of our regular book reviewers. Her most recent review (if you don’t count this one) was of  Summer in Enchantia. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Posted in Book reviews by kids, Book reviews by Matilda

Book review: Summer in Enchantia

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY MATILDA, 9, WA

Summer in Enchantia (Cover)

Magic Ballerina: Summer in Enchantia by Darcey Bussell, ill. Dynamo Limited, HarperCollins Children’s Books, ISBN 9780007317219

Matilda borrowed a copy of this book from her local library.

This is about a girl called Rosa who has magic ballet shoes. Whenever there is trouble in Enchantia the ballet shoes whisk her off there so she can help solve the problem. This time the king and queen of Enchantia want to have a garden party but pirates are stealing everything they need for the party.

I found out about this series (about Rosa) when I read a Delphie book (another girl in the Magic Ballerina series.) I like this book because it’s about working together to solve a problem. There are seven books in the Rosa series.

I’d recommend this book for ages 6 to 10 and for people who like ballet.

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Matilda is one of our regular book reviewers. Her most recent review (if you don’t count this one) was of  Tales of Wisdom and Wonder. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Posted in Beaconsfield Primary School, Book reviews by kids

Book review: Tea and Sugar Christmas

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY JAMIE, 11, WA

Tea and sugar Christmas (cover)

Tea and Sugar Christmas by Jane Jolly, ill. Robert Ingpen, NLA Publishing, ISBN 9780642278630

This book was written by Jane Jolly and illustrated by Robert Ingpen — an Australian award-winning illustrator, who I think draws the most amazing pictures I have ever seen. This picture book has around 16 pages with black and white illustrations, along with some coloured ones too.

This fictional short story based on true life events tells the story of a young aboriginal girl named Kathleen. She is waiting with so much excitement for the Thursday weekly supply train, which serviced the remote communities from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie for 81 years. However this train is a special train as it is the first Thursday of December, which means Father Christmas will be visiting.

I especially liked how at the end of this book, it has a few pages with factual information and real pictures of the supply train. It tells how these isolated people relied on the train for groceries, household goods and even medical advice.

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This is Jamie’s first book review for Alphabet Soup. If you’d like to read more book reviews by Beaconsfield Primary students, you can click on ‘Beaconsfield Primary School’ in the grey categories box in the right column of this blog. To send us YOUR book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!