Category: Book reviews by kids

Posted in Book reviews by Celine, Book reviews by kids

Book review: Pharaoh, the boy who conquered the Nile

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

Pharaoh, the Boy Who Conquered the Nile by Jackie French, HarperCollins, ISBN 9780207200823

Pharaoh cover

REVIEWED BY CELINE, 12, WA

Celine reviewed her own copy of this book.

Narmer is 12 years old, and is often referred to as ‘The Golden One’, by the people of his town because they believe that he has potential to be a ruler, to follow the footsteps of his father, the king. Although he is the second-born child, he is preferred by his father and was therefore chosen to be the heir to the throne. His older brother Hawk, is a pleasant and kind brother, and always treats Narmer with care. But as the days pass by, and Narmer becomes more worthy of the throne, Hawk may not want to be the gentle, caring brother anymore.

After an awful incident with a crocodile, Narmer finds that he has been left with scars and wounds that may disable him forever. He may not have the strength to lead his people anymore. When a foreign trader arrives from another town to offer goods for gold, Narmer discovers his gift for trading. He decides to become one of the trader’s apprentices, and learns from the trader’s ways, as the trader and his travelling group continue to journey across the Nile. Will Narmer be able to survive this journey? What will become of his future?

I admire Narmer because when times were tough, Narmer was resilient. He was daring, even as a little boy. This book is suitable for children aged 11 to 14 who enjoy historical fiction. If I were part of the Children’s Reading Council, I would award this book with the highest commendations. It is a must read for everyone!

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Celine is one of our regular book reviewers. Her most recent review (if you don’t count this one) was of  My Life as an Alphabet. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Posted in Book reviews by kids

Book review: Rescue on Nim’s Island

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

Rescue on Nim’s Island by Wendy Orr, pictures by Geoff Kelly, Allen and Unwin, ISBN 9781743316788

rescue on nim's island

REVIEWED BY MATILDA, 8, WA

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

I read this book because I like all the other books I’ve read by Wendy Orr so far.

There are scientists coming to the island. So far Nim, Jack and Alex have kept the island a secret but now Jack has discovered something on the island and he wants other scientists to come. One of the scientists brings a daughter called Tiffany and when everyone goes exploring in a cave, Tiffany gets stuck …

Rescue on Nim’s Island is not a follow-on book from Nim at Sea, it follows on from the second Nim film (Return to Nim’s Island) instead. I was surprised that it didn’t follow on from Nim at Sea.

People who like to take risks will like this book because Rescue on Nim’s Island is full of risks. It would suit kids 8+.

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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  Fantastic Mr Fox (audiobook). If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Posted in Book reviews by kids

Book review: Fantastic Mr Fox

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl (audiobook), read by Lionel Jeffries, BBC Audiobooks UK, ISBN 9781408483770

fantastic mr fox audiobook

REVIEWED BY MATILDA, 8, WA

Matilda borrowed this audiobook from her local library.

I like listening to audiobooks because they make you have an idea of the picture in your head. With this audiobook I could read along with the book while I listened but sometimes I just like listening without the book. I like the voices they have for the characters.

Fantastic Mr Fox is about a family of 6 foxes (4 children and 2 adults). Mr Fox has a very clever brain and every night he makes sure the wind is blowing towards him so he can go out and steal some dinner from the 3 farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean. The 3 farmers are really mean and they try to catch the foxes because they want to shoot them. I like this story because it’s exciting and the foxes can dig faster than any other animal.

Most kids from 5 and up would love this book but little kids might need a grownup there to help with the scary bits.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

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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  Pearl Verses the World. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Posted in Book reviews by kids

Book review: Pearl Verses the World

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

Pearl Verses the World by Sally Murphy, ill. Heather Potter, Walker Books Australia, ISBN 9781921150937

"Pearl Verses the World"

REVIEWED BY MATILDA, 8, WA

Matilda reviewed her own copy of this book.

I saw this on the bookshelves at our house — I’ve met the author and I also really like Roses are Blue and The Floatingest Frog by Sally Murphy, so I read the first few pages of this book and I didn’t stop.

This book is about three people: Pearl, her mother and her grandmother. And that’s how it’s always been. But suddenly Pearl’s life changes. Her grandmother is ill and her mother is thinking they will have to send her grandmother to a nursing home.

This is a sad book. I liked the characters Mitchell Mason and Prudence Jones because they were very interesting people. Pearl Verses the World is a verse novel and I liked it even more than Roses Are Blue, which is also a verse novel.

I would recommend this book to kids 7+ because it’s about school and it might be too sad for younger kids.

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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  Nim at Sea. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Posted in Book reviews by kids

Book review: Fortunately, the Milk

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman, ill. Chris Riddell, Bloomsbury, ISBN 9781408841792

fortunately, the milk

REVIEWED BY JAKE, 7, VIC

Jake received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

This was a good and funny book. It’s about a dad who needs to get milk because there’s none left in the house, and he goes through a crazy adventure, because when he gets the milk weird things happen. There’s time travel in it, and pirates. There are also dinosaurs.

I liked the characters in it. It wasn’t very suspenseful, but that wasn’t a bad thing. It had excellent pictures, though it’s a chapter book. If you don’t like crazy or funny things you probably wouldn’t enjoy this book.

It’s good for people who are 6 to 9 years old, who like crazy things.

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Jake is a member of our Top Reads Team, and this is his first book review on Alphabet Soup’s blog. 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: Nim at Sea

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

Nim at Sea by Wendy Orr, pictures by Kerry Millard, Allen & Unwin, ISBN 9781741148619

Nim at sea

REVIEWED BY MATILDA, 8, WA

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

I’ve watched the movie Nim’s Island and I saw this book in the library, so I borrowed it. Now I’ve read Nim at Sea, I will have to read Nim’s Island.

In this book, Nim tells Alex in a really angry way that it would be better if she was off the island. So Alex goes. Jack still thinks Alex is on the island and Nim is going to get into really big trouble. Then Selkie (a sea lion friend) gets captured by the Troppo Tourists — can Nim get Selkie back? Can they all be together as a group again?

I really like the bits when Fred (the marine iguana) sneezes and everyone says “Yuck, Fred!” and I like feeling inside the story and wanting to encourage Nim.

Kids that like books with lots of adventure should read Nim at Sea. (So should kids who love Nim’s Island.) This book is great for kids aged 8+.

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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  The Red Wheelbarrow. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Posted in Book reviews by kids

Book review: New City

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

New City by Deborah Abela, ISBN 9781742758558,
Random House Australia

New city

REVIEWED BY VERONICA, 11, NSW

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

New City is the sequel to Grimsdon, but you don’t need to read the first book to appreciate New City.

The book is set after the events of Grimsdon, when Isabella, adult friend Jeremiah, and her other friends, who survived together in the first book, are taken from the flooded Grimsdon to the beautiful New City. They are treated like heroes and live in luxury. But is it such a wonderful place, or do darker secrets lie beneath?

The kids have faced sea monsters and evil lords, but now they have new threats to face.

New City shows how the people can make change happen, and how just one person can make a change in the world. I like how Deborah has used real events from our times for her own story, and she has made her characters likeable and believable. They have developed over the course of the story and you can see their friendship with each other.

Deborah’s writing is is simple and sweet. But I do believe that some of Deborah’s ideas are unrealistic.

As this is set in the future, all sorts of new inventions have been invented, like invisible wings called Ornithopters. They have cameras everywhere, and hi-tech technology is a solid part of the people’s lives. Yet, they still use eagles as messenger birds, when technology would’ve normally replaced them.

Deborah has brought out a unique story that will be enjoyable for children of ages 9 and up. If you enjoy adventures in worlds that are both like and unlike our own, then this book is worth a try. In my opinion, this is an improvement on Grimsdon. Deborah has explored new ideas and has presented them well. I rate New City 4 stars out of 5.

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Do you think you’d enjoy this book? You can read a sample of New City on the publisher’s website.

Veronica is a member of our Top Reads Team, and this is her first book review on Alphabet Soup’s blog. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Posted in Book reviews by Celine, Book reviews by kids

Book review: My Life as an Alphabet

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

My Life as an Alphabet by Barry Jonsberg, Allen and Unwin, ISBN 9781743310977

My Life as an Alphabet

REVIEWED BY CELINE, 12, WA

Celine reviewed her own copy of this book. 

Candice Phee has led an extraordinary life, and her family has gone through much sadness: the loss of her younger sister’s life, her mother’s breast cancer, and her father’s fight with his brother. Candice herself has no friends, and many of her classmates think of her as someone who has ‘special needs’, even though she is perfectly normal. She desperately wants her family and herself to become normal, and happy as they used to be. When Douglas Benson, the new kid in class becomes friends with Candice, things start to change. Candice decides that she will make everyone happy, and so, with the help of Uncle Brian and the advice of Earth-Pig-Fish, Candice strives to make her world a better place. Will her plan work?

This book is recommended to girls who love stories about relationships with a twist of science fiction. It was a marvellous story, and although some of it was hard to believe, I would give this book a rating of 10/10.

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Celine is one of our regular book reviewers. Her most recent review (if you don’t count this one) was of  The Broken Sun. 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: The Red Wheelbarrow

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

The Red Wheelbarrow by Briony Stewart, UQP, ISBN 9780702249259

The Red Wheelbarrow

REVIEWED BY MATILDA, 8, WA

Matilda reviewed her own copy of this book. 

There are no words in this picture book — the pictures tell the story. There’s a big sister and a little sister and they have a red wheelbarrow to sit in and eat lollies. One has a blanket and one has pigtails. They love each other but there is some fighting because the little sister wants another lolly but the big sister won’t give her another one. There are some chickens watching nearby.

I’d love to have a wheelbarrow I could play in — I could put a pillow in it and drag it into my room and sleep in it. It would be so relaxing to have a bed on wheels.

There’s a photo at the end of the book which shows you that the book is really about when Briony and her sister used to sit in a wheelbarrow when they were kids.

I think little sisters and big sisters will like this book. (It teaches them not to be selfish to the little sister, or not to have a tantrum if the big sister is being selfish.)

The Red Wheelbarrow would be good for 3 to 7 year olds.

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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  Orpheus and Eurydice. 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: Orpheus and Eurydice

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

Orpheus and Eurydice, retold by Hugh Lupton & Daniel Morden, ill. Carole Hénaff, Barefoot Books, ISBN 9781846867842

orpheus and eurydice

REVIEWED BY MATILDA, 8, WA

Matilda reviews her own copy of this book. 

This is a Greek myth and it tells the story of how Orpheus and Eurydice got married but then Eurydice died. Orpheus really loved Eurydice so he goes to the Land of Forgetfulness (the Land of the Dead) to ask for Eurydice back. He thinks he can get her back if he plays his lyre for the god Hades and the goddess Persephone. Will life go back to normal for Orpheus and Eurydice?

I already knew this myth from school and this book explains the story really well.

I like the illustrations because they are like paintings from a mural and I like the extra decorations added — like swirls in Eurydice’s hair.

The story does have creepy parts, so BEWARE! In other bits the words are so soothing and they get into your heart and make your heart burn with sadness for Orpheus and Eurydice.

People from ages 8+ will like this book and also people who like Greek myths, folktales and adventures.

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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  The Lost Girl. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!