Book reviews by kids

Book review: Verity Sparks, Lost and Found

Posted on April 26, 2014January 6, 2015 by Alphabet Soup

Verity Sparks, Lost and Found by Susan Green, ISBN 9781921977886, Walker Books Australia

REVIEWED BY PIPPA, 12, WA

Pippa borrowed a copy of this book from the library.

Melbourne, 1879

Verity Sparks-Savinov has moved to a new country, with a new father and a brand-new mystery to solve. She has taken a new name, and made new friends. But she has lost her gift, her ability to find lost objects.

Her father is eager for her to start at a select school for young ladies, but Verity isn’t so keen. She is more interested in the Ecclethorpe mystery, which seems to be leading them to dead ends. She meets a new friend, Poppy, and tries to find out who Lavinia O’Day is and why she is so sickly and frail.

When her father is missing off a sunken ship in Queensland, will she find her gift before it is too late?

I think this book is as good as the first book (The Truth about Verity Sparks), but you need to read that first. I rate it 9/10.

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Pippa is one of our regular book reviewers. Her most recent review (if you don’t count this one!) was The Truth about Verity Sparks. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Book review: The Truth about Verity Sparks

Posted on April 24, 2014January 6, 2015 by Alphabet Soup

The Truth about Verity Sparks by Susan Green, ISBN 9781921720277, Walker Books Australia

REVIEWED BY PIPPA, 12, WA

Pippa borrowed a copy of this book from the library.

London, 1878

Verity Sparks has itchy fingers. And those fingers have led her into a whole load of trouble. For Verity has a gift. She can find lost objects.

Accused of stealing an expensive jewel, she is forced to leave her job as a milliner’s apprentice and go back to her drunken uncle and her frail aunt. Her parents passed away of disease when she was quite small, and all they have left her was a wedding ring, a small coin and a rug.

When her aunt and uncle refuse to take her in, it looks like she has no hope.

She finds new friends and enemies, not to mention the toasting fork, and starts the quest to find out the truth about herself.

I really enjoyed the mysteries of this book, and I really liked the pictures it paints in your mind. I rate it 9/10. I would recommend it for ages 11–14 who like mystery books.

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

Book reviews by kids, Book reviews by Matilda

Book review: Annie’s Snails

Posted on April 7, 2014January 6, 2015 by Alphabet Soup

Annie’s Snails by Dianne Wolfer, ill. Gabriel Evans, ISBN 9781921720635, Walker Books Australia

REVIEWED BY MATILDA, 8, WA

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

At the Perth Writers Festival I went into a tent to see the author and the illustrator of this book. At their talk I saw how the author got the idea of the book based on a girl who was a neighbour who loved snails and I saw that neighbour at the talk too. So when I was sent a copy of this book a grin spread across my face.

Annie’s Snails is a book about a girl who loves snails. She finds some and she names them. She paints the first letters of their names on their shells and then she notices they can spell words. The snails are good spellers. She finds out that snails don’t like living in the container she’s keeping them in because it’s too hot and snails like water too so they don’t dry out. But she still wants to keep those snails — it’s a problem.

The illustrations are grey and white and there are pictures on every page so it’s a bit like a picture book but also it’s a chapter book. This book has three chapters about Annie and her snails. I really like snails like Annie does so I really liked this book.

I think Annie’s Snails would be good for 4 to 9 year olds. But 4 and 5 year olds might need a parent to read it to them.

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

Book reviews by Celine, Book reviews by kids

Book Review: The Firebird Mystery

Posted on March 4, 2014January 6, 2015 by Alphabet Soup

The Firebird Mystery by Darrell Pitt, ISBN 9781922147752,
Text Publishing

Reviewed by Celine, 11, WA

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

14-year-old Jack Mason is orphaned when his parents die in a circus. One day, a detective Ignatius Doyle is looking for an assistant, and the head of the orphanage asks Jack if he’d like to be the assistant. The acrobatic Jack accepts, and is straight away launched into a full-on adventure. Scarlet Bell, a 15-year-old girl comes to Mr. Doyle, and tells him that her father has been missing. They search Scarlet’s house and find one of Leonardo da Vinci’s original paintings that had gone missing, only with a firebird above it. What does this mean? Leonardo certainly didn’t paint a firebird into his painting. This was immediately followed by another case, when Professor M, a criminal mastermind gets hold of an atomic bomb that the ingenious Phoenix Society had created accidently. This atomic bomb can reduce London into rubble, killing thousands of millions of people in the process. Will they get out of this alive?

A thrilling book that contains adventurous characters that are willing to risk their lives. I would rate this book 4 ½ stars. Recommended to girls and boys 10 and above who love crime and mystery solving.

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

Book reviews by Celine, Book reviews by kids

Book Review: The Apothecary

Posted on February 6, 2014January 6, 2015 by Alphabet Soup

The Apothecary by Maile Meloy, ISBN 9781921758171, Text Publishing

Reviewed by Celine, 11, WA

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher.

14-year-old Janie lives in a world where war is very common. Her parents are communists, which means they are on a different side to most people. To avoid being put in prison, Janie and her parents have to leave America and move to London. When she arrives, a boy called Benjamin befriends her. However, being friends with Benjamin wasn’t a very smart move. Benjamin’s father is the apothecary, and owns a shop with potions. One day, while Benjamin and Janie were in the apothecary’s shop, the Russian spies turned up, and the apothecary thrusts them a magical book (the Pharmacopeia) and hides them in the cellar. When they go back upstairs, the shop has been ransacked and Benjamin’s father had disappeared. Will Benjamin ever find his father, the apothecary? Can Janie and Benjamin hide from the Russian spies? Is anyone trustworthy?

This was a spellbinding novel, with irresistible characters. Although the cover wasn’t very captivating, I was enthralled from the very first paragraph. I would highly recommend this book to children from ages 10–14, with a vast imagination. This novel receives 110% approval from me.

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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 26-Storey Treehouse. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Book reviews by Joseph, Book reviews by kids

Book review: Don’t Look Now series

Posted on December 9, 2013January 6, 2015 by Alphabet Soup

Don’t Look Now: Book 1 by Paul Jennings, ill. Andrew Weldon, ISBN 9781743311233, Allen and Unwin

Don’t Look Now: Book 2 by Paul Jennings, ill. Andrew Weldon, ISBN 9781743311400, Allen and Unwin

Don’t Look Now: Book 3 by Paul Jennings, ill. Andrew Weldon, ISBN 9781743311417, Allen and Unwin

Don’t Look Now: Book 4 by Paul Jennings, ill. Andrew Weldon, ISBN 9781743311424, Allen and Unwin

Series reviewed by Joseph, 9, WA

A copy of these books were provided by the publisher

This funny series is all about Ricky (the boy who can fly), Samantha (Ricky’s friend), Ricky’s mum and dad, and Jack (Samantha’s guide dog). Everyone calls Ricky a dork—once he tried to join the freckles on his nose like a dot-to-dot. (It didn’t work, he just got a face covered in pen.) Every book has one page with a single giant word on it: FAMOUS.

In book 1 Ricky learns that he can fly and there are good and bad things he can do with that skill. He’s trying to get back the kangapoo keyring his grandad gave him after an owl stole it from him.

In Book 2, Riley wants to show everyone he can fly but whenever he does he falls down.

In book 3, Ricky really wants to make friends with Samantha, the car wash girl. But all his strategies seem to fail.

In Book 4, Ricky’s problems continue. A flood is preventing Samantha and her school friends from getting their stuffed toys for the show’s exhibition. The toys are on the other side of the river …

This series is exciting—sometimes you can guess what will happen next but most of the time I have to keep reading to find out. Each book is very funny. There are lots of pictures (black and white sketches) and so many pictures makes it fun to read and extra interesting. The series reminds me of the ‘Treehouse’ series by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton but instead of fantasy adventures this series is more everyday funny happenings.

I like that there are maps at the beginning and end of each book. You can find things like Samantha’s yard, and the Tower and Surrounding Areas. I also liked the lists of things like ‘Things to Know about People,’ and ‘Things to Know About Samantha.’

Boys and girls aged 9 to 12 would enjoy the ‘Don’t Look Now’ series. (Books 2 and 4 are my favourites.)

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Joseph is one of our regular Junior reviewers. His most recent review was Figaro and Rumba and the Cool Cats.

Book reviews by kids, Book reviews by Matilda

Book review: Anton Can Do Magic

Posted on November 26, 2013January 6, 2015 by Alphabet Soup

Anton Can Do Magic by Ole Könnecke, ISBN 9781877467639, Gecko Press

Reviewed by Matilda, 7, WA

Anton is a boy with a hat that he thinks helps him be magic. He tries to make things disappear. Whenever he does magic, he wiggles his hands and the hat falls over his eyes and he can’t see what’s happening, so he thinks he’s done something magic.

Something interesting about the illustrations is that they use mostly hot colours like red, orange and yellow and reddy-orange. Only the bird is not orangey-red.

Can Anton really do magic? You will have to read this picture book to find out.

I would recommend this book to 5 to 8 year olds because it’s funny and it made me laugh.

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Matilda is one of our regular Junior Book Reviewers. She previously reviewed: An Aussie Year. If YOU would like to send us a book review,check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Book reviews by Joseph, Book reviews by kids

Book review: Figaro and Rumba and the Cool Cats

Posted on November 18, 2013January 6, 2015 by Alphabet Soup

Figaro and Rumba and the Cool Cats by Anna Fienberg, ill. Stephen Michael King. ISBN 9781743313497, Allen & Unwin.

Reviewed by Joseph, 9 WA

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

Figaro and Rumba are friends — Rumba writes songs for the Cool Cats (a band) but Figaro likes to sing along and Figaro is not a good singer. This book is about these two friends and a little cat called Dora. The Cool Cats band’s best singer (Marta) has a car and Figaro, Rumba and Dora take the car for a drive without Marta knowing. They end up at the house of one of Dora’s friends and Figaro is sure there is some kind of monster following them. At the house, they make a discovery about Figaro …

Will Marta figure out that someone’s taken her car? What IS the monster? Can Figaro and Rumba fix their mistakes and save the day?

My favourite thing about the book is when Figaro has a dream — it’s a sort of warning about the monster. At that bit of the book, Dad told me it was bedtime and I didn’t want to stop reading. (Unfortunately I had to stop because Dad took the book away, so I finished it the next day.)

One thing that made me stop and think was ‘Why would the friends take the car without permission?’

The illustrations make the story even funnier and you get to know the characters more. I recognised the illustrator from The Pocket Dogs, which is one of my favourite picture books and if you liked Tashi, this is the same author as those books.

I give Figaro and Rumba and the Cool Cats 7.4 out of 10. I think 6 to 9 year olds would enjoy this book best because of the type of storytelling, and they will enjoy the illustrations.