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Book Review: The Adventures of Charlie and Moon

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The Adventures of Charlie & Moon – Book 1: Facing the Quincequonces by Martin Meader, ISBN 9780981491011, Crow Flies Press

Reviewed by Vincent, 7, NSW*

The Adventures of Charlie & Moon (cover)

The night before his birthday, Charlie receives a magic present from a man named Bizz-Buzz and a dancing ticket collector named Doreen Tremblingknees. He promises not to open it until his birthday.

He breaks his promise and the present turns into a book that makes him and Moon, the eagle, part of a funny adventure story involving Quincequonces, Thunder Eggs, the evil Skunk Weavel and Snarlies.

I really liked this book (it’s the first of a trilogy) and recommend it to kids 7–15.

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"Undercover Readers Club logo"* Vincent is a member of our Undercover Readers Club. (Download information about the club on the magazine’s website.) A review copy of The Adventures of Charlie & Moon was provided by the publisher.

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Our new mailing address!

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If you receive our e-newsletter*, you will know that we recently moved to a new office. We now have a NEW ADDRESS!

We do love opening mail! So please send all your poems, stories, book reviews and artwork to:

Pile of Letters (artwork copyright Greg Mitchell 2008)Alphabet Soup Magazine
PO Box 3099
BROADWAY NEDLANDS WA 6009

(And, YES, Broadway Nedlands is the correct suburb. Don’t shorten it to Nedlands or your mail will be delayed.)

Don’t panic if you’ve just posted something to our old post office address in Willetton—mail to our old address will be forwarded on to the new address for a month or so.

We’re still selecting kids’ writing for our last issue of the year, so send us your best work! And we’ll keep an eye on the new post office box …

~ Rebecca
Editor, Alphabet Soup Magazine

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* If you don’t receive our e-newsletter but you’d like to, ask a parent (or teacher) to send us an email with ‘subscribe e-news’ in the subject line. Our e-newsletters are sent about 5 times a year and include news, interesting links to writing or illustrating sites, writing prompts for your journal, and other writing-related bits and pieces.

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Book Review: The Recess Queen

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Today we welcome 7-year-old Genevieve, who is stopping by as our guest book-reviewer!

The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill, ill. Laura Huliska-Beith ISBN 9780439206372, Scholastic Press

Reviewed by Genevieve, 7, QLD

The recess Queen (cover)

 

Mary Jean is the Recess Queen.  She is very mean and does not like to play with others.

A new kid called Katie Sue starts at school and likes to run, kick the ball and skip. Katie Sue asks Mary Jean to play with her.

Katie Sue makes friends with Mary Jean. Everyone is very happy after this and they all play together at recess.

I think this book should be read by 7 and 8 year olds.

The book reviewed here is the reviewer’s own copy.
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Book Review: EJ12 Hot & Cold

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Today’s guest reviewer is 9-year-old Julia. Over to you, Julia!

EJ12 Hot and Cold by Susannah McFarlane, ISBN 9781865043616, Scholastic Australia

Reviewed by Julia, 9, QLD

EJ12 Cover

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This book is about an everyday girl who is a secret agent for the SHINE agency.  As agent EJ12, Emma Jacks is unbeatable.

In the book EJ12 Hot & Cold, Emma (EJ12) must stop Dr Caterina Hill from making Global Warming worse and save the animals at the South Pole.

She must crack codes, and then defeat the SHADOW agency.

I would recommend this book to children from ages 8 to 10 or years 2 to 4 to read this book. And if you want to find out what happens in EJ12 Hot & Cold then you’ll have to read the book!

The book reviewed here is the reviewer’s own copy.
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Young Writers in Action: Thing’s Lighthouse

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Thing’s Lighthouse by Emmy, 10, VIC

“Mr Sappa will never know that we’ve snuck off to explore the lighthouse.”

Tim and Annabella were supposed to be putting up the other sixer’s tent. “It’ll be interesting, so let’s go!”

Soon they were dismounting their horses in front of the old, creaking, ramshackle ruin. Venturing in, Tim spied a ‘thing’ on the wall that looked like a mix of black liquorice and clear jelly. Annabella tried in vain to stop Tim scooping the ‘thing’ into a jar.

“Don’t Tim, it might be dangerous.”

“Auuuh, you worry too much. It’ll be fine.”

Annabella suddenly realised what time it was. They had to rush back before it was noticed that they were gone!

One wild horseride later they were huffing and puffing outside the stable. Tim ran to place his jar full of the ‘thing’ under a pillow in his tent while Annabella unharnessed the horses. Just before the others arrived they started to put up the other tent again. A line of proud cubs trotted in on their horses showing off a new badge on their sleeves. That night after dinner, Tim tried crawling into bed. The ‘thing’ wasn’t in its jar, it was on his pillow! Tim’s face turned white. He felt an icy hand around his heart. Arh! He jumped up and ran outside.

Annabella looked up from helping the younger girls get ready for bed to see Tim waving wildly through the window of her tent. Annabella ran outside. The look on Tim’s face told her everything.

“OK, let’s go” was all she said.

Twenty minutes later, after stuffing ‘the thing’ into a much larger jar they snuck past the front gate of the camp to the road, went up to the top of the hill, around the KEEP OUT sign of the lighthouse and through its creaky wooden door. They opened the lid of the jar and the ‘thing’ slithered out onto the floor and quivered. BOOM! the lighthouse shook and the ground seemed to tremble beneath their feet.

“RUN” screamed Tim to Annabella, “RUN get yourself out of here and RUN, I’ll handle things here, you go. I’ll make sure the thing doesn’t escape.” She seized his hand, “Tim you’re a great mate,” and with a quick kiss on his cheek she was gone.

Tim turned to face the now heaving black mass. He tried dodging the hissing poison being shot at him. After a while the shots seemed to be getting closer and closer. While he was dodging, Annabella arrived, puffing, with some policemen close behind. A shot of poison flew at her.

“NO” cried Tim. And with that he threw himself right into the ‘thing’. The poison froze and then dropped to the ground at Annabella’s feet. There was a fizzing, boiling sound, and the walls started cracking and falling down in chunks. Then the roof started falling. As Annabella ran out the door the last of the roof fell. She watched in amazement as Tim pulled himself out of the even more ruined lighthouse, cut and bruised but otherwise OK.

“Let’s go back” he said weakly.

“Yeah” said Annabella.

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This is one of a selection of stories we have featured from Carey Baptist Grammar School in Victoria over the last week. Thanks to all the students for sharing your talents with us!

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Spring issue 2012 – OUT NOW!

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Ah, spring—it’s just around the corner. All you champion readers, writers and artists—keep an eye on your letterboxes. Our spring issue is hot off the press!

Alphabet Soup issue 16 (cover)

Here’s what you’ll find inside issue 16:

… and more!

Subscribe via our website (you can order single copies from the subscribe page, too). If  you’re in WA, check out one of our WA stockists—Westbooks (Victoria Park) and Zero to Ten (South Fremantle) who will have copies of the winter issue to sell you by the end of the week.

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Young Writers in Action: The Magic Flower

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The Magic Flower by Marie, 10, VIC

As they slowly arrived closer to the city, they started to calm down and forget about the bushfire. It suddenly hit Bailey. “What about the flower? What if it got burned in the bushfire?” she wondered to herself. The nerves started to come back.

“Mum,” she sighed. “What if the flower got burned in the bushfire?”

“Not the flower,” Mum said in a cheerful sort of voice. “That flower has been there for many, many years and it has survived many disasters.”

“Really?” Bailey asked.

“Yes the flower will be fine. Don’t worry about it.”

Bailey is a little girl, who lives in a small village called Pringle. Her mum worked around the house, and her dad is a pilot so Bailey didn’t get to see her dad very often. Near by, just up on the hill, there was a magic flower you could wish on. The flower was a bright golden colour, which shines every time you make a wish. The smell was a lovely lavender scent. The stem was a beautiful bright green. The leaves were as bright as the sun, and at night they glitter liked stars.

One bright sunny morning Bailey went out to make her daily wish. She closed her eyes and held on to the flower very tight. As she was making her wish, she smelt something burning in the distance.

Suddenly she heard, “RUN RUN GET AWAY FROM THE FIRE.” Bailey was horrified. She sprinted down the hill and slammed the front door behind her. Her mum had heard about the fire. Bailey couldn’t decide what to take with her. Would she take her favourite teddy bear, would she take her favourite clothes or maybe even her comfy warm bed?

Bailey and her mum only had a few minutes to escape the bushfire. Bailey just grabbed her teddy bear and rushed to the car. Bailey’s mum was still in the house trying to quickly grab some photo frames and her car keys.

“Come on mum” Bailey sobbed. The door swung open and her mother came rushing out.

A few days later when it was safe enough they ventured back to the village. Bailey and her mum saw from the car window all the burned trees, all the black grass, most of the burned houses, the bushes with scent of burn. It was terrible. As they arrived closer and closer to their house, Bailey was getting very anxious. What if their house wasn’t there? Where would they live? Would they have any money to buy food or water?

They were so relieved to find that only their front fence was burned. Bailey was stressing about the flower. Bailey went off looking for the flower. The first place she looked was under her favourite gum tree. There it was in little burned pieces.

“It’s gone, it’s all gone. I am never going to find another flower like that again.” Tears ran down Bailey’s face. The tears dripped into the soil and suddenly, something magical happened … a new flower started to bloom. Bailey was relieved that the flower was alive and still magical. The stem still had that wonderful bright green colour, and that lovely lavender scent, and the leaves were still as bright as the sun.

A couple of months later, Bailey and her family moved back into the house. Bailey was glad that she still had her magic flower. Every day Bailey would go to the hill and give the flower water, and then she would make a wish.

Can you guess what that wish is?

–

This is one of a selection of stories we are featuring from Carey Baptist Grammar School in Victoria. Tune in on Monday  for the final great tale—it’s a scary one!

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Young Writers in Action: Sofie

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Sofie by Ella, 10, VIC

She was a tiny golden cavoodle puppy; the quiet one out of the excited puppies on display. A beautiful fluffy coat and soft black padded paws.

I looked up at Dad. So did the puppy. He sighed. “All right!”

So ten minutes later we were getting instructed on how to take care of our puppy. It seemed to be taking a long time, I thought. Just then, the storeroom door opened and a lady carried my puppy out and gave her to me (we had been told it was a female) just as we were presented with an ownership form.

“Is it all right to sign it in the name of a child?” Dad asked. My heart skipped a beat. Could I really officially own this living hot water bottle?

“Sure,” the woman behind the counter said. I felt like I was in a dream as I signed the form. I looked down at the bundle in my arms. She really was adorable.

~

We were finally home. “Sofie hasn’t made a sound yet,” I thought as I jumped out of the car. I carried her out to the deck (she was going to be an entirely outside dog) and put her down.

“I’m going to call her Sofie,” I told my parents as they appeared, Dad carrying her kennel.

“Good name,” Dad nodded. Sofie slowly took a step.

Then another.

Next thing we knew she was rushing around like a headless chicken.

Dad went inside. He came out with his Magpies scarf and threw it to Sofie. Sofie sniffed it for a moment, then grabbed it in her mouth and ran around with it.

She was very tired when we put her to bed that night with a squeaky koala, a mini squishy soccer ball and a second-hand Magpies scarf.

~

I looked at my clock. 6am. Late enough. I quickly dressed and went out to the backyard. Sofie met me as soon as I was out the door. I took her down to the lawn, sat down, took her onto my lap and cuddled her. Ten minutes later I noticed she was asleep.

~

I fed Sofie and checked her water bowl was full. Then I had to go to school. I hated leaving her.

I got back from school. I played with Sofie for a couple of hours. In another few hours Dad got home from work. I noticed he looked a little grim. I thought he must have had a bad day at work—that was, until he and Mum exchanged looks. Then I knew something was up. They ushered me into the lounge room and started to talk.

I had to give Sofie away because of my stupid allergy to dogs which was previously unknown. Dad had sent out emails earlier that day advertising her. I could choose where she went.

I listened as Dad described the emails. Then, I looked at him. “I’ve decided.”

~

My heart sank as a car pulled up outside our house and an excited looking boy jumped out, soon followed by his mum. “At least she’s going to the best place,” I told myself as the doorbell rang. Sofie’s new owners appeared. Dad and I gave them a big cardboard box full of all Sofie’s things. The boy gave me a beautiful letter saying thank you.

Then it was time.

The boy carried her out to the car and put her into her cage, squeaking a pink rubber seal. “Looks like they have already bought her toys,” I thought as Sofie started chewing it.

I took a final look at her. “Goodbye Sofie,” I whispered. Then she was gone. I tried hard not to cry, only just succeeding.

I would never see her again.

—

This is one of a selection of stories we are featuring from Carey Baptist Grammar School in Victoria over the next week. Tune in tomorrow for another great tale!

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Young Writers in Action: The Building Challenge!

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The Building Challenge by Christopher L, 10, VIC

I am hammering away and staring at John at the same time. He is way ahead of me and I don’t think I can do this.

I am Robert Trevor, I am 18 and today is the day of the Melbourne Building Competition. The warehouse is boiling, and because it is so big one fan doesn’t make much difference.

I had always hated John; we have had a huge rivalry ever since we’d met in primary school. We have been in about 10 building competitions against each other. I had won most of them, except for the time where I had accidentally clonked myself on the head with a hammer. I had to be admitted to hospital for a brain scan, which left John in the winning position. John’s family were very supportive of him so were very happy with his win. His family showed atrocious sportsmanship, they didn’t even say sorry to my family for cheering when I hit myself on the head. John’s family had always been very loud cheerers and they always boasted about that incident.

This time I am going to win no matter what. I am going to take this opportunity and use it well.

My heart is pumping and I wish they would just press the buzzer to start the competition.

The buzzer vibrates and everyone sprints to their benches to see what they have to do. Today we have to build an outside veranda. When I go to get my planks of wood I trip over and am in excruciating pain, I have dislocated my pinky finger. I am in agony now and feel as if I am about to faint. Some of the nurses come over and see if I’m alright, one of the doctors comes over and pops it back into place. That gives me a searing pain worse than dislocating it did. At least I can continue working now. I haven’t got off to a good start. When I go back to my veranda I see John smiling and his parents laughing.

There are 10 minutes to go and I have already had four accidents (not including all the cuts and bruises I have). I can’t believe there are only 10 minutes to go and I am still putting in the last few planks of wood.

“10 seconds to go” should out the judges. I start to freak out. I quickly run and grab the last few pot plants.

“5, 4, 3, 2, 1, that’s it, time’s up, step away from your verandas.”

It’s judging time and as the judges come up to the veranda I am almost choking I am so nervous. They say they like my idea of a simple veranda but that maybe it is too simple. It’s time to find out who has won, they’re up to second and first place and there is only me and John left.

“In second place we have … Robert Trevor” I’ve been beaten again and then they call out, “and in first place we have … John Anderson.”

I tried, I tired my hardest. I have cuts and bruises all over my body. As I watch my nemesis John step up and take the winner’s prize I feel woeful. For the second time John has beaten me by one position.

I force a smile onto my face. It is part of the competition. I have to be pleased for the winner. I hobble over to congratulate him. I shake his hand vigorously and slap him on the back in a friendly way with the other hand. Then I go to have a look at his veranda. I run my hand over the rail, it is smooth. I look at the joins in the corners, they are outstandingly perfect. John’s work is good, better than mine. He deserves to win.

“This work is unbeatable,” I say to John.

“Thanks he says, and smiles at me.

Perhaps one day we might work together instead of against each other.

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This is one of a selection of stories we are featuring from Carey Baptist Grammar School in Victoria over the next week. Tune in tomorrow for another great tale!