Posted in info

Young writers in action: There are aliens in my backyard!

THERE ARE ALIENS IN MY BACKYARD!
by Shristuti Srirapu, 8, India
 

…..It was a stormy night. Ralph was doing his homework. He was writing an essay on UFOs.

…..“Ralph! Go to bed. It is already 10:30. You can finish your essay tomorrow” screamed his mum.

…..Ralph changed into his pjs, brushed his teeth and climbed into his comfy bed. Ralph was just drifting off to sleep when an unfamiliar buzzing noise rang through his ears. Ralph looked outside the window. He could not believe his eyes. He was seeing a UFO along with an UWP (Unidentified Wierd People a.k.a aliens). He pinched himself. “Ouch,” he thought.

…..The aliens were purple with four legs, one eye and no ears and a small antenna.

…..“What are they doing?” Ralph thought. He squinted. They were playing in his play structure. Finally they left. Ralph fell back into his sleep.

…..“Ugh, morning already?” Suddenly he remembered about the aliens.

…..“MUM, Mum, Mum, Mum, Mum!” he called running down the stairs. “Last night I saw the aliens,” he said.

…..“Honey, I think you are imagining things. Maybe you got stressed about your essay and started imagining about aliens,” said his mum.

…..“I was not imagining things. They were purple with one eye and four legs and a little antenna and they were playing in our play structure and, and, and, and … ” His voice trailed off.

…..“Hmmmmmmmm,” sighed Ralph’s mum. “Anyway, eat your breakfast or you are going to be late for school,” his mother told him.

…..At school all Ralph could think was aliens, aliens, aliens.

 

…..That night the same thing happened. The aliens got out of their spaceship, played in his playstructure and left.

…..“Tuesday, that means PHYSICAL EDUCATION,” thought Ralph waking up. The ALIENS!!! They had come last night.

…..“MUM, Mum, Mum, Mum!” Ralph called running down. “The aliens came again, the aliens came again!”

…..“Honey I better take you to a doctor. You finished that yesterday,” said his mum.

…..“I DONT NEED TO GO TO A DOCTOR!” shouted Ralph.

…..“Anyway, eat up” said his mum.

…..That night Ralph heard a buzz but something heavy dropped on the ground. He looked outside the window. He only saw some paper. No aliens, no spaceship. Ralph slipped into his slippers and tiptoed downstairs and out of the door. There stood some paper and something else.

…..“I will see what the paper says and then I will look at the gadget,” thought Ralph.

…..He picked up the paper and read.

…..Dear, we do not know your name. We found a bigger play structure and would like to play in that. We would not be coming back. Anyway we left you a present.

…..Ralph picked up the gadget. It was a small spaceship. He liked it.

…..“I finally have proof but I do not want anyone looking for them. They will be hunting and searching for them. I won’t show anybody,” he thought.

 

…..The next day he got up.

…..“G’morning, Mum,” he said.

…..“Ralph you did not see any aliens?” asked his mum.

…..“Nope,” Ralph replied.

…..“Get ready, your bus will almost be there,” said his mum.

 

Posted in Book reviews by kids

Book review: Rescue on Nim’s Island

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

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: Fortunately, the Milk

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 Celine, Book reviews by kids

Book Review: Shadow Sister

Dragonkeeper5: Shadow Sister by Carole Wilkinson, ISBN 978922179579, Black Dog Books

Dragonkeeper 5: Shadow Sister

REVIEWED BY CELINE, 11, WA

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

Young Tao has been roaming the mountains in search of a cure of dragons’ weakness: iron, when he stumbles across his old colleague/enemy Fo Tu Deng, along with a gang of nomads. When Tao and his dragon Kai finally escape these savages, he is stuck in a dark passage with unknown ghosts prodding him and breathing cold breath on him. After they escape these ghosts, Tao and Kai are turned upon a seven-headed snake monster, whose bite is deadly, and fatal.

When Tao returns to his deserted home, at night, when the moon shines, a ghost appears. Who is this mysterious ghost? What does she seek from Tao?

All is not as it seems. When battle arrives, will Tao and his new-sought allies actually survive? Can Tao find his qi to defeat the opposition? Will Tao and Pema survive?

Full of action and adventure, Shadow Sister is impossible to put down. Reading Shadow Sister was an adventure in itself, I felt like I was Tao being pursued, haunted, and questioned. I recommend it to ages 10 upwards, but it is not suitable to sensitive children (I was haunted by the ghost and couldn’t sleep one night).

This is the best book of the series, but since I am quite sensitive, I thought this book was a little on the scary side.

In all, I rate it 99.9999999999999999%.

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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 Firebird. 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 Pippa

Book review: Verity Sparks, Lost and Found

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

Verity Sparks, Lost and Found

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!

Posted in Book reviews by Rebecca

The Battle for Rondo by Emily Rodda

The evil Blue Queen’s power seems to be growing and Leo and Mimi Langlander return to the world of Rondo for the last time to join with their Rondo friends to try to stop her. They come up with a plan to defeat the queen, but it’s risky. And they have to face dragons, ogres and numerous other evil inhabitants as they prepare. Can they save Rondo, or will the Blue Queen triumph and have Rondo under her spell forever?

This is the third book in the Rondo series and full of thrilling adventures. Mimi and Leo have changed a lot since The Key to Rondo (when they first entered Rondo) and seem more accepting of their roles in the survival of Rondo. You really want their plans to work, but even heroes are frightened, tired, and make bad decisions sometimes …

You don’t have to read the first two books to enjoy this one, but the first two are also fantastic – so I recommend starting back at the beginning with The Key to Rondo, and then read The Wizard of Rondo before moving onto this book. And you’ve got school holidays ahead of you, so you’ll have heaps of time to read!

The Battle for Rondo, by Emily Rodda, Omnibus Books for Scholastic Australia, ISBN 9781862918306
A review copy of The Battle for Rondo was sent to us by Omnibus Books (for Scholastic Australia)