nonfiction – Page 3

Book review: Emu

Posted on October 20, 2015October 20, 2015 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.

Book review: Adam Spencer’s Big Book of Numbers

Posted on September 28, 2015 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!

Beaconsfield Primary School, Book reviews by kids

Book review: Emu

Posted on June 15, 2015June 15, 2015 by Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY ANNALIESE, 11, WA

Emu (cover)

Emu by Claire Saxby, ill. Graham Byrne, Walker Books Australia, ISBN 9781922179708

The book Emu is a great book, it is a story about an emu and its eggs and some great information about emus e.g. its features such as height, weight and its defences. The story Emu is based on Emu and how his eggs grow up: like where, when, the setting and life with Emu.

Mostly the story is on the left and the information is on the right, therefore it is a very organised and a well set out story. I recommend this book for any 9 to 12 year old children that are interested in the book. It has great illustrations that definitely suit the text.

I liked how the book was something you could use as research, you could pull it out of the bookshelf and read it to know, learn or use the information for an assignment. It’s got heaps of great information.

The book is a different book but it has better features than others. The illustrations work really well with the text.

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This is Annaliese’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!

Beaconsfield Primary School, Book reviews by kids

Book review: Mary’s Australia

Posted on June 8, 2015June 4, 2015 by Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY ELLIS, 10 WA

Mary's Australia

Mary’s Australia: How Mary MacKillop changed Australia by Pamela Freeman, Walker Books Australia, ISBN 9781922077905

This non-fiction story is a true story of Mary MacKillop who is a teacher who educated children in the late 1800s. Mary was born in 1842 and died in 1909 of a stroke. Mary watched Australia grow from WA, NSW, SA and Van Diemen’s Land to what we know today — a nation, Australia.

Mary wanted to become a nun. So in 1866 she and her two sisters Lexie and Annie set up a school in an old stable. Her brother fixed the roof up so it wouldn’t leak. They got permission from a bishop to begin the order of nuns known as the institute of St Joseph of Sacred Heart. A nun is a person who goes to orphanages to teach them.

I would recommend this book to people who are interested in non-fiction books and Australia’s history. I would recommend this book to year 5s and above and maybe some year 4s because it would be too hard to read it in year 3, year 4 and younger.

I rate this book 5 out of 5 because it is what I am interested in reading and tells you about Australia’s history as well.

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