SUCCEED
by Anishka, 7, QLD
A single seed is all we need to succeed.
I believe, I can walk.
I believe, I can talk.
I believe, I can fly.
I believe, I can cry.
When I say so,
I mean let go your feelings and just try,
That’s all you can do.
Anishka has been published at Alphabet Soup many times — you can read all her earlier work here.
If YOU would like to send us a story, drawing, poem, or book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy writing!
REVIEWED BY MATILDA, 10, WA
Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo, Walker Hardback, ISBN 9781406363135
Matilda borrowed this book from her local library.
Raymie’s father has run away with a dental hygienist. Raymie can think of only one way to get him back … she has to win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire Competition so he can see her picture in the paper. She thinks that will make him come home. To win the competition she has to learn to twirl a baton, and she has to do good deeds.
Now she has a problem — how can she complete these good deeds? And her new friends Louisiana Elefante and Beverly Tapinski are also entering the competition. Louisiana really wants to win. And Beverly is planning to sabotage the competition.
Louisiana’s grandma is my favourite character, and I love the part where she yells, ‘Quick, get in the car, Marsha Jean is hot on our trail!’
This is the third book of Kate DiCamillo’s that I have read — I also enjoyed Because of Winn-Dixie, and The Tale of Despereaux. I recommend Raymie Nightingale for ages 8+. It shows that to have a good friendship you need to be a good friend.
–
Matilda is one of our regular book reviewers. Her most recent review (if you don’t count this one) was of Lily in the Mirror. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!
REVIEWED BY MATILDA, 10, WA
Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C O’Brian, Penguin UK (Puffin Modern Classics), 9780141333335
Matilda found this book on the bookshelves at a holiday house.
When we were on holidays this book was on a bookshelf, so I read it. When I picked it up I thought that Mrs Frisby was a person, but she is actually a mouse and she lives at a farm with her children. The rats of NIMH are a group of rats with a secret, and they also live at the farm. Soon Mrs Frisby knows that it’s time to move their house again because the humans are coming with ploughs — but she has a big problem. One of her children is very sick and can’t get out of bed. The mice mostly stay out of the rats’ way. Will Mrs Frisby be brave enough to ask the rats to help before the ploughs arrive?
You can’t put this book down because it’s so exciting and you’ll need to find out what happens next. I recommend Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH for children aged 7 to 12.
–
Matilda is one of our regular book reviewers. Her most recent review (if you don’t count this one) was of An Artist Once Said. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!
REVIEWED BY MATILDA, 9, WA
Molly and Pim and the Millions of Stars by Martine Murray, Text Publishing, ISBN 9781925240085
A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.
This is a story about working together and going and going at it and not stopping. I liked how it’s a book about magic. Molly and a boy called Pim are trying to fix the shocking accident that happens to Molly’s Mama early in the book. (Before he starts helping, Molly thinks that Pim is weird because he does all this weird stuff at school.)
The cover looked kind of gentle with the hat and the girl and the dog and I liked how they used glittery bits for the stars. But I didn’t think the title was the best title for this book. I would have called it ‘Molly and Pim and the Mama Tree’.
I liked how this book made me laugh out loud and how it was short and sharp. My favourite character is Prudence Grimshaw. She’s mean and she’s a really picky lady. I can really imagine her voice in my head as I read.
Girls from ages 9 to 11 would enjoy this book most.
–
Matilda is one of our regular book reviewers. Her most recent review (if you don’t count this one) was of Summer in Enchantia. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!
alphabetsoup.net.au 