Posted in Book reviews by Joseph, Book reviews by kids

Book review: Bully on the Bus

Bully on the Bus by Kathryn Apel, ISBN 9780702253287, UQP

bully on the bus

REVIEWED BY JOSEPH, 10, WA

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

This book is a cross between a kids’ novel and a poem book. (This means it’s a verse novel.) This is the first verse novel that I’ve ever read.

It’s about a young boy called Leroy who is getting bullied on the bus by a high school student called DJ. Leroy is getting scared of DJ and doesn’t want to go to school on the bus any more because of DJ. Leroy is left shattered after he makes a special green monster cupcake for his teacher and DJ finds it in his lunch box, starts eating it, and smashes it on the floor of the bus. He needs to do something about DJ. But what?

I liked how each chapter was a poem and had its own title. I forgot it was a verse novel halfway through and I was very worried for Leroy and couldn’t stop reading. I will definitely read it again.

After reading Bully on the Bus I would like to read more verse novels and maybe try writing one too. I would recommend this book to kids in years 1 to 4 and their teachers — especially the kids because it teaches them about bullying.

I give this book 8 1/2 out of 10.

Joseph is one of our regular book reviewers. His most recent review (if you don’t count this one) was of The Big Book of Old Tom. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Posted in authors, poetry, Soup Blog Poetry Festival

Visiting poet – Steven Herrick

Steven HerrickDo-wrong Ron
Happy Friday!
To make your Friday even happier, today we have Steven Herrick stopping by to talk about writing poetry and verse-novels for children. (He writes for young adults and adults, too.) If you visit his website, you’ll see that he loves soccer and in summer he plays on a soccer team called ‘The Marshmallows’ …  It doesn’t look too summery in the photo he sent us above!
Here he is — performing his poem ‘Lost in the Mist’  (from his book Untangling Spaghetti).
When did you first start writing poetry? 
I wrote my first poem when I was 18. It was called ‘Love is like a gobstopper’. I sent it to magazine and they published it and sent me $5!!!
What sort of poetry do you like writing best of all? 
I like writing narrative poems for children and verse-novels for YA and children.
What sort of poetry do you like reading? 
All types of poetry.
Where can we find your poetry?
In the following poetry books for children:

… and seven verse novels for young adults.

Do you prefer to write with a pen and paper or straight onto the computer? 
I used to write with pen and paper, but now it’s nearly always with a computer.
Your number one tip for budding poets? 
Read lots of poetry. Find what you like and try to understand why you enjoy it.
Steven’s Poetry Prescription

IF YOU’RE HAVING A FOOD DAY — lots of my poems are about food and family (see my book Untangling Spaghetti).

Pookie Aleera is not my boyfriendUntangling Spaghetti
Interview with Steven Herrick © 2013 Steven Herrick & Rebecca Newman https://soupblog.wordpress.com