Lessons for a Werewolf Warrior by Jackie French
It’s a really great book of why heroes should wear pants. A lot of imaginarity* has gone into this book.
5 stars: Review by Claudia
*a fake word made up by the reviewer displaying a great deal of imaginarity herself!
Hey, we received tons of Kids’ Choice reviews this month. Keep them coming in. You can enter your choice online or pick up a Kids’ Choice form from your local library.
Here are this month’s Kids Choice winners.
Raiders’ Ransom also called Reavers’ Ransom by Emily Diamand. Same book; two different tiles. (Reaver is an old English word meaning meaning raider or robber)
Set in the 23rd Century when most of Britain has been flooded, and people live a life like back in the Viking era. The bloodthirsty Reavers (or Raiders, depending on which title you read) come and kidnap the Prime Minister’s daughter, from Thirteen year old Lilly Melkun’s village.
Lilly decides to free the child. Off she sails in secret with a ransom – an ancient jewel. Along the way she befriends Zeph, son of the Chief Reaver (or Raider.) Together they try to unravel the secrets behind both the kidnapping and the ransom.
Whether you like history or sci-fi, if you like adventure you will enjoy this rollicking yarn.
The miraculous journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo ; illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
Edward Tulane, a cold-hearted china rabbit, loves only himself until one day he is lost overboard during a sea voyage. There follows his miraculous journey. He travels across the country, through several owners, losing all his finery, but he discovers so much more. A beautiful story with universal themes.
Just tricking by Andy Griffiths; illustrated by Terry Denton
Is this the right book for you?
Take the TRICKING TEST and find out.
SCORE: One point for each ‘yes’ answer.
3-5 You are a practical joking genius.
You will love this book.
1-2 You are a good practical joker.
You will love this book.
0 You are not a practical joker.
You are what practical jokers call a `victim’.
You will love this book.
(from the publisher)
The Recruit by Robert Muchamore
One of the most popular books of the last decade, and still in the top 10 most borrowed books in libraries all round the world. This book has all the right stuff.
12 year old James Choke is the latest CHERUB recruit. James has been in a lot of trouble, but he is a maths genius, and CHERUB needs him.
The CHERUB kids are normal everyday spies. Trained professionals who just happen to be kids able to use their talents, and some pretty cool gadgets, to foil terrorists, and save the country.
Of course for official purposes; these children do not exist.
You’ll want to read the whole CHERUB series
Dear dumb diary, never underestimate your dumbness by Jim Benton
The wedding Dear Dumb Diary readers have been anxiously anticipating is about to become a reality: Jamie’s aunt and Angeline’s uncle joined together until death do they part — or until the divorce Jamie has been feverishly wishing for since they started dating finally happens. Now, three of Jamie’s most dreaded nightmares are about to be combined into one unbearable event:
Jamie has just one word for this kind of horror:
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
(From the publisher)
If you like this one check out the rest of the Dear Dumb Diary series
Just Tricking & Just Crazy by Andy Griffiths illustrated by Terry Denton.
These books should be a Kids choice because they are funny, cool, great, fantastic, tricky and crazy! I give them 5 stars.
The slightly skewed life of Toby Chrysler by Paul Collins
This is a great mystery but it is also sad, and really funny.
5 stars
Animals of the ocean by Doris Haggis-on-Whey
It was hilarious, with very good pictures. If you like to laugh, then this is the book for you!!!! (x 1,000)
5 stars from Jack
Now Kids’ Choice is on the blog. Each month we read your reviews and choose the top five. We tell everyone about them on our blog, and put Kids’ Choice stickers on them in our libraries so all the kids will know that it’s a cool read.
Remember that Kids’ Choice is YOUR choice. You can nominate any book that you think is COOL by filling in a Kids’ Choice review. You can get a paper copy to fill out at your local library or you can fill one out online here.
KIDS’ CHOICE for March
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Meggie’s father Mo has an interesting talent: when he reads aloud, things, and sometimes people, come out of their stories and into the real world! But now the evil Capricorn wants to use Mo’s talents to bring himself great wealth and power. Then Meggie discovers that maybe Mo isn’t the only one who can read things to life. This is an enchanting story full of adventure, suspense, and magic. The characters are vivid and delightful…
Inkheart will appeal to those who like adventure and fantasy, and to anyone who ever wished a story could come to life. (Amazon)
Spud by John van de Ruit.
It’s 1990. Apartheid is crumbling, Nelson Mandela has just been released from prison and thirteen-year-old Spud Milton is about to start his first year at an elite boys-only boarding school. Cursed with embarrassingly dysfunctional parents, a nutty granny and a dormitory full of strange characters, Spud has his hands full trying to adapt to his new home. With only his wits and his diary, he takes readers on a rowdy boarding school romp full of illegal midnight swims, catastrophic cricket matches, ghostbusting escapades, girls and disastrous holidays. (Amazon). Read Andrew’s terrific review here
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
“Marvellously strange and scary” is how Philip Pullman describes this book. Coraline steps through a door in her new house into a mirror world, a twisted version of her own, complete with parents (though these ones have button eyes.) In the beginning she thinks that this other world is a better place to be, but it becomes ever more bizarre and spooky, and Coraline needs to be both brave and clever if she is ever to make it home.
The really cool thing is that this book comes in; the original novel, a graphic novel (drawn by P. Craig Russell), and a DVD . Check them all out!!
The 39 Clues #5: The Black Circle by Patrick Carman
Amy and Dan have been found. but perhaps not for long – the ruthless Irina Spasky is right on their tail. And WHAT are those crazy kids doing poking their noses into Lucian secrets?|? Are they TRYING to get themselves killed? The 39 Clues Book 5 takes Dan and Amy on their most dangerous quest yet, one that brings them face to face with the only force capable of scaring the vicious Lucians: the Madrigals (Amazon)
Max Flash: Mission Four: Grave Danger by Jonny Zucker
Max Flash, explosive escapologist and master magician, is back for his fourth top-secret mission! A museum in Egypt has been broken into, and an ancient parchment stolen. Legend has it that the hieroglyphics on the parchment reveal the secret of resurrection from the dead. The Department for Extraordinary Activity want Max to go undercover and visit the Undead! (Amazon)
The David Beckham Academy (Series)
I think it’s exciting and builds up suspense, also it links all the books together in some type of way, and it has good ways of ending the problem in the story, and they are good titles.
Review by Bella
In December we asked you to vote for your favourite book of the year, and we got hundreds of votes! Now we can tell you what your favourite books of 2009 were. We’ve divided them up into the 25 Best for Younger Kids and 25 Best for Older Kids – you can see the lists here.
So, what was the most popular for older kids? Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga books, of course. Younger kids are crazy about Zac Power, by H I Larry.
Do you agree with our findings? What were your favourites?
Congratulations to Kate who won the spot prize in our Best of 2009 voting competition. The best book that Kate read in 2009 was Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. We agree that this is a most excellent read!
So, what were Wellington’s best books of 2009? We’re just counting all the votes (there were hundreds) and we’ll have some lists for you very soon. Keep reading this blog to find out. In the mean time I can tell you that Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight books were very popular (surprise!), but there were also votes for some other interesting books like The Twits and The Perfect Hamburger.
Kids’ Choice is a cool programme where kids get to select books they’ve read that they think are particularly fantastic. Each month five books are selected as Kids’ Choice based on reviews and recommendations submitted by keen readers.
Look out for the Kids’ Choice Best Book of 2009 vote off, coming soon to a library near you! You’ll get to tell us which was the most amazing book you read this year – the books with the most votes will make it onto our top books to read list.
If you’ve read a really good book recently you could tell us what you thought of it by filling in a review form too.