DIVERGENT

DIVERGENT
Divergent Trilogy Book 1
By Veronica Roth
496 pp. Katherine Tegen Books. $17.99. (Ages 13 and up)

ISBN
9780062024039

Rating: 5 Stars

   This book is the best book I have ever read. It’s a teen novel about the future. It’s like all types of novels mixed together. It has love, adventure, friendship, science fiction and so much more. One of the other reasons I like this book is because it has so much information that you make an epic movie in your mind.
   I like romance, but not any kind of romance. I like teen romance or a story about crushes. I don't like when the romance is so simple, like the 70's romance. This book has a very advanced type of romance, it has sharing secrets, crushes, the type of ‘aww’ caring and more.
   Sacrifices are one of the worst parts of most books you may think, unless it has the enemy sacrifice themselves. Yes, I agree to. This book has too much sacrifice. Tris's mom, dad, and friends died in the book. It’s too much, hurts the reader’s heart. The deaths of Tris's friends and family is because of this erudite woman. Argh! The sacrifices are good because of the reasons they sacrificed themselves. I won’t say anything more to save the secrets.
   I love how the author made the fear simulation. It would not be the best book I have ever read. And also Four would not be there. Four is amazing, he has only four fears. My fears are uncountable. It’s also fasinating to imagine.
   I will rate this book all the stars in the word.

HEY, BABY, LOOK!

HEY, BABY, LOOK!
by Kate Shannon
Illustrated by Morgan Owens
Board book. Blue Dream Books. $7.99. (Ages 0 and up)

ISBN
9780991233007

Rating: ? Stars


I have been reading ' Hey, Baby, Look! ' with my youngest child several times over the past couple of months. He is currently 15 months old. He seems to really enjoy the bright colours and the different images and enjoys trying to turn the pages to look at all of them. When I try to read the text on every page, however, he is often in a hurry to turn the page before I finish, and does not point to a particular image in response to the questions. I think this is just due to his stage of development, as although he understands some simple phrases and can say a few simple words he is not yet familiar with the questions in the book.

He was able to point to the apple though after I repeated the question a few times and pointed to the answer myself. I think he will be better at this as he gets a bit older and I think I will try asking him just one question from each page for now.

He enjoys quite a wide selection of board books, but the ones he chooses to pick up and handle and 'read' in his own little language tend to be very small light ones which are suited to his little hands, and those with images of faces, people or animals and which tell a story.

I think ' Hey, Baby, Look! ' is probably ideally suited to 2 to 3 year olds and I look forward to seeing how my son responds to it in the future and possibly reviewing it again in a few months. I am also interested to learn more about the research behind it, and why most pages have three similarly coloured images and one different. Thank you very much for the book and the opportunity to review it.

(read with Thecodontosaurus antiquus; written by a parent)

HORRIBLE HISTORIES: SAVAGE STONE AGE

THE HORRIBLE HISTORIES: SAVAGE STONE AGE
by Terry Deary
Illustrated by Martin Brown
144 pp. Scholastic. £5.99. (Ages 8 and up)

ISBN
9781407104287

Rating: 5 Stars



    I enjoyed reading this book because it had good illustrations and it was very funny also I learned a lot from reading it. The topic of this book is the Stone Age peoples! And it tells you about their way of life. I liked the illustrations because they look like comic books strips. Also the people in the illustrations act in funny ways.
    This book is written in a special way because most history books just give you the nice facts of history, but this book tells you all the horrible things in history. As a result, this book was scary and happy. So I guess that if you add up scary and happy at the same time that will make the book funny!
    The most interesting fact in the book is that hunters used to keep mammoth brains as souvenirs to show off with the other hunters. I was interested about the Stone Age because that was my topic at school. I want to learn more about this Stone Age topic because I know there are still more things to learn after reading this great book. I give the book 5 out of 5 stars.

THE UNLIKELY ADVENTURES OF MABEL JONES

THE UNLIKELY ADVENTURES OF MABEL JONES
by Will Mabbitt
Illustrated by Ross Collins
304 pp. Puffin. £6.99. (Ages 8 and up)

ISBN
9780141355146

Rating: 5 Stars



    This book is about a girl called Mabel Jones and she gets kidnapped by pirates. Then she becomes a pirate too and Mabel Jones has to help the crew find all the X’s so they can get through the map to the treasure, but along the way there are many ways to die.
    My favorite character is Mabel Jones because she is a tomboy that is very clever and not scared of anything!
    I think this book is special because most pirate books do not have time machines in them but this book does have them.
    I like this book because of what happened when I started reading it. At the time I was reading a boring book and picked up this one instead to try it. This book was so good, it made me never want to stop reading it and I finished it in less than a day even though it is almost 300 pages long!
    I think you should be 6 to 12 years old to read this book. I will give this book 5 out of 5 stars. I hope this author writes more books with the same illustrator.

also on the Guardian Children's Books Site

AMY WILD: AMAZON SUMMER

AMAZON SUMMER
Amy Wild: Book 1
By Helen Skelton.
304 pp. Corgi Childrens. £6.99. (Ages 9 and up)

ISBN
9780552568395

Rating: 5 Stars



      This book starts off with the main character (Amy Wild) being invited to go on a trip to Peru with her Aunt Marg, to help her take photos of all the wildlife and city life. Her aunt is a photographer for magazines. When she arrives there she meets a man called Dudu and his son Juan who are also helping her aunt, and for a few days everything seems to be going well. Their good luck doesn’t last long, though, as after a few days Amy accidentally runs over her aunt with a truck. Terrified that Dudu will kill her, or she’ll be put in jail by the police, she runs away and hides in a boat she finds in the Amazon. The next morning she wakes to find herself deep in the Amazon with Juan purposely driving the boat. Not wanting to turn back, Juan decides to let Amy tag along with him. Sadly, he hasn’t taken her clumsiness into account, and their adventure starts to get crazier and crazier…
      My favourite character has to be Amy as I feel like I can connect with her in many ways. For example, in the book she seems to be a tomboy who would rather be having adventures or playing games and sports rather than just talking and gossiping with her friends. I have to say I agree with her as in school I’ll often get bored of just talking to my friends and go and play football instead. I also feel I can connect with her, as I have actually been to the jungle myself before, so I understand some of the dangers she faced, even though it was probably much safer for me when I went to the jungle.
      The scariest part of this book was probably when Juan’s boat breaks because he and Amy were fighting, and they are left in the middle of the Amazon with no way of transport except their own feet. I found this the scariest part of the book because before it was already scary and they were all alone in the jungle, but at least they had some shelter and some way of transport. When the boat breaks, suddenly everything seems more real and scary than before.
      I think that this book should be read by children eight to fourteen years old who like adventure books, as younger children won’t be able to read it, and older children may find it childish. The majority of this story takes place in the Amazon rainforest in Peru and is set in our time. As it is an exciting adventure story about the rainforest I think this book deserves five out of five stars.
An interview with the author on the Guardian Children's books site

THE EARTH IS SINGING

THE EARTH IS SINGING
by Vanessa Curtis
336 pp. THE EARTH IS SINGING by Vanessa Curtis336 @Usborne @UsborneDigital http://bit.ly/1DBhh3J . £6.99. (Ages 14 and up)

ISBN
9781409577447

Rating: 4 Stars



    I will admit that I was actually rather surprised I liked this book, as it wasn’t my normal choice. Normally I read fantasy or sci-fi, not historical fiction based on real lives. I may have to change my usual agenda, though, as this book was fascinating, and there have also been a few other historical fiction books and biographies which I have enjoyed. Throughout this whole book I really felt like I could connect with the main character, Hanna, There were a few times when my heart clenched in fear for her and I smiled when she was happy.
    This book is set in World War 2 in Germany, and is narrated by a 15-year-old Jewish Latvian called Hanna, whose father has been taken by the Russians. It starts off not too bad. Life is hard, but Hanna is still following her dream of becoming a dancer. Although many of her friends have deserted her because she’s Jewish, her best friend and boyfriend Uldis stands with her, so you think everything will be okay. Soon, however her world is turned upside down when the Nazis come and slowly take away everything she’s ever cared about. This book took me on a whirl of adventure as Hanna faced all types of danger, heart breaking sadness, betrayal and fear during a fight for her life. I would definitely give this book 4 out of 5 stars as it really explored the awful treatment Jews got during World War 2 and captured my interest from the start.
    My favorite character has to be Hanna as the writer does an amazing job of making you feel like she’s a real person telling you all of this and experiencing all of this. I can also really feel for her when she’s wishing she wasn’t different from everyone else, as my family has had trouble with living in England as we are American and Portuguese, although the problems this causes for us are nowhere near as large as the problems being a Jew causes for her.
    Most of this book is quite sad, but I would say two parts stand out in particular. First, Uldis betrays her leaving her heartbroken. Second, all the Jews, her mother included, are shot and thrown into a pit of dead bodies. This is especially sad because after her mother dies she is left with no one else in the world to care for her and love her.
    Although most of this book is sad there are a few parts where Hanna is happy. I would say the happiest parts of this book are when it’s the New Year and her uncle brings up a feast for them to share, and at the end of the book when Hanna escapes from the Nazis. I think this because in both these times Hanna feels free and safe from the Nazis and like everything might be all right again.

I AM THE ARCHITECT

I AM THE ARCHITECT
by Moon
Illustrated by Rosanna Tasker
48 pp. Moon. £7.00. (Ages 6 and up)



Rating: 5 Stars



    This book is about Archie and his mom .In the story Archie decided to design his own house.
    I like that in the book what’s funny is Archie used his mom’s M&S card to buy his items. Also I like the illustrations and how they are designed by the illustrator.
    I think this book is special because it tells you what an architect is and also it has a competition!.
    I like this book because it is very funny. I think the age you should be is 6-9 because it has hard words to understand. I will give this book 5 stars.

BUFFALO SOLDIER

BUFFALO SOLDIER
by Tanya Landman
368 pp. Walker. £7.99. (Ages 14 and up)

ISBN
9781406314595

Rating: 4 Stars


    The book is about the times when American had slaves. The main characters are Charlotte and Abe (her horse), and the Indians they were fighting.
    My favourite part is when she joins the army. My favourite character is Abe because she is an animal. My least favourite parts are when she falls in love and when her horse died. My least favourite character is the boss of the army.
    I liked how there are not many books that show you how awful it is to be a slave. It is written so you know what her voice sounds like (her accent). That made it special.
    Did we like this book? Yes and no. It was too intense for a child to finish, and the parent reading had to not read everything because there were swear words and very violent parts that the child did not want to hear. However, for a teenager or an adult it is very well written, interesting, and informative, with four out of five stars.
    I think teenagers would like this book because it is sad and has romance.
also on the Guardian Children's Books Site

WILD FRIENDS: ORANG-UTAN ADVENTURE

WILD FRIENDS: ORANG-UTAN ADVENTURE
by Linda Chapman and Michelle Misra
Illustrated by Rob McPhillips
75 pp. Red Fox. £4.99. (Ages 5 and up)

ISBN
9781849416955

Rating: 3 Stars



    This book is about Emily and Molly who are going to Borneo to see orangutans with Emily’s mom and dad, but there are some loggers that are destroying the rainforest.
    My least favourite part was the ending of the story because Emily did not stop the loggers! And then she even went back to look at more animals rather than trying to stop the loggers. I would try to sort out the problem if I was in her shoes.
    I like that in the book Emily and her friend and family explore the rainforest like what I did. But, we did different things like Emily cuddled orangutans, and I saw monkeys. I think the age for the book should be 5-8 because the book is not scary at all !!!. I will give this book 3 stars.

also on the Guardian Children's Books Site

DEMON HEADMASTER

DEMON HEADMASTER
by Gillian Cross
160 pp. OUP Oxford. £6.99. (Ages 9 and up)

ISBN
9780192755827

Rating: 5 Stars



     The story is about a girl and 2 boys and a very mean headmaster. When you look in his eyes he says "You are so so tired" and then you fall asleep. Except for the Splat group…
     The most scary part was when the demon headmaster nearly killed Splat with learning children - but a noise interruption by Dinah stopped it. I like how there is always excitement in the chapters.
     I enjoyed this book and I will give this book 5 stars. I think 8 – 11 year olds will like this book because it is not that scary at all like it has a many bits of scariness.