ASTERIX AND THE PICTS

 
ASTERIX AND THE PICTS
by Jean-Yves Ferri
Illustrated by Didier Conrad
48 pp. Orion Children's Books. £10.99. (Ages 10 and up)

ISBN
9781444011678

Rating: 4.5 Stars


             This story starts with Asterix and Obelix finding a Pict man stuck in ice. Quickly, they call all of the Gauls to help them free the Pict man.  Together they take the Pict man to Getafixi's hut.  Suddenly the Pict man pops out of the ice and starts to walk. The Pict man sees a tiny man with a stone tablet talking to him and also writing things down on his stone tablet.  As the Pict man can't speak he tells them his story in actions and carves the way to his land on one of Obelix's menhirs.  Then the Gauls decide to have Asterix and Obelix take him back to his land: the land of the Picts. While on the boat the Pict man gets his voice back and tells them his name is MacAroon. 
              If you didn't already know this book wasn't written by the same writer then you wouldn't notice the difference.  However, if you did already know then you would notice small differences like how each character seems to get a more equal time in the spotlight.  Even though these books might be meant for young children, we still never cease to be amused by them. The reason for this is that our favourite character, Obelix, plays a great part in all the books and we are pleased to see that the new writer still gives Obelix a big role to play.
              We think all ages that can read should definitely read this book.  For all off the Asterix and Obelix books we give five out of five stars, for this book by itself we give four and a half stars.    

also on Guardian Children's Books Site

ANIMAL FARM

ANIMAL FARM
by George Orwell
140 pp. Signet Classics. $8.99. (Ages 13 and up)

ISBN
9780451526342

Rating: 5 Stars


    This was a very strange but brilliant book. It really made me think about our world, as in how the government always try's to make a new start, create a better place, but making it work is hard. After a while, sometimes, bad people will take over and ruin it, making it just as bad as it started. Are all revolutions like that? This book made me think of the Hunger Games. They are both about revolutions where the new leaders end up being just as selfish as the old ones.
    This book was about a farm where the animals were angry with humans for imprisoning them, treating them badly and then killing them when they grew up. Finally they chased out the farmers and put the pigs in charge (as they were the cleverest). Snowball and Napoleon were both leaders and disagreed with each other on everything. Snowball was actually the good leader because he did everything for the good of everyone instead of being selfish like Napoleon. One day Napoleon became sick of Snowball and let 6 hounds, that he had secretly been training, loose on Snowball. This forced Snowball to flee, leaving Napoleon in charge. Will Snowball come back and create the place everyone wishes for? Or will Napoleon create a place even worse than before?
    I think this book is for ages ten and up because you need to be quite clever to get the true meaning of the story. This book definitely deserves five out of five stars. My parents told me it is a classic, and I can see why.

THE FATE IN THE BOX

THE FATE IN THE BOX
By Michelle Lovric.
352 pp. Orion Childrens. £10.99. (Ages 12 and up)

ISBN
9781444003390

Rating: 5 Stars


The Fate in the Box was different.  I mean, at first it seemed like a fact file about what Venice was like back in 1783.  Except it was kind of like Steampunk because they had machines that haven’t even been invented now, while still keeping everything else the same as it was back then.  However as I got deeper into the story it got so good that I couldn't stop reading it!  The main bad guy was Fogfinger and he did many bad things to the poor people of Venice.  I think the worst thing he did was kill the male Sea Saur, pretend the female Sea Saur had done it,  and invent the lambing (where two children, a boy and girl, were said to be eaten by the female Sea Saur).  The reason I think this is the worst thing he did is because it is awful when everyone thinks I did some bad thing I didn't do and it would probably be even worse if the thing I was being blamed for was killing my best friend, mom, dad, or sister.
The story was about three children called Tockle, Amneris, and Biri.  Tockle, Amneris, and Biri all live in Venice, a beautiful place turned awful by Fogfinger.  One day Tockle and Biri were taken away by the Piccolissimi Pochi (which is what the group of people who fought against Fogfinger called themselves) and recruited to be Piccolissimi Pochi. They were asked to find out exactly what happened when the lambs were sacrificed.  Meanwhile Amneris was making friends with Latenia, a fat rich girl who used automata for everything.  When Tockle and Biri got back they recruited Amneris to be a Piccolissimi Pochi. Amneris kept visiting Latenia.  One day when Amneris visited Latenia she found that she was very upset.  This was because she had to marry Fogfinger, who was by then an ugly old man and because her brother told her that Amneris, Tockle and Biri was probably a member of the Piccolissimi Pochi.  So, she completely baffled Amneris by asking if she could hire her as her own personal killer.  However you will have to find out yourself what happened next.
I think ages ten to fifteen should read this book because it is too fantasy for adults and smaller children wouldn't understand it at all.  This book definitely deserves five out of five stars.

SPIDER-MAN 2: THE DAILY BUGLE STORIES

SPIDER-MAN 2: THE DAILY BUGLE STORIES
By Jacob Ben Gunter.
144 pp. HarperFestival. £4.99. (Ages 7 and up)

ISBN
9780060571320

Rating: ? Stars


SPIDER-MAN IS QUITE GOOD. FIRST HE WRITE A NEWSPAPER. WILL HE FIGHTS SOME MARSDERSE. BUT SOME PEOPLE HE A BADDIE. :-)

THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ; THE MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ; OZMA OF OZ

THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ; THE MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ; OZMA OF OZ
Oz The Complete Collection, Volume One
by L. Frank Baum
592 pp. Simon & Schuster Childrens Books. £6.99. (Ages 9 and up)

ISBN
9781471117008

Rating: ? Stars


    When I got these books I was surprised to find three books instead of one as I had always thought there was only one book about Oz, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. Actually there are fifteen books altogether. My favourite book of the three was “Ozma of Oz” because the plot and characters became more interesting in that book. I think ages nine to fifteen should read this book because it would seem a bit childish for those older than fifteen and a bit hard to understand for those younger than nine. This book definitely deserves five out of five stars.
    “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” was about a girl called Dorothy who was taken to the Land of Oz by a tornado. At first when she got there the Munchkins that lived in that part of the country hailed her and honoured her because while her house was coming in it squashed the evil witch who had ruled there and made the Munchkins her slaves. Because she freed them she got to keep the witch’s magical silver shoes. Dorothy was not happy though because she wanted to go back to Kansas. The good Witch of the North advised her to follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City to ask the Wonderful Wizard of Oz to send her back to Kansas. She also gave her a magic kiss that would keep her safe from harm. On the way there she met the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow. The Tin Woodman wanted a heart the Cowardly Lion wanted courage and the Scarecrow wanted a brain. They had many adventures together before they got to the Wizard. When they finally did get there the Wizard of Oz told them that he would only help them if they killed the evil Witch of the West. They were all broken or hurt in some way by the evil Witch of the West. Excepting Dorothy who was only made a slave because of the kiss the good Witch of the North gave her. Even though the evil Witch of the West was not allowed to harm Dorothy she still tried to steal Dorothy's silver shoes. This made Dorothy so cross that she threw water on the witch, which melted her. They then all went back to the 'Wizard of Oz' but the amazing things that happened then and after you will have to find out for yourself.
    “The Marvelous Land of Oz” was about an orphan boy called Tip who had to live with an old witch. One day he escaped with some of the old witches life powder (which he had used earlier to make his new companion, a Pumpkinhead, come to life) and started to walk towards the famous Emerald City. On the way there he found a Sawhorse and brought it to life too so that the Pumpkinhead could ride on it. However, when they did get to the Emerald City they found out that it was being invaded by warrior girls so Tip, the Pumkinhead, the Sawhorse and the Scarecrow all had to escape together to the castle of the Tin Woodman (a friend of the Scarecrow). While there they made a flying sort of animal out of furniture which they brought to life with Tip's life powder, and used it to get to Glinda the good Witch of the South and ask her for help. What happened after they found her you will have to find out for yourself.
    Now I come to my favourite book. “Ozma of Oz” was about Dorothy coming back to Oz. Dorothy got to Oz the second time because of a storm that erupted while she was on a boat with her uncle. Due to this storm she and a chicken named Billina found themselves washed on the magical place on the other side of the desert. While on the island Dorothy, Billina and the robot (a new friend she made there) went to visit a princess. But the princess locked Dorothy up when she refused to trade her head in return for one of her other old heads. Dorothy was saved from this by Ozma, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion and a load of other allies. After that she went on an Adventure with them to the Nome realm where they were going to try and save a whole royal family from his clutches (minus the dad) as he had turned them all into pretty ornaments for his underground palace. What happened there you will have to find out for yourself though. The part set in the Nome King's realm was particularly good, making “Ozma of Oz” my favourite book of the three. I look forward to reading the rest of the series. As all these books were amazing and I expect the series to get even more AMAZING.

also on Guardian Children's Books Site

GREET THE DAWN: THE LAKOTA WAY

GREET THE DAWN: THE LAKOTA WAY
By S.D. Nelson
48 pp. South Dakota State Historical Society Press. $18.95. (Ages 4 and up)

ISBN
9780984504169

Rating: ? Stars


    Greet the Dawn is about what the Lakota people do at dawn. They thank Mother Earth for everything that is on the Earth and Father Sky for everything in the sky. Dotted about the book there are songs in the Lakota language and translated in English.
    The book is very colourful. I was amazed at the detail in the art and it was funny to see the way he turned ancient artwork into more modern looking artwork. I especially liked the picture of the meadowlark and her nest with the beautiful, colourful background. While reading I noticed that one of the pictures of a tent had a horse design that had a resemblance to my dress.

THE HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY

THE HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY
by Suzanne Collins
Scholastic. (Ages 12 and up). £7.99. Rating: 5 Stars


THE HUNGER GAMES
The Hunger Games Trilogy Book 1
464 pp.
ISBN 9781407132082


CATCHING FIRE
The Hunger Games Trilogy Book 2
480 pp.
ISBN 9781407132099


MOCKINGJAY
The Hunger Games Trilogy Book 3
464 pp.
ISBN 9781407132105




     I got this series as my tenth birthday present. I think this is a very good series and I really like the parts when she is actually in the arena where they have the Hunger Games in both book one and two. Even though it was a brilliant book I could say that Suzanne Collins should take out the boring parts, like when Katniss is in the cave with Peeta, because those parts are not really needed as part of the story. I can understand that to make the book more real you would have to have some grieving and death but I think that the author has gone a bit too far because it is not fun for the reader to be crying for most of each book in the series.
     The first book is about a girl called Katniss who volunteered to be in the Hunger Games instead of her twelve year old sister Primrose. The Hunger Games is something that happens on TV every year. It is where a boy and girl from each District, ages twelve to eighteen, are chosen to be put in varying Habitats and are forced to kill each other. The winner is the last person alive. Normally tributes (the children who are chosen to fight to the death) from District Two won, but this time Katniss and Peeta won. (You will have to find out how two tributes won from the book.) Even though one would think Katniss should have been happy about winning she was far from it, because while she was in the arena she made friends with a girl called Rue who was killed.
     At the beginning of the second book Katniss and Peeta thought that they and their families were safe from the Hunger Games and could live peacefully for the rest of their lives. However their hopes were soon shattered when President Snow proclaimed that that year the Hunger Games would include all the winners of the Hunger Games from the years before. In this Hunger Games the arena was a jungle shaped like a clock. It was similar to a clock because at each hour, always in the same place, something different happened. This time the Hunger Games was different because Katniss did not have to win. When there were still about six people left, Katniss and a few of the others were illegally taken to the secret District Thirteen. This surprised them because District Thirteen had supposedly been bombed away.
     At the beginning of the third book Katniss was so angry that she had not been let into the plans of rebellion and was still supposed to agree to be their Mockingjay ( the symbol of rebellion) that she kind of went crazy. Her anger got even worse when she was informed that she would not join in the fighting and when she saw how President Snow had brain washed Peeta on TV . Eventually her and Johanna (another winner who was in the last hunger games and got taken away towards the end) were allowed to do the training with children younger than themselves and if Katniss and Johanna were good enough (which they were) they would be allowed to fight. I think this was the saddest book because towards the end, while they are fighting, Primrose is burnt up by fire balls. Moreover it was doubly sad because her own side had made and fired the fireballs.
     I think ages ten and up should read this book because before that one would think it was boring. This book definitely deserves five out of five stars.

LOOK INTO MY EYES

LOOK INTO MY EYES
Ruby Redfort Book 1
by Lauren Child
432 pp. HarperCollins. £6.99. (Ages 9 and up)

ISBN
9780007334070

Rating: 5 Stars


     This book is especially interesting because it is all about codes, and Ruby Redfort (the main character) even makes up her own code which I am still trying to figure out! Really, besides this book being brilliant to read it is also really fun to stop reading for a bit, try to solve the code, then go back to reading and find out if you were right. I personally want to become a secret agent or spy when I grow up and wish that I had the chance to practice some of the amazing things Ruby Redfort does.
     This book is about a very smart girl called Ruby Redfort who was asked by a secret agency to become their secret code cracker. She had to find out a secret that their old code cracker Lopez found out just before she died. At first Ruby had trouble with the code and didn't attempt to become an action agent. However when she found a pencil of Lopez's she started to crack the code but to decode the rest she would have to become an action agent so from there first things went well but then things started to go wrong.
     I think all children would love this book because it shows how normally adults never listen to children even when what their saying is really important, and how normally something really bad happens then. This book definitely deserves five out of five stars.

NOAH'S ARK

NOAH'S ARK
By Georgie Adams

Illustrated by Anna C. Leplar
64 pp. Orion. £4.99. (Ages 4 and up)

ISBN
9781444007893

Rating: 5 Stars


The book is called Noahs Ark I like it because Noah listens to God. I will tell you about the story. Things have gone very wrong in the world he said to Noah

I’m going to send the biggest flood ever. I will keep you family safe. When the flood is over I’ll start.

I will tell you more about the story. so Noah got a girl and a boy firm each animals so he put the animals in the Ark.

5 out of 5 stars.

SERAPHINA

SERAPHINA
by Rachel Hartman
384 pp. Doubleday. £12.99. (Ages 12 and up)

ISBN
9780857531575

Rating: 2 Stars


     This book was AWFUL. When I say awful I do not mean you will be full of awe after you read it I mean awful as in boring. The reason I say this book is awful is because when you first see it you think it will be a really good book all about a girl fighting fire breathing dragons. Then when you start reading it you find out that the whole point of the book is that Seraphina (the main character) loves the prince. Can you think of anything more boring than that? If you can then I feel sorry for you because you must read a lot of boring books.
     This book was about a girl called Seraphina who was half dragon and half girl. I allow that the tiniest bit of it was about her fighting the bad dragons, but most of it, as I said earlier, was about her trying to stop thinking about how much she loved the prince. You are probably wondering how is it possible that a whole book is all about such a boring thing as that. I hate to tell you that it is possible and my proof is in this AWFUL book.
     I think no one should read this book, unless you really like boring books. This book deserves two stars, as it deserves some credit for the part where Seraphina actually fights dragons.

ARCTIC ADVENTURE

ARCTIC ADVENTURE
By Willard Price.
272 pp. Red Fox. £7.99. (Ages 9 and up)

ISBN
9780099482277

Rating: 5 Stars


    I got this book from my school library when I was looking for a book to read. This is the second book I have ever read by this author. I really like this author's books because they make you want to save endangered species from becoming extinct. However, I do not agree that it is good for animals to all be in zoos because then animals don't learn how to live in the wild. I personally think this is a good book to read around this time of the year because I finished it yesterday, and as it just snowed it looks as if your in the Arctic today.
    This book is about two brothers, Hal and Roger, who go to Greenland and Alaska to pick up animals that their father sells to zoos. While they were in Greenland they made very good friends with Olrik and a polar bear that they named Nanook. Nanook saved them when they were at the point of death and was always there for them. In both Greenland and Alaska, Hal and Roger captured and saw some very interesting animals that I wish I could see in the wild sometime as most people never do.
    I think ages nine and up should read this book because if you are younger it will just be an adventure and you will not get the real point, even some nine year olds will get only the adventure from the story. I think this book definitely deserves five out of five stars.

THE GRIM GROTTO

THE GRIM GROTTO
A Series of Unfortunate Events: Book the 11th.
By Lemony Snicket. Illustrated by Brett Helquist.
352 pp. Egmont Books Ltd. £6.99. (Ages 9 and up)

ISBN
9781405266161

Rating: 5 Stars


    Even though this is "Book the Eleventh" you can still read it on its own because it explains the rest of the series in the beginning. That said, this book was very interesting to me because it revealed a lot of secrets. For example I was very surprised to find out that their friend Fiona's stepbrother had joined Count Olaf's troupe. I felt extremely sorry for Fiona that she had to be the one in the middle: the one both sides wanted.
    This book is about the Baudelaires and their extremely unfortunate events underwater. I myself think that the most unfortunate and frightening event that they encounter is when Sunny is poisoned by the Medusiod Mycelium. Even though the events that occur after that are still very frightening, I hope I have not frightened you so much that you won't read the book.
    Ages nine and over should read this book because it is brilliant for EVERYONE who can read. This book definitely deserves five stars and would go on my favourite books list. Even so, there are other books in the series that are as good as this book.

LILY ALONE

LILY ALONE
By Jacqueline Wilson
Illustrated by Nick Sharratt.
320 pp. Doubleday Children's Books. £12.99. (Ages 10 and up)

ISBN
9780385618649

Rating: 4 Stars


    I read this book because my friend recommended it to me. I am honoured to say that her mom knows Jacqueline Wilson. I myself actually sometimes feel like Lily.
    This book is about a girl called Lily. One day her mom goes off with their may be future dad on holiday so they are left home alone. Poor Lily has to somehow get the house together before their mom comes back. Sadly with Baxter, Pixie, and Bliss always on the move that is nearly impossible. Just to make it worse they have a secret to hide: their mom has left them home alone.
    I think ages nine to twelve should read this book because the language is for older readers but adults and teenagers would probably think the story was a bit childish. This book definitely deserves four stars because it was brilliant but could have been a tiny bit better.