Families Book Reviews

Name: Marie Berry
17 November 2017;

Genre: Adventure

Giraffe and Frog is a beautifully illustrated picture book. Zerah Hicks tells the story of Giraffe and Frog who are going to the beach. However, giraffe doesn't listen to his friend Frog and instead takes himself off in the entirely wrong direction. The story then follows the pair as Giraffe k...

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Name: Clare Wilkins
17 November 2017;

Genre: Adventure

It's Christmas Eve and, convinced that he is responsible for killing Father Christmas (and causing his parents to argue), Jo-Jo embarks on a daring plan to make amends. With the aid his pillowcases, long-forgotten toys and his mother's red coat, he plans to save Christmas - for his street, at lea...

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Name: Marie Berry
17 November 2017;

Genre: Adventure

I Am Bat is a sweet book that would be lovely to read with younger children. This book is very simple. Bat has cherries and he does not want to share them. he tells everyone not to take them and if they do he will be ferocious and scary. However, little paws and beaks start creeping down the p...

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Name: Marie Berry
17 November 2017;

Genre: Adventure

Fish Dream of trees and other curious verses is a beautiful poetry book. It is full of simple, witty rhymes and verses that are all based around animals. This book would make a lovely introduction to Poetry for younger children. The added bonus is that Axel Scheffler's unmistakeable illustrati...

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Name: Kyle Matravers
15 November 2017;

Genre: Adventure

This is a non-fiction book that tied in nicely with our Around the World topic in class. The book involves travelling around the world visiting peoples homes and yards to find out how they differ in each country. Each spread is narrated and written from the viewpoint of the household pet, which...

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Name: Aidan Severs
13 November 2017;

Genre: Adventure

Crime novels aren't for children, are they? Are they? Well The Great Paper Caper is. As usual Oliver Jeffers matches his quirky imagery with text bursting with wry, dry humour. Someone is chopping down the trees, but who? And why? The inhabitants of the wood set out to discover the answers to the...

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Name: Aidan Severs
13 November 2017;

Genre: Adventure

When you spot J.M. Barrie's quote '...always try to be a little kinder than is necessary...' tucked away at the beginning of a book, you can almost be certain it's going to be a must-read for children. Especially in world where we seem to see so much unkindness. But that's not the world Jeffers...

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Name: Catherine Purcell
13 November 2017;

Genre: Adventure

My Side of the Diamond is beautifully presented to resemble the moleskine notebooks that Becky writes in/ wrote in. You see, Becky and Icarus jumped off a tall building. Twenty years earlier, Skye and Lazarus also jumped off a tall building. Not one of them landed. They just sort of 'disappeare...

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Name: Aidan Severs
13 November 2017;

Genre: Adventure

Balthazar The Great is a simple story about belonging. Balthazar the bear is freed from the circus but must find his way home, but where does he belong? The striking illustrations, alongside minimal text, tell of discovery and explore issues such as animal rights, friendship, loneliness, regret a...

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Name: Alison Kelly
13 November 2017;

Genre: Adventure

Produced in conjunction with SLAMbassadors and Pop-Up, the impressive Otter-Barry publishing company is showcasing young 'rising stars'; in its latest volume of poetry. With stars in the ascendency, it seemed fitting that I turned firstly to Ruth Awolola's 'A Love Letter to the Stars' (p.17). T...

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