Room 13 by Robert Swindells

A pupil from this school asked for my opinion about the last chapter of this book. I was keen to discuss it with her, so I read the book as soon as I could! It is a scary story about a group of children on a school trip. The night before they go, one of the girls has a strange dream that makes her frightened and reluctant to go on the trip. The following morning, in the light of day she feels better and changes her mind.

Many strange things happen on that trip and one of the girls becomes very ill after disappearing into Room 13 every night! A very brave group of pupils try to save her life and mystery surrounds the end of the story.

I love reading mysteries and this was no exception. You can’t beat a good book!

Beatrix Potter - The Tale of Two Bad Mice

I really enjoy reading this book to my daughters because it has beautiful illustrations, the characters have great names, there is a lot of naughtiness in it and it is over one hundred years old.

There is a marvellous dolls’ house in which lives a doll called Lucinda and her cook, Jane. One morning, they leave their house in a pram and then two mice – Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca – turn up. Hunca Munca – surely the best name for a character I have ever heard!

I will not tell you what naughtiness the mice got up to next – you will have to read the book for yourself.

Let me just say that I do not think that those mice would get a sticker from me in my office - but they do ‘make up for’ their actions in the end. 

Mrs Christmas by Penny Ives

 

Last Christmas Father Christmas was feeling ill, and when Mrs Christmas looked at him, he was covered in spots. Poor Mrs Christmas did not know how she would finish making all the toys.

Next, she found the reindeer were covered in spots. How would she deliver all the presents? I don’t think I could help Mrs Christmas as she has to move very fast and go down lots of chimneys. I cannot move so fast these days and I think I would get stuck in the first chimney.

This is a lovely story to read anytime but especially good at Christmas.

Does Mrs Christmas get to deliver all of the presents? Read this book and you will find out.

Little Beaver and the Echo

This is a wonderful story that my three children all enjoyed when they were younger and is now on the bookshelf in my classroom.

This book is about a little beaver that is lonely and sad and begins to cry. He hears a voice in the distance of someone else that is sad and goes on a journey to the other side of the pond to find out who the voice belongs to. On the way he makes some new friends.

I also have some beaver friends who I have fun with each week and they love reading and acting out this story.

Spaghetti Pig Out

Spaghetti Pig Out is a superb short story written by an Australian children's author called Paul Jennings. Many of his stories were made into a television series called Round the Twist as the characters always end up in very strange situations.

The story revolves around a young boy who discovers a remote control that can control reality. The gadget is fun at first but soon gets him into trouble with hilarious consequences involving a horse, a steak dinner, the school bully and a spaghetti eating contest...

This was the first story I chose to read to my first ever class in a school in South Wales in 1995. I like it so much because the characters are well written and the author understands how children speak, think and react to what happens around them. It is also extremely funny with a great twist at the end. I intend to share this story with my current class as they like class readers with a humorous twist.

Finally, I chose a book by an Australian author because I spent a year of my life living and working in Australia which was an incredible experience. This story makes me think of that special time in my life.

The Secret Tooth Fairy

I really enjoyed this book about The Secret Tooth Fairy.

In this book, the Fairy Queen is recruiting a new Secret Tooth Fairy and Lily and her animal friends, Snowy Mouse and Baby Bird, hope they might be just right for the job! Blossom and her Secret Fairy friends offer to help find out whether she has the right fairy skills.

I particularly enjoyed this book as once when I was younger I saw the tooth fairy picking up my tooth from under my pillow!

Recently, I have been learning all about having healthy teeth, so I'm sure the tooth fairy will not be making any more visits to my pillow.

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

Anne of Green Gables is the first in a series of books about an orphaned girl, Anne, who lives on a farm with her adoptive parents, Marilla and Matthew. The book was written and set in 1908, I really enjoyed learning about the history of the time as well as the characters and story.

The story begins when Anne is sent to live with Marilla and Matthew. They had asked the orphanage for a boy who could help them on the farm. Despite being annoyed when Anne first arrived she is so chatty, fun and bright that the couple can't help but like her so much that they ask her to stay.

The rest of the story follows Anne's life at home and school. My favourite part is when Anne mistakenly dyes her beautiful red hair green! It is a very funny part of the book but I could never understand why Anne would want to dye her lovely red hair another colour.

Even though these books are now thought of as children's books, when they were written they were intended for readers of all ages to enjoy. Perhaps that is why I still enjoy reading about Anne, and her life, to this day.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is such a good book I have read it seven times!! This particular book is so good because it is action-packed and very exciting to read. There are flying cars, plenty of magical spells and there is enough Quidditch to last a life-time-and I do love a bit of sport!

I was lucky enough to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in the summer holidays last year and I actually met the Ford Anglia that Harry and Ron crashed on their way to Hogwarts. He was very friendly!

There are brilliant adventures in all of the Harry Potter books, but I like this one in particular because it is the first time the reader is introduced to Dobby, the House-Elf, who becomes a very close friend of Harry's and helps him in all sorts of tricky situations. Friendship is very important and is, infact, one of the Olympic Values. I think Dobby would get on very well with Wenlock and Mandeville! 

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a bit of an adventure...and a touch of magic too!

Matilda: Guess who?

Although this book would be too tricky for the children I teach, this was my favourite book when I was growing up.

Matilda is a little girl who has lazy, rude and mean parents. They treat her so badly that she invents a game of punishing her parents when they treat her badly.

When Matilda starts school it soon becomes clear that she is very clever, she knows all of her times tables as soon as she starts in Reception! I would be very shocked if any of the children in my class could do that!

Matilda soon discovers she has supernatural powers and in particular a power to move things with her eyes. This is something that I spent lots of time trying to do when I was younger!  

How To Live Forever by Colin Thompson

How To Live Forever tells the story of a young boy’s quest to find a missing book, a child who holds the secret of everlasting life and a library that comes to life at night.

I think this is a great book for a number of reasons. Firstly, and probably most significantly, the illustration is amazing! Colin Thompson, the author, is a fantastic artist as well a great writer. Even though it may only take you thirty seconds to read the words on the page, it could take thirty minutes to take in everything that has been drawn because the pictures contain SO much brilliant detail! I really enjoy searching for things that I haven’t seen before, a little bit like in a Where’s Wally book! Secondly, I really like the lesson that is being taught in the book. It is a simple lesson that Peter, the main character, learns.

The book is advertised as ‘a picture book for older children’, such as those I teach, but I think children of all ages would enjoy this book.

Whos review?

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Growing up I loved reading Alice in Wonderland as it was full of fun and adventure. It tells the story of a young girl called Alice who follows a white rabbit down a rabbit hole and ends up in a curious world full of talking animals such as a grinning Cheshire Cat. Whilst there Alice enjoys a "mad" tea party along with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. Alice soon meets the Queen of Hearts who wants all the white roses painted red and then accuses Alice of stealing her jam tarts! This book is full of magic and you are never too old for magic...or jam tarts!

When I was younger I was sure I could join the tea party simply by falling down a rabbit hole and would spend ages looking for white rabbits. Unfortunately there aren't that many white rabbits running around the north east of England!

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

This is a hilarious story about a pigeon who is desperate to drive the bus - but needs the permission of the reader to do so. He tries every kind of persuasive technique he can think of - begging, offering something, getting cross and getting upset - just so he can drive this bus. He also tries to make friends with you. I think everyone in the school knows how much my class and I believe in being good friends to one another. We even signed a contract!
This book makes me giggle each time I read it and I understand why he would like to drive a bus. I would be happy to drive a bus, however I am not sure it would fit in our school car park and I prefer my blue car anyway...

Guess who wrote this review?

Mr Messy by Roger Hargreaves

This was one of my favourite books when I was a child and I still enjoy reading it to my class now. On one of the pages, there are lots of dirty fingerprints which are supposed to be from Mr Messy, however, as a child, I was convinced that I had put them there! Mr Messy is generally a very messy, dirty character, who learns to be clean and tidy with the help of Mr Neat and Mr Tidy.

Mr Men books are great because each one tells the story of a character who has a major fault and how they learn to overcome this. My first Mr Men book was in Dutch because I grew up in Holland. It was the story of Mr Uppity and I now have this in English too. I don’t think you are ever too old to enjoy a Mr Men story, so read them all and have fun!