George’s Marvellous Medicine

Author:  Roald Dahl

Review by: Imogen

Year Group: Year 5

Review:

There was a boy called George who had a horrible grandma. One day his mother went to the shops which were out of town. His horrible grandma had to take medicine which was brown. He decided to change the medicine so he put things in from all the rooms. George wanted to this because she was brutal to him so it was revenge. When she took the  medicine she grew big and tall . When his dad and mum got home they were shocked and happy because they could be rich not poor if they used it on the animals . They had run out of the medicine so they tried to make it more and it failed three times.

Mark out of 5…

5 – Excellent

Percy Jackson and the lightning thief

Author:  Rick Riordan

Review by: Edith

Year Group: Year 5

Review:

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is a fun and slightly sarcastic book that combines ancient Greek mythology with the modern world. The main character is Percy Jackson and throughout the book and the rest of the series you follow Percy as he discovers that the world of Greek myths is still alive and thriving though a place called Camp Half-Blood.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys action, adventure and history.

Mark out of 5…

5 – Excellent

The catastrophic friendship falls of Lottie Brooks

Author:  Katie Kirby

Review by: Martha

Year Group: Year 5

Review:

This book is a diary about a 12 year old girl called Lottie Brooks who has only had a year in high school and has just found out that her best friend Molly is moving from Australia to her school, Kingswood high.

Lottie’s friendship with Molly and her new friend Jess and the mean girl Amber who is trying to take Molly away from Lottie could end in tears.

Lottie gets the lead role in a musical as a singing crab which gives her another chance to impress someone special. Lottie’s got a spot on her face and tries everything to get rid of it and has had it for so long that she has named it Mount Barabra. Lottie’s two hamsters help her get through this despicable friendship drama!

This book has made me feel happy and it made me laugh. I would recommend this book to people who like funny diary style writing and reading about friendship. This is the 2nd book of Lottie Brooks. Her first was just as good and I’m looking forward to the 3rd one which is coming soon.

Mark out of 5…

5 – Excellent

Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories

Author:  Jeff Kinney

Review by: Josh

Year Group: Year 5

Review:

This book has 14 hilarious spooky stories. Most of them have laugh out loud plot twists. There are reverse zombie invasions, living stains and ghost people. My favourite story is called the scanner and it is about people going in a new airport security scanner and when people go through they turn into skeletons. These stories are so funny because something silly always happens like thinking someone was dead when they are not. I would think that people who like Diary of a Wimpy Kid whould like this. This 217 page book is one of the best books I have got in a while.

Mark out of 5…

4 – Very Good

The Famous Five

Author:  Enid blyton

Review by: Imogen

Year Group: Year 5

Review:

I think that you should read this book because it is about five kids that go to camp. The kids names were Julian, Dick, George, Anne and Timothy the dog. They always had dark and dangerous adventures. They were camping in a tent on the high moors and spooky trains came by in the dead of the night. The famous five had lots of mysteries to solve in tunnels at any times of the dark night. There are lots of other books of the famous five.

Mark out of 5…

5 – Excellent

Dog Man Fetch 22

Author:  Dave Pilkey

Review by: Xander

Year Group: Year 5

Review:

Dog Man is a story about a police man with a head of a dog and his friends. Together they fight crime. It’s my favorite book on the book shelf. It’s a comic book so you read it rather fast but there are multiple books in the series. I would suggest you buy one to start with to see if you like it, and if you do buy the rest because like I said before, you get through them a lot faster than other books.

Mark out of 5…

5 – Excellent

The Railway Children

Author:  E.Nesbit

Review by: Miriam

Year Group: Year 5

Review:

When Peter, Roberta and Phyllis’ father is mysteriously taken from them, they go to live in the country along with their mother. Unable to afford to go to school, they spend their time at the railway, talking to the station master and exploring the line. At 9.15 every morning, they wave at the train, hoping it will take their love to their father. There is one old gentleman that always waves back to them, and, one day, will help them to discover the truth.

This book was very realistic, it could have easily been a true story. I really enjoyed it.

Mark out of 5…

4 – Very Good

The Golden Goose

Author:  Dick King-Smith

Review by: Miriam

Year Group: Year 5

Review:

Farmer Skint is a very unlucky farmer. His  cows often got foul-in-the-foot, his pigs often got swine fever and his chickens were always being eaten by foxes. One day, Farmer Skint went to his old goose shed and discovered a golden egg! This egg hatched out into a golden goose, named Joy by the farmer’s wife. Whenever they touched her, their mood changed from worried and anxious to happy and excited. Life on the farm became very fortunate and everything goes well, until their postman hears about Joy…

This book was really delightful and made me believe that anything was possible!

Mark out of 5…

5 – Excellent

The Wolf Wilder

Author:  Katherine Rundell

Review by: Miriam

Year Group: Year 5

Review:

Feo and her mother live in the northern forests of Russia, miles from anywhere. Their job is to re-wild wolves who have been taken as pups and kept as pets by rich Russians. When evil Rakov orders them to stop their work with the wolves and sets their house on fire, Feo’s mum is captured and taken to St Petersburg prison to await trial.  

Ilya, a soldier with a secret passion for ballet dancing, luckily becomes friends with Feo and together with wolves Tenderfoot, Grey, Black and White, they set out to cross Russia and rescue her mother.

This book was amazing! It made me feel as if I was there, watching it happen. I recommend it to children (and adults) who love adventure stories.

Mark out of 5…

5 – Excellent

I Swapped My Brother on The Internet

Author:  Jo Simmons

Review by: Finn

Year Group: Year 5

Review:

In the book, Johnny has had enough of his older brother Ted so he decides to swap him on the internet for a new one. Mervyn is the first new brother who was a merboy.  Johnny was so excited to meet his new brother. His new brother was from Bonkersville. Mervyn had never ridden a bike before and he had never tried a Jaffa cake before either. Johnny allowed Mervyn to ride his bike whilst he rode Ted’s bike and Johnny believed he was now the big brother.

A few weeks later Johnny found a note saying that Mervyn had decided to rip his trousers off, jump in to the waves and go away to sea. Johnny was feeling sad but he understood the call of the sea was to strong for Mervyn because it wasn’t fair for a merboy to live on land.

Johnny then emailed the sibling swap offices and told them Mervyn had gone away to sea and asked for a new brother. The office told Johnny they have the perfect match for him.

 A boy called Hari turns up at the door, he had a tag around his neck and squeaked whilst running happily around the room on all fours. Hari squeaked every time Johnny spoke to him.  Johnny couldn’t help thinking that this wasn’t really what he’d signed up for. He emailed the sibling swap offices again asking for another brother and eventually he wished for his brother Ted back.

I enjoyed this book because it reminds me of my brother and how I would like to swap him. I also like it because Johnny meets a lot of new people and gets up to exciting things.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has an annoying older brother.

Mark out of 5…

4 – Very Good

Ottoline and the Yellow Cat

Author:  Chris Riddell

Review by: Rhiannon

Year Group: Year 5

Review:

Ottoline and the Yellow Cat is the first of four books written and illustrated by the fantastic Chris Riddle.

Ottoline lives on the 24th floor of the Pepper Pot Building and she lived in Apartment 243 with Mr. Munro, who was small and hairy creature from a bog in Norway.

Ottoline’s mum and dad, “Ma and Pa”, found Mr. Munro and took him home to look after Ottoline when they went exploring, which started when Ottoline was a baby.

Ottoline’s life is full of mystery and exciting adventures, so she grows up to be a child detective and is very good at solving problems.

In this book she helps find missing dogs, who have been stolen in very odd circumstances.

I like this book because I really like cartoons and adventures and this book gives you not just that, but it makes you laugh.

I liked the villain because she is a proper baddie.

I loved the illustrations, which were interesting to look at and helped me to understand the story and imagine what the characters might actually look like.

It’s funny, full of curiosity and is one of the best books I’ve ever read.

It teaches you – never let your dog out of your sight!

I mark it out of 5 a 5.

I recommend it for all ages.

Mark out of 5…

5 – Excellent

Dork Diaries

Author:  Rachel Renee Russell

Review by: Ginny

Year Group: Year 5

Review:
The book is about a girl called Nikki, living in the shadows. She is quiet, not popular and only has two friends. She enters an art competition and Mackenzie the school bully ruins her picture as she wants to win. Her friends secretly build her another art competition entry and she wins. I thought this book was very funny and had a happy ending and it shows that being a bully is not good.

Mark out of 5…
5 – Excellent

The Highland Falcon Thief

Author:  M.G. Leonard & Sam Sedgman

Review by: George

Year Group: Year 5

Review:

Step into a world of trains with this amazing book.

Harrison Beck and his Uncle Nat are invited on the final journey of a very famous train called The Highland Falcon. When a very precious jewel gets stolen Hal and his friend Lenny try to find out who stole the jewel. Can they figure it out who the thief is before the end of the line? I chose this book because I love trains. I thought this book was amazing. I would recommend this book to people who like trains and people who like adventure.

Mark out of 5…

5 – Excellent

The Boy at The Back of The Class

Author:  Onjali Q. Rauf

Review by: Daisy

Year Group: Year 5

Review:

This book is about Ahmet, a refugee boy from Syria who’s family has been separated on the journey to escape the war in his home country of Syria. He has come to England to start a new life but cannot speak the language and doesn’t know anyone here. He starts school with an interpreter to help him.  Four best friends come together to endeavour to help Ahmet find his parents, and they make friends with him and help him stand up to the school bully and overcome prejudice.  What a plan they conjure up together. First they become his friend, then they decide on a plan of action, then they get to work.

Their plan is dangerous, they skip school and travel on the London Underground by themselves in their hopes to get a message to the Queen before a crucial deadline expires. Who knows what happens next?

I liked this book because it was full of adventure and every chapter left you wanting to read more.

The moral of this book I think is to always be kind and not to judge a person by their appearance. The friends showed courage and determination to help Ahmet and I’m not sure I would have been so brave!  I recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure aged 7+

Mark out of 5…

4 – Very Good

Survivors

Author:  David Long and Kerry Hyndman

Review by: Fergus

Year Group: Year 5

Review:
I am enjoying this book because it is all about how people survived dangers around the world!

This book is made up of several true stories for example Juliane Koepcke, the girl who fell from the sky and Poon Lim, the man who sucked blood from a shark.

All the people in this book are brave because they didn’t give up even though they probably felt like it.  This shows perseverance, which is one of our School values.

The story of Sue Ruff and Bruce Nelson, the couple who were blasted by a volcano, is my favourite so far.  This tale is about the deadliest eruption in American history and talks about “an avalanche of rock and soil careering down the mountainside”.   I enjoyed reading about the helicopter rescue at the end.

Whilst reading this book, I have learnt that an ornithologist is somebody who studies birds and their behaviour.

A word I was not sure about was the word “disintegrate”.  According to the dictionary, it means to separate into parts or fragments.

I have not read a book like this before but I will read another one like it.  I recommend this book to people 5-12 years of age even though my Mummy enjoyed it too!

Mark out of 5…
4 – Very Good