Authors and Reading - Kids on the Net

This book review is about Where the Red Fern Grows by: Wilson Rawls. The book was abuot a boy, living in the Ozark Mts., who tries to save up $50.00 to buy two coonhounds that he found in an add in a magazine he found. After he saved up for his dogs, his grandpa ordered the dogs for him. When the dogs came in they were all the way in town. His grandpa told him that a man he knew was going to town that week and that Billy could go. A week was too long for Billy so he snuck out and headed for town that night

That's all I'm going to say about the book so I don't give it away. Oh, one more thing06/11/2003 Billy runs into a mountain lion - twice!!!

We had to read this book in school and in my opinion it was not a very good book. From a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being the best) I would give this book a 2. But this is just my opinion, you may enjoy this book because everyone else in my class gave it fours and fives on a scale of one to five (again the highest number being the best).

Vicky Angel By Jacqueline Wilson

Well this book is the best book ever. In school we have quiet time. One day I was reading the book, and I laughed so loud and every one heard me. Well anyway Jacqueline Wilson you are like my idol, you are the best author ever. I am a real book worm, and if you never wrote such great books I wouldn't be sitting here now. I've have this bookshelf full of over 500 books. I have all of the books you have ever wrote! So thanks.
(October 2003)

Dear Olly by Michael Morpurgo

Dear Olly is an excellent book. Olly, Matt and Hero are the main characters. The book has three different but linked stories. Olly's story, Matt's story and Hero's story.

Olly's story comes first. Olly is trying to get over her brother Matt moving to Africa to become a clown. Olly is asked by Matt to look after his swallows and while she is looking after them one of them is attacked by a cat. Olly and her mum nurse him back to full health and name him Hero. He flies to Africa and thats when it becomes Hero's story.

Hero's story is about an endless journey to Africa to spend the winter. Matt's story is all about him going to an orphanage in Rwanda. While Matt's in Africa he meets a boy named Gahamire.

It was while Matt was looking for Gahamire a terrible accident happens. Read the book and find out what happens!

I would highly recommend this book because the cover attracts you and the illustrations are superb.

Marks out of 10 we would give it 10.
(October 2003)

The Fire Within by Chris D'Lacy

I strongly recommend that all 9-13 year olds read The Fire Within. It is a tale of Pottery Dragons who are real and a college student lodging with the lady who makes the clay dragons and her daughter. The boy in the story writes a story about squrrels who live nearby, whose homes are being threatened. His clay dragon helps him write it as a present for a young girl's birthday, this girl loves the animals around her. Its a story of myth, mystery, animals, real life, danger and many more genres and the best book I have ever read. I have also just bought the sequel, IceFire, but I am only up to page 21 , look out for my review on this too! (October 2003)

Point Blanc by Anthony Horowitz

At school, I am reading the most spectacular book, Point Blanc. When our teacher sent us home to read the first chapter, I couldn't help myself reading on. Point Blanc is an action adventure book which is both exciting and funny.
Usually I hate doing unit work on books, but I loved doing unit work on this book. I would recommend this book to all ages. (October 2003)

The Angel of Nitshill Road by Anne Fine

It was brilliant, funny, great and fabulous. I loved Celeste because she was so funny and had a great personality. I didn't like Barry because he was a big bully. He upset Penny by calling her a 'Moving Mountain'. I thought that was very cruel of him.
The illustration on the front cover was very good.
The best part was when they did a 'round robin'- that was fabulous.
I would recommend it for all ages. (October 2003)

George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl

This book is so exciting, it was fun to find out what happened to Grandma when she took George's Marvellous Medicine. I liked the part when George's dad was going crazy about the medicine, and when Grandma drinks more medicine and shrinks to nothing. George did try to stop her but she didn't listen. It's a wonderful book. (October 2003)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

I really liked Charlie and the Chocolate Factory because it is a really funny book and everyone who reads this book will be laughing their socks off. I would recommend this book for anyone of any age. My favorite part was when Charlie got to go in the glass elevator with his Grandpa Joe and Mr Willy Wonka because the lift kept going really fast in all directions. I would give this book ten out of ten. (October 2003)

George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl

I liked this book because of the fantastic amazing potions and medicines. I liked all of the characters because they are extremely funny and stupid. My favourite character is Mr Kranky because he is so, so, so funny. My favourite part is when Mr Kranky starts to flap up and down shouting anxiously, "I'm a millionaire." I would recommend this amazing book to any age because it makes you laugh so hard it hurts. I would give this book 10 out of 10. (October 2003)

"The Great Gilly Hopkins" by Katherine Paterson

This story is really funny. It's about a girl named Gilly Hopkins. Gilly is 11 years old and she is in the 6th grade. Gilly is an orphan who has moved a lot and who has been kicked out a lot. Like one time she wet the bed and she was kicked out. She had to go live with a lady named Trotter and her son W.E. In the beginning of the book Gilly thought W.E. was annoying and she thought that Trotter was mean, but at the end Gilly figured out that Trotter and W.E. weren't so bad and she figured out that she loved them. So you find the book and you'll love it.

My favorite part of the book is when Gilly finds the money at Mr. Randolph's house.

I would give this book two thumbs up. It's great.

I would recommend this book both for boys and girls.
(September 2003)

More reviews of "The Great Gilly Hopkins", by Bath Middle School students

The Pelzer Review

Winner of the Kids on the Net Smart Reporting Competition, Summer 2003

Have you ever heard of a person named Dave Pelzer? Well, if you havent, you are missing out. He has written 3 fabulous books with his thoughts and memories about his tough child hood. Those great books are called A Child Called It, The Lost Boy, and A Man Named Dave. These books are about his younger years when his mother abused him. The first book is about how he got abused and how his family felt about it. The second book is about how he escaped from The Mother and The House. Also, it tells where Dave lived when he was in foster care. Last, but not least, the third book tells how Dave got out of foster care and what he did when he grew up. These interesting books are great ways to learn about warning signs for child abuse and why parents shouldnt do it to their children. You probably want to learn a little more about Dave Pelzers life. First of all, he had a hard life, as you can see. All he wore each day were a torn shirt, raggy pants, and worn out shoes. His mother never fed him and she made him sleep in the basement. During the day he would go to school, come back and start his agonizing jobs. Some of his jobs included washing the dishes, cleaning the bathrooms, and do as The Mother says. If he did not get the assignments done in time, there would be a price to pay. Some the punishments would be sitting on his hands and his head back for hours at a time, getting punched of slapped on the face, cleaning the bathroom with deadly gasses inside (ammonia and Clorox mixed), running to school non-stop, eating bad things, and roller skating in the freezing cold winter with hardly anything on. When The Mother punished Dave, he basically turned off all of his emotions because if he felt the pain everyday, then he would fight back. When the abusing had been constant everyday, Dave didnt want to feel it anymore. So he just turned of his emotions and thought that he was Superman. That was a great way to take his mind of painful things. Dave didnt mind it, but he didnt like it.

There were some moments that Dave didnt like at all, even if he tried to ignore them. Once when his mother was really drunk, she grabbed a knife and wobbled toward Dave. Then she lifted her hand with the knife, and stabbed Dave. He didnt die, but he was badly injured. After 30 minutes of cleaning up the wound, his mother made Dave get up and finish his jobs. This was really tough on Dave. One other thing that Dave hated was when his mother made him drink ammonia. After he gulped it down, his tongue and throat started to burn like crazy. When he looked in the mirror, his tongue looked like it had been chewed up because of the ammonia. Those were really bad times for Dave.

After about 6 or 7 years with living with The Mother, Dave finally escaped. You are probably wondering how he did it. One day when his mother was punishing Dave, she just stopped, opened the door and said, Get out of my house right now you foolish piece of rat!! Never come back here again!! So Dave stepped out of The House and just walked down the street. I am free!, Dave whispered to himself with a cheery tone. That was the day when Dave got away from his mother. He was very proud of himself because he actually made it through all of the rough years with The Mother. That was a really happy day.

There are happy parts and sad parts to all of these three books. That is why I enjoy them; there are things to look forward to and things to get through. After you have read these books, you are probably going to think that I am really happy to have a loving family that cares about me. That is what I thought about after I read these three inspiring books. Also, if you read the back of these books, you will find many interesting facts that may or may not be on the books. One thing that I learned from the back is that Dave Pelzer travels around the world inspiring people with his fabulous books. There are many other fantastic books that Dave has written, but they dont all have to do with this subject.

I hope that you will read these three marvelous books that are all about Dave Pelzers interesting life. (June 2003)

Book review - Frog and Toad

Runner Up in the Kids on the Net Smart Reporting Compeition, Summer 2003

I am writing a review about a book called Frog and Toad.

Once upon a time a frog and a toad were very best friends. They were so close, that they did everything together. They went to rivers and ponds to swim; they ate at the same time and together. They even lived and played in the same house together. One day Toad got sick. Frog had to take really good care of Toad. Then he had no one to play with. He could only read Toad some stories his mom read to him when he was sick. Toad had to lie in bed all day and eat disgusting soup. He hated soup. He felt better one week later and they could play all they wanted but there was one problem. Now Frog was sick! Toad had to do the same thing Toad did.

I recommend this book to really, really good readers. (June 2003)

Whatever Next! by Jill Murphy

This book is about a little bear who finds a box under the stairs and he pretends the box is a rocket and he wants to use it to go to the moon. Mrs Bear wants him to have a bath instead. Baby bear gets a sieve and pretends it is a space-helmet he also pretends his wellingtons are space-boots.

We like this book because it has good pictures and is a funny story. We give it a fantastic 5 stars!

Whatever Next

The book has very good pictures and is a good story. It is about a mummy and baby bear, the baby finds a rocket in the cupboard under the stairs, he finds a pair of space boots on the mat by the front door and away he goes. There is an owl in the story which flies past baby bear and his smart rocket.

This book is good for children up to ten year olds, we give it a great 5 stars.

A piece of cake by Jill Murphy

We especially liked it when the baby said mummy's got wobbly bits. The story is about a mother elephant who is fat. Mrs Large makes the whole family go on a diet. We liked the pictures and the colours in the book.

All in One Piece by Jill Murphy

The book is about a family of elephants. It is interesting because Mummy elephant wants to go out but the children don't want her to go. Mummy elephant has a dress on and sits in the childrens paints.This book should be for younger children.

Five Minutes' Peace by Jill Murphy

The book is about a family of elephants and the mummy wants five minutes' peace. All the children want to show their mum their things but all she wants is some time on her own but they keep bothering her.

I like this book because I like elephants.

We give this book 5 stars!

Whatever Next by Jill Murphy

Whatever Next is a good book because it is funny. It is about a Baby bear and his mummy. The baby bear doesn't want a bath, he wants to go to the moon. He finds a rocket under the stairs, and sets off to the moon.

We give this book 5 stars.

Peace at last

This book is about three bears, Daddy bear, Mummy bear and Baby bear. Daddy bear is trying to get to sleep but he can't. He trys to sleep everywhere but it was just too uncomfortable. We like it because it has lots of different sounds which are good.

We give this book 5 stars! It is great.

A piece of cake, by Jill Murphy

This story is about some elephants that think they are fat. This is a family that decided to go on a diet. A cake arrived from Granny, so they put in the cupboard. It is a funny story because it made us laugh.

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Where the Red Fern Grows By: Wilson Rawls

Vicky Angel By Jacqueline Wilson

Dear Olly by Michael Morpurgo

The Fire Within by Chris D'Lacy

Point Blanc by Anthony Horowitz

The Angel of Nitshill Road by Anne Fine

George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl

"The Great Gilly Hopkins" by Katherine Paterson

The Pelzer Review

Book review - Frog and Toad

Whatever Next! by Jill Murphy

Whatever Next

A piece of cake by Jill Murphy

All in One Piece by Jill Murphy

Five Minutes' Peace by Jill Murphy

Whatever Next by Jill Murphy

Peace at last

A piece of cake, by Jill Murphy