Good Reads: Havelock Primary School, Southall

Chosen by Year 4 children at Havelock Primary School, Southall, Middlesex.

Thanks to Adrian Seviour, class teacher.

I Wish, I Wish

Paul Shipton, Oxford ‘TreeTops’, 0 19 918515 8, £2.99 pbk

Have you ever wanted a way to make all your dreams come true? Debbie did… I have been reading I Wish I Wish. It is about a girl named Debbie who just has to buy her mum a present before Sunday. She has only one pound and thirty-four pence. In a second-hand shop she finds lots of old, gloomy chairs, tables, rusty bike frames and photographs – a load of junk. She does finally discover an old lamp which costs… yes, one pound thirty-four pence exactly! She rubs the top of the lamp on the way home and out comes… a genie of course… My favourite part is when Vicky (Debbie’s sister) faints when her best pop star comes to their house. This is a very interesting book and I recommend it to you. It is for children of all ages and my wish is to give it a 10 out of 10.

Yewande Adisa

Hamper’s Great Escape

Pippa Goodhart, Oxford ‘TreeTops’, 0 19 918511 5, £2.99 pbk

If you want to build a hamster an adventure playground cardboard is probably not the best material to use! Yes, Hamper (Sam and Clare’s pet) makes his great escape. It happens while the children are staying at their grandparents’ house. They make him a new exciting home – he has other plans! They follow his trail of tiny red footprints all over the cups and dishes. Why red? Find out by reading this exciting (and funny) story. Just be careful with your pet hamster and if it does get lost don’t forget to look in the radiator pipe. Our favourite part was when grandad boasts that he used to be a firefighter, scared of nothing, even rescued a tiger from a tree. But he’s scared of Hamper! We recommend this book, especially to anyone who has a hamster. It will give you some useful information.

Harris Iqbal and Kamaljit Jaswal

The Personality Potion

Alan MacDonald, Oxford ‘TreeTops’, 0 19 918516 6, £2.99 pbk

Take some green food colouring, some bicarbonate of soda and mix well. You have the Personality Potion guaranteed to stop you feeling shy. Well it works for Danny or does it? This is what happens. Danny Doolan has to do a play at school. He is shy so his uncle (a professor) works up a potion. You should read this book. It is excellent, at least 10 out of 10. There’s much more of course. Laura Mills (the girl Danny likes), Duncan Wicks (Danny’s enemy) and Sparrow (his best friend). I won’t tell you any more. This book is too good to spoil. You’ll just have to stop being shy and read it!

Meera Randhawa

Pet Squad

Paul Shipton, Oxford ‘TreeTops’, 0 19 916876 8, £2.70 pbk

Are you sometimes bullied? Did you know your pets can be bullied too? Pet Squad is about a group of pets who save other animals from the big, bad bullies. Meet the squad. First, the leader Bubbles (a goldfish, he tells the story), Polly (a parrot of course), Lightning (a tortoise) and four others. Our favourite bit is when one of the bullies (Spud, a dog) bites the milkman’s trousers. We like the pictures and the speech bubbles. Children who have pets will enjoy this book too. So, look out, your pets may be forming their own Pet Squad.

Rohit Kumar and Samarthan Vijayakumar

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