Good Reads: Trafalgar Junior School

Chosen by pupils from Trafalgar Junior School, Twickenham.

Thanks to Richard Smith and the Readers and Writers Club

Switchers

Kate Thompson, Red Fox, 0 09 925612 6, £3.99 pbk

This book is about two children who can change into any animal they want very quickly just by thinking about them. Tess and Kevin are the two main characters in the book. Tess is my favourite character. I like her because she is imaginative and very fond of animals like me. Kevin is very shy and quiet. At first Kevin and Tess don’t like each other but soon they become friends and have interesting adventures together. They help other animals and people by saving their lives and finding ways of getting them out of trouble.

Natasha Rix

I Was a Rat …or The Scarlet Slippers

Philip Pullman, Doubleday, 0 385 40979 6, £10.99 hbk

This imaginative book written by Philip Pullman is about a boy called Roger who claims he was a rat! One day Joan and Bob find a little boy (Roger) on their doorstep, saying he had been a rat! After that Roger had loads of adventures and got pulled into terrible things like stealing. It gets too much for Roger and he wants to be a rat again so he hides in the sewers. Then he is seen by lots of people and they think he is a monster. They trap him and put him on trial to see if he should be exterminated. The people decide to exterminate him but, the lovely Princess Aurelia (who knows that he was a rat) comes to his rescue. Roger then went to live with Joan and Bob.

This book was a great read. I recommend this book to everyone. Star rating five out of five.

Rebecca Goldberg

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

J K Rowling, Bloomsbury, 0 7475 3848 4, £4.99 pbk

This book had to be one of the best books I had ever read. I liked it because it was funny and exciting and had me gripped all the way through. It was about a boy called Harry Potter who is a wizard. He goes to a school of wizardry and witchcraft and together with his friends he has to defeat a beast and get into the chamber of secrets. My favourite character is Harry because he is very brave and always willing to take on a challenge. I enjoyed reading this book more than the first Harry Potter book because it had a lot more going on in it and a lot of new characters were introduced. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone who likes reading.

Lizzie Broughton

The Bed and Breakfast Star

Jacqueline Wilson, Corgi Yearling, 0 440 86324 4, £3.99 pbk

I like this book because this girl hasn’t had an easy life, moving from home to home was bad enough, but now she is living in a bed and breakfast hotel.

I like how the author just tells it like it is.

My favourite character is Elsa because she is loud and not embarrassed to do what she wants. I don’t have a favourite part in the story because I enjoyed it all.

Amy Holmes

Black Beauty

Anna Sewell, various editions

Black Beauty is a book written from the point of view of a horse. He is a good tempered horse and experiences many kinds of owners, from nasty to nice. His owners make him do all sorts of jobs from being a carriage horse to a cab horse. There weren’t many illustrations but the ones that were in it were lovely. They were quite simple but gave a good impression on the scenes describing the book.

Two other books of the same sort are Stray by A N Wilson and Blitzcat by Robert Westall. Unlike Black Beauty, Stray is funny but like Black Beauty it’s emotional and exciting. Blitzcat is very much like Black Beauty because it’s serious and moving. All three books are written from the point of view of an animal. In my opinion Black Beauty is a brilliant book. The choice of words describe the book and its scenes perfectly. It was as if I really was looking through the eyes of a horse.
Rebecca Heron