Good Reads: Moulsecoomb Primary School

Chosen by Year 4 pupils (8-9 year olds) from Moulsecoomb Primary School, Brighton.

Thanks to Ms Shillikar, Ms Boyles and Andrew Bradstreet

The Suitcase Kid

Jacqueline Wilson, Corgi, 0 440 86311 2, £4.99 pbk

We loved it because of the way that it was written makes it sound real and you can relate to the characters. We liked the beginning of the story when Andy was sad about her parents splitting up and that they don’t know what to do with her, but at the end of the book Andy likes being at mum’s house and at dad’s house. During this time she grows up but still remembers Mulberry Cottage. Andy also learns why Katie won’t go to sleep and this is why; Katie was scared because when her mum died Paula and Graham told her that it was just like going to sleep. After that Katie would try to stay awake all night. Andy loses her best friend Aileen because her mum’s house is a long way away and dad’s house is even further away. Andy also has to learn about Haikus, which are little Japanese poems.

I wish I were

In Mulberry Cottage

With mum and dad

And Radish.

We enjoyed reading this book and there was nothing in the book which we didn’t like. My best part of the book was when Andy went to the counsellor and the counsellor said that ‘It must take a lot of organizing.’ and Andy said, ‘It’s as easy as ABC. Really.’ My least favourite bits are when Katie gets Andy into trouble. We think that the age group for this book is from 7 to 12 years of age. We thought the book was interesting and very exciting.

Natasha Upton-Maher and Samara Goode

Bye Bye Baby

Janet and Allan Ahlberg, Puffin, 0 14 056582 5, £4.99 pbk

In the beginning of the book the little boy lives on his own, he has to look after himself, feed himself and bath himself. He decides that he needs to find a mummy so he packs his case and goes off. He finds a cat sitting on a wall and takes it with him. Then he meets a teddy and takes that with him, then he meets a clockwork hen, then he sees an old uncle sitting on a bench. He falls over and lands on the teddy and hen and bumps his nose. The uncle picks him up but stands on the cat’s tail. It starts to rain and the baby shouts I WANT MY MUMMY. A lady walks around the corner with a pram and says ‘I’m a mummy without a baby you can be my baby.’ She takes him home and baths him and looks after him. He wants to find a daddy so he goes for another walk. While on the walk he meets a horse then a rabbit then a farmer and he asks them to be his daddy, the horse and the rabbit say no but the farmer says yes. So in the end they all live happily ever after. I like this book because it ends with the baby getting a mum and a dad to look after him. I didn’t like it when the uncle treads on the cat’s tail. I think most children would enjoy this book because it is a little funny.

Jemma Virgo

The Cat in the Hat

Dr Seuss, Collins, 0 00 715844 0, £4.99 pbk

We like this book because it rhymes and it is funny. The cat opens a box and thing one and thing two come out and they do the opposite of what you say, so if you say ‘be good’ they would be bad. The cat makes trouble everywhere he goes and people only like him when he’s funny and not when he’s naughty. He only appears when there are no parents around and makes the children do naughty things, which they would not normally do. The fish starts to talk, which was strange. The fish tries to tell the children to behave and not to listen to the cat. The children do not listen to the fish and they chase thing one and two around the house because they are trying to wreck the house. The best bit of the book is when thing one and two are chasing around the house. We would recommend it to other children because the pictures are funny. They might need help reading some of the words. I think that this book would be good for children of six and above to read.

Celine Stannard and Toni Bonwick

The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark

Jill Tomlinson, Egmont, 1 4052 0177 0, £5.99 pbk

The book is called The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark. The story is about an owl called Plop who can’t fly and is afraid of the dark. When he wants to go out with his dad to get food it’s a disaster and if he goes out in the day his dad has to come to get him back up on the tree where they live. The owl Plop meets a lot of different characters during the day. He meets a bat, a hedgehog and a little girl. Plop is a funny character, he is fat and fluffy and he has got big eyes. When his mum and dad go to sleep Plop does not go to sleep, not in the day or the night. One of the funniest bits is when Plop nicks a man’s shoe and tries to run off with it. He doesn’t get very far because he cannot fly. The man gets his shoe back because Plop cannot run fast.

I think this book is fantastic! It was quite exciting in places and very funny to read. I think you should read it, especially if you like owls!

Charley Banks