Tag: adventure

Beetle Boy

Do you love adventure books? Fast-paced, exciting ones that scoop you up at the beginning and spin you into their mysterious world like a magical web but – all too soon – thrillingly spit you out at the end, feeling exhilarated and yearning for more? Great, you’re in the right place…

Even the most reluctant reader would find Beetle Boy difficult to put down. This is a detective story with brave characters so well-drawn that you will find yourself wishing they were your friends. If you are a lover of the repugnant villains to be found in Roald Dahl and David Walliams’ stories, then you will find Lucretia Cutter a wonderfully imagined character equally dreadful and dastardly!

The backdrop of heroic beetles is original and I was fascinated to learn more about this species; the author has clearly thoroughly researched and grown to love them. I found myself sneaking in a few pages of this fabulous book at the oddest times just so that I could find out what happened next.  As the book concluded, I didn’t want to leave the wondrous world MG Leonard had created. Thankfully, Beetle Boy is the first of a trilogy and I have now enjoyed all three titles – each as mysterious and well-written as the first. You are in for a treat!

Mrs Oshungbure

Sky Hawk

Sky Hawk

One of my favourite books!

This book has thrilling action, sadness, happiness, excitement and romance. It is perfect because it has cliff hangers and ends with page turners. I chose this book in a library just by reading the blurb and read up to two chapters a day.

It is about a boy called Callum who lives on a farm. He spots a girl who is trying to catch a fish and manages it first try; she is called Iona. She becomes one of Callum’s best friends but unfortunately his other two friends make fun of Iona and Callum struggles to manage these relationships. Iona has a secret that she can’t trust anyone else with but Callum – she has found an osprey nesting on the farm.

Iona sadly passes away with summer ‘flu leaving Callum feeling desperately lost. He finds comfort in caring for the osprey and this leads him to make unlikely friendships all the way in Africa! I would recommend reading this book because it helps you when you have sad times in life and you can’t take advice from anyone else. I enjoyed this book and class it as one of my favourites.

Lani, Y5

Perfect book gifts

Adding books to Christmas stockings is a must, but which books will actually be read and loved? Whilst we’re all grateful to David Walliams for having a new title ready just in time for the festive shopping once again (and if you haven’t read it yet, The Ice Monster is another winner!), wouldn’t it be lovely for our children to branch out and discover new favourite authors?

As teachers, we are fortunate to enjoy frequent book discussions with children who have a variety of literary tastes and interests but you may not know that we also read a lot of children’s fiction ourselves. Afterall, one of the best ways to encourage children to read is to rave about what we have just enjoyed too!

So, if you’re looking for a stocking filler that comes highly recommended, look no further. You will find the books grouped as Early Readers (for children within the first year or two of reading independently), Starting to Fly (able to tackle longer chapter books) and Soaring with Confidence (for accomplished readers). We hope you find it useful and welcome your comments and suggestions at the bottom.

Soaring with Confidence

Beetle Boy, M G Leonard
Fish in a Tree, Lynda Mullaly Hunt
The Last Wild, Piers Torday
The House with Chicken Legs, Sophie Anderson
The 1000 Year Old Boy, Ross Welford
Sky Hawk, Gill Lewis
Welcome to Nowhere, Elizabeth Laird
Letters from the Lighthouse, Emma Carroll
Hatchet, Gary Paulsen
The Explorer, Katherine Rundell
Pax, Sara Pennypacker
There are further recommendations longlisted in the Redbridge Children’s Book Award here.

Starting to Fly

The Parent Agency, David Baddiel
A Boy Called Christmas or The Girl Who Saved Christmas, Matt Haig
The Creakers or The Christmasaurus, Tom Fletcher
The Girl with the Lost Smile, Miranda Hart
The Wild Robot and The Wild Robot Escapes, Peter Brown
Julius Zebra, Gary Northfield
Kensuke’s Kingdom, Michael Morpurgo
Dead Man’s Cove, Lauren St John
The Last Chance Hotel, Nicki Thornton

Early Readers

Swallows and Spiders, Julia Donaldson
Mudpuddle Farm, Michael Morpurgo
The Bolds, Julian Clary
Claude, Alex T. Smith
The Truth Pixie, Matt Haig
Wigglesbottom Primary, Becka Moor & Pamela Butchart
Little Legends, Tom Percival
Lottie Lipton Adventures, Dan Metcalf
Captain Pug, Laura James
Uncle Gobb, Michael Rosen
Bananas in my Ears, Michael Rosen
Betsey Biggalow, Marjorie Blackman
Roald Dahl (shorter books include The Twits and Billy and the Minpins)
Winnie the Witch chapter books (e.g. Winnie Takes the Plunge), Laura Owen & Korky Paul
Paddington, Michael Bond
Oliver Moon, Sue Mongredien

Thank you,
Mrs Oshungbure