One Third Stories: Friendly Mermaids and Snotty Dinosaurs

Hi! It's Emily again, and today I am doing a bilingual book review of a book that is in two languages at the same time.

What is the book called? 
The great Français word search

Who is your favourite character and why?
My favourite character is the mermaid (la sirène), because she is beautiful and I want to be a mermaid so it makes me want to be in the story.

What do you like about the book and why?
I liked the bit when the girl (la fille) meets the woman (la femme) because she uses a paintbrush to paint the woman (la femme) so she had some colour.

What do you not like about the book and why?
I didn’t like the bit when the dinosaur (le dinosaure) was snotty because I don’t like green slimy snot.

Why is this book special?
It is special because it’s in French and English and not many books are in French and English.

It would be even better if …
It would be even better if the witch (la sorcière), stole her words and she hid the words at the circus (le cirque).

I thought it was really clever how the book started out completely in English and then introduced more and more French words.

This book is available in German, French, Spanish and Italian. 

You can get your own copy from OneThirdStories by following this link: https://goo.gl/49z9KP

What did Katy do?

Hello my name is Jasmin and I’m 8 years old.I have been asked to write a review of “Katy” by Jacqueline Wilson.

The main characters are Katy, Izzie (Katy’s stepmum), Katy’s dad. One weekend they have a lady called Helen come to visit. Helen is in a wheelchair. They become good friends.

Could you tell us a little bit about the story?
A little bit about the story is that Katy broke her back and she was sad.

Where did the story take place?
The story took place in the town where Kate lives.

What did you think of the book?
The book was sad near the end.
I did not like it when Katy had an accident.
I would make the book better by having a happy ending.

What did you think of the cover?
I thought the cover was pretty because it is embossed and shiny.

Which character would you like to be and why?
I would like to be Katy because she is clever.

How long did it take you to read the book?
It took two nights to read this book.

Note from Mum: I think this book is written for older children (11+) as it needs a certain level of maturity to cope with the difficult themes in the story. Jacqueline Wilson writes at the end of the book, she wrote this book in response to the classic “What Katy Did”.

We were sent this book to review by "A Big Shot". These are our own views. 

Want to read it?


 

Detecting with Dotty

Hi, I'm Emily and I'm seven years old. This is my first ever book review, where my mum interviewed me about the Dotty Detective book by Clara Vulliamy.

What did you think of the book?

It was interesting. The part where Dotty has to guess the hidden code is very funny. It made me lough out loud!

What do you think of the cover?

It was clever as she is called Dotty the detective and there are gold shiny dots. The cover matches her top in the picture.

What was your favourite bit and why?

The part where Dotty tries to guess the hidden code and gets it wrong and when McClusky joins in the singing on the stage.

Who is your favourite character and why?
I like McClusky (the dog), Dotty and Beans. McClusky is my very favourite as he saves the day and is very cute.

How would you persuade your friends to read this book?
I would say, “It’s good because there are some funny bits and some bits you’ll really enjoy”.
I think it is a book for boys and girls because McClusky is a boy and Dotty is a girl.

When I first saw the book I though it was quite long, but my mum said we could sit together and I could her read a few chapters each evening. This worked really well and we both really enjoyed the book.

Want to read it for yourself?

 

Would you Rent a Bridesmaid?

Hi! I’m Jasmin and I’m eight years old.

I have been asked to write a review of “Rent a Bridesmaid” by Jacqueline Wilson.

The main characters are Tilly, Matty (Tilly’s friend) and Tilly’s dad.

In the story Tilly wants to be a bridesmaid, so she puts an advert in Sid’s shop window. She gets three replies asking for her to be a bridesmaid. She is amazed at how many replies she gets.

The part which surprised me was when Tilly’s mum visited because I thought she would never come. This made me feel happy.

The most exciting part of the story was when Tilly got a reply asking for her to be a bridesmaid.

I would change the part when Tilly’s mum didn’t stay to her staying because then Tilly would be able to be a bridesmaid at her mum and dad’s wedding.

If I could write another ending, Tilly would go to lots more weddings and become famous.

My mum's comments:

Jasmin read this 360 page book in just two evenings, a good sign she enjoyed it! I was really impressed by the extra activities at the end to design your own bridesmaid dress, finish a quiz about the book, make wedding favours and have fun with a wordsearch. As a mum there were lots of interesting relationships in the book to talk about together, which is great for pre-teens.

Want to read the book yourself? Check out the link below.

 

Review of David Baddiel’s book "The Person Controller"

My mum's intro:

Our family love reading. It’s great for language and literacy development and great fun too. We are considering a house extension just for a library!

I was chatting to a librarian friend a few months back and she mentioned this 2010 study “Family scholarly culture and educational success: Books and schooling in 27 nations” M.D.R. Evans a,∗, Jonathan Kelley b, Joanna Sikora c, Donald J. Treiman

A few of the key findings from this study were:

• Creating a ‘reading culture’ and having a wide selection of books present in the home enhances a child’s educational attainment.
• Increasing the number of books in the home, even by one title at a time, has a great impact on a child’s learning and boosts their attainment in the first few years of school.

In the light of this evidence for the value of reading we have another guest book review from my 8 year old reading monster (Jasmin).

She’s been reading David Baddiel’s new book. The Person Controller.

Who are the main characters?

The main characters are Ellie and her twin brother Fred. Ellie is really good at video games.

Who was your favourite character? 
The fat man, Ellie’s dad because he likes bacon. I don’t like
the bully because he is mean.

Which character would you like to be and why?

The mystery man as he is mysterious.
The story was funny and very silly. I do not think it would happen in real life.

Since finishing this book she’s asked me to buy her the prequel. The Parent Agency. I think that speaks volumes!

Want to read all of David's books? Check out the links below.