Terry Pratchett had been talking about a book called Nation he'd really wanted to write for almost half a decade when he was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's. According to rumour, he'd already begun working on the next Tiffany Aching Discworld novel, I Shall Wear Midnight, but upon hearing the news he dropped it immediately to make sure Nation was written first.
Nation is not a Discworld novel, but is instead set in an alternate history very similar to our own late 19th Century when the British Empire was at its height. A tidal wave sweeps across the Great Southern Pelargic Ocean (the South Pacific) and wipes out the tribal civilisation of the Mothering Sunday Islands. In particular, the island simply known as the Nation is ... Read More:
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Jacqueline Wilson's stories deal with some very sensitive topics and they're fun to read, too, which is why I read 'Cookie' within a few days of its publication. As a teacher, I was hoping to use it as the basis for a classroom discussion with a group of Year 6s on some of the issues that the book brings up.
In the end I couldn't use it. The book seems to be aimed at much younger children, and the story doesn't fit together properly. When Beauty Cookson's mum realises that Beauty is being bullied over her appearance by her classmates, as well as by her vicious dad, she decides that she will teach Beauty how to bake cookies so that she can share them at school and subtly persuade the bullies to give her a new nickname - Cookie instead ... Read More:
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Jacqueline Wilson's stories deal with some very sensitive topics and they're fun to read, too, which is why I read 'Cookie' within a few days of its publication. As a teacher, I was hoping to use it as the basis for a classroom discussion with a group of Year 6s on some of the issues that the book brings up.
In the end I couldn't use it. The book seems to be aimed at much younger children, and the story doesn't fit together properly. When Beauty Cookson's mum realises that Beauty is being bullied over her appearance by her classmates, as well as by her vicious dad, she decides that she will teach Beauty how to bake cookies so that she can share them at school and subtly persuade the bullies to give her a new nickname - Cookie instead ... Read More:
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"Northern Lights" is a fantastic novel by Philip Pullman. It is the first book in a trilogy called "His Dark Materials". This book, is about a girl called Lyra, who lives in a universe like ours, but very different in lots of things. Lyra used to attend Oxford College until she finds out about "dust". When her friend Roger disappears, Lyra sets off to the North to find him with help of her "daemon" and an "alethiometer" given to her by the master of Oxford College. This book is one of those books in which someone cannot stop reading. It is perfectly written, exciting, and sometimes even scary. I not only recommend this book to children, but to every person that just needs something to be excited about.
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I think that My Sister Jodie is a brilliant book. I am shocked that people think otherwise but i suppose everyone has their own opinion. It is about two sisters one shy and one outrageous. Them and their family move to the an old fashioned, gothic boarding school. The parents work their as a cook and a caretaker. The ending is dramatic,brilliant but it is also quite sad (you have been warned) but you are comforted, make sure you have a tissue. When i read this book i could not put it down it took me 2 days to read it. I would recommend this book to girls aged 10 and over. I would not recommend it to boys because it is about two sisters.
I am a girl but my dads name is at the top. :)
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This prequel is the story of how Lee Scoresby met Iorek Byrnison (characters in the His Dark Materials trilogy, and if you haven't read that, better to start there than here). It might fairly be classed as a ripping yarn. It's a tale well told, charmingly illustrated with engravings by John Lawrence: inessential but fun.
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I read this over a few nights with my 7 year old daughter at bedtime. I have to say it touched me so much. Reading aloud, I could feel my voice starting to wobble when it came to Daisy talking about her feelings for her sister Lily who has learning difficulties. It was very well written and we both felt vexed for Daisy and contempt for the loathsome spoilt Chloe who gets her comeuppance. As someone who was sadly a victim of bullying at school I could really relate to Daisy's character and her worries and my daughter really empathised with her. I would definately buy more of this authors books.
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This is a beautiful book. The story and the illustrations work wonderfully together. Neither the story nor the illustrations take over, they are in balance with each other. It provides a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience. If you like graphic novels and illustrated books, this is definitely for you.
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This is my all time favourite book and Jacqueline Wilson is my best author. I have read many of her books and have enjoyed all of them. Candyfloss is very good and is all about a little girl called Floss who doesn't want to go to Australia with her mum and Steve. But she decides to go and live with her dad instead. What will happen to Floss and her dad when they get chucked out of the cafe?
To find out you will have to read this book!!!!!!!!!
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Although supposedly a book for younger audiences, the Wee Free Men would be enjoyable for any Discworld fan no-matter what their age. The book follows Tiffany Aching, a young farmgirl who must deal with an invasion of nightmare creatures, the disappearance of her younger brother and her own burgeoning power. All she has to help her is a frying pan, a book on the Diseases of the Sheep and the Wee Free Men, tough and drunken pictsies who enjoy a good fight.
Although the book does get off to something of a bad start it does pick up as you read and it turns into a greatly entertaining story. Terry Pratchett is a brilliant righter and this book is a great exposition of his strengths being funny, thoughtful and inventive all at the same time. The ... Read More:
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