Wilberfoss Primary School

Here’s a special guest review from one of our ex-pupils. We wanted to know whether Helen Moss’ Adventure Island books would be perfect for those of you running out of Famous Five books to devour, so we asked one of last years Year 6 pupils to read them in between her Year 7 homework!

So over to Emily…..

These are a fantastic read for ages 7 and upwards I would say. You always want to read more!

It begins really interesting, getting you hooked in with a few words and the fab characters. After that it flows beautifully all fans of the Famous Five books will love this.

It is about 2 boys who get sent to the middle of nowhere to stay with their old-fashioned aunt for the whole summer! They think they are in for a really boring time but all that changes when they meet an interesting friend and now the three of them just cannot stop having adventures.

I couldn’t stop reading these fantastic tales, these thrilling adventures are well-written and full of unexpected twists that really draw you in. They remind me of Enid Blyton adventure books, but with a modern day feel.  I think these books are grand and really deserve to be read by everyone. 10 out of 10 from me!

SMILE is a graphic novel drawn and writing by RAINA TELGEMEIER.The Raina in the Book is the same person as the author.

It’s about an 11 year old girl called Raina.

When she falls down and knocks out her two front teeth she has to has to go through loads of dental appointments to get her teeth back to normal again.

Raina’s journey starts in Middle school all the way up to high school. Raina’s friends in middle school are horrible by teasing her lots but when she goes to high school she learns true friendship. You will have to read the book to find out about Raina’s friends from detail.

I like Smile because I like the characters and the book. I recommend it 10/10. I hope you enjoy it to.

Here at Wilberfoss we love, love, love reading, and we’re pleased to announce that we’re taking part in the Read For My School event this year.

It starts on Monday 28th January and runs to 22nd March… see Mrs Mcfetridge or Mr Bruton for more details but all you need to do is sign up at the website using the school code Mrs McFetridge gave you today (but make sure you tell us your user name!).

Read one of the books they recommend OR choose any book or graphic novel from the school library or from home.

Don’t be too worried about those categories either – you’ll be able to fit anything from the school library into one of the categories – just ask Mr Bruton for help if you need it!

Smile is a wonderful graphic novel by American author Raina Telgemeier. It tells a tale of a young girl who suffers a terrible accident, and loses her two front teeth. It’s the start of a long and painful journey of dentists, braces, surgery, headgear, all to get her smile working properly again.

But, as the boys and girls at school have found out, it’s about so much more than that. It’s one of those books that speaks so clearly to its audience, and everyone reading it finds something of their own lives in its pages; friendship issues, the trials and tribulations of growing up, new schools, and so much more.

It proved so popular in the graphic novel library that Mr Bruton had to buy a second copy, then a third, a fourth, a fifth, and a sixth! It’s the most popular graphic novel in the library, and amongst the top 5 of all loans in the library.

So, with Year 6 leaving us very soon, I thought it would be nice to say a goodbye from our library by collecting their thoughts on the book…. 

Review by Hazel (Year 6)

Smile is a really good book because it is all about a girl who has to have braces after she loses her two front teeth in a horrible accident. It is a true story and when I read it I could rally believe that everything Raina showed me was completely real.  After a while you feel like you get to know Raina and the other people in the book. I started to read Smile and I just couldn’t put it down.

Review by Holly (Year 5)

Smile is a lovely, and true story of Raina’s life, after she loses her two front teeth in an accident. You follow her on a really frustrating (for her) journey with so many different dentist visits, braces, weird headgear, elastics, even a retainer with fake teeth attached! I so loved this book that I couldn’t put it down! It’s amazing!

Review by Lucy (Year 6)

I liked Smile because it shows the reader that life can be full of challenges and difficulties, and my absolute favourite thing about it is that it’s all true, all of these horrible, painful things really happened to Raina. My favourite character is Raina, not just because she’s really brave about her teeth, but because she stands up to her mean friends in High School and finds some better ones. I think Smile gives out a message that tells girls around the world to make a stand and stand up to those who are mean to you, and never be afraid to move on!

Review by Mia (Year 6)

Smile is one of my favourite books! I thought it had a really good story and I liked the illustrations inside. I couldn’t stop reading it when I had started.

Review by Emily (Year 6)

I like the way that Smile is a true story about a problem that many children have to face at some point. I also found it a bit shocking and sad when I read about the accident and what Raina had to go through afterwards. It raises awareness of the problems you can go through if you have to wear braces.

Review by Rosie (Year 6)

Smile is a really good book because the pictures are really clear and detailed. I especially loved it when her friends gave Raina a deliberately horrible makeover! Smile is one of those books you have to read again and again. I have checked out Smile from the school library several times and it is definitely one of my top 3 books. I positively, definitely think Smile should be published in Britain.

Review by Maisie (Year 5)

I really enjoyed the book Smile because it was really good to read, and I was really shocked and upset for Raina when I saw her fall over and knock her teeth out! Ouch!.

Review by Lily (Year 5)

Raina just wants to be a normal girl, but one day after a Girl Scout camping trip, she has a horrible accident that makes her front two teeth come out. The scene where this happens is really exciting and scary, and pretty horrible. I certainly wouldn’t like it to happen to me! She has to have a lot of different braces, with all kinds of attachments, and wires, and bands – and I felt really sorry for her. I loved Smile and thought it was really good and dealt with some common problems in a very thoughtful way.

Review by Nick (Year 5)

It is a very good book and one of the best I’ve read so far. I like it because it’s funny, and it’s interesting to read about all of the problems caused by Raina’s one small trip.

Review by Eady (Year 5)

I really enjoyed Smile because it was funny, and I found myself gigglng many times all the way through reading it. The pictures really stand out and tell Raina’s story really well. I think this is the best book I’ve ever read. My favourite bit is when Raina gets her ears pierced shortly after she gets her first lot of braces. Her mom’s not sure, but Raina convinces her saying that she “didn’t really want the braces… but I want earrings”. It’s great seeing her grow up in the pages of the book, all the way to being a teen and going to High School, she even falls in love for a while!

Review by Kade (Year 5)

I think Smile was a dramatic and thrilling story – they even had an earthquake in it! I think it is a funny story and I’d recommend it to other people to read.

Review by Natalie (Year 5)

I really liked this book because it was funny, sad, and it had a really happy ending. I thought that the pictures have great detail and the book really stands out. As soon as I looked at the front cover I knew it was going to be good. The title is perfect for the book, as we get to see Raina having serious teeth problems all the way through, but at the very end, she feels comfortable with her smile again.

Review by Charlotte (Year 5)

I absolutely love graphic novels, but I’d say Smile is probably one of the best books I have ever read, not just the best graphic novel. It’s very funny all the way through, and my favourite part was the time when her mean friends pulled Raina’s skirt down – very embarrassing, very cruel, but also very funny. But it was all part of the main reason that I enjoyed Smile – the way Raina fights on through all her troubles, and shows us that as long as you believe in yourself and do the right thing you’ll succeed.

Review by Ailie (Year 4)

I think Smile is a very good book. I had it on loan from the library for a long time – but I did read it TWELVE times!! Yes, it’s that good! My favourite part is when Raina makes a new group of friends and has a lot of fun. I felt really sorry for Raina for having to cope with all that treatment for her teeth. It’s the best book I’ve read.

Review by James (Year 6)

Smile is a great graphic novel written by, and starring Raina Telgemeier, who tells us the true story of the time she was racing back to her house (when returning from girl scouts) but falls and knocks her two front teeth out. This is a really enjoyable book that contains lots of mouth surgery, lots of painful dental experiences, and a lot of smiling!

Yes, I think you can say that they all like it! Thanks to everyone for their reviews, especially Year 6! Good luck in your new schools.

And parents, if you do want to treat them to something – you’ll be able to get Smile at any good bookstore, provided they can get books from the US. Because sadly Scholastic UK have decided that books like Smile, Jeff Smith’s Bome, Amulet, and many other great Scholastic US graphic novels with huge popularity in America, aren’t going to be popular enough over in the UK. Hopefully, the glowing reviews of Smile say otherwise.

Raina Telgemier’s second graphic novel is called Drama and will be released in September.

Rumpelstiltskin

From the story by The Broithers Grimm, retold by Susanna Davidson, illustrated by Desideria Guicciardini

Review by Amy, Year 5

The tale of Rumpelstiltskin is a very old story that was first written in 1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm who lived in Germany.

The story is about a miller and his daughter Anna, who had to go to the King’s castle to turn straw into gold. If she turned all the straw into gold, the King would marry Anna and she would become Queen.

Anna couldn’t spin the straw into gold, and as she is sat crying a little man appears at the window. He agrees to help her, but in return Anna is made to promise that she will give the man her first-born child.

Anna and the King live happily until the birth of their first son. Suddenly, the little man reappears to take the baby…

I like this book because it is a magical story and I like magic. My favourite character was Rumpelstiltskin because I like his clothes and his name.

Dinopopolous

By Nick Edwards

Review by Emily (Year 6)

I really enjoyed reading Dinopopolous, and think it’s a really clever story with so many twists and turns.

The start is fantastically gripping, and it’s a shock to see what happens to Lancaster Perrifold, famous explorer!

All of the jewels and treasure you’ll see at the end are amazing. I thought the miracle bird was hilarious, and there are many silly little creatures all the way through (and a scary one!)

Review by Lucy (Year 6)

Dinopopolous is all a boy called Nigel, a regular teenage boy … or so you’d think. But Nigel is really a secret detective who solves mysteries that nobody else can be bothered to solve. This story starts with Nigel’s boss handing him another mystery that gets this young adventurer into lots of trouble; involving strange new worlds, fearsome creatures, and dinosaurs.

The main character is Nigel and his best friend/ co-worker, Brian. Brian’s a dinosaur, and he’s my favourite character because he’s a faithful and loyal friend and pet. He also manages to keep Nigel in order!

I like Dinopopolous because it’s bright and cheery even though it’s in black and white. It also has hints of romance, adventure, fantasy, and mystery. However it does get a bit confusing.

I’d give Dinopopolous 9/10 because even though it had a good beginning, near the end it got really confusing. But overall the storyline and graphics were amazing.

Review by James (Year 6)

I thought the book was quite good but at times I didn’t completely understand what was going on in the story.

The main storyline is about a boy going on a quest (with his very friendly pet dinosaur Brian) to find a hidden treasure for his boss.

The boy and the dinosaur have an unearthly adventure looking for “The Miracle Bird Of Ndundoo” and along the way there’s lots of trouble including having to fight off an evil gang of lizards!

….. and here are the first three pages of Dinopopolous – lots of fun!

Dennis The Menace – A Monster Menace

Written by Rachel Elliot

Review by Ben, Year 5

For any of you that don’t know, Dennis The Menace is a famous comic character from The Beano comic. He wears his famous red and black top and causes trouble and chaos wherever he goes, usually with his menacing dog Gnasher!

The Monster Menace is a book with three Dennis The Menace short stories inside. They were all great, but my favourite was “School Trip“.

Dennis is going on a school trip with his class. The day before the trip Dennis hid his catapult in the hedge so when his mum searched him he won’t have a catapult or anything bad.

The school bus had arrived at Dennis’s house and his mum searched Dennis just to be sure he did not have his catapult. When Dennis got outside he ran to the bush and got his catapult and then got on the school bus. What a Menace!

Dennis had already caused trouble on the bus. Finally the class got to Beanotown museum. The first place the class went to was the dinosaur hall but then the curator took the class to the fossil exhibit but Dennis and his friends were very sneaky and ran back to the dinosaur hall and Dennis and caused more and more trouble.

The curator came running in to see what happened. Everyone went MENTAL! The curator went green so Dennis’s teacher suggested they got something to eat, after which they carried on their trip with the Egyptian exhibition.

As the Curator was speaking about the history of Egypt, Dennis, Pieface and Curly ran away from the group again and went into the model pyramid and CAUSED TROUBLE!

What I liked about the book is it was really really interesting and it had a very good pictures. This book was very funny and exciting, my favourite part was when Dennis got in the mummy costume and scared the class!!

Well, there are many, many reasons for writing about what you read, but one of the best is the possibility that you’ll be talking directly to the author of the book you’ve just read!

Amy in Year 5 reviewed Colin West‘s Marmaduke the Magic Cat in December – her review is here, where she said how much she liked the book.

Well, author Colin West has been in touch through the comments and said this:

“Hello Amy, I am so pleased you liked my story about Marmaduke. it was fun drawing all the magical things he could do. I hope you can find more of my books to enjoy!”

Isn’t that great? Well done Amy.

Jake – The Adventures Of An Unusual Dog

Written by Annette Butterworth, illustrated by Nick Butterworth

Review by Amy, Year 5

This is a story about a dog called Jake. Jake tries very hard to be a good dog, but can’t help getting into trouble.

Jake dreams about going to the Crufts dog show so that he can try to win a medal. He’s with his friends and a dog called Molly and becomes a hero.

I liked the book because he’s a dog and I really like dogs, so my favourite character is Jake.

Marmaduke The Magic Cat

By Colin West

Review by Amy (Year 5)

Marmaduke the Magic Cat is about a cat who can float things in the air because he’s got a magic collar.

Marmaduke gets lost and meets a girl and her grandma. They see from Marmaduke’s collar tag that he belongs to a Witch!!!!!!

Marmaduke is a wonderful cat that who has been a witch cat for years and years.

They take Marmaduke to his witch owner Muriel on Forest Road. But Marmaduke runs away again, back to the girl!

I really like the Book because I love Cats.