Wilberfoss Primary School

Drama

by Raina Telgemeier

Ailie  (year 5)

Drama is one of the best books I’ve ever read; it’s perfect with comedy, tragedy and of course drama!

It is about the life of Callie who is part of the stage crew at her school and she has problems with boys and the play that the school are performing.

In this book I have found a lot of things that make me giggle, like the bit where Callie auditions for the part of Maybell in the play Moon over Mississippi but she isn’t very good at singing!

I love the bit where Callie falls in love with Jesse it is so cool. Callie is so clever and she is the one who comes up with most of the ideas for props and other items for the play. I think that Callie is very lucky girl she has a group of fab friends and a cool boyfriend. I hope anybody who reads Drama likes it too!

Emily (Year 7)

Drama is a thrilling graphic novel all about being a teenager. A tale of romance with lots of completely unexpected twists. It is impossible to put down; a brilliant novel of love, heartbreak and friendship.

I really enjoyed reading Drama and once I had picked it up I simple could not put it down until I had finished.

Katy (Year 5)

After reading and enjoying ‘Smile’ I really wanted to read ‘Drama’ by the same fantastic author, Raina Telgemeier.

Drama is about a girl called Callie who goes to high school. She and the stage crew are in charge of putting on a play called ‘Moon Over Mississippi’. Yet, there is drama even before the curtain goes up!! For starters Callie is distracted by Greg who she loves. However, she then meets two brothers, both who are gay, called Justin and Jesse. Callie then takes a liking to Jesse which makes her forget about Greg. All this is happening whilst the stage crew are trying to organise a play, which seems to be going well, until the lead girl won’t come out of the toilets during a performance. That’s when Jesse reveals his hidden talent.

I thought that the book was very enjoyable because I didn’t know what was going to happen next and that made me want to read on. As soon as I read the first couple of pages it was like the book had hypnotised me and made me want to read more and more. I liked the different personalities that the characters possessed and I think that helped to make the story seem more real.

My favourite feature of the book was the artwork; amusing as well as clear. I liked the style of the pictures and I think that helped to make the book more interesting.

Overall I think Drama is an amazing book and I can’t see why anyone would not enjoy it!

Rebecca (Year 5):

Drama is a brilliant book to read because it is funny and it’s very romantic. I like it because it has twists and turns in the chapters. I think Drama is about friendship and how people have to learn to like other people no matter what.

Main character Callie is trying to help organise the school play Moon over Mississippi (she’s part of the stage crew) but lots of things keep coming up!

On the night of the show West (who plays the boy friend in the play) breaks up with Bonnie (who plays the girl friend in the play) and West falls over on stage and hurts his leg. Bonnie finally gets fed up with everyone and goes off in anger and sadness. So some things have to be changed in the play so some people have to fill in. Jesse takes Bonnie’s place and some things get a little bit crazy!

Amy (Year 5):

I think Drama was a great follow on from Smile as it was funny and romantic.

The story line is based on a girl called Callie who likes a boy called Greg but he likes someone else. Callie makes friends with a set of twins who are both gay. Callie’s friend Jesse likes a boy called West and Justin (Jesse’s twin brother) likes Greg. Callie’s bezzie, Liz, falls in love with Justin as well. Complicated!

Callie is also part of a stage crew for ‘Moon over Mississippi’ and that is how Jesse and West meet over a kiss!(Gasp)

I read it in one day because every time I put the book down it was left at a cliff-hanger!!

You have to read it to believe it!

Harry (Year 5)

This book is called Drama, it’s about a girl called Callie, she is in the stage crew and this year they are doing a play. Callie gains lots of experience along the way

I like Drama because she gets nice friends along her journey and still haves lots of fun while making a great play. I also like Drama because there is a lot of drama. I recommend it 10 out of 10!!!

Victoria (Year 5)

Drama is about a girl who goes with her friends and they do a stage crew together in a play.

At the play, she meets two new friends; Jessie and Justin. After a while Jessie, Justin and Callie are hanging out with each other all the time.

Drama’s a really good book and I am really glad I read it.

Beth (Year 5):

Drama is a thrilling and excellent book. Every time I read one page I wanted to turn the page strait after because it was so good. And every time I had turned the page something always surprised me.

I loved how Callie did what she wanted to do and at the end how she finally got to be the stage manager and for that I hope there’s going to be a part two of drama or a book like it because I loved it.

Alex (Year 5)

I wanted to review Drama because it pulled me in and I had already read and enjoyed Smile so I really wanted to read the second book by brilliant author Raina Telgemeier.

When I started the book I just couldn’t stop reading because I enjoyed all of the drama and the drastic stuff.

The book is about a girl called Callie who is part of the stage crew for her school’s play ‘Moon over Mississippi’. She finds two new friends who are twins, both of the twins are gay, one of the brothers signs up for a part in the play.

Callie gets to be the stage manger and she has to sort all the problems with the play including Bonnie locking herself in the cleaner’s cupboard and refusing to come out so a boy had to take her part he looked funny with a long red dress.

Callie has lots of great ideas for the play. I liked the part where the stage crew are getting ready to set the scenes especially when Callie goes over the top with two canons that fire confetti fireworks! The original stage manager thought it was a bit crazy to have two real cannons at the side of the stage but Callie was really determined to make it work.

I really enjoyed Drama and would love to read it again! I loved how the play turned out to be a romantic play, and I especially thought it was romantic when the stage crew created a giant magnolia tree with loads of leaves dropping off it.

I think that the first play went really well because everybody was organised and nobody was upset until West dumped Bonnie.

At the start of the play Callie is really shy and doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life, but by getting involved so much, she starts growing up and believing in herself, so that by the end of the play she knows what she wants to do with her life.

Robyn (Year 5)

I wanted to review Drama because I’ve read Smile and found it really interesting and great fun to read. I like the author Raina Telgemeier because she makes me want to read more.

Drama is all about a teenage girl called Callie who finds out that there’s a school play at her high school put on by the Drama Club.

Callie doesn’t want to be in the play, because she knows that she’s no good at singing   so she joins in with the stage crew. There Callie meets two twins who are both gay and she makes friends with them. Callie explains her ideas about things they could do in the play, but she goes a bit over the top – because she wants to have a cannon firing ribbons!

Callie works hard to make the play work well and impress the audience .On her way she bumps into boys who she likes but  is determined not to forget all about the play.

I thought the book was very fun to read because it was very funny and I enjoyed how the play managed to turn out. And Drama is also quite romantic.

I liked the character Callie because she was very funny, but smart enough to make the play a success by getting everyone to help and work as a team.

As soon as I opened the book I could not stop reading, its good fun to read and the humour is great.

Everyone loves our school library, especially the children. But to make a great library we need new books, and that’s where you can help.

If you are having a clearout this summer, please think of us. We’ll take ANY BOOKS (except encyclopaedias) and make sure they go to good use. If they’re suitable they’ll go in the school library, if not suitable we’ll possibly be able to sell them at book fairs, and if we can’t use them we’ll donate to a charity shop. No book you donate will be thrown away!

Gum Girl

by Andi Watson

Published by Walker Books

Review by Mae (Year 5)

Grace Gibson, the main character, lives in the town of Catastrophe. Helped by her friend Billy she tackles super-evil, at Calamity Primary school and elsewhere.

One problem, Billy musn’t know she’s super-hero ‘Gum Girl’.

Leading two lives is a difficult buisness so her main problem is tackling them at the same time. As Grace she has to tidy her room, visit the aquarium, and do chores for her pocket money. But on the other hand, as Gum Girl she is always saving Calamity from disaster!

In the first story of the three in “The Tentacles Of Doom” she sends dust bunny rolling down the hill as he is trying to make dust and dirt prevail in Calamity Primary School. At home though she is having tidy-up trouble as her room is a total disaster. Another problem has surfaced as the school caretaker is not doing his job!

The second is just as interesting as Gum Girl has to race against time to save the town from flooding at the Mishap Dam because Octopus Prime is trying to take over Catastrophe.Gum Girl though is not going to let that happen.

In the last story Sick St. Nick gets bitten on the bum by a dog that has been holding a grudge for far too long

The pages that showed it was a fun and funny comic were pages 63 and 64, the last pages of the Sick St. Nick story.Poor Grace has beaten the baddie, but now she needs pocket-money to buy more laboratory equipment as she exploded the last set she had! So she uses her “nitro gum” to clear up a pile of pruned branches in the garden….

The very funniest bit though was her dad’s glasses that go all wonky because of the bang, but when he dashes outside nothing is there… including the branches!

As she said: “It’s no good for chewing but that Nitro Gum can sure clean garden waste!”

The only problem with Gum Girl is the way that the villains are defeated pretty much the same way each time. In the first story all Grace needed to use was her aqua-gum to make the bunny stop in mid-leap, the second story has exactly the same problem, with the gumerang making the whole system shut down. I think it would have been more exciting if it hadn’t worked and she had to get inside the getaway car with Octopus Prime! And in the third story Sick St. Nick is bitten by a dog, which seems too simple.

I would recommend this to any fan of Gum Girl and to comic lovers all over the world! Gum Girl is a great comic and perfect for younger readers.

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!

Oh, this is simply brilliant! The first full book written, illustrated, and published by Amy & Katy of Year 5.

We’ve scanned the whole thing in for the school website where you can download it as a powerpoint or pdf, but thought you may want to have a look at chapters 1 & 2…..

We’ve been looking at the sorts of books that fall somewhere between the usual list of CLASSICS and the books the children are very familiar with, those somewhere between Treasure Island and The Wimpy Kid….

Between these…

And these…

And the answer was to look back in time, to the reading memories of the staff at the school. We put together a list of some of the books we remembered loving as children, the books that we would pass onto our own children, and we thought it was high time we passed them on to the children at school.

So we now have a brand new section in the library; MODERN CLASSICS

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.

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.