Chasing Vemeer, reviewed by Ernest Cheong.
Like mysteries, Chasing Vemeer is to be understood in a different way; it is a book filled with disguises and coincidences that can never be explained unless you look carefully.
The chapter illustrations by Brett Helquist have a hidden message related to the pentomino code.
Pentominoes are a mathematical tool, having twelve pieces, each representing a letter of the alphabet.
Each piece is made out of five squares.
They are used around the world by mathematicians to explore ideas on geometry and numbers.
Calder Pillay and Petra Andalee are just ordinary school children with Ms Hussey as their teacher, when they are drawn together by a stolen but rarely heard of Vemeer painting.
The villain, in this case, was a mastermind criminal who was somehow related to them. Calder and Petra go in to decipher and then discover, with the help of Calder's pentominoes, awkward coincidences and situations that seem to be drawing them closer with every minute.
Art was ‘‘communicating’’ to them in ways that seemed impossible, but changing the impossible to the possible is just what the book is about.
My favourite character is Calder Pillay as his way of looking at things is by pulling out a random pentomino piece and looking at its representation.
I recommend this book to people with a love for the intriguing things that art displays.
The Last Viking, reviewed by Ameya Deshpande
This book is about a boy named Josh who gets a book about Vikings and then starts to believe some Viking gods are real. He starts top pretend that he is a Viking and renames himself Knut, prince of the Vikings, along with his dog, Wolverine, who becomes Josh’s ‘‘faithful hound’’.
My favourite character was Josh’s dog, Wolverine, because he has an awesome name and also because I like dogs a lot. The Illustrations also make the dog look lovable.
The character that I disliked was the bullies because I hate bullies. They bullied Josh (Knut) just because he looked different when he dressed as a Viking.
My favourite part of the story was when Knut sailed up the river to raid the imagined people at the village and when Knut fired the flaming arrows at the coffin.
The part I liked least was when Josh renamed himself Knut because Knut doesn’t sound much like a viking-ish name. It does, however, add a bit of humuor to the book.
I recommend this book for students from years 1 to 4 because I think imagined violence like this is good for those ages and it also sends the message that people should not bully.
The Gruffalo, reviewed by Laura Zhunga
This book is about The Gruffalo and the little mouse and the owl, fox and the snake and little mouse tricking the animals.
My favourite character was the little mouse because he tricked all the animals.
The character I disliked was the fox because he was so mean.
My favourite part of the story was when the little mouse said to the Gruffalo ‘‘My favourite food is Gruffalo Crumble’’.
The part I liked least was when the snake said ‘‘Would you like to have lunch with me?’’.
I recommend this book for little kids because it is fun for them.
Feathers for Phoebe, reviewed by Jack McEwen-Gillespie
The book is about Phoebe. Phoebe is a little bird that is grey. She did not like being little and grey because no-one would notice her. She wanted to be a fabulous big bird like Zelda. So one day she asked Zelda to help her become more like her. She got a new crest, tail, chest, back and wings. She couldn’t fly any more and she fell down and lost all her new feathers and she met a new bird like her.
My favourite character in the book is Zelda because she thinks that she’s perfect and beautiful but she really is just bossy and mean. Zelda is big and colourful. I like Zelda because she is famous, talented and she runs the most popular fashion salon in the forest.
I recommend this book for children and adults because it may be a picture book but you can see people in these birds and that can inspire people a lot and make them think about what kind of person they are and what type of bird they would be in this book. I like this story because it is funny, weird, interesting and the fact that it is a picture book.
Louis Braille, reviewed by Ella Watson
Louis Braille is a book about a boy who invented books for the blind. The full title is Louis Braille, the Boy who Invented Books for the Blind. It was written by Margaret Davidson. Louis Braille is about a boy who one day became blind and was determined to make a way for the blind to read books. One day Louis finally made a way for the blind to read. He was so proud of himself but others didn’t seem to care.
My favourite character was Louis because he enjoyed everything he did, even school work. He is a great role model to me because he would never give up. The character I disliked the most was Dr Dafau, the new director, because he hated the idea of Braille and even burnt all the books that Louis had made. he also got red of Braille and if anyone used it they would be punished.
My favourite part of the story was when Louis invented Braille. He was so happy, excited and proud of himself. The part I liked least was when Dr Dafau burned all the books that Louis had made. They were meant to be for the children to read, not for them to be burnt. I believe this book is a fabulous book and I recommend it to anyone who loves a good story and an outstanding moral.
Lily Quench and the treasure of Moe Fly, reviewed by Maya Velosa.
The book I am reviewing is Lily Quench and the treasure of Moe Fly. It was written by Natalie Prior and the genre is adventure/fantasy.
The story is about the titular character, a young girl named Lily Quench, who comes from a long line of dragon slayers. One dark night she is
kidnapped by her enemy, the Black Count, and is taken to an ancient castle called Mote Fly.
The Black Count plans to reconquer the whole country as he had conquered it once but had lost the right to do so in the future. he has to be stopped by Lily before he runs off with Mote Fly’s treasure and leaves her stranded.
I greatly enjoyed this story, mainly because I actually felt like I was in the book following different character’s perspectives, like Lily Quench’s. I couldn’t stop reading it as it was so exciting. I didn’t know what was going to happen and I didn’t know what would become of the characters.
The book comes from a fascinating series called Lily Quench and is the third book in the series. I recommend this book to children whoa r eight years and older. I think you will get to love this series, especially if you like fantasy or adventure.