Dead Ringer

Title:  Dead Ringer
Series:  Dark Diary

Author:  Anthony Masters
Genre:  Realistic Fiction, Mystery
Reading Age: 11 Years

This is a mystery book.   Steve's best friend Ed was drowned accidentally in a flooded river but since then all the phones in town kept ringing with no caller.  No caller, until Ed talks to Stevie, from the dead or did he? 

Gary kept following Steve around school and even on the way home.  There is something suspicious  - does he know how Ed drowned on a calm summer's day?

This books is written in a mixture of a diary entry then action for each chapter.  I kept wondering if it was all just in Steve's mind but the end has a bit of a twist. 

Sting

Title:  Sting

Author:  Raymond Huber

Genre:  Fantasy

Reading Age: 10 Years

Have you ever felt like you didn't belong, you were different from everyone else?  Ziggy certainly was different.  He was a drone that wanted to work, had a good memory and kept breaking the hive rules.

The Queen called on Ziggy to perform an important task, where he discovered things about humans the worried him.  They were using bees to sniff out explosives.  Could  Ziggy ever go back to the hive once he knew this?

This story is told from the point of view of Ziggy, the bee, but swaps occasionally to the diary entries of Dr Sophie (Sparkles) the bee scientist.  It is an exciting read, once you realize that Ziggy is special and has to find his real family.

Weather

Title:  Weather

Author:  DK Eyewonder

Genre:  Informational (Non-Fiction)

Reading Age: 10 Years


As far back as Ancient Greece, people have been looking ways to record and predict the weather.  


How are clouds formed?  What makes or hail or causes a tornado grow?  How can you predict these things are coming?  If you want to find out anything about weather, then this is the book for you.


Check out the technical language in the glossary like convection, hoar frost, barometer and cirrus.

Space

Title:  Space

Author:  DK Eyewonder

Genre:  Informational (Non-Fiction)

Reading Age: 10 Years


Why is it so dark in space?  What stops us falling off Earth and how do astronauts stay on the toilet?  If you have any questions like these about space, then this is the book to read.  Check out the glossary to find out what a nebula, satellite and comet are.

Whales and Dolphins

Title:  Whales and Dolphins

Author:  DK Eyewonder

Genre:  Informational (Non-Fiction)

Reading Age: 10 Years

Whales and dolphins are mammals like us, so how do they manage to live in the ocean when they have to breathe air?  This book clearly explains the adaptations that make these creatures well suited to living in water.  

This book is full of beautiful pictures and lots of interesting facts.

Did you know that they sent a recording of a humpback whale song into space as a message from Earth?

Ocean

Title:  Ocean

Author:  DK Eyewonder

Genre:  Informational (Non-Fiction)

Reading Age: 10 Years

This book has lots of beautiful illustrations and information about the fish, birds and mammals living in the different parts of the ocean.  It has a detailed glossary and would be a great resource for interest or a research project.

Did you know that there is a part of the ocean that is completely dark and they call the midnight zone or the abyss?  Read this book to find out what types of creatures live there!

Mary, the Big Brown Hairy Spider

Title:  Mary, the Big Brown Hairy Spider

Author:  Lyn Lee

Genre:   Fantasy

Reading Age:  7+ Years

A really easy read for a beginner reader but it still has chapters!  

Mary, the spider, had eaten her husband ages ago, her babies had all grown up and now she was lonely.  

She tried to make friends with the other bugs but they were either afraid, too busy or trying to eat her!  So she spent her time making beautiful webs for the family who had moved into the house.  How could her webs make Mary a hero?

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs

Title:  The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs

Author:  Jon Scieszka

Genre:  Humour

Reading Age:  9

It's not fair!  Why does everyone pick on the wolf - he is not big and bad, just misunderstood.  If there was a nice juicy hamburger just sitting in the middle of the road, wouldn't you eat it rather than let it go to waste?  So why should we care that the wolf ate up the pig?  He can't help that he eats meat can he?

This book is the true story of that terrible incident.  The story of Mr A Wolf.  I am sure that by the end you will agree he is innocent of any wrongdoing and should be set free! (If you don't, he'll send out someone to convince you personally!)

Fractured Fairytales

Title:  Fractured Fairytales

Author:  Compiled by Ann Weld

Genre:  Poetry

Reading Age:  9

ISBN: 1-86291-101-0

This are not the sweet nursery rhymes that you remember because there is something not quite right about them.  Simple Simon wants to pay with a credit card, Humpty Dumpty is sure someone had greased the bricks and the Incey Wincey Spider now carries an umbrella in-case it rains again.

This is a great book if you want a short read and a big laugh.  You could try writing your own fractured fairytale  with a different ending or record some of the poems for the class blog.  Whatever you do, have some fun with this book!

The Cabbage Patch Fib

Title:  The Cabbage Patch Fib

Author:  Paul Jennings

Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Reading Age:  9

ISBN: 0-14-032897-1

This book is short but not sweet!  It is full of stories from the view of a big brother like little Chris putting spaghetti up his nose.  All is going swimmingly until Chris asks where babies come from……!  As you can imagine, his parents said they came from the cabbage patch!  Everyone knew this was a fib, everyone except Chris!  

This story is all about Chris sneaking out to the cabbage patch, in the middle of the night, to get a baby of his own - and he does - a real one!  The little green baby stops breathing whenever Chris is not holding it, because it thinks he is it's father.

The whole family became famous and everything was fine, until Chris had to go back to school and the baby went with him!  Can you imagine all the trouble that caused?  How was he going to solve this problem?

When Santa Fell to Earth

Title:  When Santa Fell to Earth

Author:  Cornelia Funke
Genre:  Fantasy
Reading Age:  10 Years
ISBN: 1-905294-14-X

This story is just like a present, enticing until you open it and not letting go till you finish the last page.  I loved the language the Cornelia uses as she paints a bright picture in your mind about Santa, his elves and the evil that chases them. 
 
My most 'Magical' phrases were - 'A thousand bolts skewered the stars, and thunder rolled across the pitch-black sky with a sound like a derailed freight train.' Another phrase that I loved was… 'Lightening licked the ramshackle caravan like a snake's tongue, but Niklas dreamed of almonds and marzipan, as Santas usually do.'

This book hooked me right in and I couldn't put it down.  Beware, it will capture you too in the magical world of the True Santa.

The Amazing Adventures of Razza the Rat

Title:  The Amazing Adventures of Razza the Rat

Author:  Witi Ihimaera
Genre:  Fantasy
Reading Age:  9 years
ISBN: 1-86978-004-3

Another one of those easy to read fun stories full of words that jump out in different colours and fonts.  This story is written like a poem. 

Razza the Rat loved scaring people but one day he was caught in a trap and scientists forced him to live on a little island as part of a science experiment. 

Razza decided to escape his prison and then all his adventures began.  He was rescued by an albatross and dropped in Australia and then was caught in a Japanese tsunami, only to be rescued by his ancestor, the whale.  

Razza has adventures all around the world and even makes it to the Moon!

Dead Worried!

Title:  Dead Worried!

Author:  Moya Simons
Genre:  Realistic Fiction
Reading Age:  10 years
ISBN: 1-86291-285-8

Danny Thompson is dead average but has heaps of funny stories about his classmates, teachers and baby sister.  He helps nearly deliver his teacher' s baby, manages to cheer up a friend who has to wear glasses, after she saved someone from having their brains splattered over the playground by a falling roof tile.

Danny's next challenge is to organize the haunting of a friend's house.  Desperately trying to be a hero, Danny knocks his old neighbour over in the middle of traffic, accuses someone in the bank of being a robber and calls the police on people rehearsing a play.  He did manages to rescue the neighbour's teddy from a grumpy cat - so that's a start.  

Check out all the other adventures Danny Thompson gets up to.

Katie the Kitten Fairy

Title:  Katie the Kitten Fairy
Series:  Rainbow Magic

Author:  Daisy Meadows
Genre:  Fantasy, Adventure
Reading Age: 9 Years
ISBN: 1-84616-166-5

Have you ever seen a kitten that can turn into a menacing tiger in a second?  That's right, it is fairy magic.  The kitten fairy has lost Shimmer, her kitten, and the girls take it home to her safely only to find that Jack Frost has been stealing pets and sending ransom notes to the fairy palace.  This means the pet fairies can't protect all the animals in the human world. 

Kirsty and Rachel just have to help rescue the lost pets.

Little Wolf - Pack Leader

Title:  Pack Leader

Series: Little Wolf

Author: Ian Whybrow

Genre: Fantasy

ISBN: 711860-0

Reading Age:  10+  years

Little Wolf (a small wolf) and Smelly (his baby brother) send a series of letters to his parents about what they have been getting up to.  

Little Wolf and his baby brother get captures by the 'show off' neighbours' son Spoiler.  They laughed, called him names, gave him Chinese burns and ran away with his brother.  Little Wolf enlists the help of all his friends and he becomes the Little Wolf Pack Leader.  

They escaped the evil rabbit fur thief, followed the secret clues, rescued the furry rabbits and helped Smelly get free.  

This is a nonsense story which is just a collection of letters.  The ideas are crazy and watch out for some really creative spelling in Little Wolf's letters, by that I mean some terrible spelling like…  brief, kwite, lectric, practiss, wins, faymuss.

If you are no so confident at reading, the strange confused sentences and spelling might be tricky but it is quite amusing, like listening to a three-year-old telling a crazy story.  Have a read and tell me what you think.

Dorkula - The Werewolf Club

Title:  Dorkular

Series: The Werewolf Club #3

Author: Daniel & Jill Pinkwater

Genre: Fantasy

ISBN: 0-689-83848-4

Reading Age:  9+  years

Could any school have a werewolf club that has actual werewolves in it?  Well, this club gets worried when a vampire asks to join them and after that, strange things begin to happen… all the fruit in the town goes missing.  What could be causing this and how can the Werewolf Club sort it out?

The story is full of jokes and funny comments like the difference between a vampire and an umpire.  'One will put off a batter by shouting like heck and the other will turn into a bat and bite your neck.'

My 'magical' word choice include pastrami, Transylvania, Romanian, Bismarck, adjourned, obnoxious, emerging, subtle and fiend.  This is a very silly story but lots of fun to read.

Ella the Rose Fairy

Title:  Ella the Rose Fairy

Series: Rainbow Magic

Author:  Daisy Meadows (collective of writers)

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure

ISBN:  978-1-84616-464-4

Reading Age: 9 years

Best friends, Rachel and Kirsty have an important quest - to help the Flower Fairies find the rose petal and save the flowers from dying. To help in their challenge, the girls are turned into fairies themselves and have quite an adventure.

The Gruesome Truth

Title:  The Gruesome Truth

Series: Hotshots

Author:  Bernard Gallate

Genre: School, Family, Adventure

Reading Age:  9+ Years
ISBN:  0-7336-1682-8

Leo tells the world's biggest stories but this time it has got him into a tough spot when he tried to impress his whole class.  He has to come up with the giant hailstone he bragged about or he will be exposed as a liar.  The trouble is that Oscar, his sister's goldfish, is in danger of losing his home forever!

Remember that a 'doona' is the Australian word for a duvet and an 'sky' is a chilly bin.  This story is full of 'magical' but sometimes tricky words like gigantic, traumatic, pulverized, fabrication and formulating.

Watch your whiskers Stilton!

Title: Watch your whiskers Stilton

Series: Geronimo Stilton


Author: Edizioni Piemme
Reading Age: 9 years
ISBN:  978-0-439-69140-6


Some mystery 'one-eyed' rat was determined to destroy Geronimo Stilton and the Rodent's Gazette. What should they do - give up the fight or pull together as a team? 
The ending is a bit of a surprise and I love the way words are written to look how they would sound. This book is fast moving - a bit like reading a comic or watching a superhero movie. 
The best advice in this book is that there is always a solution to every problem.

Charles Darwin: discover the world of Darwin through the diary of a ship's boy

Title:  Charles Darwin:  Discover the world of Darwin through the diary of a ship's boy


Author:  Alan Gibbons
Genre:  Picture Book, Historical Fiction
Reading Age:  12 - 14 years
ISBN:  978-0-7534-3223-5


Cram packed full of amazing pictures of the discoveries that Charles Darwin, the ship's naturalist, made as he travelled on The Beagle from 1832 to 1836.  The accounts are told as diary entries by a 'fictional' cabin boy but what they did and saw is true to history.


Watch out for the 'archaic' or very old-fashioned language along with the technical scientific words.  You will be checking in a dictionary to find out what a benefactor, caulked, hither and parasitic mean.  It might also be fun to follow their journeys on a map of the world.


My magical part was when the crew found an ancient tortoise on the Galapagos Islands and tried to ride on its back!  I am not sure if it was the correct thing to do but it sounded like fun!


The first half of the book are the diary entries but the second half is Non-Fiction, with lots of images of the samples Darwin collected on his journey and information about them.  

Ant Invasion

Title:  Ant Invasion


Series:  Bug Buddies
Author:  Joe Millar
Genre:  Animal, Adventure
Reading Age:  9

Have you ever wondered what bees and dung beetles do to have a party?  Well - read this book to find out what their favourite party food is.  


How are they going to stop the sneaky Yellow Ants from taking over the whole wood and who is giving them their evil orders?  It must be Spinner - the spider!


My 'magical' sentence was 'His antennae twitched nervously' and the best advice was that you are braver than you think.

Animalia

Title:   Animalia


Author:  Graeme Base
Genre:  Picture Book
Reading Age:  10+



Fancy a flick through page after page of alliterative poetry with beautifully detailed illustrations?  Search out how many 'B'  objects you can find amongst the Beautiful blue butterflies basking by a babbling book.  Collect 'magical' words to use in your writing or to just impress your friends with.

George's Marvellous Medicine - Roald Dahl

Title:  George's Marvellous Medicine


Author:  Roald Dahl
Genre:  Fantasy
Reading Age:  10+
ISBN:  978-0-141-33558-2


Why do mothers always tell their children not to get up to mischief and expect them to follow instructions?  Well - if your grandmother was as witchy and evil as George's then you would have to hatch a plan too, but is it going to turn out right or end in disaster?  


My copy of the book is the large book with extra pictures so it was easy to read.


I love the sentence where it said 'A tingle of electricity flashed down the length of George's spine.  He began to feel frightened.' because it really made me think he was terrified and painted a clear picture in my mind.

Ancient Fire - Mark L Williams

Title:  Ancient Fire

Series: Danger Boy Episode 1

 

Author:  Mark L Williams

Genre:  Fantasy

Reading Age:  12+ years 

With a mad scientist father and a mother missing in time, Eli is forced to travel in time.  DARPA - USA Defense Research Agency are on their case for Eli to save the world.  Back to Ancient Alexandria, 415, to protect the Great Library, swap chapters with a space travelling dinosaur doing a project on Earth and rescue Thea, The Keeper of Records'.  The chapters are each from a different character which is an odd combination but interesting. 

Melting Stones - Tamora Pierce

Title:  Melting Stones

 

Author:  Tamora Pierce

Genre:  Fantasy

Reading Age:  12+

Based in times-gone-past where rebellious slave girls have no control, even if they are magic.  

Evvy is dragged along on a 'quest' to calm a mountain.  She makes a discovery - the restless magma spirits, but can she stop or prevent the destruction of the Island?  

Laced with magic, history and linked with nature.  This is a gripping tale full of strange names. 

Jelly Legs

Title:  Jelly Legs

Author:  Elizabeth Pulford

Genre:  School / Family
Reading Age:  10+




Get to know Julie and Wolf, who both end up helping each other.  Julie HATES sport but has to complete a marathon.  Wolf gains a friend at his new school who can help with his secret.

Too Many Zeros

Title:  Too Many Zeros

Author:  Geoff Palmer

Genre:  Science Fiction

Reading Age:  11+

Our hero, Tim, and his sister Coral are trapped at their aunt’s house in the country (their parents have been injured in a hang-gliding accident). 

One evening, as Tim tries to ease his boredom when he spots two talking mice.  The mice-aliens need Tim and Coral to help them escape before the evil aliens discover they’re hanging around on Planet Earth. Watch out for the seriously cool space ship!

Dead Dan's Dee

Title:  Dead Dan's Dee

Author:  Phyllis Johnston

Genre: Historical Fiction / War

Reading Age:  12+ years


A look into life at home during World War One. 

Dee has no rights or control as a child.  TB kills Dee's mother and a time in an orphanage and at the charity of a family on their farm leads her to work after primary school rather than going to secondary school, even though she is very intelligent and only 12 years old.  

Will Dee escape to the life she was meant to have?

Dark is Rising: Over Sea and Under Stone

Title:  Over Sea and Under Stone

Series:  Dark is Rising

Author:  Susan Cooper

Genre:  Fantasy

Reading Age:  12+ Years

The story stated with just hints and you questioned - is it really fantasy or is it real life?

Uncle Merry could very well be Merlin and he uses the three children Barney, Simon and Jane to search for a precious artifact.

 

Atherton: Rivers of Fire

Title: Rivers of Fire

Series: Atherton

Author: Patrick Carman

Genre:  Fantasy

Reading Age:  12 - 14 years



Their satellite refuge from a dying Earth is in the process of self-destruction and so the waring peoples must also unite against the devouring monsters.  Edgar and his two friends must travel an epic journey to save their world. 

Atherton: Houses of Power

Title: Houses of Power

Series: Atherton

Author: Patrick Carman

Genre:  Fantasy

Reading Age:  12 - 14 years

A lonely orphan boy, Edgar, over worked in a fig grove, discovers a great mystery as a result of breaking the rules.  Why do some people get all the food and water while others have to slave all day?  Finding the answer to his questions will just reveal a coming catastrophe.

A mix of fantasy and science fiction that takes a while to get hooked.  It will need a confident 12 - 14 year old boy or girl.

Avantia: Call to War

Title: Call to War

Series:  Avantia
Author:  Adam Blade
Genre:  Fantasy
Reviewer:  Allana
Reading Age:  10+


This is a beast quest where it is all about the relationship between the beast, the rider and the team. It is full of superstition and war to save the world with lots of action.

I would recommend this story to anyone who likes having a quest but especially to boys who like a challenge.

Welcome to Leap into Books

This is where you can find our favorite books and what we think about them. They will have genre tabs to help you find just the one you want to read next.

The tabs for our entries will be the genre areas:

Fantasy

Historical Fiction

Mystery
Adventure 

Science Fiction

Informational

Autobiography 

Biography

Poetry

Traditional Literature

Family / School

Humour

Animal

Graphic Novel

Magazine

Picture Book

Additional tabs:

Boy

Girl

Reading Age 6-7

Reading Age 7-8

Reading Age 8-9

Reading Age 9-10

Reading Age 10 - 11

Reading Age 11+

In our posts we will tell you these things:

1.  The title and author

2.  Genre

3.  Reviewer's name & age

4.  What we enjoyed about the book

5.  Some magical words or phrases

6.  Who we would recommend it for  - reading difficulty, interests, boy/girl

This will help you select a 'Good Fit Book', on a topic you like, that meets your purpose and that suits your reading abilities.

We challenge you to add a comment when you read any of our posted books to let us know what you think of them too.