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.