Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Quest for the Magic Porcupine by John Dougherty

We have just finished reading 'Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Quest for the Magic Porcupine' in class 4JB. It is written by our Patron of Reading, John Dougherty. We are really lucky to have read it, as it is not for sale in the shops yet.

This is what we thought:

I liked it when everybody kept landing on Malcolm the cat's tail and he kept saying 'Ouch!'. William

My favourite bit was when Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face waited for ages at the traffic lights. This book is mad! Thomas

I liked it when the badgers threw them in the river. Molly

I love it when they have to sing the library song and make it up at the last moment, it was awesome. Megan

Dear John Dougherty, I hope you are pleased with yourself. I laughed on the bus for two days and couldn't even go to sleep. I really enjoyed it. Jodie

I loved it when the badgers kept passing notes saying 'Pretend you're a badger'. Elise

I was not expecting the badgers to be in disguise as raccoons. Don't ever trust the badgers! Jaya

My favourite bit is when they are at the traffic lights for about fifty chapters. Mollie

The library song that they had to make up was really good. The Magic Porcupine wasn't really much good at magic. Oliver

My face was hurting at playtime because I was smiling so much. Kayley

Definitely the best bit was at the traffic lights. They were there for ages. I liked it. Andrew

This book was so funny that I literally exploded. Tamzin

This book was so funny that I almost exploded. Lauren

This book was so funny but I didn't explode. Gemma

I loved the library song, my face went bright red when my teacher sang it. Jersie

How can they wait at the traffic lights for 37 chapters in a book? You'll have to find out. Tyler

Fabulous, spectacular and amazing. Madison

I loved it when Malcolm had his tail stood on all the time. Kristopher

Definitely better than David Walliams. Mr Arden

The Secret Message by John Townsend

The Secret Message by John Townsend

Well, it starts with a boy called Sam and a photograph of another boy. The boy and the photograph look like twins so it's very mysterious. When the picture was first taken, it was in the olden days. Maybe Sam and the person in the photo are related? There is also a strange diary. Freddy was a soldier in the First World War and he is an interesting person. There is a secret message that you have to work out but there is a moon alphabet to help you decode the secret message.

As well, there's extra things at the end which are good as well. One of them is called Secrets of the Moon which if you're stuck cracking the code, it's in the Secrets of the Moon. I think that's a little bit cheating, but if you're very stuck it's OK just to look at it for some help with cracking the code.

This a great book, recommended for ages 8+, and if you like war and army books this is definitely the book for you. My favourite part was when I had to crack the code, because it took a whole day for me to work it out. My favourite chapter was Sam's amazing discovery of the secret message.

This is a great year for The Secret Message to come out because it is exactly 100 years from the start of the First World War. It is good for people who don't know much about it to learn more, because it is such an important war.

Tyler Peel

Some of the brave soldiers from the war

Ten Word Book Reviews

We have written some ten word book reviews of books that we enjoyed over the Christmas holidays. It's a lot harder than it looks!

The Invisible Boy by Sally Gardner: Boy goes to the moon. Parents get gold letter. Great.

Jiggy McCue by Michael Lawrence: This book is the most epic book I have read.

Tom Gates by Liz Pichon: Funny, makes me laugh, lots of cool doodles. Amazing. Imaginative.

You're A Bad Man Mr Gum by Andy Stanton: I think writing a review in ten words is really.
 
How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell: It is the best book. I like it loads. Awesome.

Demon Dentist by David Walliams: Funny. Silly. Teeth falling out. Revolting. Does it end happily?

Dog Star by Jenny Nimmo: Capturing, dog, emotional, lovely, sweet, star, gold, sparkle, adorable, light.

Funniest Stories by Paul Jennings: Weird, unique, funny. Stupid. Some of them are just great.

Dork Diaries by Rachel Russell: It is really good because it is silly and fun. 
 
Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face And The Badness Of Badgers by John Dougherty: Funny. Silly songs. Blueberry jam. Very naughty badgers. Quite hilarious.

Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke: Fierce dragons, fun to read, scary plans, rainbows and fire.

Crash Dive by John Townsend: Tense, full of action. Barney Jones. Fast. A great read.

Gangsta Granny by David Walliams: Nanny robber. Boy helping her. Queen and guards involved. Silly.

Heard It In The Playground by Allan Ahlberg: Poems, lovely songs, children awesome, funny, sad, the best book.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney: Hilarious, shouty, silly, anxious, furious, mostly at school. So funny.
 
Little Animal Ark, The Midnight Mouse by Lucy Daniels: All about friendship. If you love animals, you'll love this.

Crash Dive by John Townsend

This is the first Barney Jones book I have read, and definitely won't be the last. After reading the blurb on the back of the book I immediately thought 'oh, another Alex Rider-style teenage hero', but Barney is a far more interesting character. Intelligent, funny and a real pain in the neck to most of the adults that he encounters!

As his parents have separated, Barney spends the majority of his weekends with his dad in Edinburgh and regularly flies there on his own. Passing through Edinburgh airport at the end of a flight, he manages to get himself caught up in a terrorist plot organised by the sinister Korova organisation. Barney desperately turns to different adults for help and support but, because of his reputation and challenging personality, nobody will take him seriously. The only person who believes him and offers to help is his best friend, Laura. Together they travel across the country, lurching from one disaster to the next, and just when it seems that things can't possibly get any worse, they do!

This is not a book that wastes any time hanging around and having dull conversations, it really is action-packed and moves at a wonderful pace. It's easy to read and has some very sinister moments. Most of the characters add depth to the story, in particular Barney's gran, who is probably the most interesting. The only slight disappointment for me was that the leader of Korova is a little bit nondescript. Luckily, the other members of the mysterious organisation more than make up for this!

I genuinely enjoyed reading Crash Dive and am looking forward to reading more of Barney's escapades. Hopefully John Townsend has got a couple of stories in the pipeline. You can learn more about Barney and read quite an amusing interview with him at http://barneyadventures.co.uk/.

If you enjoyed Alex Rider, Jimmy Coates and Young Bond, I think you'll love this. Suitable for ages 10 and up. Definitely recommended.

Queendom (The Portal Series) by Dee Kirkby

This is my first review for our book blog and I am reviewing a good book. I think that adults and children would love this story because there are some really funny parts. It is about a brother and sister called Max and Laura. They behave just like a brother and sister like when Laura goes "Ewww Max, you're wearing the same shorts as yesterday." But the fact is that through the story they do help each other and care about each other.

When they go through the portal it's really magical when the toy crab Oscar grows real. Max is so dependable on his toy. The creatures they meet all have really strange names like joops and sluggers. The sluggers are not very nice at all as they want the cloud apples. One of my favourite bits is when Max and Laura get trained up to fight by the Commander of Peace.

This book is lots of fun to read and your imagination comes alive. I haven't read the other two books yet which are called Realand and Raffie Island but I will now. I would know more then about the magic portal. I think in the next book maybe Max and Laura's dad is going to go through the portal. The writer finished the story on a really good cliffhanger. I think that she has a crazy imagination and it's a bit like the Narnia books. The front cover has a picture of Oscar the crab but I would like to see Max and Laura too.

Probably if you are 8 or more you would really like to read this but I think you should Realand first.

Oliver W.

Young Werewolf by Cornelia Funke

I am reviewing this great new book. Young Werewolf is awesome and really fun to read. It is about a boy called Matt and a girl called Lisa who is his best friend. They have just come out of the cinema and seen a scary tunnel. When they go through the tunnel they see a street lamp. Under the lamp is a werewolf but they don't know it's a werewolf. Matt walks past and accidentally kicks a can which makes a rattle. When he comes out of the tunnel he notices that there is a bite mark...

If you want to find out more I am afraid you are going to have to read this book. I would rate this book 10/10 for everything. I loved this book. I loved the cover because there's a full moon with Matt turning into a werewolf. I also like the words used because they are adventurous. This is probably my favourite book ever so why don't you give it a try? I hope you liked my review.

Jersie Leigh Moore

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

I love Diary of a Wimpy Kids books because they are so funny and cheerful. They are great books because they can cheer you up when you are feeling sad. My favourite character is Manny because he makes silly noises and comes up with lots of silly names for the dog. I would recommend these books because they are awesome books to read when you are bored. Kids will love them. I've finished the second book and I'm now going to read all the others. They're my favourite books ever. I just love these books.

Tamzin