Newest Confident Readers Reviews
Sam's Spitfire Summer by Ian MacDonald and Charlie Clough
'Sam's Spitfire Summer' is billed as a thrilling WW2 adventure. In my opinion it is not. This is not a high octane adventure. Instead it is the story of a rather ordinary boy, homesick, terribly frightened and unsure of himself after being evacuated from London. This book describes the life of a child during WW2 with such realism that I honestly wonder if it might have some basis in fact. It describes Sam's loneliness, and fear, being separated from his parents as his father goes away to fight the Germans, and his Mother remains in London, with the risk of bombing. This book really gives a good glimpse at how Sam feels being evacuated. He misses his home desperately and is frightened by the large animals in the country - such as cows. Full review...
Anton and Piranha by Milena Baisch and Chantal Wright
Anton just can't understand his grandparents. He was looking forward to a camping holiday, but only because he expected a pool. The campground his grandparents chose has a lake instead of a pool and Anton is terrified of the dark water and creeping aquatic vegetation. What's worse his grandparents want him to swim in it. There are fish in the water, and snails and all sorts of slimy things. So Anton watches the other children have fun and gets nasty because he is left out. He isn't happy with his grandparents other ideas either. They want him to play board games instead of watch the telly at night, and they even want him to make friends. Not the internet sort, he has plenty of those. They want him to make friends with real children. How positively uncivilised of them. But when Grandpa takes him fishing, he does make a friend, a very close friend, even if it is a fish. Full review...
The Smallest Horse in the World by Jeremy Strong and Scoular Anderson
Bella despises the new girl at school, Swan. Swan is always bragging about her rich father, her fancy house, their Ferrari etc... And to make matters worse, she is rude, bossy and much bigger than Bella. Bella has problems at home too. Her parents have split up and she misses her father; her mother is always working and she doesn't seem to have any close friends. Things look pretty dismal after an argument with Bella, but every thing changes when Bella's favourite picture breaks and out steps a real live horse. A very tiny horse, but a horse all the same, and a talking one at that. Bella would love to keep the little horse, Astra, but the horse is desperate to be reunited with her true master, Rufus. Full review...
Joe and the Lightning Pony by Victoria Eveleigh
Joe has discovered that his pony, Lightning, is brilliant at mounted games - you know that ones we see kids and their ponies playing at the Horse of the Year Show. What we see is the competition for the Prince Phillip Cup and Joe can't wait for him and Lightning to try out for the local Pony Club team. He adores Lightning - the pony we heard so much about in Joe and the Hidden Horseshoe - but he knows that he'll soon be too big for the her. Other children might worry about how they would get another pony to ride but Joe is worried about Lightning. Joe and his family brought her back to health - but would that continue if the pony was sold on? Full review...
My Friend the Enemy by Dan Smith
It's 1941. Peter wishes the war away every single day. His father is away fighting. They rarely hear from him. Mr flipping Bennett is always at his house. Making sure he and his mother are managing, apparently. That's not what the other children are saying. They say Peter's mother is Mr Bennett's fancy woman. And they bully Peter about it. Despite farms lying all around, there isn't much food. Everything is rationed. Full review...
Out Of This World by Ali Sparkes
The best thing about being a book reviewer is the sheer variety of reading material you get access to. In the last few weeks alone I’ve been immersed in blasphemous hilarity, paranormal mystery and even the landscapes of deepest darkest Transylvania. This book, however, is the first one I’ve read in ages that dragged me right out the door on an adventure. Full review...
Time Hunters: Gladiator Clash by Chris Blake
Time Hunters is a new series of six books featuring a young Egyptian princess and a modern-day schoolboy who team up to locate six hidden amulets, scattered in a variety of dangerous historical locations. Gladiator Clash is the first book in the series and sees the duo magically transported to ancient Rome, where they train with gladiators and compete for a chance to fight in the arena with the most feared gladiator of all, Hilarus, who is currently unbeaten and just happens to possess the lost amulet. Full review...
Oksa Pollock: The Last Hope by Anne Plichota and Cendrine Wolf
Oksa is a French girl whose family has just moved to London to open a restaurant with the parents of her best friend Gus. She is a determined (some might say headstrong) and energetic thirteen-year-old whose lively imagination often leads her to see herself as a ninja warrior. But the truth is far more astonishing. She and her family come from a magical hidden land called Edefia, and she is soon to discover that she has a unique and terrifying destiny, one which will put her and everyone she holds dear in serious danger. Full review...
Invisible Girl by Kate Maryon
The day that it happened, that everything changed for Gabriella had felt the same as any other. If she had realised that she would not sleep in her own bed again she may have snuggled down for a little longer. If she had known how very hungry she would get she would have made time for an extra piece of toast that morning. If Gabriella had known what was going to happen she may have begged her Dad to change his mind. However in the space of twenty four hours Gabriella was to lose her home, her Dad, her school and her best friend. She finds herself totally alone and stakes everything on being able to find her brother, Beckett, whom she has not seen for several years. She believes if she can find Beckett she will have found a home and a family. Full review...
Joe and the Hidden Horseshoe by Victoria Eveleigh
Joe did not want to move. Birmingham suited him just fine. It was where his friends were and his school - and he'd got life sorted quite nicely. But his father had got his dream job as head of a group of village primary schools and the family - Mum, Dad, Joe and his younger sister Emily - moved to a farmhouse in Devon. His Mum was determined that she and Emily would have ponies to ride and not being prone to thinking things through before acting it wasn't long before Lady and Lightning arrived in a horsebox. Mum should have made checks on the ponies before deciding to buy them and she should have been even more wary when the ponies were delivered with little ceremony. But she wasn't. Full review...
Chuckle Bob's Great Escape by Jeremy Strong and Scoular Anderson
Chuckle Bob looks positively wicked in the first illustration of this book, but then who can blame him for feeling a bit cranky? He wants to swing in the trees and run in the grass, not sit in a cage all day. When he sees a chance to escape, he takes it, causing all sorts of mayhem in the process. Once out of his cage he turns the entire pet shop into a disaster zone. He lets the parrot loose, but it falls into the fish tank. Fish get knocked everywhere, including down the pet store assistant's top, and then he lets out the gerbils and rabbits as well. While Mr Rush, the pet store owner and his assistant Maya try to deal with all the mischief he has caused, an unsuspecting customer enters the door, and Chuckle Bob makes his escape, with just a bit more mayhem of course. Full review...
Horrid Henry's Nightmare by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross
Horrid Henry was the first chapter book my son ever read alone. It was quickly followed by a succession of books in the series and my son's confidence in reading grew by leaps and bounds with this engaging series that gets young children reading and keeps them reading. The simple fact is, with such a large number of books in the series, any child who reads through the whole lot will improve their reading skills. As he has grown older, his tastes in books have changed, but as I sat down to read 'Horrid Henry's Nightmare' to my four year old he was happy to listen in as well and we all enjoyed sharing this book as a family. Full review...
Hagurosan by Darren Shan
The story begins with a young child, living in a small village at the foot of a holy mountain. When he is told to take a small cake as an offering to the spirits of the shrine, he is disappointed as he would rather play with his friends, but he does as he is told. It is a long walk though and he soon grows hungry. Surely the gods will not mind if he has just a tiny nibble at the cake? But one nibble leads to another and by the time Hagurosan arrives at the shrine, he has eaten the whole cake. All children make mistakes, but what Hagurosan has done is a terrible offense in the culture he lives in. Full review...
The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani
Sophie has waited her whole life for this night - the night that two children will be taken from her village of Gavaldon to the School for Good and Evil. Sophie has been doing Good Deeds and practising her beauty regime especially. Unlike the other children in the village - who cut their hair and try to be rude if they're good, or hastily says some prayers and do kind things if they're bad in an effort to avoid being chosen - Sophie just knows she's going to be taken for Good, and she can't wait. Full review...
Jinx, the Wizard's Apprentice by Sage Blackwood
Everybody knows you don't stray off the path when you're deep in the woods. And everybody knows, too, that stepparents usually want you out of the way — permanently. So poor Jinx has no difficulty in understanding, even at the tender age of six, that things are not going well for him. Rescued by a wizard, he spends much of the next few years quietly helping out round the house. It's not a bad life: Simon Magus is gruff to the point of rudeness, but the house is warm and the food is tasty and plentiful. Full review...
How Brave Is That? by Anne Fine and Vicki Gausden
All Tom has ever wanted to do is join the army, but the odds seem stacked against him. Schoolwork doesn't come easily for Tom, and without a lot of work, he'll never pass his exams. Tom is determined and with enough determination we can overcome huge obstacles. It's a good thing too - because Tom is going to have major obstacles thrown in his path. Any child with younger siblings will be able to laugh at the disasters that befall Tom as he tries to prepare for the most important day of his life - the exam that will determine his future. If he passes he can join the army. If not - his dreams are over. Full review...
The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper
As a child, I read The Grey King, book 4 in Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising Sequence. I loved the book so much it topped my Christmas list for years, but sadly Santa never delivered. As an adult I finally bought the entire sequence for myself. This book is intended as a child's book, and it is brilliant as book for children, but it is also well loved by many adults, whether as a cherished memory of their own childhood or as a book discovered as an adult. I'll admit that as child, this can book can completely draw into other worlds in a manner not possible for an adult, but this is still an excellent read, whatever age you may be. Full review...
The Child's Elephant by Rachel Campbell-Johnston
Bat, a young herdsman living on the African savannah, witnesses the killing of an elephant by poachers and then takes her orphaned baby back to his village and cares for her. Gradually the two become inseparable and Meja, the baby elephant, becomes part of village life, loved by all the villagers but especially by Bat and his best friend, Mukah. As time passes Bat’s grandmother warns the two children that the elephant will have to return to the wild and the herd to which she belongs. Reluctantly the two friends learn to accept this truth but they have no idea that their bond with this animal will be strong enough to survive both distance and terrifying events. Full review...
The Daring Escape of Beatrice and Peabody by Kimblerly Newton Fusco
This is the story of Beatrice (Bee) Hockenberry, the girl with a diamond on her cheek. Orphaned at a young age, Bee lives in the hauling truck of a travelling fair with Pauline who runs the hotdog stand. Daily, she suffers staring, ridicule and worse torments because of the prominent birthmark on her cheek. The story really starts when first Pauline and then Bobby the pig-man, the only people who have ever been kind to her, leave the fair. With no one left to protect her from the show owner who wants to put her in the freakshow booth, she takes her dog Peabody (as much of a stray as she) and Cordelia, the runt from the piglet race and runs away. Taken in by two mysterious old ladies, Bee starts school and embarks on a whole new life which has troubles of its own. Full review...
Twerp by Mark Goldblatt
Julian Twerski did something bad. So bad, that it got him suspended from school. When he returns, his English teacher asks him to write a journal about it, in exchange for getting out of doing a report on Shakespeare. Julian reluctantly accepts - but would rather be writing about sending love letters for a friend, blowing up fireworks, or pretty much anything else except telling Mr Selkirk about what he wants to hear. Full review...
Just Peachy by Jean Ure
It's always been said that it's difficult being the middle child in a family and Peaches McBride regularly feels as though she doesn't belong. Her elder brother, Coop and sister, Charlie are clever and outgoing - and after Peachy came the twins, Flora and Fergus who are full of each other and full of just being them. Add to this the fact that her father is a radio presenter, renowned for his abrasive personality and you might come to the conclusion that the best description of the McBride family is LOUD - well, except for Peachy. She's quiet, unassuming - and not entirely certain about who she is or what she wants. She does make a stand though - she really doesn't want to go to Summerfield - the school her father went to and where Coop and Charlie are in the limelight, She wants to go to a school where no one knows who she is. Full review...
Monsters and Legends by Davide Cali and Gabrriella Giandelli
My sons love stories of unsolved mysteries, monsters and mythical creatures. Like many boys, my oldest has a very strong leaning towards the non-fiction side of things. This book is for children who want to know how the legends were born, if any of the creatures could be real, and what the science behind the story is. I do feel this book is better suited to older children seeking a more rational explanation to the old stories, but my youngest did enjoy it as well. It might be useful for a child with a slight fear of monsters to get a more realistic view of them, but I would use caution with a child who is truly terrified of monsters as it might just give them more things to be afraid of. Full review...
Chasing the Dark by Sam Hepburn
Sam Hepburn's book begins, intriguingly, by echoing several well-known tales. There is the orphan foisted on an unwilling aunt and uncle, for example, and then the boy who is forced by a frightening, filthy old convict into bringing him food — not to mention a whole slew of stories about young people who find themselves in dangerous situations because they trespass in private property while attempting to retrieve their less-than-obedient pets. But the plot soon gathers a momentum all its own and all the themes hinted at in the opening pages suddenly merge into a new story which is both exciting and scary. Full review...
Monster Odyssey: The Eye Of Neptune by Jon Mayhew
Dakkar, son of an Indian rajah, is sent to study with Count Oginski after being expelled from several different schools. Initially unhappy, he starts to enjoy learning from the mysterious count, and when Oginski is kindnapped by masked men, he sets out tor rescue his mentor. Can he take on the kidnappers, giant sea monsters, and an evil maniac to save the day? Full review...
Finding Fortune by Pippa Goodhart
After Ida's mother's death, Grandmama makes plans to separate her from her father and send her to boarding school. When Fa decides to travel to the Klondike to seek gold, though, Ida can't bear to be away from him and steals away to join him. How will the pair survive, and can they find their fortune together? Full review...
Jelly Cooper: Alien by Lynne Thomas
Jelly Cooper is just turning fourteen. But excitement about her birthday is taking second place to sheer exhaustion. For weeks, Jelly has been having recurring nightmares that leave her shaken and afraid. And it's all taking a toll on her - her friends Humphrey and Agatha are beginning to get worried. Add the night terrors to the figurative nightmare of school, a crush on a boy so cool and gorgeous that Jelly sees no world in which he'd fancy her back, and a cheerleader out to humiliate her at every turn, and you can see that Jelly's life could be better. Full review...
The Chocolate Box Girls: Coco Caramel by Cathy Cassidy
Coco is the youngest of the Tanberry sisters but very much her own person. For her, life is about animals and she loves going to the stables for riding lessons even if she does overestimate her own abilities. She was hoping that she could pick up a job there a couple of evenings a week so that she could have extra lessons, but it went instead to form-mate Lawrie Marshall and they're not each other's biggest fans. Well, they're not until the pony which Coco has set her heart on is sold to someone who doesn't seem to have the animal's best interest at the front of his mind. Coco and Lawrie unite to save Caramel and another pony which is just about to foal - but how will they cope? Full review...
The Boy with Two Heads by Andy Mulligan
Richard is a nice kid. Dutiful, hardworking, rule-abiding, he makes both parents and teachers proud. But one day, everything changes. Richard wakes up with a painful lump on his neck. Rushed to hospital, his parents get some devastating news from the specialists. Richard is growing a second head. Yowzer. When the head - Rikki - emerges, Richard, his parents, his teachers and his friends, all do their best to cope. But Rikki isn't like Richard. He's spiteful. He's angry. He's rude. He says the most unsayable things and he causes a great deal of trouble. Full review...
Astrosaurs 22: The Castle of Frankensaur by Steve Cole
I bought my first Astrosaurs book as a read aloud book for my dinosaur-mad four year old. He loved it, but not quite as much as his eight year old brother and we've been collecting the books ever since. It's a large collection with a total of thirty books in print so far (including Astrosaurs Academy). Many parents have credited this series with massive improvements in their children's reading level, and I'd have to agree with this. It isn't that the book has some magical formula to develop literacy, but simply that these books are so good, the children can not get enough of them. By the time a child works their way through thirty books, their reading level is bound to improve. Full review...
