Review on Kids Favourite Books

Dear Book Lovers,

November being special for Children's Day isn't it apt to have kids writing reviews on their favourite books!!

So here it is;

My Favorite Book - Contest for IL'ite Kids - Nov 2008

Rush in the entries of your kids too - in this thread!!!

Contest ends Nov 30th, 2008.

Cheers
Jenz

Il ites,
How come there are no takers for this contest ?? Am sure a lot of your kids are into reading.

Now in the post below, is a review of the book " SUMMER OF THE MONKEYS" BY AUTHOR WILSON RAWLS. He did this book review as part of his curriculum last year. It is not his favorite book. That would currently be the Hardy Boys series . So i submit this review by him to kick start this thread.

PLEASE I DO NOT WANT THIS ENTRY TO BE JUDGED AS THIS IS SOMETHING HE DID LAST YEAR.

Now can we have more activity in this thread please??

Vandhana

SUMMER OF THE MONKEYS


By Wilson Rawls

The story revolves around Jay Berry Lee, an adolescent boy who lives with his parents and crippled twin sister on a farm in Oklahoma. One summer day, he discovers a tree full of monkeys in a Sycamore forest near his house. His grandpa tells him that they escaped from a circus, and that there is a hefty reward for their return to the circus, alive. Jay Berry wants to capture them and use the money to buy a pony and a .22 that he has always wanted. He succeeds after many trials, with help from his sister. Although he wants pony and pistol, he learns that summer, that sometimes, one needs to sacrifice things for the happiness of another. He gives the reward money that he got from capturing the monkeys to his parents so they can use it for an operation that can cure his crippled sister.

The story is set in the Ozark Mountains of Oklahoma around the turn of the 20^th century. The rugged environment is an apt backdrop for the story because, it shows the struggles that people went through in those days. The farm is secluded enough from the town, bordering a forest, that one adventurous boy will not be surprised to find a variety of wild animals in the vicinity.

There are three central themes in the story. Firstly that one needs to work hard in order to get their rewards, in this case a pony and a .22. The second moral is that sometimes we need to put the needs of others before our own. Lastly, try till you succeed. Right from the beginning of the story, we are shown that Jay is guided by his grandpa to think and work hard to get what he wants. This is the motivation for him to capture the monkeys so he can get the reward money to buy his pony and pistol. All through the story, we are shown his crippled sister helping unselfishly to fulfill Jay’s wishes. When the time comes however, grandpa subtly makes him realize that his reward money can be used to cure his sister.

This is a fast paced story teaching us a few facts of life. I would certainly encourage other kids to read this book if they can.

Anirudh

The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

- C.S. Lewis

Four children Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie are sent away from London to live with a professor in the countryside during World War II. While exploring the house, Lucy stumbles on an old wardrobe which takes her into the frozen, magical world of Narnia. Later, Edmund follows her into the wardrobe and meets the evil White Witch who tempts him with an enchanted Turkish Delight and lures him into telling her about his brother and sisters. The cunning witch schemes to capture them too, trying to keep a prophecy from being fulfilled.

The true lord of Narnia- the lion Aslan returns making winter go away and bringing spring along. Animals at Narnia can talk....making it delightful for us and mythological animals like the Faun and Centaur too live here. Two friendly beavers help the children who have been avoiding the witch’s grasp meet Aslan. The witch announces during an audience with Aslan that Edmund, a traitor must die. Aslan agrees to take Edmund’s place and be executed. Due to this noble gesture, he comes back to life, summons his army of animals to help the children defeat the White Witch’s army. Aslan destroys the witch. Narnia is peaceful again.

The author C.S. Lewis lived during the time of the world wars. So, the part where the children come to stay with the professor is based on real life happenings in history. The central theme of the novel is of course "Good triumps over evil". Being human, Edmund yields to temptation, but repents later and moves away from evil. The unyielding Witch is bent upon killing Edmund, but Aslan comes to his rescue and saves him in a highly divine way. The author has cleverly used the lion figure for Aslan to endear him to the readers. He clearly represents God as depicted in all our religions - in being noble, strong and trustworthy. The children signify us, the humans and the evil witch - the temptations which lead us to commit sins.

The opening sentence, "once there were four children....." is a voice - the voice of the narrator who takes us into the story with him and guides us through its different moods. The time tested technique of story telling in the most simple way of conversation is the highlight in the book which makes it impossible for the reader to put the book down until it is finished
A book which every child must read - adults find it interesting too, infact my mother enjoyed it a lot. A story which will stay on in your memory for a very long time, there are sequels to this book too - there are seven in all, but this one is an epic by itself.

- review by Raji Sarma, age-12 yrs.

Thanks Vandana for kick starting the thread and being the motivation for others to follow.

Thanks geetharaj for following up with your side entry.

Finally it is a bit heartening for me to see this thread getting live

Expecting more entries to pour in.

Cheers
Jenz

Matilda
Written By Roald Dahl
Review By Shrindhi, age 6yrs and 8 months, Bangalore , India


My favorite book by Roald Dahl is Matilda, which is about a girl who taught herself to read books at a very young age. I have read this book many times and have enjoyed watching the film too!

Matilda’s father, Mr.Wormwood, was a car dealer who cheated everyone in the village. While Matilda was absorbed in the company of books, her parents' eyes were glued to the T.V.!


I also wish to tell you all about the horrible Ms.Trunchbull and the lovely Miss Honey. Just listen! Miss Trunchbull was the Headmistress of Matilda's school. She hated small kids in every way you could imagine. Miss Honey, Matilda’s teacher, was something else, altogether. She loved children. At first, every child would be nervous at the thought of going to school. But they would come out with smiles on their faces after meeting their gentle and kind teacher, Miss Honey.


Miss Honey asked her class if anyone had learned the multiplication table for “2” perfectly. 5 1/2-year-old Matilda, happening to be the only one in the class who knew the multiplication table for “2”, began to recite it!


Here is the poem that Matilda made up about Miss Honey, who was also known as Jenny:
“The thing we all ask about Jenny is:
Surely there cannot be many,
Young girls in the place,
With so lovely a face?
The answer to that is: Not Any.”


Miss Honey was quite pleased by this little child's wisdom and humor. She had the sense not to act in haste with children; instead, she worked to understand their minds. And now, let us turn our heads to the side of the horrible headmistress, Miss Trunchbull. Miss Trunchbull had once been a famous Olympic Player, and threw the hammer for Britain, so, from then on, she was proud of her right arm.


The rest of the story is all about how Matilda and Miss Honey won over the Headmistress' arrogance through their wisdom. I deeply admire Roald Dahl for his wonderful book, Matilda. I also admire Quentin Blake for his amazing illustration.


SHRINIDHI PRAKASH

Charlie and the Chocolate factory!This book shows amazing adventures of a little boy called Charlie Bucket.Charlie's father and mother were very poor,so life was very hard,especially for little Charlie himself.
All they could eat for breakfast were bread and margarine,boiled potatoes and cabbage for lunch and cabbage soup for supper.
Each and every day,to and fro from school,Charlie had to trot past an enormous chocolate factory!That extrodianary building was owned by Mr.Willy Wonka,the greatest chocolate maker in the world.Now what Charlie wanted more than any thing else was chocolate!
Watching children of his age munching choco was terrible,for Charlie badly wanted to join them in munching the chocolates,to feel the taste going down his throat.
Back at home,in a single bed, there were Charlie's four old grandparents.They lay in their bed all day long,fast asleep.Then,late in the evenings,they would hear Charlie's voice saying ,'Good evening Grandpa Joe and Grandma Josephine,and Grandpa George and Grandma Georgina'.Their hearts would be filled with joy,and they would watch silently as the little boy climbed up to sit on the bed.Every evening,as soon as Charlie entered the grandparents' room,there would be lots of merry-making and story-telling in that particular room. One day,Charlie asked his grandparents whether Wonka's factory was really the greatest and biggest factory in the world. All the grandparents at once jumped up and shouted,'Yes!'.
Then,whilst Grandpa Joe was telling a few secrets about the factory(Wonka's)Charlie's mother came in and told Charlie it was bedtime.
While laying on the huge matress laid on the floor, Charlie kept thinking about the secrets. If you want to know more about the secrets, come on, get going to read the book!

Regards,
SHRINIDHI PRAKASH
6YEARS 8 MONTHS
Bangalore.

Hi Sudha

Great to have entry from your side

Hope many others join the league soon.

Cheers
Jenz

Dear Jenz...
A few doubts I would like to be cleared...Regarding the childs age .Can the child still take part if he/she is less than 8 years or a few months older than 14( nearly completing 15)..
And as stated the original content should be written by the child....Can we parents correct the spellings and grammer mistakes while posting their entries, or should we post their original content word by word.....
You know some kids English and their talks....

Regards Moonbeams....

(hi, I wanted my DD to write a review of some of the nice books she has read..she refused..and i obligingly am posting this review just for the fun..)

Mary - Kate and Ashley,The Adventures of the Golden Slipper


This book is very exciting, a little serious and at last it turned out to be very funny.
I like this book very much as it is all about the two cool girls who are twins and detectives.


The story begins with the twins coming home to find a letter from Princess Gloriana.
The letter says that Mary Kate and Ashley are invited to her mansion, and could stay there for a whole week. The letter even invited them to the royal ball that would take place on the last night of their stay.

Their mom surprises them by gifting them ball dresses.

The princess and her cousin Serena were very interested in the twin’s detective work. The princess always wore golden slippers and she had 100 pairs of them!!

But she was interested in the new sneakers her cousin had brought. Gloriana had a secret liking towards a normal kid's life and she always wanted to go to the amusement park near the mansion.

Gloria was such a great person because she helped her uncle who suffered a terrible bankruptcy, by allowing him to sell souvenirs used by her. She also started a show where she taught how to protect oneself from fire. The princess had a buggy pest of a boy who kept filming her stay in the mansion.

The princess was kidnapped and it was up to the Olsen twins find out the solution. The top 3 suspects were Serena, the uncle and the camera boy. But all the three were so attached to the princess and there were a lot of thefts in the mansion. Many other children lost their clothing.

The princess had kidnapped herself!!! She wanted to go to the park so badly that she stole the ordinary clothes from the other children and escaped from the mansion leaving behind false clues.

The story was very interesting and veryfunny. This book is very mysterious andends in a girlish manner.

I love Mary - Kate and Ashley!

(this review is all the aunties in il but it is especially for my mom, who thinks Kate and Ashley series is bit too silly for me…

Mom! I learn to understand the fun of being a teenager. It does not take riches to be happy, it is something that comes from within, as you have always taught me. ) - Charulatha.V, 13 years.