April reviews from the Albert Park club

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling - reviewed by Charlie

I have read the first 3 books plus this one and I really like them.  In this book Harry Potter is about 14 years old and he and his friends go to the Quidditch World Cup which has 7 players.

This book I give 4 out of 5  - the first three books I give 5 out of 5. 

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling - reviewed by Anabelle

I really liked it!  I like that it has lots of mystery and adventure, it also has werewolves in it! It has lots of rude words in it like ‘idiot’, ‘git’ and ‘shut up’ so that’s why I’m only giving it...

4½ out of 5!

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Dragon moon by Carole Wilkinson - reviewed by Anabelle

I enjoyed it because it’s about people and dragons. 

Ping (a girl) who has to bring Kai (a dragon) back to his own kind (other dragons).  I liked it because the plot changes direction unexpectedly. 

Rated 5 out of 5.

The Magic Pony Series by Elizabeth Lindsay - reviewed by Alex

The two books I have read are Ghost in the House and Nightime Adventure and I really liked both of these books.  There is a lot of mystery and adventure, but you are told early in the book what the mystery was the rest is solving why it is a mystery.

I give both books 5 out of 5.

Five go off in a Caravan by Enid Blyton - reviewed by Alex

The Famous Five go on a caravan holiday and come across a sinister circus.  I like adventure and mystery.

Rated 5 out of 5

The White Ship by Australian author Jackie French - reviewed by Kerstin

The White Ship leaves France in the late 1500’s with a ship full of Huguenot children fleeing religious persecution.  The Captain will not land until they find the perfect place where there is no intolerance.  They end up sailing for nearly 500 years until they reach Australia.  No-one on board ever gets old and no-one realises the amount of time that has passed except for a boy named Michel.  He challenges the Captain to land in Australia.  It is 2001 in Australia and Rachel and her family are the only people who can see the White Ship.  Rachel also has dreams about Michel and the ship.  It’s part adventure, fantasy and historical a great read.  I did not want to put the book down. 

Rated 5 out of 5.

April reviews from St Kilda

First off it was Georgia's eleventh birthday and she brought chocolate cake in for the group so

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEORGIA!!!

March: Conspiracy 365 by Gabrielle Lord - reviewed by Oliver

It’s about a boy whose dad has died. Dad has a special riddle and drawings – he doesn’t know what they mean. There is a criminal gang and they know what it means. They make it look like he has tried to kill the sister and uncle. The boy goes on the run and he meets people who help him and believe he is innocent. I liked it because it makes you keep on reading.

I have read five so far in this series – they are exciting.

 

4½ reallys

Dreamwalker by Isobelle Carmody with Steven Woolman - reviewed by Georgia

This is a picture book for older readers. It is about this boy who really likes drawing. He has a dream about the sorceress who can get to him. He meets this girl, he draws her face and changes it to a cat face. That night he goes to sleep and then wakes up to the world of the cat sorceress.

5 reallys

Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson - reviewed by Lily W.

Hetty is this girl, her real name is something weird like carrothead or something. When she is about 3 days old she is abandoned by her mother and has to go to the foundling hospital and there she is named Hetty Feather. She stays there a few months and goes on to get adopted but she can only be adopted until she turns 6 and then she has to go back to the foundling hospital and when she gets back there there is a matron called Matron Peters but she calls her Matron Pigface and later in the older section of the f hosp there is a matron called Matron Bottomly and she calls her Matron Stinking Bottom. One day Hetty goes to the grand queen victoria’s jubilee. When she was younger she went to the circus and thinks the lady on the horses was her mother because of the colour of her hair but it is a wig.

4.8 reallys

School Holiday program

With the autumn school holidays just around the corner - April 11-21 - the Holiday Program is now available online at http://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/school-holiday-program.htm.

Here are a few of the activities planned:

Writing workshop with Hilary Badger - "Zac Power: top secret & highly confidential".

Who is the mysterious HI Larry, author of the Zac Power series? As a close personal associate of HI Larry's, Hilary can reveal all. Well, not the classified stuff of course. However, Hilary has security clearance to discuss how she became a writer, what it takes to be a good writer, and all about building a story, including plot and characters.

The session is fun and interactive. Creativity and imagination are enthusiastically encouraged. All questions and book signings welcome. Suitable for ages 8-11 years.

Another writing workshop, this time with Glenda Millard - "Where to find ideas for a story & how to develop them".

Glenda is the author of many books for children and teenagers including the award winning "The naming of Tishkin Silk".

In her session Glenda will reveal all the many and varied places from which ideas can come from. She will explain how to use a questioning technique to progress a story.

Fun and interactive, this session will sharpen your writing skills. Suitable for those 12-14 years.

Maybe drawing is more your thing.

In that case you might like the Drawing Workshop with Marc McBride, celebrated artist and illustrator of Emily Rodda's "Deltora Quest" series. Learn how to draw a monster from the "master of monster"! For those aged 8-14 years.

Bookings are essential for these workshops as places are limited! Payment needs to be made at the time of booking - to find out when, where & how much just check out the library website!

There's something for everyone so get booked in now, before it's too late!

Library Writing Competition

You can read the winning entries here

Create a character and win a prize!


3 x $50 & 3 x $30 book vouchers to be won!!!

Competition closes Friday May 6!

To be in the running for one of these prizes your challenge is to create a character in a minumum of 50 words / maximum 200 words - but you need to choose one of the following names for your character:

Lucy Jones

Dora Reichman

Fred Burke

Justin Jarvis

Felix Stand

Nabi Kong

Ellen McGonagle

Helpful hints:

A really good book will often have a clever plot, be adventurous, mysterious, funny or sad but there will be some strongly drawn characters - or one, anyway - that makes you care what happens to them.

You might use:

Description:   what do they look like? are they old/young, happy/sad, lucky/unlucky, short/tall, safe or in danger, kind/cruel, etc.

Action:   what do they do? how do they move?

Dialogue/thoughts:   how do they think/speak?

Use your imagination and observation skills!!

You may find the following links helpful in bringing your character to life:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Story-Writing-Tips-for-Children---Bring-Characters-to-Life-by-Showing,-Not-Telling&id=962508

http://kathytemean.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/character-physical-description-list/

http://www.coreygreen.com/storytips.html#3

http://sevenstepswriting.com/sample.php

Entries close on Friday, May 6 at 5.00pm

Category 1:    7-10 years

Category 2:    11-13 years

Category 3:    14-16 years

Send your entry with your name, phone number and date of birth to library@portphillip.vic.gov.au or drop it in to your nearest library branch. Enquiries to Linda Todd 92096526.

Winners will be notified Wednesday May 18 and we will publish the winning entries on our website and Lightning Readers blog!

So, get your pens out, thinking cap on and start writing!!!