A Kids' Cool, Awesome Book Reviews List (from the minds of 2 kids)
We thought this would be a fun thing to do!
If children's books are written for, you guessed it, children... then why not have children review them? So, I put my 2 boys to the challenge. In the spirit of the holidays, I had them review a few books that they happen to love. It was very sweet to see the creative process with this, to see how they would express what observations they've made about their recent favorites. Keep in mind, my boys absolutely like most of the classic stories, and had recently read the likes of the real Wizard Of Oz story, the Pippi Longstockings series, Farmer Boy, etc... books loved by boys and girls of all ages. That said, they decided to go for a limited selection of books which may seem, well... boyish!
I would like to add that we hope you'll be able to find these books in locally-owned businesses around town. As much as possible please try to support local. For the holidays and for anytime, for that matter, a good choice is The Boulder Bookstore but for gently-used books (a great recycling program!), try The Book Worm and The Red Envelope.
So, we at metroseen present the Cool, Awesome Book Reviews of 2009 (from the minds of 2 kids)
Goosebumps: Cry Of The Cat - by R. L. Stine
reviewed by Oliver (age 8)
"This book is about a creepy cat named RIP and 2 kids who have quite a few conflicts with with the cat. The girl accidentally ran over the cat on her bike and since then RIP keeps coming after her. He never seems to die & wants his revenge. The cat is magical and lives in a haunted house with other cats who are "spirit" cats. I really love the ending of the story!"
Hank The CowDog (a series of books) - by John R. Erickson
reviewed by Oliver (age 8)
"Hank is one of my all-time favorite characters! He's a clever dog who lives on a ranch. The series of stories are full of adventure, including things like saving of lives;. The story is really funny at times. I really love them all but especially like 'The Case Of The Vanishing Fishhook' book."
The Hobbit - by J. R. R. Tolkien:
reviewed by Oliver (age 8)
"My dad just started reading this to us and already I'm loving it! It's about a Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins, who has furry feet and loves to smoke his pipe and eat lots of food. It's also about a Wizard named Gandalf and 13 Dwarves who are ona mission to kill a dragon and recapture the Dwarves' castle and jewels. Bilbo, the Hobbit didn't have much choice in deciding to go but is also partly excited about the adventure. My favorite character so far is the head Dwarf, Thorin. I think it's really funny how much food they all love to eat!"
Warriors (a series of books) - by Erin Hunter (pseuodym of 4 authors it turns out):
reviewed by Oliver (age 8)
"A wonderful series about clans of cats with fascinating names like 'Firestar' who often times meet at gatherings in the middle of a forrest to socialize and share news about their individual clans. At times they are enemies, but most of the time they're friends. This is a great book about relationships. My favorite in the series is the first book 'Into The Wild'. What I love is that I often times feel like I am one of the cats in the stories!"
Warriors review #2
review by Maximo (age 12)
"It's about 4 clans of wild cats (ThunderClan, ShadowClan, WindClan and RiverClan) trying to survive in their forest homes. They have their own territories within the forrest and go on hunting patrols, and protect their borders, and train apprentices. If they have kits they become queens and are sent to the nursery. After their kits are born and are made apprentices, the queens resume their normal duties as a warrior. At times the clans even battle with each other. Every full moon, they meet "in peace" and share news of their individual clans. Each story has it's own saga which connect to other sagas, or stories. I have read these so much that my parents believe that I want to become a cat myself!"
Hatchet - by Gary Paulsen
reviewed by Maximo (age 12)
"This true-story adventure is about a 13 year old boy named Brian who survived a plane crash and gets lost in the woods in an unknown place. He's forced to hunt on his own, make shelter and find a way to survive all on his own. He proves to be very resourceful and finds that he has all that he needs to survive. In the end he... well I can't tell you that part!"
Eragon - by Christopher Paolini
reviewed by Maximo (age 12)
(The first thing that I love about this is that I learned that the author christopher paolini was a homeschooled boy who began and finished Eragon during his teenage years.)
"Eragon is the first book in the 'Inheritance Cycle' by Christopher Paolini. It's a magical story about a farm boy named Eragon who finds a mysterious "stone" (which he ends up discovering is actually a Dragon's egg). This was soon discovered when he hears strange squeeks and witnesses the hatching of the egg. He touches the young dragon (later named Saphira), which then burns and marks his hand and creates a "link" to the Dragon forever. The adventure really begins when the evil king King Galbatorix finds out about Eragon and his dragon. He sends his servants after them in an effort to capture them. Eragon and Saphira are forced to flee from their hometown, and search for the Varden, a group of rebels who want to see the downfall of Galbatorix. Their hopes would be that The Varden will help them. If you love other adventurous stories such as The Lord of the Ring, you'll find similarities and you should really enjoy every page of this story."
We hope you enjoyed these reviews even just a portion as much as the kids had making them. Please feel free to add comments either here or n twitter (@metroseen).
Happy Holidays!
