BIRMINGHAMTHEBLUECOATSCHOOL1722

Zeraffa Giraffa by Diana Hofmeyr and Jane Ray

Review by Auden (3EC)

This book was about a baby giraffe called Zeraffa who was gifted to the king of France by the ruler of Egypt. The genre of this book is history. 

I really enjoyed this book because it is about a true story. It was interesting to read how the people in France reacted to seeing a strange animal that they had never seen before. I also like how Zeraffa has long eyelashes like me!!! Zeraffa was my favourite character in the book and is the protagonist. 

I would definitely recommend this book because it is very fun to read and has some amazing pictures which help the story to come alive. I think children aged between five to nine years old would enjoy this book the most. I would definitely give it five stars and would enjoy reading it again.

 

What You Need to Know about AI by Brian David Johnson

Review by Aaryan (3ED)

This book is about what AI is. AI stands for artificial intelligence. Now you might be thinking that AI is this super scary thing that will take over the world, but it isn’t. AI is already being used! AI is always around us for example, in cars, computers, IPADs and even some smart fridges. The genre of this book is non-fiction fact. This book also tells you what your future will be like living with AI. I liked how the book tells you all the myths of AI. In this book they are solved by the help of some experts. 

I enjoyed reading about AGI (artificial general intelligence) and how it would look like in the future. What will it do? How will we use it?

I would recommend this book to people who are curious and like facts, additionally people who enjoy solving problems. I would also recommend the book for year 3 children and over who are interested in technology and the future.

 

The Young Magicians and the Thieves Almanac by Nick Mohammed

Review by Orion (3JO)

This adventurous comedy book tells a gripping crime story when a team of four children named Zach, Jonny, Alex and Sophie manage to stop and report thieves doing all sorts of outrageous crimes: such as trying to steal gold from the Bank of England and attempting to do the same with the Crown Jewels. They also discover that a very scary boy named Henry is one of the greatest magicians and a very mysterious adult. In the end, they find out that Jonny’s amazing grandfather Ernest is also a thief and they lose trust in him, every time Ernest apologises the more Jonny gets upset. 

The funniest part of the book is when it says ‘the four stared up to a mysterious glow… Sainsbury’s!’ My favourite character in this book is Zach because he comes up with so many inconceivable ideas that are the key to stopping the cunning gang of thieves getting away with their priceless haul. 

I would recommend this book to ages 8-12.

 

Planet Omar: Unexpected Super Spy by Zainab Mian

Review by Aahil (3RB)

It was about a boy called Omar who found out one day that one mosque made his dad smile. Unfortunately the council said that the mosque was running out of money and they said “If you don’t have enough money by the end of next week we will have to take your building” and Omar realised that if they take the mosque, it will stop his dad from smiling. Of course Omar had to do something about this… I found it very thoughtful when Omar gave up all his piggy bank money to save the mosque.

I thought the book was IMPECCABLE for two reasons; first because the book was about empathy and secondly because it helps me with my future because I’ll need to save money.

I would recommend it to people who love books about compassion.

 

Skandar and the Skeleton Curse by A F Steadman

Review by Akaal (4JL)

This magical book is how Skandar, Flo, Mitchell and Bobby go round the world trying to save it from the treacherous Skeleton Curse. My favourite character is Bobby I loved it when Rex Manning left the room she took the opportunity to kick the door at the right time so it slammed in Rex’s face. If you have the urge to read more books like this the books before are Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, Skandar and the Phantom Rider and Skandar and the Chaos trials. Did you know that on August 28th 2025 the fifth book will be published. 

This book genre would be fantasy because it is filled with magical life I would recommend it to people who are interested in twists and turns. 9+ would suit this book even though I am 8. It would be 9+ because there is lots of things that would make younger children scream at night.

 

Murderous Maths: Secret Life of Codes by Kjartan Poskitt

Review by Mustafa (5AG)

This book is about the codes and languages used in the brilliant yet extremely bamboozling world of mathematics. Flicking through the opening pages of this book, I was immediately engrossed. Some may say that this would be a boring book and may not want to read it. However, I can ensure that after reading just one page in the Murderous Maths Collection, they would not only want to complete the book they are reading, but they will launch themselves into the entire series. These books not only provide entertainment, but also passively improve your understanding of mathematics. My favourite genre of book is comedy and I think that the greatest subject of all time is Mathematics. This book provides both sides of the equation in equal measure! 

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves comedy books but also may feel that Maths is not their strongest subject. Soon enough they will realise that their mathematical skills vastly improve without any effort.

 

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J K Rowling

Review by Arnav (5LN)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is based on the return of the feared Lord Voldemort. In the Summer holidays, the Weasleys (Ron’s family) give Harry a ticket to the Quidditch World Cup. This is a once in a lifetime experience so Harry accepts this. On the way they meet Amos and Cedric. Ireland successfully beat Bulgaria and are crowned champions of the tournament. After the game, the crowd are in for a nasty surprise as some of Voldemort’s followers called the Death Eaters turn up and destroy the campsite. The Dark Mark; a snake around a skull, is conjured into the night sky. This is a sign that Voldemort is getting stronger. At Hogwarts, Dumbeldore announces that two school called Durmstrang and Beauxbatons will be visiting for the Triwizard Tournament. You have to be 17 or over to enter however, somebody enters Harry…The are now four champions: Cedric, Fleur, Harry and Victor Krum who is the Bulgarian seeker from the Quidditch World Cup. In the first task, Harry has to take a golden egg of a dragon and in the second, Harry has to find Ron in the bottom of the lake. In the third task the players have to enter a maze… 

I would recommend this fantasy novel to anyone who enjoys fantasy with a side note of tragedy…

 

Orange in No Man’s Land by Elizabeth Laird

Review by Sukhmani (5VF)

This book Oranges in No Man’s Land is about a girl and her family who are living in a period of wartime in Lebanon. The family have lost all of their belongings and lost their way of living. A majority of the houses have been bombed but a small minority of house remain standing. The girl and her family went to stay at a grand house however, they had to cross the Green Line in order to get to the house. When they finally reach the house the girl needs to get some medicine for her Grandma.

In this book I like how it teaches you what life was like during wartime and the challenges people have to face.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy history and learning about war. I would suggest this book for people aged 7+.

 

Listen to the Moon by Michael Morpurgo

Review by Kellie (5ZS)

This is a book about a boy named Alfie and how he lives with his family on the Scilly Islands of Bryher. He discovers his speciality for fishing and Jim – his father- notices it too. One morning when Alfie skips school to go catch some fish for the precious evenings of the day, they arrive at St. Helen’s just to find that Alfie was hearing coughing and it was continuous too. Jim assured Alfie that it was just the wind teasing his ears, yet Alfie was sure that a person was stranded and refused to leave without having a search. Sure enough they found a helpless girl, shivering and clutching tightly onto a ragged cloth. They decided to take her home and bring her to Dr. Crow, where he said that she would need somewhere to stay overnight. Mary, Alfie’s mother, happily agreed to take her in and strangely her first words spoken were ‘Lucy’ so the people of Scilly assumed her name was Lucy. When Lucy Lost’s story unravels they unearth that she is more than a mysterious girl who refuses to let go of her much-loved teddy bear!

I love the misty presence of this book, and this tale is pages and pages full of glorious words which spell out a story that you’ll never forget.

I would recommend this book to anyone! Especially to those who love cradling the satisfying end to savour slowly. You will also love it if you can bear to wait to scramble upon the secrets of the tale, since you definitely need a lot of patience to uncover Lucy’s background…

 

The Dragon Prophecy by Tui T Sutherland

Review by Luca (6JM)

This book is about some dragons that have to follow a prophecy because they are dragonets – this is their adventure through out the Sky Kingdom. Queen Scarlet imprisons them and they have to fight to the death in a arena. They escape and in the next book they head to the sea kingdom to see Tsunamis’ history.

I loved this book its amazing it’s so thrilling and exciting you really should read it.

I would recommend it to people ten plus because there is some hard violence in it.