Diary of a Wimpy Kid 'Dog Days' By Jeff Kinney

Looooooove Wimpy Kid? Then allow me to introduce to you, the almighty ‘Dog Days'. This new book starts from the part where Greg explains how he is an indoors person but eventually ends up in the Country Club with his buddy Rowley. One day, they bring this new girl Trista to the club and Rowley’s dad got pretty steamed up about that situation, so bottom line is, this is how Greg lost his Country Club privileges. Then, Greg has to go back to the town pool. I’ll give you a brief explanation of the area - it is where men shower in the open (pretty traumatic according to Greg) and where Greg tried to get his love Heather Hills (sister of Holly Hills, read: last straw!). So, moving on, the annoying comic ‘little cutie’ is going to send up its last edition and the headlines are that Rodrick has this scary movie called ‘the muddy hand’ which is pretty spooky. This movie ends up making Greg the ultimate scaredy cat; he does such bizarre things that you can’t even think of because of that muddy hand movie. No wonder Greg is wimpy - he goes to the parlour and gossips with the aunties sitting there! Can you believe it?! Greg’s fun-killer mom starts a new club called ‘reading is fun’ and it is so dead boring for Greg (I wonder why he didn’t sleep halfway through?)! Greg continues on his bizarre, turning and twisting adventure, from waterslide parks to beach visits to the ultimate ride that makes you a man called the cranium shaker... but I can’t reveal it all otherwise what’s the fun? I can tell you my views though….. it is absolutely hilarious bluboriously fascinating and all the other words from outer space - this book is excellent, each part of the book is unique in its own way with an as always perfect art! A must read (exceptions are if you are in outer space or mad). The latter part of the book, which I can't reveal because I don't want people dying of laughter, is hilarious. You cannot call yourself a Wimpy Kid fan without reading this! Must read! Must read! Must read!

Trickster: Native American Tales | A graphic collection

Like comics? I think yes. Like moral stories? I think no. This book is full of both. This book is all about animal stories, morals and how certain animals turned from how they once were to how they are in the present. This book is about the best 21 Native American stories, put together in graphics and comical form. Also, in the book, all the stories are not created in the same style of drawing, as the author changes of course, and the drawer or painter changes as well. The drawing styles vary from comical style to detailed paintings. The story ‘Coyote and the Pebbles’ is drawn and painted with every single stroke of the brush or line of the pencil looking absolutely beautiful whereas the ‘Rabbit’s Choctaw Tail Tale’ looks like it’s been taken from the world’s most hilarious children’s comic. My favourite one is how the ‘Alligator Got His Scaly Brown Skin’. It’s about an alligator who has beautiful yellow skin and goes around showing it off to everybody. The animals in the forest decide to teach the alligator a lesson. When the alligator is sleeping the animals set his surroundings on fire and the alligators skin burns and goes brown. This book is excellent for kids above five because it has a little enhanced vocabulary and it teaches you very good values and morals. This book is an absolute cracker.   

The Diary of Amos Lee By Adeline Foo

If you take a look at the front page of the book you will find a ribbon saying if you liked Diary of a Wimpy Kid, you’ll love Amos Lee and that’s exactly what happened. Amos Lee was forced to write a diary by his mother (as usual) but with a twist; Amos Lee has to write his diary in the loo, but that’s fine with Amos. This book revolves around Amos, Amos’s mother’s strange assignments, the prefect bully, his family, his friends and food. Amos’s mother gets strange assignments like going prawn fishing, going to the frog farm etc, but  mostly all assignments are about food, so Amos has a good deal of food to eat. At school Amos has two best friends - Alvin and Anthony, but Amos, Alvin and Anthony (the three A’s) are constantly bullied by the prefect of the school (who by the way is called Michael), later in the book Michael has a leg fracture and doesn’t have any money for the operation, so Amos collects a $100 and gives it to Michael. Amos also likes to go to different places with his grandpa and grandma ( ah Kong and Po-Po). Amos Lee is quite the 2^nd best diary I have read. If you liked Diary of a Wimpy Kid than you’ll like this book as well. There are differences though: I think this is not so much  a diary, it's just stating the events that happened to you, whereas in Dairy of a Wimpy Kid, there are more details about every fact that happened to the main character during the day. Plus, it's not so funny, it's just that the food bits tempt you a lot. I especially like the food parts in this one 'cause they look tasty and if you can’t understand the food you can look up their meanings in the glossary. I think I am going to review the whole series of Diary of Amos Lee. I'd give the book a 2 star rating if I had to.

Unhooking The Moon By Gregory Hughes

This book is a very sad book. So, if you’re the more emotional kind of person please do me a favour and keep a pack of tissues with you before you start reading. It all started in the small town of Winnipeg, Canada, where two kids Robert and Wazhashnoons (Bob and Rat) lived with their father (sadly their mother died in a car crash). They were like a normal family going to school and office, making friends and dancing to the latest rap music of the latest rapper, Ice. One thing about Rat was not normal -- she could make crazy predictions and she used to have fits which included spasms, saliva dripping from her mouth, etc. One day, she predicts that their dad is going to die (and her predictions are accurate because she once predicted that something bad would happen to her friend Felicia and the next day they came to know that Felicia had been strangled. Once, she predicted their dog was going to run away and the next day the dog was gone, it had left at night).

The day of Bob and Rat’s school play their dad did not attend the play and when they returned home -- lo and behold! Their dad was dead on the kitchen floor.

Bob and Rat didn’t break into tears because they weren’t the emotional type. Now they had to plan a trip to New York where they would find their uncle (Bob only agreed to the trip because he didn’t want to be put in a home). So, they started off by train to Toronto and started cycling their way to the American border. Now, Bob and Rat are on a trip where they make new friends like Tommy the hustler, Ice the rapper etc. On the way, they made a friend called Joey – a drug dealer – who took them to New York and promised Bob and Rat that he would return in a day or two after finishing his work, but Rat is eventually caught by the police and taken to a home.

So, now Bob, Joey, Tommy and Ice go to rescue Rat in New Jersey (where her home is). It turns out that the home is a very dangerous one and Ice and Tommy get badly hurt in a fight. Joey has found out about Bob and Rat’s uncle, who is the head of a company called Exocome. When they try to enter the office building the guards stop them and don’t believe that Bob and Rat are the nephew and niece of their boss, Jerome Debiller. So, Joey, Bob and Rat have to force their way in and Joey gets shot by a guard. Joey tells Bob and Rat to go on and find their uncle. Eventually, they find their uncle but at the same time Rat falls into psychological shock.

Bob is sixteen now and Ice was sentenced to six years in prison, Tommy and Joey are in hospital.

This book is actually very sad though in this review it may not seem so sad. This book is confusing, it’s hilarious and sad at the same time and that’s why this book is a good one and has become one of my favourites. But I think the author should not write such a such a sad book.

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid- Do-It-Yourself (D.I.Y) book by Jeff Kinney

Greg, the wimpy kid is back! But this time in the D.I.Y book. You can make your own wimpy kid comics, games, baddest things you've done and future telling etc, but I make one thing very clear -- this is not a diary, it's only this fun journal you own. This book also contains Greg and Rowley's comics, you also have some place to write your own thoughts, try out your autographs, your room requirements, your family drawing space and many more weird things to write about. Don't you want to draw and write about your house? This is the ultimate diary for wimps. This is the diary that's actually cool, that you can write in! I mean, who wants to write a diary like a girl, right? It's bad enough that you're a wimp! Is your mother nagging you to keep a diary? (Some mothers do!). Get this diary, this the best diary of the wimpy kid book series. It's not a lame diary, it's a cool journal.

Saxby Smart Private Detective - The Curse Of The Ancient Mask And Other Case Files by Simon Cheshire

This book is about a young detective called Saxby, who has only solved minor cases, but in his first book he finds some very tough and challenging cases to solve. In his first case 'The curse of the ancient mask' a girl called Jasmine Winchester comes to Saxby for help because her dad works in an electronic company and is accused of selling secrets to a rival company. It is up to Saxby to save his friend's father's reputation. The second case is the case of the 'Mark of the purple homework' where a mischief maker destroys people's essay's and homework. So, with the help of his mate Muddy, Saxby has to save people's homework and make this mischief come to an end. In the third and final case of the book his friend from a class below comes to him with a case of a missing antique clasp which her sour tempered mum's aunt, Mrs Eileen Pither, has accused her of stealing. Saxby has to find the ancient clasp and prove his friend innocent. Will Saxby be able to solve these cases? This book is like the new cooler version of Sherlock Holmes (without the murder of course). If you want to get some proper detective stories please read the Saxby smart private detective series. This book doesn't tell you about the evidence and the method of how the case was solved, but in the middle of the book Saxby asks you questions about the different things you read throughout the case - so be attentive. With the help of his two friends George and Izzy the book becomes very thrilling as Saxby goes through all the evidence and solves the cases.

When Daddy Was A Little Boy by Alexander Raskin

Alexander Raskin is a very famous Russian author -- these stories were about him when he was small. In the introduction it says that the author used to narrate these stories to his daughter when she was sick. These stories are very interesting, realistic and funny. This book has a collection of stories from when Alexander Raskin was a little boy to when he was a young pioneer. These stories contain everyday scenes of his childhood -- like when Alexander had been elected as his school newspaper Editor or how he started writing poetry, or how he was late for school, or even chopped a snake into eight pieces, etc, etc, etc. These stories are not fantasy stories or fairy stories -- these stories are about Alexander's day to day life like, when he was very late for school and got scoldings from his teachers. This book was given to my Aunt by my Mother and then this book was passed on to Me. This is a very rare book and you will find it very hard to get this book because my Mother bought this in an exhibition of Russian books in 1994 and I think there will be hardly any copies left of the book. This book is my very favorite book, this book has very interesting stories and very delightful ones too. Once you read this book you can form your own book by writing your or your parents stories.

(This book review is also available on the Guardian Children's Book Website at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/2011/may/13/review-daddy-little-boy)

Horrible Histories: Groovy Greeks by Terry Deary

Find history very boring? Usually our teachers teach history with all the horrible bits left out, this book has history with all the horrible bits left in it. Think the Greeks are boring? Think again, this book has all the disgusting, cool and funny facts about Greeks. Like do you know how they tested the blood, snot and urine samples you give to the medical lab today? Ewww! Puke! They TASTED it! YES! Bet you would never want to be a Greek doctor! They had a ritual of killing an ox for a sacrifice. But then, get this! They would then hold an investigation to find out who killed the ox. It generally ended with them sentencing the knife used for the sacrifice to death! CRAZY hunh? But we also have to thank the Greeks for giving us the first democracy, inventing the first flame thrower and pinhole camera too. They also played hockey and held the first ever Olympics. This book will tell you all about how the Greeks sacrificed, how they fought battles, about their states, their gods and their messengers. If you like a good horrible piece of history please get this on your list. You should read this book if you like a lot of history I also recommend this book to people who don't like history because it can make them develop some interest in history. Look out for the next in the series Rotten Romans.

This Book Is Not Good For You by Pseudonymous Bosch

Ever heard about a Tuning Fork? Oh! no! no! Not the musical Tuning Fork. I'll tell you, with the Tuning fork in his hand a chef can beat any food into any taste as long as the taster has tasted the food before. Cass and Max-Ernest have to find the Tuning Fork before the Midnight Sun's cooking comarade, Senor Hugo, does. But Senor Hugo has kidnapped Cass's mother! He wants the Tuning Fork from Cass and Max-Ernest. So, now Cass and Max-Ernest have to betray the Terces Society. The Midnight Sun are hiding in a chocolate plantation in an orphanage in Cote d'Ivoire, where they are making children work ( child labour ). Then Cass and Max-Ernest come to know that their school principal owns the Tuning Fork. So, now Cass and Max-Ernest have to get the Tuning Fork, go to Ivory Coast, save Cass's mother and the victims of child labour and stop the Midnight Sun's devious plan. This is the most intresting or I may say appetizing book of all the 3 books. In the series of Pseudonymous Bosch the writer's concepts are very good,intresting and most of all clear and mysterious.

If You're Reading This, It's Too Late by Pseudonymous Bosch

Ever heard about a Homunculus? I'll tell you -- it's a 'Man made Man' now you know. Weird huh? There's only one way to locate the Homunculus -- that is to locate the Sound Prism and find out the clues or I may say the Musical notes. You have to read this book only after you finish The Name of The Book Is Secret otherwise you won't get it. 

So this time, it's up to Cass and Max-Ernest to find the Sound Prism and locate the Homunculus (Mr. Cabbage Face). But now they are not alone. They have a new friend Yo-Yoji and as always their friend Owen from the Terces Society. And they have a surprise in store for them Yo-Yoji is from the Terces Society too!

They have to find the Sound Prism and the Homunculus, but remember the Midnight Sun is still lurking around. This is a very catchy book. Once you start reading the book you just can't stop reading until you've finished reading. The climax is very interesting but the part a little after the beginning becomes very boring, so compared to the first book this book is not as good. And, you don't get the level of excitement you get in the first book. The writer's stories are quite interesting, I also liked how in the book, the writer asks you to sign a very funny contract which he tells us to sign in blood (Tomato Ketchup - PLEASE don't try to sign in blood! He's just JOKING).
***
(My review is also available on the Guardian Children's Web Site at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/2011/apr/15/review-reading-late )

Diary of a wimpy kid by Jeff Kinney

I just wanted to inform you guys of one thing that by 'diary' I do not mean a diary, it’s just the title, I really mean a journal. This book is about a boy called Greg Heffley stuck in middle school with a bunch of kids like him who haven’t hit their growth spurt yet mixed in with these gorillas who need to shave twice a day. So getting to the point Greg keeps this journal where he writes his everyday experiences, like for instant he says about his first day of school where he says he just comes to the class and sits on some old desk and the next minute you know the teachers saying “I hope you like where you are sitting because these are going to be your permanent places” and you realize you just sat in the middle of a bunch of morons. Just like that Greg says stories about his best friend Rowley and about the nasty cheese that sits in the middle of the basketball court and gives the cheese touch to whoever touches it, he also tells about his dad, his mom, his brothers and irritating neighbour Fregley . My favourite parts are the ones where he gets chased by a gang of teenagers on Halloween night; he even tells about his wrestling unit in school and school play. But the last part is when your heart starts beating when Rowley betrays Greg and steals his ideas and the worst part is when Rowley eats the nasty old______ (it’s gross, I’ll leave it at that). I think this is one of my favourite books, till Christmas - I didn’t even know such a good book existed (Santa put it under my pillow wrapped in a red ribbon). If you are going for a normal, funny book go for this one.

Moin and the Monster by Anushka Ravishankar

This book is about a boy Moin who draws horribly. One night he hears a monster under his bed, the monster threatens Moin that if he doesn’t draw the monster he will be turned into a suitcase (some stupid monster rule of course!). So Moin draws the monster by the invisible monsters description about himself and there he is, the monster comes to life.

Now Moin is in big trouble he has to hide the monster from his parents (bring back thousands of straw baskets and bananas home) and the monster loves eating bananas and singing which leads Moin to a singing class and a late birthday party. So one day the monster gets bored and goes to Moin’s school which creates chaos, the head girl gets fed up by Moin (because of the monster) even the principal K.K Kuttykrishnan (short form Kookie) thinks Moin is a poor boy who understands nothing. After some weeks the monster wants to grow long hair but Moin says no. The havoc increases and Moin goes nuts. He decides to send the monster to another planet but the monster gets lost and when he is found Moin says that he will never part from the monster etc. I think it is a quite a funny book, for sure you will be rolling on the floor laughing by the time you finish this book. This book is great for cheering up somebody. I have a signed copy of this book - I had met the author at the Kalaghoda arts festival a few years ago and drew some pictures for her next book. I don’t know what she did with them though.

A bear called Paddington by Michael Bond

This book is about a bear from darkest Peru called Paddington. Now before you ask why he has such an unusal name I may tell you his story, one day Mr & Mrs Brown were going to Paddington station to pick up their daughter Judy home after her summer vacations, instead they found a bear sitting on a bench with a suitcase. They asked the bear if he wanted to stay with the Brown’s family, the bear politely replied yes, so the bear was named after the station, Paddington. So, Paddington keeps having adventures for example falling in tubs of hot water, creating havoc underground in the subway stations, having funny shopping expeditions, painting first prize paintings by accident, becoming an actor in a theatre and dropping marmalade sandwiches on top of peoples head in the theatre, going to the seaside and sailing in buckets all day long and making eggs disappear and making them reappear under peoples bums. So now to my opinion: truly DAZZLING book! A very very rare book to find, I even have a Paddington coat which used to be my mother’s when she was small and a Paddington stuffed toy. If you want to narrate this book to a young child, I say he\she will love it.

Horrid Henry by Francesca Simon

This is the first book about a very very horrid boy, Henry. He would do the most horrid things any one would imagine. He also had a brother, Perfect Peter who would do the most sweetest and politest things - a whole opposite of Henry. So one day Henry thinks “what if I became like Peter for a day”.

So, he stops reading comics, stops telling a lie and tries to become perfect (for 1 day) and that leads to Trouble (with capital T). His next totally horrid adventure leads him to a stupid dance class, where he does an elephant dance instead of a tap dance and treads on everyone’s feet. So comes the dance show that ends in a bang because he tread on someone and that person tread on someone and so on, the whole thing is an absolute disaster

More horrid stuff coming: this time it’s making yucky stuff with Moody Margret, who is Henry’s moody neighbour (who later becomes his arch enemy). They brew some yucky stuff called glop with snails, worms, porridge, soggy semolina, coleslaw, spinach, coffee, yoghurt, flour, vinegar, baked beans, mustard, peanut butter, mouldy cheese, pepper, rotten oranges and ketchup and they gave it to Peter - AND HE ATE IT!!!

The next thing Henry loves is camping - that is if the tents have tvs, refrigerators, etc. But no, his father took him to a deserted area with one public toilet and an ice cold river. The whole thing ended in the big camp but started like this: Henry’s father asked him if he would bring some logs to light a fire, but Henry is not hardworking. He takes away all the logs that support the other camps and the other camps come crashing down! Afterwards, Henry's camp came down with the rain and their camp got electrocuted - so like that they ended up in one big camp. 

Now down to my opinions, it’s a short book for fast readers. I finished it in 1 hour. It’s a book I like to collect but if you are looking for something funny this is the right place.

Malgudi Schooldays by R.K. Narayan

Malgudi Schooldays is a book where a boy named Swami, indeed a funny little boy who has 2 friends Rajam and Mani are up to some fun and jokes every now and then. In the start Swami goes to a Christian school where his teacher insults the Hindu religion. So his father sends the head a letter regarding this. Then in the second chapter Mani and Rajam hate each other. Then he tells his grandmother stories about how Rajam did this did that and so on. But his grandmother was slightly deaf so it didn't matter. Then he got kicked out of school when there was a strike because he broke the window of his headmaster's room plus he took part in the strike. So his parents send him to board high school where problems brew up. Meanwhile Rajam starts the Malgudi Cricket Club - in short MCC. Whereas Swami's school had an extra massdrill session everyday. But first time he bowls he gets the name Tate (a great cricket player of those times). But because of the massdrill Swami cannot go for the practice. Then Rajam gets annoyed of this and talks to the headmaster about it but headmaster wont agree so Swami asks his family doctor but that brings him into more trouble - the family doctor instead of helping him he tells the headmaster that Swami has lost his stamina and gets even more mass drill. Then he gets frustrated and throws out his headmaster's stick and gets kicked out. Now I think I have told you a lot I think I should let you read the book. So now to my comments: a very funny book if you want some amazement reading this is required. But I think the author should not have insulted Hinduism. Still the story is said well and funnily - when you read it you can see and feel every word that is written. A truly great story and is a must for every human being.