Gangsta Granny

Gangsta Granny is the latest book by David Walliams, with illustrations by Quentin Blake.  If you enjoyed the others, this is definitely a book you would like. Laugh-out-loud funny in places, this is the story about a boy and his grandmother, and how everything may not be as it seems, even the most boring of us may have a secret life

When the story begins Ben, our hero, is off to stay at his Granny's house as he does every Friday night. He hates it, hates playing Scrabble, hates the food and there is nothing to do. His secret dream is to be a plumber, he is fascinated by the pipework and how the whole water systems work together like a huge puzzle. His parents want him to fulfil the dreams they had of being champion ballroom dancers - but he hates dancing too. He phones home when he thinks his Granny is asleep to see if his parents will come and get him (they don't), but he has the awful feeling that Granny has overheard, and that he has hurt her feelings. But as Raj the shopkeeper points out, no-one is born old, and we all have secrets, and Ben should be more understanding. Even so, Ben is not prepared to find the biscuit tin full of stolen jewellery in Granny's kitchen....  she can't be a jewel thief can she? Not his old Granny?

Ben seems to be quite lonely boy, his Granny even more so. David Walliams story gives Ben the chance to rekindle his relationship with the grandmother he remembers from when he was very small. Quite sad in places but extremely funny in others (I like the bit where Granny abseils out of the hospital) and the illustrations by Quentin Blake are superb!

If you like the idea of growing old disgracefully, try the Granny Nothing stories by Catherine Macphail, or Harry and the Wrinklies by Alan Temperley. For another cameo appearance by Her Majesty, try The BFG by Roald Dahl.

The Lost Hero

As all fans of Percy Jackson will be aware, The Lost Hero is the first book in the second series about the Half-Blood heroes, children born with one ordinary mortal parent and one parent a Greek god or goddess.


Having enjoyed the original series very much, I wasn't sure how the second would work as Rick Riordan had already worked his way through the Greek pantheon, and solved the problem of what to do with all the unacknowledged children roaming around Camp Half-Blood and the rest of North America.  The solution is brilliant - take the Roman aspects of the Greek gods and their children and see what happens when you set them up against the next wave of monsters trying to take over the earth.


The story is told from the point of view of the three new characters in turn two chapters at a time, so the reader sees the events through different eyes, and very different understandings of what is going on.  Jason has completely lost his memory, and much of the action is driven by his need to discover who he really is and how he has ended up at Camp Half-Blood. His friends Leo and Piper have their own troubles to deal with. With Percy Jackson off-stage throughout the book, Rick Riordan has made his readers care very much about the new characters and how the changes at the end of the last series have affected the Half-Bloods. Piper is a good strong character, and very much like Annabeth will (probably) be pivotal to the action later on.

If you are looking for a fast-paced action adventure this is for you, but at over 500 pages you will need to set aside a bit of time to read it all.  The sequel Son of Neptune has recently been published too.

Cabin Fever

Yes, it's finally here, the new Wimpy kid book has hit the library shelves.

This story takes place over a shorter space of time than the earlier books, just the 4 or 5 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Greg is dealing with the usual problem of how to earn more money to spend on his computer games, since his mom disapproves of him playing so much. Things do not go according to plan, and the family is snowed in during the week before Christmas.

Jeff Kinney will be doing a live webcast on Friday 2nd December 2011 sponsored by Puffin Books.  You can register at www.jeffkinneyvirtuallylive.co.uk  The webcast will be available to watch later for those of us who will be at school on that day.

The people who have read this book have really enjoyed it. So did I, but Mrs Heffley, how could you!!!

Scottish Children's Book Awards

We are taking part in voting for the Scottish Children's Book Awards, formerly the Royal Mail Book Awards, this year.

The Bookbug readers are being voted for by Primary One, Two and Three. All our children will have a chance to read the books between now and the deadline for voting in January 2012.

 

 

 

Roald Dahl Competitiion - Results

Congratulations to our winners - Erin in P3K and Francesca in P5w.

This competition was a really tricky one, so here are the answers.

Red Matilda, read by Mrs Le Good

Blue The Twits, read by Mr McCrossan

Orange Fantastic Mr Fox, read by Mrs Purcell

Purple James and the Giant Peach, read by Mrs Ballance

Green The BFG, read by Mr Drysdale

Well done to everyone who took part, and thank you to the teachers who did the reading.

Book Fair 2011

The Kingarth Street Book Fair 2011 was held between 3rd and 7th October 2011.

Every class was able to come and have a look at the books on offer, and most people found something that looked interesting. Parents were welcome to come and have a look at the books too, before deciding whether or not to grant any requests.

Everyone should now have all the books which were ordered and we hope you are enjoying reading them.

Thank you all for your support, and we look forward to seeing you next time (when the library staff have recovered!)