Night Mail

Here's 5G performing Night Mail by W H Auden::



You can see the original poem in the Night Mail film here:

Sapphire Battersea

Characters:

• Ida - Sapphire's mum
• Sapphire Battersea- The main character and foundling
• Jem - Her old foster brother
• Mrs Briskett-The formidable housekeeper  
• Madame Berenice- A link to the spirit
• Emerald- The astonishing mermaid
• Fantastic Freda - The female giant
• Bertie- The butcher's boy

Sapphire Battersea is a foundling, and none of the foundlings are meant to see their mother's again. Sapphire  found out her mum was the kitchen maid at the end of Hetty Feather. She is always singled out and has a terrible temper. Whenever she can, Sapphire sneaks down to Ida's room.One night a sly girl called Sheila, who has always been Sapphire's enemy, follows her down and peeks through the door at Sapphire and her mum hugging in bed. When a matron finds out Ida was really Sapphire's mum, Ida is sent away. Sapphire can not bear life without Ida.  She is so upset she gets very ill. When foundlings  get to a certain age they go away to be a servant. Sapphire's turn comes around and who knows what adventures will follow...

I would recommend this book because there are many adventures in one book.

Recipe books

We've been busy cooking, eating and packaging biscuits. Here are our recipe books:

The Calder Games

The Calder Games is a wonderful story, including different emotions for example excited and worried. The first chapter isn't really a chapter at all, it inspires you to read the rest of the story. This book is about a boy called Calder who got his name from the amazing creations of Alexander Calder, who created statues. People said these statues had a mind of their own.

Calder was born and grew up in Chicago but he and his dad went to England for a holiday. He was excited as he had never seen anything in England. They start off by having a great time but are shocked when they see an Alexander Calder statue in the square. All the other people sigh when they see it. It was obvious they all disliked it. Some mumbled "How this appeared I will never know!" Calder and his dad stayed in a bed and breakfast hotel and the person who owns it, Miss Knowsley, had something suspicious about her ways. While Calder is in the post office, buying postcards for his friends, three people start talking about why someone did something, as Calder listens he knows something is wrong...

I have not yet finished this book but I expect something bad has happened in England.

I would recommend this book for children who are interested in adventure stories.

Odysseus

I wonder what Odysseus' mother was doing and how she appeared  as a ghost. Maybe Homer wanted us to leave the book with our heads full of thoughts about Penelope, the suitors, Polyphemus and maybe even Tiresias.  After the story Odysseus might have insisted to Penelope that he went to the last place he had to go on the adventure, the place where men do not know the sea.  I find myself wondering what it would have felt like for Odysseus to see his mother as a ghost, maybe shocking or upsetting.

Maybe after the story Odysseus has another adventure. Why didn't Odysseus reveal himself  to the people of Ithaca straight away?  Why did Athene tell him to go to the swineherd's shed in the shape of an old beggar?  

This book inspired me to read more books of Greek mythology because it was a brilliant book.  When Odysseus' dog died the moment he saw it for the first time in nineteen years, I felt moved. 

I liked the part where Odysseus sees his beautiful island, Ithaca, again.  I'm not too keen to read the part about the Cyclops again.  If I were Penelope I would have done the same the she did, check it was Odysseus not just one of the suitors in disguise ,trying to win her hand in marriage. When we finished reading the book I wanted it to carry on, telling us whether Telemachus would have to fight for ten years or if it really was a happy ending.

My Name is Mina

Mina ( as you will read on the cover) loves the night. She is also a girl who owns a wild imagination!  There are a few pages of black where she wrote out her story of going to the Underworld in search of her dad. She is home-schooled by her mum because of when she did that terrible journey to the Underworld.  The house opposite hers used to be owned by Mr Myers, who was found dead.  But soon after the house was put up for sale and (watching from her comfortable branch on a tree) saw many people looking closely at the house then walking away shaking their heads. Eventually a family do buy the  house. When two people come in to Mina's house droning endlessly on about not being able to do home-schooling will Mina and her mum carry on their routine of home-schooling or will Mina have to return to the dreaded St Bede's school?

Gargoylz Triple Trouble

This book has three books in one!

Did you know gargoyles could walk and talk and that they had superpowers? But they must never be seen by humans because they must keep their wonderful secret! Their hobby is playing tricks I guess and the Vicar seemed to have a whole lot of tricks played on him in just one wedding! However in this book two best friends called Ben and Max do find out about the gargoyles secret. These two boys are trouble-makers themselves so you have Toby, Barney, Eli, Bart, Theo, Zack, Ira and Azzan the gargoyles making a lot more tricks with the help of Ben and Max. 

Enjoy endless fun with the Gargoylez, Ben and Max. In this book there is Gargoylez on the Loose, Gargoylez Get Up to Mischief and Gargoylz at a Midnight Feast.

I would recommend this book to children aged 7+. 

The Isle of the Dead

Here's our book inspired by our reading of Odysseus, and Arnold Böcklin's painting The Isle of the Dead:

How much do you know about he Odyssey? Test you basic knowledge with a quick quiz of eleven easy questions: Click here

Insula Dulcamara

Here is our book of 100 word challenges on the theme of Insula Dulcamara:

Candyfloss

Candyfloss is a brilliant book, including different mixtures of feelings, worried, excited, devastated and pleased.

Characters:

• Flora (Floss)
• Her mum
• Her dad 
• Steve
• Tiger
• Rose
• Billy the chip
• Old Ron
• Miss Davis
• Saul
• The fair helpers

Candyfloss has to be one of my favourite books I've read! Floss' mum and dad split up  a long time ago, she lives with her mum on week-days and her dad at the week-end.  It starts off happy and exciting for Floss, because it's her birthday.  She gets a t-shirt with a koala in the middle, a new pair of trainers and a toy kangaroo with a baby in her pouch.  Then she finds out what should have been good news but to Floss  it was bad. Steve got a promotion at work to go and work in Sydney and he accepted it so the whole family had to move there in one month.  

She gets a second birthday at her dad's cafe. The three regular customers are there;  Billy the chip, Old Ron and Miss Davis.  For the rest of that day Floss waited for the chance to tell her dad she couldn't stay seeing him at the week-ends but she wasn't willing to spoil his effort into her party and his fun either. Floss has to decide between her mum or her dad which family will she choose in this impossible decision...

The Worst Thing About My Sister

The Worst Thing About My Sister is by Jacqueline Wilson.  Marty and Melissa are sisters who don't get along at all! Marty (Martina) is a terrible tomboy and Melissa is the kind of girl who loves pink, bunnies and kittens. A girly girl. They are total opposites. They can't go a second without arguing and so when their mum's sewing business gets big and they are told they must share Melissa's pink room some surprises are in store...

Marty has to deal with three bullies every week day, Alisha, Katie and Ingrid. One day when she really wants to get revenge for them calling her Bluebottle, Melissa tells her she has a bully in her class. 

Their mum and dad reach despair trying to put a stop to their arguments. They argue hours on end every day but when a terrible accident occurs could it change how they treat each other...?

Mythological Creatures

After meeting various mythological creatures in the book Odysseus, we created some of them ourselves. Have a look through our book (click on the image to expand the book, and then on the arrows to turn the pages. Click Escape to minimise it again):

Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Third Wheel

I have read the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series several times but I would definitely say this one is my favourites. Greg's school is having a valentines dance and Greg is having a whole bundle of trouble finding a girl to go with. His best friend Rowley was voted for social chairperson in the school council and Greg realizes that Rowley could be his wing man to find someone to go to the dance with. After a while Greg realizes he made a BIG mistake.

Eventually Rowley tells Greg that a girl called Abigail's boyfriend told her that he had a family outing the night of the dance. Greg barely knows Abigail and Abigail barely knows him so Greg suggests that Rowley should ask Abigail if the three of them could go to the dance as "a group of friends". At the next school council meeting Rowley asks and Abigail says yes.  Greg was planning Abigail would get to know how great a person he was,  but it doesn't work out like that...

Greg has to sit in the back of the car while they're getting taken to dinner and Rowley and Abigail sit together whispering and giggling. The dinner didn't work out how Greg wanted it either. He suddenly remembered when they got inside, the rule was you had to wear a sports jacket. They had to leave early because the sports jacket smelt horrible.

I would recommend this book to fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and anyone who likes book that make you laugh out loud.

Journey to the River Sea

This book is about a girl called Maia who has been in an Academy half her life.  When her headmaster tells her that she is to go to her uncle that she never really knew, Mr Carter, she hates the thought of leaving her friends. But when he mentions that he lives in the Amazon near the Amazon river she gets excited.  She hears that there are twins, Beatrice and Gwendoline, she can't wait to leave. She heads off to Mr Carters house with her governess Miss Minton. 

When she arrives at the house she sees it isn't a bit like she imagined.  There are no plants because the family says they give away the bad germs of the Indians.  Her life gets worse and worse, she has to learn terribly tedious Dr Bullman books, early in the morning Mrs Carter is spraying insect spray around the house and when it's Maia's turn to play the piano Mr and Mrs Carter have a headache.

My Sister Jodie

Pearl and Jodie are sisters but are the best of friends.  At their usual school (Moorcroft) Jodie bunks off with her friends.  Their mum and dad decide she needs to be taught properly so they all go to boarding school at Melchester college. Their mum is the cook and their dad is the caretaker.  Jodie can't stand the thought and when they leave she doesn't fit in but Pearl has all the friends. Pearl used to get terribly teased but when she arrives at Melchester college the first friend she makes is a boy called Harley.  When they arrive it is the summer holidays so the only children there already are Zeph, Dan, Sakura and Harley. Zeph, Dan and Sakura are little and Jodie and Pearl don't know why they have to stay for the summer but Harley can't stand  his parents so that explains him staying there.  Pearl used to get terribly teased but in Melchester college she has lots of friends.  Jodie's the one who doesn't fit in.  Pearl doesn't need Jodie any longer but Jodie needs her.  But when a terrible thing happens on bonfire night Pearl realises just how much she needs her sister.