Wednesday 24 February 2016




Guns of Easter by Gerard Whelan

 

 
 
 
It is 1916 and Europe is at war. From the poverty of the Dublin slums twelve-year-old Jimmy Conway sees it all as glorious, and loves the British Army for which his father is fighting.
But when war comes to his own streets Jimmy's loyalties are divided. The rebels occupy the General Post Office and other parts of the city, and Jimmy's uncle is among them. Dublin's streets are destroyed, business comes to a halt.
In an attempt to find food for his family, Jimmy crosses the city, avoiding the shooting, weaving through the army patrols, hoping to make it home before curfew. But his quest is not easy and danger threatens at every corner.


As it is the 100th anniversary of the 1916 rising we decided to start the year off by reading a book based on this time in history. This is one of my favourite books that we have done so far in the book club, and  if you don't know much about what happened in 1916 it is a great way of finding out more. This book kept me reading and reading until I'd finished it, I couldn't put it down.

The story follows Jimmy who need to cross the city just as the 1916 rising takes place and shows how dangerous Dublin was at this moment in time.

 We felt that the book gave a good account of what happened and the author wasn't on one side or the other. We looked at the proclamation and at a map of where everything took place and had a good talk about what life was like then and the characters in the book and we played a game of identifying who said what in the book. We also looked at pictures of what Dublin looked like in 1916. This was from a pack put together by South Dublin Libraries Local Studies section and has lots of info, facts and pictures about the 1916 rising




                                                                 
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Emil and the detectives by Erich Kastner

 

 
 
 
If Mrs Tischbein had known the amazing adventures her son Emil would have in Berlin, she'd never have let him go.

Unfortunately, when his seven pounds goes missing on the train, Emil is determined to get it back - and when he teams up with the detectives he meets in Berlin, it's just the start of a marvellous money-retrieving adventure . . .

A classic and influential story, Emil and the Detectives remains an enthralling read.


This was our November book and I really loved this story. It's a little bit different as it was written in 1929 in German and was later translated into English. The story is mostly set in Berlin and follows Emil who tries to get his stolen money back with the help of the new friends he makes, so its' a detective story really. Like all the books that we read so people loved it and some didn't

 Emil and the detectives was made  into a film  in 1935, so it's in black and white! and we watched a bit of it during our meeting. There is a more recent film of Emil but it's German. We also did a quiz and some activity sheets. Emil and the detectives is such a great story that it's available in the library and in book shops years and years after it was first written






Mr Gum and the Biscuit Billionaire by Andy Stanton





Mr Gum is horrid—in fact, absolutely grimsters. But this book's not just about him, it's also about a gingerbread man named Alan Taylor who has electric muscles! Plus, all our favorite characters are back: the little girl called Polly, the evil butcher called Billy William The Third, and the very wise man, Friday O'Leary. And, who could forget loveable Jake the dog, or the angry fairy who lives in Mr Gum's bathtub and whacks him on the head with a frying-pan? This book will have you crying with laughter!


Our book for our October meeting was "Mr Gum and the biscuit Billionaire".  Some people loved the book and were going to look for more Mr Gum books to read but others weren't so keen on the story and thought it was a bit rude : )    There are lots of  characters and the story moves very fast so it can be a bit confusing but if you are looking for a quick , easy funny read this could be for you.

 Mr Gum has a great website with all kids of stories, games and quizzes, check out the picture of our drawings of Mr Gum. David Tazzyman who illustrates the Mr Gum books has a video on the website of how to draw him and we followed this. We also did a quiz