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

 

 

 

Our First meeting after theSummer holidays was on Thursday 17th of September. We had some new members and kids from last year as well. This meeting was all about picture books for older kids. There are some realy great picture books aimed at older children that often get missed, they can  have fantastic pictures and great stories in them. Some books just have pictures and you have to guess the story. We picked two books to look at together

Rose Blanche by Roberto Innocenti & Ian Mc Ewan

Rose Blanche was the name of a group of young German citizens who, at their peril, protested against the war. Like them, Rose observes all the changes going on around her which others choose to ignore. She watches as the streets of her small German town fill with soldiers. One day she sees a little boy escaping from the back of a truck, only to be captured by the mayor and shoved back into it. Rose follows the truck to a desolate place out of town, where she discovers many other children, staring hungrily from behind an electric barbed wire fence. She starts bringing the children food, instinctively sensing the need for secrecy, even with her mother. Until the tide of the war turns and soldiers in different uniforms stream in from the East, and Rose and the imprisoned children disappear for ever . . .

Grandfather's Journey By Allan Say

A Japanese-American man recounts his grandfather's journey to America, which he later undertakes himself, and the feelings of being torn by a love for two different countries.


After reading and taking about these books we had a look at other picture books for older readers

 

And then everyone picked up the book for the next meeting on  Thursday the 15th of October

Mr Gum and the Biscuit Billionaire by Andy Stanton

 

 

Journey to the river sea

Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson

It is 1910 and Maia, tragically orphaned at 13, has been sent from England to start a new life with distant relatives in Manaus, hundreds of miles up the Amazon. She is accompanied by an eccentric and mysterious governess who has secret reasons of her own for making the journey. Both soon discover an exotic world bursting with new experiences in this highly colourful, joyous and award-winning adventure.

Maia is sent to live with relations in a town on the Amazon in Brazil. Nothing turns out as she had expected and she has a pretty miserable time until she makes friends with Finn who lives in the jungle near her house and Clovis a child who works in an  acting company on tour in Brazil
This was the last book we read before the Summer holidays, I love this book as it has lots of twists and turns, the characters are interesting and it's a really great story. It wasn't everyone's  favourite as it is quite long and there is a lot going on in the plot. Some people found it a bit confusing to keep track of everything that is happening. Some of our group would recommend it though.

As this was our last meeting before the summer we had a vote to see what our most popular books during the year were. Our top three reads were:

1st "Beyond the Cherry Tree" by Joe O'Brien

2nd "There’s a boy in the Girls Bathroom" by Louis Sacar

3rd "The Firework Maker's Daughter" by Phillip Pullman

Everyone loved Joe O' Brien's book "Beyond the Cherry Tree" We were lucky enough to have a visit from Joe for one of our meetings where we got to quiz him on the characters and story. Louis Sacar and Philip Pullman were close and highly recommended as well

Book for meeting in May

The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips by Michael Morpurgo

 

 

It’s 1943, and Lily Tregenza lives on a farm, in the idyllic seaside village of Slapton. Her life is scarcely touched by the war until one day Lily and her family, along with all of the other villagers, are told to move out of their homes – lock, stock and barrel.
Soon, the whole area is out of bounds, as the Allied forces practice their landings for D-day, preparing to invade France. But Tips, Lily’s adored cat, has other ideas – barbed wire and keep-out signs mean nothing to her, nor does the danger of guns and bombs. Frantic to find her, Lily decides to cross the wire into the danger zone to look for Tips herself…

The book for our next book club meeting in May  is "The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips" by Michael Morpurgo. Pick up your book at the library desk in Ballyroan  

Wilderness By Roddy Doyle

 

A novel of mothers lost and found. Grainne's Mom disappeared years ago when her parents were divorced, and Mom moved to the U.S. Now, bafflingly, she's reappeared and wants to meet. What could she be up to?
To get out of the way of this mysterious reunion, Grainne's half-brothers, Johnny and Tom, go with their mother, Sandra, on an "adventure holiday" in Finland. But before they're more than a few days into the snowy north, the boys are separated from Sandra, taking impossible risks to save her life. WILDERNESS is part-adventure, part-family drama with a charm that's all Roddy.

 

Our book for April was "Wilderness" by Roddy Doyle, we all had a really good talk about what we liked and thought about the book. Johnny and Tom go on holidays to the Artic Circle in Finland with their mother and become friends with the husky dogs who are going to be pulling their sleighs on their expeditions. Meanwhile their half sister Grainne stays in Dublin to meet her mother. There are two stories in the book really, one set in Finland with the boys and their mother and the other back home in Dublin with Grainne and her mother.

 

Some people felt that the story went a too smoothly as it has a happy ending, others had read some of Roddy Doyle's other books which are quite funny and expected more laughs but "Wilderness"  is a bit more serious. Kalle the man who looks after the huskys was a favourite character. All in all I think we liked the book. We also watched a Wilderness book trailer  and filled in maps of the countries where the boys went and the route they took to the Artic Circle.

Our book for May is on the way! Will let everyone know once it arrives

March Meeting

Beyond the Cherry Tree by Joe O' Brien

 

 

 

Josh Bloom is on a field trip with his class to Cherry Tree Manor; while the house and gardens are beautiful, what really interests the class is the fact that Manor's owner, General Edgar Pennington, disappeared mysteriously exactly twelve years to the day before their visit to the Manor …

To Josh, it seems like there's something spooky about the manor. None of the other kids feel it, but Josh seems more attuned to the house, which leads him to discover something in the General's library that sends him on an adventure of a lifetime.

Josh thinks he is on a journey to find the missing General, but soon discovers that it's his own destiny that he is really searching for … there are links between him and the missing General that he never could have guessed … Josh quest takes him to the enchanting land of Habilon, full of danger, excitement and magic.

Will he ever return from the land beyond the Cherry Tree?

 

 

Really great March meeting, we were lucky enough to have the author of the book we were reading for this month Joe O' Brien call in. Joe read some pieces from his book and told us about where he gets his ideas from and inspiration for his books and characters. We were able to ask lots of questions and it really brought the book to life

 

Also Check out Joe O' Brien's blog he mentioned his trip to Ballyroan Library in it. We loved

"Under the Cherry Tree"It has lots of very different characters and a fast moving story. Joe also has a series of books based on Alfie Green which are great and lots of our book club members have read them and are big fans