Thursday 11 February 2016

Scottish Children's Book Awards - Voting

Hello again

Well, we've read all the books, shared the Bookbugs with P1 and P2 and all voted for our favourites.

In the Bookbug category, our favourite was 'Wanted! Ralfy Rabbit, Book Burglar with 'Mouse's First Night at Moonlight School' a close second and third place going to 'Never Tickle a Tiger'.

Well done P1 and P2 and thank you to the wonderful readers in P7 and P5 who read to all the younger children.

The Young Readers category was much more difficult to judge.  P7 definitely admired Ross Mackenzie's novel, 'The Nowhere Emporium' whereas P5 and P6 enjoyed the other two.  The overall favourite was 'The Fastest Boy in the World' by Elizabeth Laird, second was 'Ravenstorm Island' and 'Nowhere Emporium' came third.

But which one will win the big prize?  The award ceremony takes place on Wednesday, 2nd March at the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow and 16 lucky pupils will have the opportunity to attend.  In addition, our school has been invited to be part of the BBC filming team who will interview the shortlisted authors.  The BBC is running a workshop in school training the pupils in interview techniques and also teaching them how to make films of their own.  More lucky pupils will be able to attend this exciting event so watch out for the letters tomorrow!

Both our book clubs are well attended and we do our best to replenish our stock.  An exciting one for P7 is the Costa prize winner, 'The Lie Tree' by Frances Hardinge.  Sophie is currently reading it so we'll let you know what she thinks of it in our next post.

In the meantime, here is Sophie's review of the P7 favourite - The Nowhere Emporium.

The Nowhere Emporium
Book Review by Sophie Sinclair

I usually find it hard to describe books in one word. They are a whole other world, contained inside your imagination. So, it’s not exactly a piece of cake summing them up in a few syllables. But as I read this book, I knew exactly how to describe it. This book is utterly magical.

Pursued by bullies, 11 year old orphan Daniel Holmes races through the streets of Glasgow. By chance, he stumbles into a cryptic antique shop. Daniel wouldn’t know it yet, but the hardship and anguish of his life was about to change forever.

This book was a whirlwind of magic, mysteries and surprise. There was never a dull moment and I could have read this cover to cover in one sitting. (In fact, I almost did!) For some readers the interchanging plot lines may be a little confusing but I enjoyed it as it built up the bigger picture little by little. Ross Mackenzie describes everything beautifully, and I love how everything has meaning and logic, even the names. 

I would recommend this book to any reader who wants a dose of magic and adventure in their life.
Bet you can't wait to get started on that one!  I'll let you into a secret - it's my favourite too!  Well done Ross Mackenzie.
Until next time
Your friendly Book Clubbers.