Algy’s Amazing Adventures in Space – Review

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Fiona Martin

Algy’s Amazing Adventures in Space is one of the latest books from the Orion Early Reader series. It is a red Early Reader which means it is perfect for those who are to read by themselves or to a listening adult. Miss M is 6 and a fairly confident reader so this is perfect for her to sit down and enjoy.

This book follows the adventures that a young boy Algy has when he visits the shed at the end of his garden. Behind a loose plank always lies an amazing adventure which he visits with the girl next door and her little brother. In this book they find themselves in space on another planet where they find a little tin dog who leads them to a crater where the dog’s owner GUS, a robot has fallen. Algy and his friend’s adventure follows their journey rescuing GUS from the hole and then learning a bit more about the planet such as the strange plants that are grown. They soon decide to return home through the shed after learning that the masters of the planet are due to return and they are aliens!!

This Orion Early Reader is a fun read, one that all children will enjoy. Miss M found it exciting and eager to read what happened next which is great to motivate her to finish the book. The book is full of colour illustrations on each page too which keep a child’s interest, Miss M always like to stop and look at the pictures before continuing to read.

We love the Early Reader series from Orion and think Algy’s Amazing Adventures in Space fit in really well, definitely something all young readers will enjoy.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and the book was sent to us in order to write the review.

Horrid Henry’s Wedding – Early Reader Book Review

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Fiona Martin

Horrid Henry’s Wedding is a classic tale of naughty Henry getting up to his usual antics and mischief. In this story by Francesca Simon, Henry’s family are invited to Prissy Polly and Pimply Paul’s wedding and Horrid Henry is a pageboy!

The day doesn’t start well with it pouring of rain, then Horrid Henry trips in a muddy puddle which covers his pageboy outfit before losing the rings in the church. It’s never ending with Horrid Henry as usual but his constant antics are what keep children entertained. Miss M enjoyed reading this and was amazed at all the things Henry got up to. The book is an Orion red Early Reader which is perfect for her current reading ability and the writing is interspersed with plenty of colour pictures which helps maintain her interest and motivation to carry on reading.

We enjoyed this book and have already read it several times. I would definitely recommend the Orion Early Reader series for young readers, they never fail to disappoint, are of a high quality and always full of colour illustrations that help bring the stories to life.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the book in order to write the review.

Lottie and Dottie Sow Carrots – Orion Early Reader

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Fiona Martin

Lottie And Dottie Sow Carrots is a fun story by Claire Burgess in the Orion Early Reader blue series. It’s perfect for this time of year, just as you head out to your own gardens to start sowing seeds and plant things for the season ahead.Lottie and her little sister Dottie love growing things and head off to the local garden centre to choose some seeds. They decide on something orange so look at the array of carrots on offer and buy some seeds. With some helpful advice from a neighbour they set to work planting them and and the end of the summer they are able to pick them and eat them.

This is a lovely book that 6yr old Miss M found simple to read, the colour illustrations on each page really engaged her and helped bring the story to life. She paused after each page to view the pictures and reinforce her understanding of what she has just read. I like these books because they are great to read together but she can also sit and read them alone and I know she is of the level where she is understanding and reading the majority of the book correctly.

Lottie and Dottie discover that growing your own carrots tastes so much better and is fun to do, something I think most children would enjoy. After all, there’s nothing better than growing your own food then getting to eat it!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the book in order to write the review.

DC Super Friends Activity Books and First Readers

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Fiona Martin

DC Super Friends are very popular with my little boy, so with Bantam releasing a range of activity and first reader books I knew he’d be excited. With all his favourite characters such as Batman, Superman, Green Lantern and others, these books follow the super friends on adventures of fighting crime and saving the day!

The first readers are aimed at 5-7 year olds, so 6 year old Miss M was keen to have read. She kindly read them to her younger brother and he eagerly viewed the pictures and enjoyed the story. These are perfect for her age to read with large text that is simple but interspersed with a few trickier words that she managed well.

Crime Wave is about a baddie, Black Manta, who plans to steal the world’s largest pearl, but fortunately the DC Super Friends are there to stop him escaping with the pearl and catch the criminal in action. This is a typical super hero type of story, one that little ones love and that Mister B has listened to over and over.

Hero Havoc follows Bizarro, a wannabe super hero who tries his hardest to have the same special powers as the others, but it always results in the opposite thing happening, therefore he never quite achieves what he sets out to do. He goes off to find Superman who is being held by Lex Luthor and it’s Bizarro that manages to set him free, finally making him happy and feeling worthy of being a hero.

Both these DC Super Friends books have been enjoyed by my children, with Miss M reading them herself and Mister B listening to them. These are firm favourites that I can definitely recommend. The full colour picture pages help bring the stories to life with lots of recognisable characters that little ones will love!

There are also a couple of activity books available, a wipe clean book which is great for practising pen control, something Mister B is just getting to grips with so this book has been great for him to write, draw, match etc. using his favourite super friends to guide him. The DC Super Friends sticker book has 4 pages of stickers to use on pages within the book as well as other activities such as mazes, counting activities, find the odd one out etc. The stickers proved a big hit with Mister B as I’m sure they will with any young super hero fan.

We love the DC Super Friend’s range of books and like that they cover both fiction and activity books. We’ve really enjoyed them and found them a bit different to any other books we’ve had or seen.

Why not check out these and more in the range from Bantam books?

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the books in order to write the review.

Horrid Henry Early Reader – Book Review

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Fiona Martin

Horrid Henry’s Sleepover by Orion books is part of their early reader series which I think is perfect for young readers to bridge the gap between large style picture books and paperbacks.

My 6yr old daughter loves Horrid Henry, is always giggling at his antics on television so a Horrid Henry book is ideal for her. She is a fairly competent reader for her age and is able to sit and read this herself although does require some assistance with certain words so it’s good to sit down with her and listen to her read aloud.

The story follows Horrid Henry going to a friends house for a sleepover. Although he’s done it many times before, he’s always got up to his usual mischief and been sent home but things work out slightly differently on this occasion and he chooses to go home rather than being sent home. You’ll have to read the story to find out what happens…

Miss M loved Horrid Henry’s Sleepover book as I predicted and it’s been beside her bed since we received it. She find’s it hilarious with some of his antics and the pictures really break up the text in the early reader books which keep her entertained and maintain her interest in reading.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the book in order to write the review.

The Little Nut Tree – Early Reader Book Review

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Fiona Martin

The Little Nut Tree is a lovely little book for young readers, written by Sally Gardner. It is based around the traditional rhyme and simply written with lots of illustrations making it a perfect book to be a part of Orion books, Early Reader series.

Miss M who is 6yrs old loves reading and has come along amazingly well at school. This book is just right for her to sit and read through independently which she did and read right through to the end which she was so proud of. The story follow a little girl who is given a little nut tree which everyone wants to come and see. The little girl ends up giving it away. Fortunately she finds a golden twig left behind which is almost magical and the next morning she finds that it’s grown into a new nut tree.

The book ends with the rhyme The Little Nut Tree. I think this is a lovely book, with pretty illustrations that bring the story to life on each page, also keeping young readers entertained and motivated to keep reading. This book is ideal for reading together or alone if the child is competent with it’s large clear font. We’ve really enjoyed this book with Miss M using it to read alone and me reading it to both my children who enjoyed looking at the pictures while listening to the story.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received a copy of the book in order to write the review.

The First Christmas – Early Reader Book by Orion – Review

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Fiona Martin

The First Christmas is a great story for this time of year, written especially for young readers in this Early Reader by Orion books.

My daughter who is 5, picked this up as soon as it arrived and sat and read the entire book out loud to me. It really appealed to her being very topical for December, and something she could relate to as she is currently practicing for her school nativity. The First Christmas tells the story of Mary and Joseph on their journey to Bethlehem where their son Jesus is born. The shepherds and kings come to visit after following the bright star.

Early reader books make children feel more grown up reading and they love turning the page as they make their way through the book. To ease them into more advanced books, there are pictures on every page to keep them engaged in the storyline and help them understand what’s going on.

We love early reader books, and The First Christmas is no exception. Miss M enjoyed the story and it’s the perfect reading level for her. She is able to read most words and needs prompting on a few others. A great book for the festive period!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions. We are not paid for reviews although we do receive the product to try out and enable us to write the review.