The Bell Bandit - Review

In June me and my friends read The Bell Bandit

 The book was about Jesse and Evan. They go to their grandmother's house for the holidays. When they got there they saw that her house was burned by fire. While their mom picked up their grandma at the hospital, as they were waiting they noticed the bell was missing.
Clearly there has been a crime. Grandma is heart broken when she realizes the bell is missing. She thinks Evan did it because she is having trouble with her memory. She dos not remembering the kids but remembers her daughter, their mom.
Jesse decides to look for the New Years Eve bell. She teams up with Maxwell, a friend who lives near their grandmother, to solve the mystery.

Ava's favorite part was at an old tepee that they built last summer. There grandma thought it was a bus stop.This part was funny and it was sad.

Grace liked the part where grandma goes missing because it is full of suspense.

Cooper liked when Jesse and Evan do a scavenger hunt.

Jordyn enjoye when Jesse and Maxwell were spying on 2 mean neighborhood boys. When Evan came to find them they got into a big fight with the boys. It was a happy part because they saved the frog

This series would definitely be liked by boys and girls. All of us girls liked it and Grace knows a boy in her class that is reading it and he liked it.

You will be surprised at who has the bell.

If you enjoyed The Lemonade War Series as much as me and my friends did check out the books' website.

Baby Penguins Everywhere - Review

Baby Penguins Everywhere! is about a lonely penguin. All of a sudden a hat floats by with a little surprise inside.

My favorite part of the story is when the first little penguin pops out of the hat. I like this book because I like penguins and this book is about them. See my penguin in the picture.

This book is a picture book, and even tough I am 10 I still enjoyed the book. I read it to my little brother and thought it was funny.

The part that made me laugh was when on the first page you could see the little hat behind an ice burg.

I cant wait to meet the author and illustrator, Melissa Guion, when she visits our local library in May.

Meeting Deborah Davis

Earlier this month I reviewed the book Speeding Down the Spiral. A few weeks later I went to the Glen Ridge Public Library to meet the author, Deborah Davis, for myself.

When I finally got to meet her and told her about my blog. She signed my copy of the book. 

Bookmarks

Do you have a favorite book mark? Well I do! Here are some of my favorites. 

Recently me and my sister entered a bookmark contest at my favorite local book store, Watchung Booksellers. This year's theme for the competition is: If you could go anywhere in your imagination, where would you go? 

Me and my sister knew right away what it would be. My sister wanted to go into the TV and meet bugs bunny. 

I wanted to go back in time to see what it was like. 

It might too late to enter now, but they have a contest every year with a different theme.

My Trip to the Guggenheim

After reviewing the book Speeding Down the Spiral: An Artful Adventure, I was inspired to go to the Guggenheim Museum for myself. I have been there before but this time I was looked more closely for the things in the book.

 

Outside of Guggenheim Museum 

When I was there I took a couple of pictures as well. You were only allowed to take pictures on the first floor though.

Window and art installation in Guggenheim

At the museum I saw some of the pictures from the book such as Women with Yellow Hair by Pablo Picasso and Still Life: Flask, Glass, and a Jug by Paul Cezanne.

Also at the Guggenheim if you wanted they would give you a headset to listen to some things about the art and a sketchpad draw to the art you see.

Art wall with Cray-pas

For more information about the Guggenheim Museum check out their website.

Speeding Down the Spiral Review

by Ava, 4th grade

Speeding Down the Spiral: An Artful Adventure by Deborah Goodman Davis Illustraed by Sophy Naess

This book is about Lizzie, her dad, and her brother’s visit to the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. It was summertime and Lizzie really wished they could be going to a water park instead. When her dad gets distracted Lizzie ends up chasing her brother down the spiral ramp that is in the middle of the museum.

My favorite part was when Ben, Lizzie’s little brother, falls into a big pile of black licorice.  

I like the book because it was funny. I also liked how it told me about some art pieces that are displayed in the Guggenheim. Not only do you see pictures of the art in the book but you learn a little bit about the things you see.

This is a picture book; it’s kind of short, but not too short.  I think this book is for younger kids but I am 10 and I liked it too. I even enjoyed reading it to my younger sister.

A part that made me laugh was when Ben flew across the opening of the spiral ramp. On that part I also felt like I was seeing through the main character’s eyes because I bet Lizzie was afraid her brother was going to fall down the middle of the spiral. That’s how I felt too.

You can read about my visit to the museum here. 

Next Month's Pick

Grace chose The One and Only Ivan for this month's read. She purchased it at her school's recent book fair and thought it would be a great choice for the group. 

Here is the Book's description from Amazon:

Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.

Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan’s unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art, and hope.

Enjoy!