Book Champion: Mattia

Mattia is seven years old and lives in London. He speaks English, Cantonese and Italian and his favourite book is Twist of Gold by Michael Morpurgo.

Baker Smith: Can you tell us what the book is about?
Mattia: It’s about these two children and their mum and there’s a potato famine in Ireland where they live and their dying mum has to stay behind. Then they travel to America on a boat and life is really hard and loads of people want to help and two of them die trying to help them.
BS: What’s a potato famine?
M: It’s when there’s not much food around.
BS: So they decided moving to America was a better option?
M: Yes.
BS: Tell us more about what happens when they arrive in America?
M: They can’t find the house that their Dad made for them because he went before they went. Then finally they go to this woman and she knew where their Dad’s house was and she told them it’s got the biggest chimney of all. So they were able to find the house.
BS: Did they all live together in the house after that?
M: Yes. But the dog who went with the Dad died two weeks before the children came.
BS: Oh, it sounds like a bit of a sad story? Did it make you cry?
M: No! Except the last bit. It was a hard life.
BS: How long ago was the story set?
M: It’s just a story, it’s not something real.
BS: Do you have a favourite character in the book?
M: Well not really. Because there’s hardly any characters in the book. There’s only two main characters.
BS: Do you remember their names?
M: Sean and Annie.
BS: They sound like very Irish names.
M: Yes, they’re Irish.
BS: Do you think you’d like to go on a boat from Ireland to America?
M: No way! They hardly had any food or water.
BS: Sounds very hard. Would you prefer to fly in a plane from Ireland to America.
M: Yes!
BS: And would you recommend this book to other children to read?
M: Yes. I think about 9-10 years old kids should read it.
BS: Sounds like a long book. How many pages does it have?
M: 300 pages.
BS: 300 pages! That’s phenomenal. Well done.

Book Champion: Oliver

This week it is Oliver’s turn to be a Book Champion (his twin brother was featured last week). Oliver has chosen Dragonology by Dr. Ernest Drake.

What have you learnt about dragons from Dragonology?
How they share their gems, how big they are, different types and how dragons breath fire, how they hatch out of their eggs and how they become friends.

What does a dragon look like? Do they make good pets?
Pets for humans?! They’re not alive right now – but will be in the future.

What would you do if one came to visit you?
If it was a Chinese Lung I’d give it chicken then a hug then it would swim away.

What other types of dragons are there?
This book only has a few types.

What is your favourite?
My favourite flying type is the arctic frost dragon because my favourite power is ice.
I love the Asian Lung, their poo is called dung. It’s true!

What do you need to catch a dragon?
A net, a cannon and a thing-a-ma-jig …

What sort of things can they do?
The frost dragon can – he is the only one who can and he can breath ice.
They can swoop double loop-de-loops!

What do they eat?
They can eat anything except humans. They can even eat gems – that’s how they get their power.

How do you stop a dragon breathing fire?
You put water in it’s mouth and voila!

What is your favourite bit of Dragonology?
Chapter iii (that’s roman numerals). It’s about dragon biology and physiology.

What ages would like the book? Would you recommend it?
My age – 6 or 7. it’s a very cool book with lots of fold-outs.

Do any dragons live in Canberra?
They used to. Dragons are still alive… the good types.

Book Champion: Xavier

Xavier is seven and lives in Canberra. His book of choice is A Walk in New York by Salvatore Rubbino.

Why do you like this book?
I love New York! I love the flag, I love the Empire State, I love the Statue of Liberty, the Chrysler, those things that they eat. I really like the bridges, the Williamsburg, well, all of them. And the Guggenheim. I like the piece-of-cake building. I like the New York fire brigade. I also like the baseball symbol for the New York Yankees.

Who else would like this book?
A lot of people from New York: New Yorkers.

If you could walk around New York where would you like to go? Why?
Empire State, Guggenheim, Rockefeller Centre (for Lego), the Chrysler, Greenwich Village for yummy things.

What do you think the city would be like?
Very busy. Lots of noise, lots of buildings towering over you.

What games do children in New York city like playing?
Baseball and basketball

What is your favourite part of the book?
The Empire State building pages because the Empire State is my favourite building in New York City.

In the story it says that you can buy all kind of things at Macy’s. What would you like to buy from there?
Probably a t-shirt with ‘Big Apple’ or something on it. A New York cap… that’s it.

What would you buy for your brother?
Some Lego. Lego Chima, the Eagle’s Castle.

How many New York Hot Dogs could you eat in one pop?
In one minute? Probably about two…

How many taxis do you think are in New York?
2,569.

What sort of noises would you hear?
Honking, sounds of engines, sounds of shouting and talking, dogs woofing, maybe a little bit of music.

What other cities would you like to walk around?
Hawaii: lots of volcanos
Cairo: lots of ancient artefacts
New Zealand: so I can see the squirrels
Rio de Janeiro: for the night lights
Iceland: is there ice there? Does it snow?
Tokyo: great sushi and temples

I’ll think of some more later…

Book Champion: Bailey

Bailey was our very first Book Champion. Now he is eleven years old, in grade 6, and spoke to us about a new favourite book, War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

Can you tell us what the story of War Horse is about?
The story of War Horse is about Albert Narracott and a horse named Joey. The book is set in the horse’s perspective, not in Albert’s perspective. Joey tells you his life, as if you were him. Albert’s father sells Joey to the cavalry to be ridden by Lieutenant Nicholls, who ends up getting killed in action. Then Joey ends up going to the Germans and being looked after Captain Friedrich Muller. Joey runs away after an attack by British, but ends up in no-mans land. The Germans and British wave the white flag, while they cut the barbed wire attached to Joey, then they toss a coin to see how keeps him. The British won the coin toss. They take Joey back to Devon, England and Albert Narracott buys Joey back.

What do you like most about the story?
It’s really good that it has been written in a horse’s perspective because most books are usually written from a human’s perspective. It was interesting to see what the life of a horse was like and what they went through in WW1.

There was a very strong relationship between Albert and Joey.
Could you understand the connection between a boy and a horse?
Yes, because I think everyone that has a horse always has a strong connection with it. It’s the same with anyone and their pet (even though Joey wasn’t really a pet). Albert goes to the war, not to fight, just to try and find Joey. I think this really shows how strong their connection was.

Did you find the story sad or scary at times?
I think it was sort of sad half way through when you didn’t really know what was going to happen. Then again at the end, because you think Joey is going to die.

Did you think the horses were brave during the war?
Yes very brave, especially in this book. The way the horses break through barbed wire to try and help the people that ride them is unbelievable.

Which did you like best: the book, the play or the movie?
I read the book first. I loved the book most definitely! I always think the book is best because it has so much detail that movies and plays just can’t add.

How different was the play or the movie from what you’d  imagined in you head?
I imagined the movie to be very similar, but there were a few bits that were like tearing out pages of the book and re-writing them again. The play was really really similar. Very little was different from the book.

What other Michael Morpurgo books would you recommend?
Butterfly Lion – A great book to read!

Caspar, the Prince of Cats – Great if you are into the Titanic

Alone on a Wide Wide Sea – Great book if you are interested in reading about a little boy being fostered to family in Australia

Toro Toro – Good if you are interested about the Wars in Spain

Farm Boy – If you loved War Horse, this is the sequel – you will love it! Great book!

Running Wild – This is an absolutely fantastic book! About the tsunami in Indonesia.

Little Manfred – Great story about friendship

This Morning I Met a Whale – A good short read.

Book Champion: Lola

Lola was three years old when she responded to these Book Champion questions. She recently turned four – Happy Birthday Lola! She lives in Melbourne, Australia.
Her book of choice is Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

How many times have you read this book Lola?
Ummm … 6 times.

Why do you like the book?
Because it’s fun!

What is your favourite part?
Cat the dog snap into a cloud, and then the witch heard a roaring and goring and loring growl. They have a big dragon that blows fire out and then a broom and then the witch smashes into roaring cloud and then they snap into a cloud, I like that bit.

Who else would like this book?
Lauren and Charlotte, my cousins.

Have you ever met a witch?
At Kinder I have, with Halloween.

Would you like to ride the witches’ broomstick?
No thanks.

But wouldn’t you like to fly to somewhere?
The beach, yeah! … I mean the park.

The witch nearly gets eaten by the dragon. What do think it looks like inside the dragon’s belly?
Food and yucky and sticky and feathered and furred.

Could you tell us a magic spell?
Yes, magic spell make into a frog and then someone turns into a swan. And then in the princess and the pauper, someone turns into a swan, a magic swan.

How do you do this spell?
I say ‘In my hat!’ And then I get some paper and then I scribble all over it and then I draw a picture!

What do witches like to eat?
Bananas … and apples.
Can I just sing a song now? When I went into the forest I couldn’t even see a broom …

Book Champion: Sean

Our Book Champion today is Sean who initially turned the tables on our
intrepid interviewer by asking: “Why are you asking me these questions?!”.
Sean is 10 years old and lives in Spain, he likes playing the saxophone and
his favourite book is The 13-Storey Treehouse by author Andy Griffiths
and illustrator Terry Denton.

Is this the first book you’ve read by this author?
No, it’s my second one.

What do you like about his books?
The illustrations because they’re fun. And I especially like how you could be in
one chapter at the start and then all the way at the end that person will come back into the story. Like the dog Barky. He’s there early on and then he comes back a hundred pages later. And gets squished!

And that’s it for Barky? He’s gone? Oops!
The End!

The End for Barky. Who squished him?
A giant gorilla.

They seem like long books. Do they take a long time to read?
Hmmm, they probably take me two months.

Do you read one chapter a night?
No, probably for a week I read about 36 pages.

And how did you come across this book. Are your other friends at school
reading The 13-Storey Treehouse?
No. A friend from Australia came to visit and he showed me one of his books which I’d already read and so then I got interested in it and I was talking to my teacher about it and she said her son has tonnes of them.

How many of them are there in the series?
23.

What’s the other one that you’ve read?
The Very Bad Book. And see that’s an autograph by the illustrator. The writer and the illustrator are both Australian.

And what’s the story about?
The book is basically about the writer and the illustrator. They live in this tree house and all these strange things happen to them. Like giant sea princesses that turn into evil monsters, giant gorillas, monkeys invading the treehouse, falling cats. But from the start of the book, they have to write a book. Which is this book! And then all the way through they’re getting stopped from what they’re doing because of that book. And eventually at the end you’re reading the book that they came up with.

That sounds like fun. Especially when you have a man-eating shark tank and a bowling alley and a room full of pillows and swinging vines and a see-through swimming pool. And a lemonade fountain. Would you like to live there?
Yes. I even did a drawing of it, except it’s at school.

Who would you live there with?
All my friends. Mum and Dad. My brother. And Luka (Sean’s dog)

Would Luka be scared living up a tree?
Oh no, she doesn’t seem afraid of heights.

 

Book Champion: Jasmine

Jasmine is six-years-old, and lives in Melbourne, Australia. The Rainbow Magic series of books are her current favourite. The series is ghostwritten by a collection of authors under the pseudonym of Daisy Meadow, and they are published by Orchard Books in the UK.

Jasmine, how many Rainbow Magic books do you have?
I have 12 Rainbow Magic books.

There are 100 in total. Will you read them all?
No way!

Who is your favourite fairy?
Jasmine the Present Fairy because she is a party fairy … and I LOVE parties.

What sort of mischief do the Goblins get up to?
They steal the fairies’ party bags and they try to bring the party bags
back to Jack Frost.

What are fairies good at?
Flying and using their magic to turn things into other things.

What is your favourite part of the story?
My favourite part of the story is when Jasmine the Present Fairy lets Rachel and Kirsty come to the King and Queen’s 1000^th Jubilee. They make cakes, and when they make the cakes, even one of the goblins helped!

What would you do on a play date with a Rainbow Magic fairy?
I would let her play hide and seek with me. I would like her to turn me into a fairy because I want to fly around.

How about Jack Frost, do you like him?
No, because he’s mean and spoilt.

How about The Goblins, what would you do on a playdate with them?
I would not let them play with me. I would just lock them in the shed and throw them out the window.

Would you recommend Rainbow Magic books? 
Yes, 6 to 10-year-old girls.

Which fairies do you like best?
The weather fairies like: Hayley the Rain Fairy, Crystal the Snow Fairy and Storm the Lightning Fairy because they control the weather … like I do sometimes!

Have you ever seen a real fairy?
Yes, when I’m in bed at night. She turns me into a fairy and then we go and play in the leaves.

What magic tricks can you do?
I can make a coin disappear, and make a ball disappear. I can pull my thumb off, and I can move my finger onto the other hand.

Book Champion: Derek

Our good pal Aunty Al has provided us with today’s post, an interview with her nephew from Adelaide. You can read her regular blog here. When not making insightful observations, she is charming with her dry wit.
We Returned the favour, and swapped her this piece. Please read on …

Derek is a six-year-old and loves being physical. His favourite book (today) is Ninjago, part of the Lego franchise.

What is your favourite book?
Ninjago. It has skeletons, which are evil.

The leader is called Samurai Kai and he has four arms with knives in them and you have to do them all the same and the boss of him is called Lloyd (sic) Garmadon. And Lloyd (sic) Garmadon and Sensei Wu are brothers, but he is an old man and is very good at fighting. The sword of fire never misses the target.

The four ninjas are blue ninja, whose power is lightning; and a white one called Zane and his power is ice; and Kai is power fire; and the last one is called Cole and his power is earth and his colour is black. Kai has a sister and you have to save her.

There are movies and books and games of this book. I’ve seen the movie a few times. I think I like the game the most if I get to play it, but right now I like the movie the best because I’ve never seen it before.

Oh, and you know how skeletons are white, well Lord Garmadon is black not white, with red eyes and a hat with a bone attached it to it. Samurai Kai looks different because he’s the king. There’s also dragons, which protect the weapons. Well Col, the leader, he’s afraid of dragon.

What do you like about Ninjago?
I just like it. What I like is the skeleton and the weapons. I just really like them.
And I really like the ninjas. Sensei Wu trains the ninjas and they have to do a test.

Which is your favourite character?
Probably Samurai Kai.

What do you like about him?
He’s the king of the underworld. He has four arms. Didn’t you know that? I told you that, don’t you remember? I actually like baddies better than good guys. I think they’re more interesting.

Can you remember what Samurai Kai looks like?
He has this dinosaur spike on his back and the colour of those spikes is brown and the skeletons are white.

Are there any places in the book you’d like to visit?
What are places? There’s no places in the book.

If you could be a character in this book, who would you be?
I would be one of the dragons, I’d be the one protecting the sword of fire.

Do you like reading?
I can’t read. But I like being read to. I get to be awake for a little while when it’s bedtime. I like being awake.

Aunty Al, can I tell you something? You do know I like Star Wars light sabres? Could you get me a light sabre? I’d like that. I want a double-sided one. Could you get me one?

Do you talk about your books with your friends?
No. They’re not really interested. We don’t think about it. We play games at school like Star Wars, but we don’t talk about it.

Thanks for answering my questions about your favourite book, Derek. Would you like to ask me any questions?
I’ve already asked you some questions! I asked you about Ninjago and I asked you if you wanted to get me a light sabre. Do you want to speak to Mummy now?

Book Champions

2012 is the National Year of Reading in Australia and there have been loads of fun events to get involved in. However, one feature on the calendar every year is Australia’s National Book Week. It’s the longest running children’s festival in the country and recently celebrated its 67th birthday. Every year since 1945, Book Week has had a fun theme, this year it was Champions Read.

I asked two book champions from Moama some questions about their favourite book and the character they dressed up as to go to school.

Emma is five years old and in her first year at primary school.
Bailey is 10 and in Grade 5.

EMMA: The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss

What would you do if the cat visited you?
I would say, can you do all the juggling things for me?

Would your mum like the cat visiting your house?
No way, because Mum wouldn’t like all the mess he makes.

What is your favourite bit in the book?
When they kids met Thing 1 and Thing 2 and they “shaked” hands.

Do you think a cat can really do all that?
No, because cats don’t talk and they don’t juggle and they don’t have Thing 1 and Thing 2.

How many times have you read it?
Eight times because I have it on leap frog.

Would you recommend it to other kids? What age kids do you think would like this book?
Other kids that are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 would like it.

What was the favourite part of the costume you wore?
The bow tie and the hat because the hat has stripes and I like bows.

If you were an animal, what animal would you be?
I would be a dinosaur because they are big and tall and they growl.

BAILEY: Specky Magee by Felice Arena and Garry Lyon

Which one is your favourite Specky Magee book?
I have only read the first book, so that it my favourite so far.

What’s your favourite sport?
AFL Football.

What position do you play in your football team. Would Specky be a good person to have on your team?
I play a mixture of full back and full forward. Yes, because he plays in the forward line and kicks a lot of goals.

Can you take marks like Specky and Screamer?
Yes, I take my best marks in the back line!

Which football team do you barrack for? Do you think it’s strange that Specky supports more than one team? If you supported more than one football team which ones would you support and why?
I barrack for Collingwood. I don’t know why Specky would support more than one team – I go for Collingwood because they are the best!

Who is your favourite character in the Specky Magee books? Robbo, Gobbo, Specky, Screamer, Johnny, Danny?
Specky, because he’s the first character I met and the one that stays in my mind.
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