Book Reviews by 4th Graders
The Baby-Sitters Club: Kristy’s Great Idea; a graphic novel, by Raina Telgemeier (Series Book 1)
Review by Caitlyn C., 4th grade
The Baby-Sitters Club is an awesome series! This book is not the original, but it is still great! The Baby-Sitters Club is a club of four girls who are in 7th Grade. Their names are Kristy Thomas, Claudia Kishi, Mary Anne Spier, and Stacey McGill. They each have different personalities. For example, Claudia likes to paint and make crafts, and Stacey McGill is from New York City! Together, they form a club to baby-sit kids around the neighborhood. You can make one call and reach four experienced Baby-Sitters!
Throughout the book, it shows lots of funny but problem solving situations, like when Claudia had to babysit two boys and two girls who fought over toy trucks and Claudia had to calm them down by reading to the kids. There was a scary situation when Mary Anne babysat two kids who had a witch next door, and Mary Anne had to get their cat out of the witch’s garden. I think this book is an outstanding book and I would recommend it to anybody. This book makes you want to read the real series!
The Baby-Sitters Club: Stacey’s Mistake; a graphic novel, by Ellen T. Crenshaw (Series Book 14)
Review by Gracie S., 4th grade
This is a graphic novel based on characters by Ann M. Martin’s Baby-Sitters club. Stacey was a member of The Baby-Sitters Club but she had to move to New York City. She is excited because her friends from the BSC are coming to visit. When they get there, she is annoyed by her old friends. Each one of them acts weird or annoying and Stacey is upset because she doesn’t remember them acting this way. This reminds me of when my cousin comes to visit from Virginia. Sometimes she is annoying! I liked this book. It reminded me of my family.
The Baby-Sitters Club: Claudia and the Bad Joke; a graphic novel, by Ann M. Martin (Series Book 15)
Review by Gracie S., 4th grade
This book is about girls who baby sit in Stoney Brook. I liked it because I live in Stony Brook. In this book, there is a little girl who likes to prank people and play jokes on people and she took it way too far. She asked to go on swings and she knew that the swing her babysitter Claudia would go on was broken. Claudia fell off the swing and broke her leg. I felt upset at the girl because babysitters are fun to have and you should never play jokes on someone who could get hurt by your joke.
Baby-Sitters Little Sister: Karen’s Worst Day; a graphic novel, by Katy Farina (Series Book 3)
Review by Gracie S., 4th grade
In this book, Karen is having a terrible day. Everything seems to be going wrong for her. She gets in trouble and gets sent to her room. Karen feels like she is having lots of bad luck. She had a bad dream about falling off a cliff and actually fell off her bed. Many other bad luck things happen to her. Sometimes I feel like my days are unlucky too, but this book made me feel better because Karen had a REALLY bad day! It also reminded me of my brothers because Karen’s brothers took her out for ice cream. Her day started to get better once that happened. I really liked this book!
Baby-Sitters Little Sister: Karen’s Birthday ; a graphic novel, by Katy Farina (Series Book 6)
Review by Gracie S., 4th grade
This is a Baby-Sitters Club book. Karen, the main character, is having a birthday. She is excited for her birthday and makes a list of invitations of who she wants to celebrate with. Her parents are divorced and they both plan different parties. She really just wants everyone to be together in one party for her birthday. Her step brother calls her greedy, but it’s only because she pretends that she wants 210 presents! Her favorite present is when she can celebrate with everyone she loves. This book reminds me of my birthday and having different family parties for different parts of my family.
Because of Winn Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo
Review by Ethan Y., 4th grade
I read the book “Because of Winn-Dixie” by Kate DiCamillo. A 10-year-old girl, Opal, who is lonely and feels abandoned by her mother. She adopts a stray dog named Winn-Dixie. Winn-Dixie helps Opal make friends with people in town. She meets the Pet Store owner, Otis, the librarian, Miss Franny, and Gloria Dump. Opal learns that all three people have something in the past that has hurt them. In the story, through the discovery of her dog and the actions that follow, Opal begins to allow herself to open up with new people and accept their love and friendship. This eventually helps her to accept the abandonment of her mother, repair the relationship with her father, and find joy in the people who are still in her life. In the end, Opal and Gloria host a party and invite everyone they know. When it starts to rain, Opal can’t find Winn-Dixie anywhere, even after searching the town. Will she be able to find Winn-Dixie? I would recommend this awesome book and give it a thumbs up.
Clive Barker’s The Thief of Always, by Kris Oprisko
Review by Ethan Y., 4th grade
I read the book “The Thief of Always” by Clive Barker. Rictus convinced Harvey to leave home and go to the holiday house. The holiday house is full of magic and illusions. Harvey becomes friends with two other children, Wendell and Lulu, staying alongside him. Harvey eventually discovers that Mr. Hood has been stealing the youth of the children staying in the Holiday House by sucking their souls away and turning them into fish, then keeping them imprisoned in a lake. Do you think Harvey can use his wits to destroy the Holiday house, to make all the children who turn into fish all safe, and to find the time that Harvey lost back? I enjoyed reading this book very much because the process of Harvey’s fighting against powerful magic is very exciting.
Dog Man: Grime and Punishment, by Dav Pilkey
Review by Aariv A., 4th grade
In the book, Dog Man Grime And Punishment! A cop named Chief has won his town’s reward for being the best chief of the town because he fights like a warrior and stands up for peace and equality. One day he was in a big explosion! So, he was rushed to the hospital but at the time he was a K-9! So, he was sewed onto a human’s body and that is why he is Dog Man! Another character in the book is the Mayor, who fired Dog Man. But the Dog Man saves the mayor’s teddy bear (Mr. Snookums) and then he gets his job back. He also must fight Grampa Petey’s dad who is in jail! Because then Grampa would take over earth because he is an 8-legged spider as a cat! My favorite part of the story is when Dog Man got sewed onto a human body. I give this book a thumbs up. I will highly recommend this book to other children because it is very funny, and it will keep them busy and help them to learn new words!
Double Fudge, by Judy Blume
Review by Caitlyn C., 4th grade
Double Fudge is an awesome book! I really liked reading it and recommend it to you. Double Fudge is about a boy named Peter who has a little brother named Fudge and a little sister named Tootsie. Fudge is obsessed with money. He creates his own money called “Fudge bucks”. He plans to make a lot of money and use them to buy the entire world! One day, Grandma takes the boys to The Bureau of Printing and Engraving, and they accidentally run into their long-lost cousins, The Howie Hatchers, two perfect twins named Flora and Fauna and a weird younger cousin, also named Farley Drexel Hatcher, just like Fudge! When they move into Peter and Fudge’s apartment, the six kids get into a lot of funny situations! Read the book to find out what the Panda Poop Club is! This book is an amazing book and it made me laugh a lot!
George’s Marvelous Medicine, by Roald Dahl
Review by Reviewed By Caitlyn C., 4th grade
George’s Marvelous Medicine really is a marvelous book! It is about a boy named George who has regular parents but an awful Grandma. She is lazy, selfish and cruel. She is always telling George to get her tea and medicine, and tells him silly stories about not growing up.
One day George just decides to get rid of Grandma once and for all. He whips up a medicine to replace the old one, in an attempt to cure her wickedness. George mixes in normal stuff, like sugar and vanilla, but then he gets a little creative. George adds toothpaste, shaving cream, lipstick, and nail varnish. George runs into the stable and dumps in animal pills, for sick animals. He boils it all up and voila! George’s Marvelous Medicine is born. When George gives his Grandma the medicine, she turns red-hot and starts to grow! She busts through the house and out the street! George and his family are all in shock, especially his dad. After that crazy experience, George and his dad try to re-create George’s Marvelous Medicine so they can sell it, but every time they mix, they never seem to get it right. When one medicine makes something small, an idea sparks. What will it be? Read this marvelous book to find out! I really like this book because I like how they experiment with ideas to make a medicine. I would recommend it to you!
The Homework Machine, by Dan Gutman
Review by Caitlyn C., 4th grade
The Homework Machine is a very interesting book. I really like it and I would recommend it. It is about five kids who are in fifth grade and are very different. Sam Dawkins, also nicknamed Snikwad, moved to Arizona from Oregon because his father was in the air force. Kelsey Donnelly does her homework but she hates it. Judy Douglas likes homework because she and her friends would always go to each other’s houses and do their homework. And Brenton Damagatchi, well, he’s not like any other kid. He doesn’t like watching TV or playing with other children, he likes to play chess with himself. Together they are the D squad, because their last names all start with D. When Brenton shows Sam, Kelsey, and Judy the Homework Machine, everything changes. The HW machine could do your homework in one second instead of spending hours on it. They even nicknamed it, “Belch”. Every day the D squad comes over to Brenton’s house to watch Belch do their homework. Things go great until the police catch them. Brenton tries to erase all the evidence, but Belch starts to become smarter. Will the D squad be able to destroy Belch in time? Read this book to find out!
James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl
Review by Caitlyn C., 4th grade
I love James and the Giant Peach! It is about a boy named James Henry Trotter who, until he was four, had a very happy life. He had two loving and kind parents. They all lived peacefully in a house beside the sea. Then one day James’s parents went shopping in London, and something very unexpected happened. They both got eaten by an angry rhinoceros! Life from that point on wasn’t very fun. Poor little James had to live with his two terrible aunts, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker, and work for them. Aunt Sponge was very fat, while Aunt Spiker is as thin as a wire. They are both equally mean, lazy and cruel. Then one day James meets an old man who knows everything James has been experiencing. He gives James a bag of magical crocodile tongues and whispers some special directions. If James dropped them, the tongues would use their magic on someone else. But when James hurries to the house to follow the instructions, he trips! The crocodile tongues go into the soil, giving an old peach tree the power to sprout a giant peach! James decides he’s going to live there, and goes off on an adventure! On the way, he meets many magical creatures who guide them to NYC and help him survive. James is finally happy to get his life back! I love this book because it is full of adventure and mystery, and really funny! I would really recommend it to you!
Judy Moody: Mood Martian, by Megan McDonald
Review by Caitlyn C., 4th grade
Judy Moody is an awesome book! In this book, Judy Moody is trying to stay in a good mood for a whole week! She will need help, so she goes over to her friend’s house to get some advice. But it isn’t really helping. The only thing that puts Judy in a good mood is finger knitting. She knits and knits and knits onto her long chain until her house can’t even fit the amount of yarn she has knitted! But when her mom says she has to stop knitting, Judy starts to struggle in keeping her good-mood streak. Will Judy be able to keep her good mood going? Read the book to find out!
The Land of Stories : The Wishing Spell, by Chris Colfer (Series Book 1)
Review by Caitlyn C., 4th grade
The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer is a great book. It is about a boy named Conner and a girl named Alex, who get stuck in a fairy tale world called “The Land of Stories” inside an actual book. They have to find a way out using the Wishing Spell. The Wishing Spell is a spell that will grant one wish to the people who collect the items needed for the spell. Along the way, Conner and Alex meet many familiar characters from fairy tales, such as Cinderella, Rapunzel and Little Red Riding Hood. These characters have interesting stories to tell and it’s not what you remember from the fairy tales you read before. The characters help Conner and Alex search for the items for the spell, like Cinderella’s glass slipper and a strand of Rapunzel’s hair. Conner and Alex have many adventures to race against an evil witch who also wants to cast the spell. They meet many monsters and goblins on the way. The book is full of adventure and mystery and it’s just fun to read. This book is one of my favorites and I would recommend it to everyone.
Lily to the Rescue: Two Little Piggies, by W. Bruce Cameron (Series Book 2)
Review by Olivia H., 4th grade
Lily to the Rescue is a great book for animal lovers. It is told from a dog’s point of view. Lily lives in a family of five. The parents work at an animal rescue and the children help out. At the beginning of the book, the mother gets a call asking her to help rescue two baby piglets who were running loose in a store. They bring the piglets home to take care of them until they find a good place for them. Lily has fun chasing them around and playing with them, but the family needs to find out where they came from so they can bring them back home. I would definitely give this book a thumbs up! The story is about cute animals and at the end of the book there are interesting facts about pigs including that they can even be trained to play video games!
The Magic Finger, by Roald Dahl
Review by Caitlyn C., 4th grade
The Magic Finger is my favorite Roald Dahl book! It is about a girl who has these neighbors, William and Philip Gregg. The girl likes to play with William and Philip. Her life is pretty ordinary.
One thing NOT ordinary about her is the Magic finger. She tries not to use it on anyone, but sometimes she gets out of control. It happened to her teacher, Mrs. Winter. The teacher told the girl to spell CAT and the girl failed. The girl accidentally uses the Magic finger on Mrs. Winter and turns her into a cat! Now, one thing the Gregg boys like to do more than anything is to go hunting. Every Saturday they take their guns and look for things to shoot. The little girl can’t stand hunting. And when she finds the boys shooting some ducks, well, she just kind of lost it. She uses her Magic finger on them and turns the Gregg family into birds! From then on, the Gregg family must build a nest, find things to eat, and survive as life as a bird. Will the Gregg family be able to get back to their human form? Read this great book to find out! I give this book a big thumbs-up because this book is really funny and I like how the author describes life as a bird. I’ve always wanted to be a bird! So read this book! You’ll really like it!
Marge in Charge, by Isla Fisher
Review by, Olivia H., 4th grade
Marge in Charge is a funny book about two kids who have a crazy, but fun babysitter! This book is a series of three different stories about Marge and the kids. In the beginning, she looks like a normal babysitter but when the parents leave she becomes who she really is – Marge! In each story something bad happens, but Marge comes to the rescue and makes everything better and funnier. In one story, Jack doesn’t want to take a bath and Marge fills the sink with bubbles. It overflows and the bathroom is filled with bubbles. In another story, she goes to music class at school with the kids. Marge has to watch the class and she ends up giving everyone different instruments to play. They parade around the school causing all sorts of noise and craziness! I give this book a big “thumbs up” and recommend it to any kids who like to laugh and find crazy events amazing and funny! It would be a good choice for anyone in third, fourth or fifth grade.
My Weirdtastic School: Uncle Fred is a Knucklehead, by Dan Gutman (Series Book 2)
Review by Rithvik K., 4th grade
A.J. is a kid who hates school. He has an archenemy named Andrea who loves school. She has a best friend named Emily who is scared of everything. A.J. has 3 best friends: Ryan, Mike, and Neil. In this book, A.J. goes on a field trip to Uncle Freddy’s studio. Uncle Freddy is a person who has a TV show for kids. Some stuff that happens in this book is Uncle Freddy starts acting like an adult which makes the show boring and Uncle Freddy acting like a baby. I read this book and thought it was really funny.
Nancy Drew Clue Book: Last Lemonade Standing, by Carolyn Keene (Series Book 2)
Review by Caitlyn C., 4th grade
The Nancy Drew Clue Book Series is the best! My favorite one in the series is book #2, Last Lemonade Standing. It is about three girls named Nancy, Bess and George. Together they are the Clue Crew! In the Clue Crew, the three girls solve mysteries around the neighborhood. Nancy has a book she calls the clue book, where she writes down all the clues to help solve the mystery. In this book, Nancy, Bess and George are selling lemonade to save up money for tickets to a concert. Their favorite singer, Katy Sloan, was playing in the neighborhood. When they get jealous of their neighbor Lily’s lemonade stand, they decide to get the recipe from Hannah, Nancy’s housekeeper, top-secret lemonade recipe. But when they set up the stand to sell more lemonade, their lemonade recipe goes missing! Will the Clue Crew be able to find the recipe, and make it to Katy Sloan’s concert? Read the book to find out!
Sisters, by Raina Telgemeier
Review by Arya A., 4th grade
In the book Sisters, Raina is a little girl who lives in California and she wishes for a sister. After Amara’s little sister is born she quickly realizes that things aren’t how she expected them to be. Amara is cute but she gets grouchy often and likes being alone. They never really get along at all. Then Will is born and they also have to go on a road trip to Colorado for their family reunion. Now they have to get along. The book is mainly about the road trip and some things they encounter together. The book also idolizes how they develop in their relationship. I highly recommend this book because I think it is certainly a very interesting book and it has a sense of humor with the story. This book teaches kids how to get in better relationships with their siblings and if you have a sister this is a great book for you. My favorite part in the book is when Amara gets a pet snake and it accidentally gets into the car and Raina’s freaking out because she had a childhood incident with the snake. I give it a thumbs up.
Review by Gracie S., 4th grade
In this book, the main character is Raina. She has a sister and a brother and they’re going on a road trip to California. On their road trip, they were fighting a lot about where to eat, about giving each other batteries for their music player and basically annoying each other. I could relate to this because I have to sit in the middle seat when I travel with my family. They couldn’t decide where to stop to eat and they were arguing about where to go. Their car also broke down. The mom left the kids in the car and they had to get along. I liked this book because it reminded me of road trips with my family.
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, by Judy Blume
Review by Caitlyn C., 4th grade
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing is a fantastic book! I would recommend the book Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing because it is very funny and full of excitement and mystery. The book is about a boy named Peter and his younger brother, Farley Drexel Hatcher, who everyone calls Fudge. Everyone thinks Fudge is adorable, but Peter knows the truth. Peter thinks his younger brother is a big troublemaker and super annoying! The brothers have many silly adventures everywhere they go. Fudge is always getting in big trouble, and makes a mess wherever they go! When Peter gets a new pet turtle, named Dribble, Fudge is of course causing mischief again! Read the book to find out what happens when Fudge swallows Dribble, and Peter is stuck with no pet. There was another time when Fudge had a tantrum at the shoe store because he wanted to wear the same shoes as Peter but they didn’t have them in his size. But no matter how annoying Fudge is to Peter, the two brothers always love each other! This book will make you laugh out loud and is another one of my favorites.
Tiger Rising, by Kate DiCamillo
Review by Ethan Y., 4th grade
I read the book “The Tiger Rising” by Kate DiCamillo. I really enjoyed reading this book. I would recommend it. This book is about a boy named Rob Horton who is a 12-year-old boy. His mom died because of cancer 6 months ago. Rob really misses her. His sadness permeates the story. When Rob finds a caged tiger in the woods, he recognizes a similarity between himself and the animal. On the same day, he met a girl named Sistine Bailey, a girl who shows her feelings as readily as Rob hides his. As they learn to trust each other, and ultimately, to be friends, Rob also meets a person named Willie May. She told Rob to let his sorrow “rise on up” to his heart. After Sistine knows that Rob has the keys to the tiger cage, she wants him to let loose the tiger. Eventually, they let the tiger out. However, just moments later, Rob and Sistine hear Rob’s father call his name, a scream from Willie May, and the sound of a gunshot. Read this amazing book to find out what happened.
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin
Review by Caitlyn C., 4th grade
Where The Mountain Meets The Moon is an amazing book! It is about a girl named Minli who lives in the Valley of Fruitless Mountain with her mom and dad. They don’t have much money except for two coins in a blue rice bowl with a rabbit painted on it. Every day Minli and her family work hard in the rice fields, and that rice is one of the only meals Minli and her family can afford. Minli loves hearing stories that her father tells. She especially loves hearing the legends of The Old Man Of The Moon, who had The Book Of Fortune that held the answers to everything. One day Minli decides to take a trip to Never-Ending Mountain to visit The Old Man Of The Moon to ask him why their family is so poor. On the way, she meets many magical creatures that help her on her journey. That includes a talking fish, a mighty king, and a dragon who can’t fly! Will Minli reach The Old Man Of The Moon there and back safely? Or will Minli be in terrible danger? Read the book to find out!
Wish, by Barbara O’Connor
Review by Ethan Y., 4th grade
I read the book “Wish” by Barbara O’Connor. Charlie is sent to Colby to live with Bertha and Gus because she has family issues. Charlie makes the same wish every day to have a family that wasn’t broken. Then, she meets a skinny stray dog and decides to keep him. Charlie names him Wishbone. Does Charlie’s wish come true, and how? Does she go back to her own home with her parents? My favorite character is Charlie because she is determined. She makes the same wish every time. Also, when she meets Wishbone, she is determined to keep him. She and Howard think of many ways to catch him, and when she loses Wishbone, she keeps searching until she finds him again. These two reasons prove that Charlie is determined. I recommend this book to anyone. I also believe that if you continue to do something with determination, eventually your wish will come true.
The Heart of the Three Village Community