Children's Book Sequels Blog

Updates & Book Reviews for Children's Book Sequels

Book Review: My Parents Cancelled My Birthday by Jo Simmons

July 17, 2019

My Parents Cancelled My Birthday, Paperback / softback Book

Order a copy here from Hive and support your local independent bookshop.

“It all started when a pig fell off the roof” When a book starts with that line, you know you want to read on to find out what happens next.

Birthdays are important to Tom and this one is going to be his 11th. He has a great long list of requests for his parents to make his day special, but then disaster strikes, in the form of a curse from the tooth fairy, a flattened chihuahua and the pig falling of the roof.

Tom’s parents are busy people, they can’t possibly sort out an unforgettable birthday for Tom this week. Can they do it next week? Or cancel for this year?! Tom can’t believe this, he’s been looking forward to this day for months. Tom won’t give up. He wants to celebrate his birthday with style and if his parents won’t help he’ll sort it out himself. So with the help of his best friends, a gladiator volcano cake and his younger sister, he makes plans. But this is Tom, so expect the unexpected.

I loved this book, it made me laugh out loud. Birthdays are always big in our family so I can sympathise with Tom. If you need cheering up and a good laugh this is for you. Jo Simmons way with words and with Nathan Reed’s illustrations interspersed, it makes a great read.

I was given this book by the publisher for a frank and honest review.

Book Review: An Unlikely Spy by Terry Deary

July 11, 2019

The story begins in England at the beginning of the Second World War. Brigit Furst is the daughter of Aimee and Marius, who we met and shared their adventures in “The Silver Hand”. Brigit’s father is German, he’s a doctor and has lived in England for many years but that doesn’t stop Marius being interned and Brigit being bullied.
After running away during the chaos of evacuation Brigit meets up with her mother at a very special training camp where Churchill is building a secret army of spies and saboteurs known as the Special Operations Executive. Aimee is half French and still speaks the language fluently. After completing all the training, Aimee and Brigit are dropped by plane in Northern France to stay with Aimee’s mother and start a local resistance group, but will anyone suspect Brigit is a spy? She’s only a child.
Lots of adventures follow with many references to “The Silver Hand” and Brigit, Aimee and the local villagers trying to stop the German advance.
As it says at the beginning of the story they all “Did their bit”
Terry Deary peppers the book with Churchill’s speeches and quotes and this great adventure sheds new light on the S.O.E. and the Second World War in time for the 70th Anniversary of the outbreak of war in September 1939.

I really enjoyed this story, and as it’s written by Terry Deary you know that it’s going to be factually correct. It also made me think about how “Walls have Ears” and the S.O.E. would work with social media and the internet in the 21st century. It does work as a standalone book, but I managed to get “The Silver Hand” from the library and read that first.
“An Unlikely Spy” was given to me by the publisher for a unbiased and frank review.

 

Holidays are coming and the children are off school for 6 weeks. There are lots of ways to keep them entertained, but a lot of events are expensive and and you need the weather on your side. So this is a backup plan for getting through those wet August days and the children are beginning …

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