Monthly Archives: June 2016

Jun
14
2016

Masterpiece by Elise Broach

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Masterpiece_Paperback_CoverThe book I read is called Masterpiece, and it is by Elise Broach. There are two main characters in this book, James Pompaday, a ten year old boy, and Marvin, a beetle that lives in James’s family’s kitchen sink. So Marvin and his beetle family live in James’s family’s sink, and are very happy there. Most of the action takes place in their home. James’s parents are divorced, and James does not love his step dad. Karl, James’s real dad, got him an ink and pen set for his birthday, and James was not that happy, because he does not like to draw like his father does. The morning after receiving the gift, James saw a BEAUTIFUL picture set on the desk. James had no idea who had drawn it, as he knew he did not. Then he saw a little beetle beside it. Can you guess, yep it was Marvin. James’s parents think James drew this piece of art and he is scared to tell his parents the truth. I felt very badly for James at this point, because he is forced to lie to his parents.

There are a lot of BIG events in Masterpiece. But one of the biggest parts is when Marvin meets James. James had seen Marvin with the painting, and realized it was the beetle’s work. Then they started to get to know each other by communicating not by talking, but with gestures. From this moment, they became good pals and would see each other often. This was extremely important to the book because James now knows who had done the painting after seeing ink on Marvin’s legs. Even though James knows it is not his own work, he STILL takes credit for Marvin’s work. This is very hard for James throughout the book, especially because James’s mom wants her son to be the best so she can get attention. She’s a very bad mother. One thing that I found very interesting is that on James’s birthday his mom threw him a party with not his friends, but the children of her real estate clients. She did this just so she could talk with her clients and make business deals. I was so embarrassed for Mrs. Pompaday, because that is just a TERRIBLE behavior for a mom in my eyes. Another interesting part of the novel is when James’s REAL dad got him a pen and ink set for his birthday, when he knew James did not want to be an artist like him. This surprised me, because a dad should know his own kid.

Three adjectives to describe the main character Marvin are caring, kind, and adventurous. He is caring because even when James and Marvin were having fun together, he still was wondering how his parents were, and he missed them very much. I also think he is adventurous, because he and his cousin Elaine love to explore no matter the conditions. Last but not least, I think he is kind, because Marvin NEVER wants to let down his pal James, even if it puts himself in danger. Overall I think Mavin is a very kind little guy. One thing that Mavin said that I liked is “I cannot let my friend down.” I think this shows that Marvin is a good character.

I enjoyed this book very much because I got to see a bug’s perspective of the world, and a boy’s perspective of the world at the same exact time. I also liked it because it is about art, and I got to learn about the art world. I would love to suggest this book to other people because it is a unique tale. Readers can discover the meaning of friendship. This book reminds me of Matilda, because in both stories the grownups are shown in a negative way which makes them unlikable. I would rate this book 4 stars because it is a fascinating book.

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Jun
14
2016

Railhead by Phillip Reeve

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My book is called Railhead. It is by Phillip Reeve. The main characters are Zen Starling, Nova, and Raven. The setting of the book is in space.

One event that was really important was when Zen stole the instructions to building the K-gates. The K-gates are the things that make trains go to different planets by giving them a speed boost.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It messes with your brain. It has so many interesting things in it like alien bugs and trains with personalities. I would recommend this book to any science fiction fan. This book is sort of similar to the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey except it’s less trippy. I rate this book 5 stars. It was really good. 

I drew the prologue to the book as a short comic.

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Jun
14
2016

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

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imgresThe Harry Potter series is by J.K. Rowling is a really magical book series. The book takes place in Hogwarts, and the main characters are Harry, Hermione, and Ron. This book is different than the ones before, because there is a twist at the end and it will surprise you. You should still read the series in order, because, if you don’t, you’ll get confused by a lot of things in the books. On a scale of one to five, I’d give this book a four because the book is really magical, but I was a little disappointed: I wanted something to happen that didn’t happen. The book is magical because there are so many cool creatures, spells, wizards, witches, and mysteries. Enjoy the book review comic!

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Jun
14
2016

Are You There God Its Me Margaret by, Judy Blume

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The book I read is are Are You There God Its Me Margaret by, Judy Blume. This book was about  a girl named Margaret who moved from New York City to the suburbs. And meets a girl named Nancy who is in the same class as her Mr. Benedict’s Sixth Grade. The end up being friends. Nancy also stared a club called the PTs’s which stands for Pre Teen Sensations. If I had to give the book a rating it would be five stars.

Password: littlered!

Penny’s Book project from LREI on Vimeo.

Jun
14
2016

The Little Prince, By Antoine de Saint Exupéry

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The book I am reviewing is The Little Prince By Antoine de Saint Exupéry. The main characters are the Little Prince and the man. The Little Prince is telling the man about his planet in the sky. It takes place in a desert in around 1943 I think but I’m not sure. The book was written in 1943. I would give this book 5 stars ☆☆☆☆☆ because it was a super good book and I would recommend it to 3rd/4th graders through any adult. This is my script:

Narrator–  Hi. This is a part of the little prince. I really liked this book and I would give it 5 out of 5 stars. It is about a child who draws a snake and shows it to his parents and they said don’t draw, just learn math and spelling. So when he got older he became a pilot. One day his plane crashed and he met an extraordinary boy. That boy was the little prince. I hope you enjoy the performance!

Man– Tell me the story of the fourth planet you visited,

The Little Prince–  The fourth planet I visited, belonged to a businessman. This man was so busy in all his work with numbers, he didn’t even raise his head when I arrived. ‘Hello’ I said ‘Your cigar has gone out.’

Businessman–  ‘3 and 2 make 5. 5 and 7 make 12. 12 and 3 make 15. Hello.15 and 7 make 22. 22 and 6 make 28. No time to light it again. 26 and 5 make 31. Whew! That amounts to 501,622,731,’

The Little Prince–   ‘Five million what?’

Businessman–  ‘Hmm? You’re still there? 501,0000… I don’t remember… I have so much work to do! I’m a serious man. I can’t be bothered with children! 2 and 5 make 7…’’

The Little Prince–  ‘Five million what?’

Businessman–  ‘For the 60 years I’ve lived on this planet, I’ve been interrupted only 4 times. The first was 37 years ago, when a roach fell on my desk from god knows where. It had made a terrible noise, and I made 4 mistakes in my calculations. The second time was 19 years ago, when I was interrupted by a fit of rage. I haven’t time to get angry. I’m a serious person. The third time was 10 years ago when, I started thinking about how many stars there are that I can’t see and, I lost my place and had to start over. The fourth time…well… is right now! Where was I? 501,000,000…’

The Little Prince–   ‘Five million what?’

Businessman–  ‘Oh, the little things you see in night.’

The Little Prince–  ‘bugs?’

Businessman-  ‘No ,those shiny things.’’

The Little Prince–  ‘Fireflies?’

Businessman–   ‘No, those little golden things that make lazy people daydream. Now, I’m a serious person. I have no time for daydreaming.’

The Little Prince–  ‘Ohh. You mean stars.’

Businessman-‘Yes, stars.’

Narrator: To me, the point of this book was to tell the reader, ‘You don’t always have the perspective of a child, but, try to see things the way they do because children are the next generation, so, if you crush their dreams, they will never happen.’This was one of my favorite scenes because it makes you think about the stars and stars are beautiful. I hope you enjoyed watching! Bye!

Jun
14
2016

HOLES BY LOUIS SACHAR

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518Ts+tXaLLI read the book Holes by Louis Sachar. The main character is: Stanley. The main problem is that Stanley got sent to Camp Green Lake for no reason. (Camp Green Lake is a camp for kids who do bad things. Or is i?…) All they do is dig holes that are five feet deep and wide. It’s not a good place to be. The setting of the book is Camp Green Lake because the nearest town would be five miles away by car.

One big event that happened is: Zero (a boy from Camp Green Lake that he’s friends with) runs away and Stanley runs after him, but when they find each other, they are already the middle of nowhere. This event is so important because when they can’t find the camp, they realize that they need food or water. And fast. Two parts of the book that were my favorite is: at the end of the book when Stanley goes home with Zero because Zero finally finds a home. Another example is when Stanley gets his nickname, Caveman, because you know it’s a start to a good book.

One adjective to describe Stanley’s personality is brave, because he realizes that Camp Green Lake is wanting something, but they have to dig it up. Another adjective that describes Stanley is kind, because he rescued Zero from the waste land. The last adjective is clumsy, because he is the slowest digger, and also because he falls a lot. One quote that helped me understand Stanley’s personality is: “I always seem to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time.” Why that made me understand him, is because that means he is brave, because he has to stand up to who ever is there, and figure things out.

I really enjoyed the book, because the author made you feel like you were there. Another reason is that it is a book that has a bunch of things whipped into it. Drama, humor, sadness, and adventure. I would recommend the book, because like I just said, it has whatever kind of book you’re into. It really has a story to tell. I would give this book four and a half stars.

Jun
14
2016

The Lemonade Crime by Jacqueline Davies

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I’m reading the Lemonade Crime. It’s the second book in the Lemonade War series. I’m doing a diorama for my book review. I hope you guys like my diorama. The Lemonade Crime is about 3 kids, Scott, Evan, and Jessie. Scott stole $208, well that is what Evan and Jessie think.

In the book, Jessie accuses Scott of stealing $208 from Evan. She decided Scott should have a trial by jury. She assigned each person in the class a job for the trial. The jobs are judge, jury, plaintiff, defendant, lawyer, and witness. The trial is going to take place after school on Friday on the school playground. If Scott is found guilty of stealing the money, he will have to give his Xbox 20/20 to Evan forever. If Scott is found not guilty, Evan and Jessie will have to apologize to him in front of the whole class during Monday Morning Meeting.

The scene I chose for my diorama is when Jessie is setting up the ‘courtroom’. She is setting it up on the playground. She had a whole plan before she set it up. This scene is important because the courtroom on the playground is where the trial will happen. The outcome of the book all depends on the trial and all the characters are involved in that scene.

The materials that I used for my diorama are: a shoe box, mini sports balls, colored paper, plastic trees, pipe cleaners, tissue paper, a small cardboard box, markers, glue and scissors. I tried to set up the playground ‘courtroom’ just like Jessie did in the book.

I enjoyed making my diorama. It was really hard to make. I am very proud of it. This book was really good. I would recommend this series of books to fourth graders. It’s important to know that you have to read this series in order to understand everything that’s going on. I would give this book a five star rating for two reasons: (1) the action started really quickly and (2) a fourth grade was going to have a trial by jury themselves, and that’s really unusual.

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Jun
14
2016

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, By J.K. Rowling

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Hello before I start this movie I would like to say a couple thing about this book and movie. I really like the Harry Potter series and especially the last one Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows because it so mysterious. I think the author J.K. Rowling is the best author because she everything seem so real. I think everyone should read this book. I give this book a rating of 5 out of 5 stars.

Password: littlered!

Harry Potter from LREI on Vimeo.

 

Harry: “It won’t be long and you’ll be going too”

Lily: “Two years”

Albus: “I won’t I won’t be in Slytherin”

Ginny: “Give it a rest”

Albus: “How can I give it a rest! This is life or death ok.”

Harry: “Albus I know two of the strongest most amazing men and one of them was in Slytherin. If you do get in Slytherin then you might end up strong like him. And if you say that you want to be in Gryffindor the hat will let you”

Albus: “Really?”

Harry: “It did for me”

Albus: “Ok dad”

Albus: “You’ll write to me won’t you?”

Ginny: “Every day if you want us to”

Albus: “Not every day”

Ginny: “We wrote to James three times last year”

Harry: “Oh and you don’t want to believe everything your brother tells you about Hogwarts”  “He likes a laugh your brother.

Going through the barrier of 9 and 3 quarters. Walking towards the train.

Albus: “Where are they?”

Ginny: “We’ll find them”

Ginny: “I think that’s them Al”

Albus: “Hi”

Ron: “Parked all right then?” “I did. Hermione didn’t believe I could pass a Muggle driving test did you?

Hermione: “That’s not true I had complete faith in you”

Ginny: “Look who it is”

Ron: “So that’s little Scorpius” “Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank god you inherited your mother’s brain”

Hermione: “Ron, for heaven’s sake” “Don’t turn them against each other before they’ve even started school!”

Ron: “You’re right, sorry” “but don’t get too friendly with him, though, Rosie”

James: “Teddy’s back there” “Just seen him!”

Harry: “Oh well it’s nearly eleven you’d better get on board”

Ginny: “Don’t forget to give Neville our love”
James: “Mum I can’t give a professer love”

Ginny: “But you know Neville”

James: “Outside school yes, but at school he’s professor Longbottom” “I can’t walk to Herbology and give him love”

James: “See you later Al. Watch out for all the thestrals”

Albus: “I thought you said they were invisible”

Harry: “Thestrals are nothing to worry about” “There gentle things, there’s nothing to be scared about. Anyway you won’t be going up to school in the carriages, you’ll be going  in the boats”

Ginny: “See you at Christmas” “Bye Al” “Don’t forget Hagrid’s invited you to tea next friday. Don’t mess with Peeves. Don’t duel anyone till you’ve learned how to. And don’t let james wind you up”

Ginny and Harry: “Goodbye Albus and James goodbye”