Reigate libraries Chatterbooks group having Grinchmas fun

Egham Chatterbooks recommends 'Invasion of the Christmas Puddings' by Jeremy Strong

Vivid characters, an imaginative storyline and lots of funny parts makes this book a good one to read at Christmas time say Egham Library Chatterbooks. Most rated the book 

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Julian Clary thanks Egham Library Chatterbooks

Back in October Egham Library Chatterbooks read Julian Clary’s ‘The Bolds’ and everyone loved it so much that they came up with a plan! The group considered ideas for Clary’s third ‘Bolds’ book and sent them off to him with a letter written by Fleur, one of the Chatterbooks members. The great news is that Julian Clary has seen all the great ideas put forward to him by Egham Chatterbooks group and has sent a ‘Thank You/Christmas card’.

Here is a link to the Chatterbooks blog with Fleur’s letter and the Chatterbooks members’ ideas.

http://surreychatterbooks.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/ideas-for-julian-clays-third-bolds-book.html

Here is the lovely card sent by Julian Clary inspired by the Peter Pan story:

Reigate Chatterbooks are getting into the festive mood.

An Activity Inspired by Poppy's Book Lover's Brownie Badge

Egham Library Chatterbooks enjoys hearing about the activities their Chatterbooks friends take part inside and outside school. Poppy said that she was having fun working towards her 'Booklovers Brownie Badge'. Her Chatterbooks friends were excited when they joined Poppy on a five-minutes quest around Egham Library to investigate and record all the things we can do in the library. One Chatterbooks member rightly said, "there is so much to do in the library"! Here are the results of the investigation:

Top ratings for David Walliams' ‘The Boy in the Dress’ from Egham Library Chatterbooks

The Egham Library Chatterbooks Group met on Tuesday 22 November to discuss David Walliams' book, 'The Boy in the Dress'. The group made some intelligent and perceptive observations about the book. Yes, it was funny but there was an underlying sadness to it as well. The group recognised that Denis had a difficult relationship with his family, especially his father, and the children were able to identify the causes of those tensions. The group also discussed the racial and identity prejudices in the book and recognised the importance of being yourself and for others to accept individuality - it doesn't matter if you're a boy and want to dress up in a dress! The group's thoughts about the book were intelligent and funny. They also had a great time during the activity. Here are their fabulous imaginative and creative displays inspired by David Walliams', The Boy in the Dress'.



 

The above is by Poppy

The above is by Libby

Average ratings for Graphic by Cathy Brett’s ‘Dyslexia Friendly’ book for Young Adults

 

Synopsis:

Joe is fantastic at Art. He draws all the time, even when he should be doing schoolwork. The real fun begins when what he draws starts to happen in real life. Now he can have whatever he wants by putting pencil to paper!

Money, cool cars, the prettiest girl in his year...

But then Joe's drawings come to life in scary ways he never planned.

The Avengers Teen Reading Group came together at Egham Library on 15^th November to discuss ‘Graphic’ by Cathy Brett, a ‘dyslexia friendly’ book. All the group members, with the exception of Grace, said the book was average. So what let it down? The story was clever but it came to an abrupt end. The group wanted to know more about the characters outside school. They felt they needed to understand Joe’s obsession with drawing. They also felt that Joe’s and Honey’s relationship develops in a very superficial way. Grace disliked the book because the story and the writing was too simplistic.

However, the group enjoyed the activity inspired by Cathy Brett’s book, ‘Graphic’, which involved cutting out images and words that attracted their attention from magazines. They then filled an A3 sheet with the imagery and words to create a collage that reflected their thoughts and feelings. When their collages were finished the group were invited to identify themes and visual stories. Looking at these collages, what do you think each member of the group was thinking at the time?

 

 

 

Ideas for Julian Clay's Third 'Bolds' Book

Egham Library Chatterbooks, on 18 October 2016, came up with a fantastic plan: writing to Julian Clary and giving him some ideas for a third Bolds book!


Fleur, one of the Chatterbooks group members, wrote this lovely letter to Julian Clary, on behalf of the Egham Library Chatterbooks:

Egham Library Chatterbooks group wanted to show the author that they could also come up with exciting adventures for the Bolds as well as designing their own eye-catching book covers. Their ideas (set out below) were posted to Julian Clary along with the letter and you never know he may use one or some or even all of these ideas in the future. Just watch this space!

Top Marks for The Bolds by Julian Clary

Egham Library Chatterbooks were excited to talk about ‘The Bolds’ by Julian Clary on Tuesday 18 October and they almost jumped off their seats when asked if they would like to read the second book in the series: ‘The Bolds to the Rescue'. Hands up in the air, they all exclaimed, ‘Yes, please, please… when can we read it?’

So what did Egham Library Chatterbooks find so amazing about ‘The Bolds’ book? You can read their reviews below because they say it best in their own words. Megan gives an excellent summary of ‘The Bolds’ and they all agree it was the fabulous humour, the great illustrations and the unusual storyline that kept them glued to the pages. Now they are hooked and want MORE. Thank goodness Julian Clary has written the second book in the series: ‘The Bolds to the Rescue’. What will Egham Library Chatterbooks think of book two in the series? We’ll have to wait a couple of months to find out…

Lottery Boy by Michael Byrne: Reviews by The Avengers Teen Reading Group

 

The Avengers Teen Reading Group met at Egham Library on Tuesday 11 October 2016 to discuss ‘Lottery Boy’ by Michael Byrne.

The group had high expectations for a book with an appealing front cover and an interesting storyline. There was no question that the book is action packed as the young protagonist, Bully, is set on a quest to claim a winning lottery ticket given to him by his mum as a last gift before she died. However, when word gets out on the street that Bully has a winning ticket, his quest to meet the deadline to submit his ticket before it is made null and void is complicated by those on the street who want to claim it for themselves.

It all sounds like an interesting and somewhat unusual story but the average rating for ‘Lottery Boy’ by Michael Byrne from the Avengers Teen Reading Group was just:

 

Here are the group’s reviews:

Tiree said, ‘I enjoyed the background story of Bully’.

Grace said, ‘It is an unusual story… it’s very slow and not interesting.’

Sophie said, ‘It was a very desperate race for Bully to survive in the book and it kept me reading a teeny bit. It was a very complicated storyline and got a bit boring halfway through.’

Elliot said, ‘It was action packed but also monotonous.’

Emily said, ‘It was exciting with great scenes and background but it was also repetitive and a bit slow.’

The Avengers Teen Reading Group had fun talking about what they would do if they won the jackpot lottery prize… the possibilities are endless!!!!