On Wednesday 7th June, reading club members, from our cluster primaries, met at the Secondary Phase, to review the eight selected books that they have been reading over the course of the year. The eight titles were:
Boy in the Tower by Polly Ho-Yen
The Silver Donkey by Sonia Harnett
Wonder by R J Palacio
WARP- The Reluctant Assassin by Eoin Colfer
The Boy Who Sailed the Ocean in an Armchair by Lara Williamson
Demolition Dad by Phil Earle
How to Fly With Broken Wings by Jane Elson
The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell
The books were chosen from a range of genres, and authors, to encourage students to venture out of their comfort zone and to try some stories that they might not normally read. It was really impressive to see how many of the pupils had read the books, and wonderful to hear about the activities they carried out in their reading clubs at school. For example, students at Great Dunham took it in turns to bake a cake based on the book they were currently reading.
During the event, the Year 6 pupils from each school were mixed into different groups so that they could get to know each other. Supported by secondary phase students; Jessica Banham, Isla Palmer, Summer Peacock, Felix Platt, Sophie E Russell, Sophie M Russell and Amelia Platt, they discussed and debated their thoughts, opinions, likes and dislikes about the books. It was really interesting to listen to all their different, and often conflicting, points of view.
Some of the pupils had written reviews about their favourite story, which they read out loud to everyone. Some of these are shown below:
A review of Wonder by Louis, Great Dunham
“I really enjoyed Wonder because I loved how the book put the story in different people’s point of view. I felt sorry for August because Jack was mean to him, but he only did it to impress Julian (Julian is mean). I would give wonder 10 out of ten. It was sad, it was funny, it was amazing, it was a wonder. I would recommend Wonder to years 5 to 7. It is the best book I have ever read”
A review of Wolf Wilder by Jessica Year 7
“I really enjoyed this story because it has many twists and made me want to read on. Throughout the book I cried as I imagined what it would feel like if I was Feodora. The best bit for me was when all the kids of the village came and helped Feodora and the boy, and with this, all the adults came to help as well. I enjoyed the part when general Rakgoff got his comeuppance too. I love the fact that although it was creative and imaginative it also had parts which were historically correct. I could not put the book down.”
The groups then competed in a quiz about the stories, before voting in a secret ballot for the best book. The clear winner was “Wonder” by R. J. Palacio.