Today we hear for Bookbabbler Bethan..

Frogspell by C.J. Busby

Max Pendragon wants to be a wizard but can’t because he has to be a knight.  However, he spends a lot of time practising spells and when he accidentally invents a spell that can turn people into frogs, Max realises that he might become a wizard if he wins the novices’ spell making competition at Castle Camelot.  Will Max and his sister Olivia be the winners or will it be Snotty, their enemy, who’s a cheat?

Max is a great character because he makes up spells and because he’s afraid of the cook which is really funny.  He was definitely my favourite but I also liked Olivia too, because she’s helpful and willing to be Max’s assistant.  I loved this book because you don’t know whether or not Max is going to win the competition at Castle Camelot, so it’s very tense and exciting when it gets to competition time and Max performs his trick.

If you like magic and spells then this is probably a good book for you.

Thanks, Bethan. This book will be out in September, but you can pre-order it in our shop now. Thanks to Tick Tock books for sending us a review copy.

Today, Vjollca shares her first review with us..

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang – Emma Thompson

Nanny McPhee embarks on a brand new adventure in this brilliant, funny and captivating novel based on the new Nanny McPhee film. The Green family are trying to survive the war in their house in the country, but unfortunately they are not out of harms way. A wicked uncle is intent on getting his hands on the family fortune and the children miss their father who is away fighting who knows where, and then the horrible cousins arrive! Life is not easy in the Green household…Thank heavens for Nanny McPhee!

This story is about five children who at the start of the book hate each other.  They learn to be friends with the help of Nanny McPhee.  It’s the sort of book I would call odd because it is both a diary and a story, the filming diary of the movie and the story of the movie.  I would recommend it to people who like books that are funny as well as interesting.  I didn’t think anybody could be as greedy as the character Mr Edelweiss, not even my best mate at school.  P.139 of the filming diary was the funniest.  Toby, the Movement Director of the film found Emma, the actor who plays Nanny McPhee, lying naked in front of her air con. unit on a hot day.  I would rate the book 10/10.

I really liked this book!

Thanks, Vjollca! And thanks to WHSmith’s for sending us a review copy.