The Tinder Box by Hans Christian Andersen.

Rating - ★★★★                                                                           

Age Limit Suggestion - 8+ (its a children's fairy tale) 

The Tinder Box is a short story by the well know 19th century author, Hans Christian Andersen. 

This story features a solider who acquires a magical tinderbox that will grant him anything thing he desires as well as the help and accompaniment of three large dogs. 

This is a great story and includes everything you would expect from a fairy story; a witch, a princess and magic in the air. 

As this story is so short, it would make a fab bedtime story but it is also easy to understand and all of the peaceful excitement that you would need in the perfect bedtime story. 

The only reason that I have only given this story four stars is because it isn't very explanatory. Even though you could probably expect it because the story is so short, the story seems to move from one scene to another. Basically, it is very fast moving and a story like that cannot create that much imagery so you'll need quite a strong imagination. 

Right now you can buy the Penguin Classics version in Waterstones for just 80p, the book will be called The Tinder Box however it will also contain another five stories which I will hopefully be reviewing soon. 

Have fun, read it for yourself and happy reading. 

Remember to comment your thoughts, questions and opinions.

Thanks :) 

The Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan.

Rating - ★★★★★

Age Limit Suggestion - 11+ (quite violent and supernatural themes)

Okay so I normally don't like to review series as its difficult to review multiple books at a time but I recently discovered that many people don't read the books because they didn't like the films, so I am here to clear things up.☺

The Percy Jackson series tells the story of (you guessed it) Percy Jackson. Percy is a demigod who is the son of the Poseidon and is sent to fight terrifying monsters on quests and gets into all sorts of trouble with his two best friends: Annabeth and Grover. 

The series includes The Lightning Thief, Sea of Monsters, The Titans Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth and The Last Olympian (in that order). 

I love this series because it is serious yet comedic and incorporates most of my favourite things to look for in a book also despite what some may think, the books are nothing like the films because they are so much better so even if you didn't enjoy the first two films, just give the books a go because I highly recommend them! 
Although these are amazing books, I would recommend that you had a minor inside knowledge of Greek mythology because you may other wise be quite confused...

If you are interested in reading this brilliant books then its quite difficult to find a box set of all 5 but you can buy them separated for a minimum of £5.00 but as I always say you can check your local book shops or libraries. 

Have fun, read it for yourself and happy reading. 

Remember to comment your thoughts, questions and opinions.

Thanks :) 

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Rating - ★★★★

Age Limit Suggestion - 13+ (not for the faint hearted)

My Sister's Keeper is dramatic journey through out and tells the story of Kate, a young leukemia patient, who spends day in and day out having operation after operation just to see her next birthday and Anna, a genetically engineered child who's spends her time having operation after operation but just to make sure her sister sees her next birthday. 

Honestly, I really enjoyed this book - it is well written and perfectly capable to tug at your heart strings (get your tissues ready!) 

Don't get me wrong, who doesn't love a good fantasy book now and again? But I just feel this book has such a large aspect of realism to it that it almost turns a fictional story into a non-fictional, real life drama!  Also because this book changes the protagonist almost every chapter, you get know everyone's story and it makes you seem to connect with the character even more which, I guess you could say, makes it just that bit more heartbreaking.

If you are ready to take on reading this book, and by that I mean when you have bought out Kleenex, I found it for £6.29 in WHsmiths <<here>> but as I always say, remember to check out your local libraries and book shops! 

Have fun, read it for yourself and happy reading. 
Remember to comment your thoughts, questions and opinions.

Thanks :) 

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl.

Rating - ★★★★
Age Limit Suggestion - 8+

This lesser know story is a great sequel to the much loved classic - Charlie and the Chocolate factory.  

I read this book multiple times though primary school and again in the beginning of high school so as you can probably guess, it is a well loved story for me and probably will be for you, whether you're 8 or 88. 

This story follows Charlie and his family as they shoot into outer space and begin there journey landing in a new space hotel, battling aliens and chatting the president of the united states of America. 

This book may not be your cup of tea if you are not really interested in the sci-fi genre and that is why I have only given this book 4 stars as it isn't really for everyone, however my advice is to just give it ago, its not sci-fi like Star-Wars or anything so if you enjoyed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory then I highly recommend this book.  

This is a great starter book if you are a young reader looking to get into longer stories, it is action packed with never a dull moment in sight so younger readers aren't starting with a boring book that may put them off novellas or novels in later life. 

All though this book is over 40 years old, it is still an old favourite so they tend to be expensive so I have found this one on WHsmiths for £5.24 <<here>> but I bought my copy for £2.99 in my local book shop so check your local shops and libraries. 

Have fun, read it for yourself and happy reading. 
Remember to comment your thoughts, questions and opinions.

Thanks :) 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon.

Rating - ★★
Age Limit Suggestion - 13+ (strong and frequent language) 

Okay so you probably recognise this as the big Broadway production that is very recent to the stage but before that it was a well know book by Mark Haddon. The story is about a boy who witnesses the murder of a neighbour's dog, from then things go from bad to worse, his mum left him long ago and his dad drinks so Christopher (the boy) sets off on a journey of a life time with his pet rat, Toby.

This is a book that I really didn't enjoy, although I do have to give Haddon some credit for a well loved book in other people's opinions. The reasons for me for not liking the book is because the swearing is used way to often and it takes away from the story especially if the swearing isn't really needed. Fair enough there are some arguments that the author may have wanted to emphasis but when every other word is the F word then it just seems immature. 

Another reason for me not to have enjoyed the book is because it is very 'he said, she said, and then, and etc' which really makes for slow reading and very boring reading at that. I wanted to go really careful around saying this as the protagonist is supposed to be autistic but I just feel that the author really underestimates the words that he can use while still portraying the boy as autistic. 

Over all I don't really have any positives for this book as I just really didn't enjoy it but if you are considering reading this book then I'm not stopping you, just try it, if I didn't read every book that had one bad review then I probably wouldn't have read a single book. 

If you are considering taking the challenge of reading this book then the cheapest I have found it is for £3.85 on Amazon <<here>>

Have fun, read it for yourself and happy reading. 
Remember to comment your thoughts, questions and opinions.

Thanks :) 

My Sister Jodie by Jacqueline Wilson.

Rating - ★★★★ 

Age Limit Suggestion - 12+ (I'd give the plot away if I said why but it's a bit upsetting)

Jodie and Pearl are sisters but they are complete opposites, with Jodie, a rebellious teen, and Pearl, a 10 year old book worm. Pearl very much looks up to Jodie but she doesn't always agree. During a move to a new school in a new city, the girls relationship changes drastically and maybe even for the worse. There is a huge plot twist at the end but I'm not giving anything away so pick up the book and you'll be as surprised as I was!

This book is one of my favourites from Jacqueline Wilson and I feel that she is pushing the boundaries slightly to make a book possibly aimed at an older audience, however she has still produced a great book that I have read time and time again so I don't really have any room to criticize. 

As I said at the top there are some quite upsetting scenes but it really depends on your maturity and where your imagination will take you if you decide you want to read the book at an earlier age. 

The only reason I haven't given this book 5 stars is because younger children may have read some of Jacqueline Wilson's milder books and enjoyed them, making them want to read My Sister Jodie - the only problem with this is that it doesn't really fit into the age ranges of her other books so it can cause a problem.

Over all this is a great book and I do really recommend it but definitely just for the right age group. The cheapest I found this book is from WHSmith for £5.24 <<here>> but as I always say check out your local book shops or libraries. 

Have fun, read it for yourself and happy reading. 
Remember to comment your thoughts, questions and opinions.

Thanks :) 

The Chocolate Box Girls series by Cathy Cassidy.

Rating - ★★★★★ 

Age Limit Suggestion - 9+ (nothing bad it's just quite large books)

This is a series that I have read time and time again, if my limit wasn't 5 stars then these words wouldn't be here because the page would have been taken up with stars! Basically it's a story of 5 girls; Summer and Skye (the twins), Coco (the youngest), Honey (the eldest) and Cherry (the step sister). The 4 girls' Dad left along time ago and their mum remarries to Cherry's dad so when Cherry and her Dad move to Somerset, Honey takes it hard and Cherry's Dad decides to open his very own chocolate business. The books then follow then girls stories from every point of view that they have of their lives, hopes and dreams. 

The books include (in order) - 

1. Cherry Crush
2. Marshmallow Skye
3. Summer's Dream 
4. Coco Caramel 
5. Sweet Honey

I highly recommend this series and it is a great starter series if you are looking to get into longer books or into a series! 

I more recommend this to girls as it is about girls thoughts, feelings, problems and lives however not being prejudice, boys, feel free to read! 

Unfortunately I found that this series isn't very accessible in a box set but luckily the books don't seem to be any more than £7.00 each, or you could just check out your local library. 

Cathy Cassidy is also bringing out and has plenty more books so stay tuned for further reviews! I'm so EXCITED!!

Have fun, read it for yourself and happy reading. 
Remember to comment your thoughts, questions and opinions.

Thanks :)