The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

By: Mark Haddon

Age:  Upper years, ages 14 years plus.

Accelerated Reader Rating: 4.5/5

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time is a book about a young boy called Christopher. Christopher has Asperger’s Syndrome and when he finds his neighbour's dog dead with a garden fork sticking out of its chest, he struggles to know what to do. When he gets caught up in an uncomfortable and scary situation he is forced to run away from home and find the person he once thought as dead.

This book is really interesting as you can see what Christopher is thinking, it's as if you're in his mind and because he has an unusual way of looking at the world, it really helps you to understand him.

Main characters: Christopher, Ed Boone, Judy Boone and Siobhan.

Christopher:

Christopher has Asperger’s Syndrome and likes to take walks in the night. When he is walking past his neighbour’s house, he notices her dog, the dog is dead. Christopher doesn’t really understand people very well so when he gets into many sticky situations it doesn’t help very much. 

Ed Boone:

Ed Boone is Christopher’s father, he is one of the only people who understands him. He has been raising Christopher alone ever since his wife, Judy died.

Judy Boone:

Judy Boone is Christopher's mum, who died when Christopher was young - but as Christopher has an incredible memory, he can remember everything about her, even what she said and when.

Siobhan:

Siobhan is one of Christopher’s teachers who teaches him things like facial expressions and how to act around people. Christopher’s father knows how to be around him and understands him, but Siobhan understands him more because he shares everything with her, and she helps him with everything.

More about Christopher:

Christopher is incredibly clever, and he even took his GCSE a year early. Christopher also wants to be an astronaut and go to space when he is older, he is always reading things about the Apollo space mission.

Why I like this book:

I like this book because it is very interesting, and it is a really good murder mystery because it has a twist to it as you can understand what is going on in Christopher’s head.

What I didn’t like about this book:

I didn’t really like how Christopher finds out about who murdered the dog.. I’m not sure why, but I just didn’t.

My Star rating:

4.5/5

Why did I rate it this?

I rated it this because It was an amazing book and I loved it but I only gave it 4.5 because I wasn’t so keen on the ending as I found it a bit sad almost that he can’t get over a certain fear.

Maz Evans

Maz Evans

After I had done my Who Let the Gods Out post I decided to interview Maz and I have had the reply and the answers so I can now show you what she has said.

I hope you all enjoyed my Who Let the Gods Out post and I will be doing some more like that.

Here is the interview;

Who inspired you to become a writer?  As a child, I loved reading – I always had my nose in a book!  I was a huge Roald Dahl fan – still am in fact – and wanted to write a book that would make children laugh like I did.    

         

Why did you write a children's book and not an adults book?  Because kids are awesome! I’m really just a big kid myself, so thinking like a child comes very easily to me. I would like to write a grown-up book one day, so watch this space… 

Did you ever want to be something else?  Never. Writing was the only thing I ever wanted to do and it was the only thing I was ever any good at. But it still took a lot of hard work – which has made it so satisfying to achieve my dream.

Why did you choose Greek Gods?  Because I loved their stories as a child. I won a book on Greek Mythology at school when I was eight – I’ve been hooked ever since.

How did you think of the storyline?  It evolved over quite a long time. The idea that the Gods were still alive came first and then Elliot’s story came afterwards. I wanted a real hero, so I made Elliot a Young Carer – but no amount of magic can solve his problems. 

Why does he live on a farm?  I grew up in the country, so a lot of friends lived on farms and I thought they were so cool. I also wanted a very special home for Elliot, one he was very scared to lose.

Who is your hero?  Great question! I have so many. J K Rowling is my author hero because she never gave up and her books are just genius. But the Young Carers I’ve met this year have really inspired me – they are all such heroes.

Why did you want to put constellations in it?  I thought it was a bit different. I don’t really believe in astrology (although I am SUCH a Gemini!), but it’s a bit of fun. I liked the idea of them being real and a bit mad.

Who told you to never give up?  It’s something I’ve always told myself. I believe we are all capable of so much – we just need to believe in ourselves and work hard.

What were you like as a child?  Very chatty! I was always getting in trouble for talking too much! In fact, not very much has changed… 

What was your favorite book as a child?  The Twits by Roald Dahl. Although I also loved Greek Myths and stories like the 1001 Arabian Nights.

 
Who is your favorite author?  Argh – couldn’t say! There are so many I admire and now I’m lucky that lots of them are my friends. I think anyone who writes a book is awesome.

What is your favorite joke?  Q: What’s brown and sticky?A: A stick!

If you are a big Who Let the Gods Out fan please put in the comments your favorite character and your favorite part. 

Thank you so much Maz Evans, for spending time answering these questions and for being so inspiring.

spelt oaties

 These are really fun, quick to make and they taste great.

ingredients:
110g (4oz butter)
110g (4oz) soft brown sugar
175g (6oz) white spelt flour
175g (6oz) oats
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons milk

Before you start, ask an adult to turn the oven on to warm up to 150c/130f/gas2

1. First you need to cream the butter and sugar together. I would recommend using a wooden spoon.
2. Then add the oats and mix together.

3. Now sieve the bicarbonate of soda with the flour.
4.Then add the milk to it.

5. Now squidge it together into one big lump.
6. Some people use a rolling pin and cut neat shapes, but we make little balls then squoosh them flat. 

They might look bit like this:

Cook them for 20 minutes..

Then you can eat them when they've cooled down.
I prefer them with fruit but my paraents like cheese and chutney.

If you have any recipes you'd like me to try, please let me know in the comments!

BON APPETIT!

liz earle halloween

In October I did a shoot for liz earle skincare for halloween and it has been posted on youtube here and the video is at the top of this page. It was definitely an unusual day for me.

 I went on the train to London with my dad, the studio was near a river in East London.

When I first got there I felt very nervous and scared but when I saw what they were going to do I felt excited and happy.

The studio was really plain, just plain white. There were cameras everywhere, it was really cool. There was a make-up artist that did the face paint and a lady that did the cleanse and polish to take the make-up off. It was a really good day. There were other children having it done, but with other halloween characters and they are on youtube too. All the people at the studio were really nice.

Have you done  any weird and wonderful adventures or just a fun day out?

Please tell me in the comments :-)

The Sea Waves

THE SEA WAVES

Seas that rumble,

Waves that swirl and twist as they go along through the booming sea,

Waves that roar like big cats,

Some seas are big,

Some seas are small tickling your feet,

Seas come up and come down,

Seas that are crashing against stranded rocks,

All different shapes and sizes,

Children screaming and running away from swirling waves,

Surfers surfing through GIANT waves,
Green seaweed swimming in the waves.

by birdie buttercup, age 8

to note: try listening to the video while you read the poem!

michael morpurgo book review.

I have just finished the book Kaspar prince of cats by Michael Morpurgo. I like the fact that Michael Morpurgo is really descriptive (but not as descriptive as David Walliams my favorite author.)

Whats the story about? 

The story is about a boy called Johnny Trott - an orphan. He works a bell boy in the savoy hotel. He really wants to find his mum and thinks an extremely rich lady (a Russian Countess) who looks after Kaspar the Prince of Cats is his mum. Sadly she gets killed by a bus and Johnny Trott has to look after Kaspar. Then he makes friends with Lizziebeth.. The story follows the exciting adventures of Johnny, Lizziebeth and Kaspar have together.

Who are the main characters?

The main characters are Johnny Trott, Lizziebeth and Kaspar.

Why/why not I liked the book?
I liked it because it had bits about the sinking of the Titanic and I find the Titanic really interesting.

I am not going to tell you the best bits because that will spoil it for you.

Please give me ideas of what book to read next in the comments because I am looking for more books to read.

I love clothes!!

I love clothes! My parents have always let me choose.

I like comfy clothes, I think it's fun choosing different things and I like dressing up.

When I was very young I liked black and grey clothes, then I liked pink, now I like all sorts of things.

I wish I could buy Vogue magazine to read! I might save up, I've always wanted to buy it actually.

Last summer I got this pink hat from H&M: 

Recently I got these shoes from Mango. I like chunky shoes at the moment.

I wore them like this - lots of dots:

Last summer I wore these short Zara kids dungarees a lot. They were cool, comfy to play in and fun when I wore them together with lots of other stripey things. In that photo I'm at a festival:

I like putting toys in my hair, do you?

I love this sparkly jumper from Next and these leggings from H&M which have cats on them:

These pictures are from when I just turned seven. I liked specs and had lots of different coloured pairs:

 I think this picture looks a bit flashy but I'm actually very quiet. It just looks that way in this photo!:

I really like blues and purples together:

I also like princess dresses but I don't have photos of any at the moment.

Do you like clothes too? What sort of things do you like?

shel silverstein

Where the sidewalk ends is a wonderful poem book. I haven't even finshed it yet and I think it's amazing. I've stopped reading Harry Potter and EVEN David Walliams (my favourite) it is like my favourite book this month.

Dirty Dan is an extremely dirty man and he is lonely. So he makes friends with all the bugs that live in his hair and buzz around him.
He likes to 'joke with the bats and have intimate chats with the cooties who crawl through my hair'.
I don't think I'd like that, would you? But it's lovely that he makes them his friends.
He would like to meet a wife - one who is gentle, kind, with a sensitive mind and a beautiful face.
BUT who is almost as dirty as him! That might be tricky!

I like Shel Silverstein's poems because they are fun and sometimes are hard to work out the meanings and they are all different topics. He plays with words and sometimes it makes me want to talk backwards! sdrawkcab

He was a very talented man because he actually did all the illustrations himself as well as the writing. It must have taken a long time and been really hard work but they are fun and realistic.

His website is good for schools that are learning about his books and adults that are thinking of buying a child a book. It has animation and fun and games I think it is really cool.

click anywhere here to go to the shel silverstein website

gingerbread biscuits

It's feeling Christmassy now and we decided to make some gingerbread men, trees and stars. They smell delicious and were really good fun to make.

Here is the recipe:

ingredients:

350g/12oz plain flour (and a little extra for rolling out)

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

125g/4.4oz butter

175g/6oz light soft brown sugar

1 free range egg

4 tbsp golden syrup

1.  You need to put the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon in a bowl, using a sieve.

 

(mmm mmmmm smells good!)

2. Crack two eggs into a different bowl and mix in the golden syrup.

 

3. Mix all of it together and use a mixer to make it crumbly and sticky.

4. Then put cling film over it and leave it in the fridge for 15 minutes.

5. Try and keep any pets away from it!

Then 'knead' it and roll it out.

6. Cut your shapes.

7. Bake them for 10-12 minutes
then have fun decorating them.

 

8. Yay! This is the fun bit!

9. Yummy.
They make really good presents or you can eat them yourself!
I hope you like them.

for the full bbc recipe we used, click here

tie dye apron

What you need:

dye

salt

fabric

string or elastic bands

First you get the fabric and pleat it:

Then put an elastic band or string on it tightly.

 Keep putting elastic bands or string on tightly  until it looks like this.

You mix your dye and salt with water in a bucket  until it looks like this.

You put your fabric in for about a few hours (wear rubber gloves).

When you take it out and you've taken off the string or elastic bands off and it has been in the washing machine and it is dry it would have a pattern on it. Where it had elastic bands or string it is the colour of the fabric underneath.

I hope your dog doesn't lay on it!

Then you cut around an old apron.

So it looks like this:

This is what it looks like when it's finished. My mum made mine for me.

I hope you like it. Have you done any tie dye before?