All the buzz about books in the upper primary
Let me introduce three upper primary students who have plenty to say about what they like reading.
RUBY aged 10 in Year 4
MAX aged 11 in Year 6
SASKIA aged 11 in Year 6
Did you have books read to you when you were little? Can you remember anything about that?
Max: Yes. I remember books about teddy bears, Winnie the Pooh, The Enchanted Woods, robot books.
Ruby: Ruby Flew Too. It was about a duck.
Saskia: Yes. We’re Going on a Bearhunt. And a lot of Dr Seuss.
Did you have any favourite picture books? Any you hated?
Max: My favourite picture book was called The Floods – about an abnormal family. For older kids they had chapter books. I also liked a big book about World War 1 and the Top 10 Battles that changed the world. I didn’t hate any.
Ruby: I didn’t like a book called Ruby about a car. I didn’t like it because it had pictures but I didn’t understand the words.
Saskia: I loved the Fancy Nancy series.
If your parents said you were going to live on a desert island or in space and you could only take one book, what would it be? Any reason for your choice?
Max: If it was a desert island I would take a survival guide.
Ruby: A very very very thick book like Harry Potter!
Saskia: Either Geek Girl or Girl Online.
What kind of books do you like most now (eg factual information, animal stories, comics, narratives with female or male heroes, etc)?
Max: Narrative fiction. I find them engaging and they tell great stories with adventurous heroes that bend my imagination to make the world appear better.
Ruby: I like books with a twist, but a good twist that builds up so much tension.
Saskia: I love fiction or chapter books.
Can you suggest a book or an author for other children around your age to read?
Max: Ice Station by Matthew Reilly. A gripping, fast paced military story.
Ruby: Emma Carroll The Girl Who Walked on Air. It’s really fun to read and once you start reading you don’t want to stop.
Saskia: The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. It has so many twists and keeps you wanting more.
If you could write a book for children your age what would you make it about?
Max: A fantasy world based in an arctic universe where the heroes battle against the cold, frostbite, hypothermia, wolves and other problems beneath the snow, hidden in the blizzards.
Ruby: I would set it in reality. A book about a girl who runs away and she has to live through blizzards and things. She meets a wolf who follows her around and in the end they become friends and lie down together.
Saskia: My book would be set in reality and about a girl who is 12-13 but her life is very dramatic. Like everything goes wrong in her life!
Thanks Ruby, Max and Saskia for being guests on my blog. I’m working on a new book right now. it’s going to be part fantasy, part realism – set in an arctic universe with wolves, blizzards etc, and told from the point of view of a 12 to 13 year old for whom everything goes wrong. I’m guessing it’ll be a best seller!
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