Kind Hattie Big Sky

"Hattie Big Sky" is about a real American girl who moves out of Iowa to her dead Uncle's claim in Vida, Montana while her school friend fights in World War 1. She has just one year to prove up her claim.

In Vida, Hattie meets a lot of new people and makes heaps of friends, even a family with a German father. 

 Hattie arrives in the winter which is so cold that when she goes outside to pump water her hands stick to the pump. I don't think I would like to live in such cold weather. One of Hattie's friends, Rooster Jim, says that it is a very cold winter and it will be a very hot summer. 

A man called Traff Martin is the head of the County Council of Defences and makes sure that everybody is supporting their country by buying Liberty Bonds especially the Germans that live in Vida Montana, even if they don't have the money. 

Hattie learns to cook biscuits that are lighter then lead and to make quilts. She decides to make a quilt with her own pattern. It is hopefully going to look like the big sky and the prairie.

Hattie stands up against Traff Martin when he tries to accuse her German friends of being unpatriotic. 

I think Hattie is very kind.

                    

Strega Nona

Strega Nona is is a lady in lots of stories. She treats warts, cures headaches, and makes love potions. She lives in a town in Calabria.

Big Anthony is a boy who works for her. He keeps getting into trouble. He decided he would use Strega Nona's magic pasta pot. But he got it wrong and flooded the town with pasta. He dressed up as a girl to learn magic from Strega Nona. He borrowed Strega Nona's magic ring to make himself handsome. But then he couldn't get it off. He also flooded the town with bubble bath.

Strega Nona spends lots of time fixing Big Anthony's mistakes. But in one story, Big Anthony he only pretended to have been forgetful. Strega Nona couldn't use her magic at Christmas, and Big Anthony ruined her party. But actually he was planning his own party for Strega Nona.

My favourite Strega Nona book is Strega Nona the first book about Strega Nona. We have seven books about Strega Nona and Big Anthony.

Nanny McPhee

At breakfast one Sunday morning Mum said that we should borrow the movie 'Nanny McPhee.' But I didn't know who Nanny McPhee was, and I thought that it was too grown up for me to watch.

Callum went to the movie store and borrowed 'Nanny McPhee' and 'Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang'.

That evening we watched 'Nanny McPhee'. It was about the Brown family, who had lots and lots of naughty children. Nanny McPhee came to make them good. She looked very ugly when she came, but as the children became more good, she became prettier. At end of the moive, the children were good and Nanny McPhee was pretty.

Then we watched 'Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang'. It was also about a family, but the children were well behaved. But when their cousins came to stay, they had arguments, and fought. Then Nanny McPhee came. She made them good and became pretty again.

After we watched the movies Mummy bought the Nanny McPhee book. It's got lots of stories in it. We're reading about the Browns. It's very funny. The children had a dream to run away, so Nanny McPhee made it so they had to run away and just keep running and running and running until they learnt their lesson. While they ran, they saw all the naughty things they had done.

I like the book. It's different from the movies. I don't know whether I like the book better, or the movies. They're very different.

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

Mum has been reading me and Sophie a series about a family called the Penderwicks. The Penderwicks have lots of adventures with a boy called Jeffrey. They get into lots of trouble in their adventures, but they always manage to get out of it.

The Penderwicks are four sisters, Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty.

Rosalind is 12. She bakes brownies. She looks after her three sisters. She is the eldest.

Skye is 11. She likes to do maths. She also likes to play soccer and do archery. She isn't very patient and doesn't like looking after her sisters.

Jane is 10. She to like write books about a girl called Sabrina Starr. She likes to play soccer and do archery. She a bit dreamy.

Batty is 4. She likes to play games with Hound the dog. She always wears her butterfly wings. She's a bit shy.

Mr Penderwick talks in Latin. The girls can't understand what he says, but they're used to it.

We've read two Penderwick books. The first book is called The Penderwicks. The second book is called The Penderwicks on Gardam Street. We're reading the third book now. It is called The Penderwicks at Point Mouette.

We love hearing about the Penderwicks. My favourite characters are Skye and Jane.