Hello dear readers! This is Miss A. Misra here after quite a while. (I really need to change that intro) I have read a good number of books while I was offline, and one of them includes The Midnight Gang by David Walliams. (please note that I did not buy this book though I have read it. How? I borrowed it from a friend)
I started reading it yesterday and it ended today.
Basically, I had just finished watching the first of “Attack on Titans” and decided that, well. Since I have nothing else to do, I’ll just finish the book real quick.
Firstly, the book is illustrated almost every few pages, which makes it easier to read and more fun for children. The drawings are quite decent and given in just the right places.
Second of all, the plot is very wholesome and sweet. It’s about a gang of children who are admitted in the children’s ward in Lord Funt’s hospital. They set about, fulfilling each other’s dreams in the most creative methods possible. For example. one boy wanted to fly. The children took all the helium balloons in the hospital and tied it to him so that he could float safely up the stairs and after popping a few balloons, float down again. There’s George, who loves eating and had his tonsils removed. Amber, who broke all her limbs because she fell off her bunk (don’t ask me how, I don’t know how.) Then there’s sarcastic Robin, who got some operation on his eyes and has to wear a bandage around them and can’t see. There’s Sally, who is so ill she almost always sleeps and has the tiniest amount of hair left. (I’m serious, almost all the hair on her head has fallen off) Then the new patient, Tom, who got hit by a cricket ball on the head. Together they form the midnight gang who set about at midnight (which is why they are called the midnight gang, as you probably have guessed by this time, it’s pretty obvious to me, but anyway-) And there is also last but not the least Porter, whose real name is unknown, who helps the children in their work. He has a lopsided face and one leg which is shorter than the other, however is very kind and generous even though he has no home of his own. Of course, there HAS to be an evil antagonist in a plot like this, who in this case is the matron, who hates children but takes care of the children’s ward. (???, I’m sorry, that makes no sense to me either, but it is what it is.)
Well, Tom’s parents live abroad and he feels lonely and unwanted because they hardly ever write to him in boarding school. He settles in the children’s ward quite well and even gets entry to the midnight gang (on the condition that he should always push Amber around on her wheelchair because no one else wanted to do so, on account of her being so terribly bossy. But that’s hardly the point, is it?) They have three main missions left to accomplish, Ambers’ (visiting the South Pole) George’s (flying) and Sally’s (living a wonderful life because she feels that since she’s always so ill, it would be a change for her to finally experience something else rather than lying in bed all day). The mean matron keeps trying to spoil their fun, so George puts a sleeping pill in the chocolates she eats at night, causing her to sleep all the time. That leaves the three children free to do whatever.
But they don’t include Sally in these adventures, since she is too ill and fragile. Tom, however, has no major problem with him, so he could join, as I mentioned before. The whole book is basically run on this whole plot.
The third thing I really liked about this story is that there is a whole lot of humour. Sarcasm, irony, simple jokes, or just random circumstances that appear funny to me for no reason,the full deal is packed into the book. However, the ending was rather too sudden, and I felt sad that (spoiler here) Tom just had to leave all his new friends .The reason you will find out when you read the book.Its unfair that everything just ends right when it was getting interesting. But if you think about it, no one can stay in a hospital forever and ever, no matter how ill you are.Atleast it’s not a good thing then.But since I am not discussing serious issues here this book review ends here.
Well, that was “The Midnight Gang” By David Walliams. I hope you liked this article. See you in the next one! Goodbye, signing off~
kids book
Human Body for Kids-A Look Inside You by Dr.Amrita Basu-Book Launch
Human Body for Kids-A Look Inside You by Dr.Amrita Basu is my latest book .It’s a book to help kids 5 to 15 years have a quick understanding about what’s inside your body.
It’s free to read on Kindle Unlimited. Do give it a read and let me know ,what else you would like me to right about in health books for kids .
Additionally it’s free to download and gift from 31st August(1.30 pm IST)upto 5th September 2024.
Don’t forget to review the book and share with some one who likes knowing about the human body.
When I signed up for the Blogchatter Half Marathon, I was looking forward to finding new blogs to have on my reading list.That’s how I learned,when I started blogging with Blogchatter back in 2016/2017.
Blogging has come a long way and my writing books and turning author also happened with Blogchatter in 2017 and I haven’t looked back.I like writing both nonfiction and fiction and my readers keep me going.
You can see the entire library of books published, available on the Amazon website.
But why #BlogchatterHalfMarathon for the book launch?It’s because the Blogchatter bloggers are readers and many are parents ,who will understand my why.
When you look for books for your curious one,I hope you will give this a read. It’s not an Encyclopedia, but more of a handbook to get the curious kids want to know more about their body and how to stay healthy.
Just as a good diet is important for the kids growing up strong,healthy and happy,so too a diet for mind needs the right kind of books.I hope I can do what I set out to do.
Sharing is good Karma!
Excretory System for Kids (Video)
Percy Jackson and the Chalice of the Gods: Book Review
Hello dear readers! This is Miss A. Misra here with another book review! ( that intro is getting too old..) This time, it’s quite a recent one. It’s “The Chalice of the Gods” by Rick Riordan, published in mid-September or October last year. I bought it at the airport along with the “Ordeal by Innocence” book I wrote about before. It is a smaller novel than the original Percy Jackson series but is connected to the series. The text print is bigger and easier to read (much to Mom’s approval). The book is left at a part where Percy STILL has a quest to finish, and it’s just my luck that the next book in the series has not even been published up to now! The release date is some three or four months away.
So, this time, Percy is going to another university, but it needs three recommendation letters from three different gods or goddesses. His councilor, a water nymph helps him search out a task. Ganymede, the cupbearer in Olympus, has lost his magical chalice ( If you didn’t know, it’s a type of fancy goblet with lots of designs and gold-rimmed edges and all those totally necessary jewels.) that grants anyone immortality. And of course, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover set off to investigate at once. According to Ganymede, everyone on Olympus, except for Zeus, hates him. Eventually, he points out that Hebe ( the Greek goddess of eternal youth, if I remember right. It’s pronounced like: “Hee-bee”, not “hey-bey” or anything else!) and Iris (the Greek goddess of the rainbow, and yeah, it’s pronounced as you see it, okay?) would be the most plausible suspects. Grover mentions that he THINKS he knows what Hebe’s secret lair is. And wouldn’t you be surprised? The name of the place was literally-
“Hebe Jeebies”
(insert “jungshook” face here)
How ironically obvious. But Hebe must have just taken one look at that word in the dictionary and been like: “Heebie” is pronounced like my name, so I’ll just go and (*steals*)Anyways, it was a sort of jumbo, massive, disco, karaoke, and arcade place rolled into one. There were candy types that existed AGES ago, arcade games no one remembered since their childhoods, and songs playing that were unheard of for years. So, it’s a place meant to cause nostalgia to be young again, which I guess does make sense since Hebe was the goddess of youth, anyway! Hebe was the manager and had taken her human form as a girl of around 14 or 15, with a paisley minidress and also some white boots along with them. Which, is not a very good style to go with, but from Percy’s POV, it looks okay. So, let’s let it pass the time.
When the trio reached, they met the manager of the place, Sparky, and she was nine years old. But do you know what? Well, she was 90-SOMETHING years old but after working in Hebe’s place she got her blessing and wished to be young again. Odd, but whatever. After some strolling around, they find Hebe in the karaoke bar and when they try to inquire about Ganymede’s cup, she gets angry and turns them all into eight years old again! When they try to go to Sparky, Sparky sets a flock of flesh-eating chickens on their trail!
( phew)
So now they are stuck as primary schoolers, need to find Ganymede’s chalice, not offend other goddesses, and get back to their original ages. That’s a whole load of work for a trio of teens. Did I mention that on the way Iris ( goddess of the rainbow) gives them ANOTHER quest that requires Percy to go to a river full of snakes? I did not. Now you know.
Will they be able to find the chalice? Not get killed by some snakes? And will they make it in time before Zeus finds out Ganymede lost the magic cup and blasts some people with his scary lightning bolts?
Well, this book was quite good and entertaining, but the plot just failed the point in my case. Why even? To get a college application he needs THREE QUESTS. I thought the mortal people didn’t even know of the gods-so how? I read that part so many times and it still did not make sense.
Otherwise, it’s really good. Though Percy, Annabeth, and Grover are all 17 now, the story is still written in the same sarcastic and humorous way I like. Some parts were so hilarious I almost fell off my chair. The humor is so spot on, it feels like it is Percy who is writing the book. Sometimes I have to remind myself that the narrator himself is fictional. The book ends without Percy getting his last quests, which is sad. But as it IS smaller than the rest of the original series that’s expected.
One thing to keep in mind is that to enjoy this book is to read some of the original series because there are so many inside jokes and lines that only fans of the series will get. If you haven’t yet read the original series, most of the jokes will make no sense to you!
Sharing is good Karma!
The Girl Who Drank The Moon Book review
Hello, dear readers! This is Miss A.Misra signing in to recommend you yet another book: The Girl who drank the moon, written by Kelly Barnhill.
Lets delight first of all in the cover art. It’s absolutely gorgeous! The tiny dragon ( Fyrian) is looking adorable and Luna looks totally fitting in the character. I love her posture drawn so efficiently! The moon is glowing and so shiny it’s clear why Luna drank the moonlight. ( Okay, that sounds confusing now, but you will understand later. Moving on!)
Here’s a summary of the story. I have not really given anything away here. If you don’t really want to know much, feel free to skip the last paragraph.
The people of Protectorate place a baby in a ring of Sycamore trees, at the entrance of the forbidding forest where an evil witch resides, and leave, presuming that the baby would be killed by the witch. This is their baby sacrifice, and their belief is that if they don’t do it, the witch would kill everyone! However, the witch, Xan, is totally kind, and gentle. A good witch. She has no idea why the children are sacrificed to her, as she never required or wanted anything, and she never even hurt any of the children she was given. She took them lovingly and brought them to the Free Cities, where they were adopted into nice families who did not sacrifice random kids. On the way, she gathered starlight on her fingers to feed the babies with ( Look, I tried to do that too. I tried to reach my hand up and touch the stars, and gather the starlight to eat. It didn’t work. You’re free to try though, and if you succeed send me some), which makes them content and full. They grow up to be called Star-children, and they exude a faint sort of glow.
Once upon a time, Xan accidentally fed a child moonlight, instead of starlight. Once the baby girl had drunk it, she was enmagicked, ( Yes, that’s a real word, according to the book, anyways.) and was bursting to the brim with magical powers. When Xan understands what she has done, she realised that it was too dangerous to just leave the child in an unknowing family. She names her Luna, partly because she has a birthmark shaped like a crescent moon on her forehead, and partly because she had drunk moonlight. Get it? Lunar-Luna? Right? ( I don’t know if you understood but I think you must have, If you haven’t, too bad!)
Luna grows up in her grandmother’s cottage, along with the bog monster glerk, and a simply tiny dragon, called Fyrian. In her toddler years, she continues to use magic all the time, unaware of it herself. To protect her from becoming a danger to both herself and her surroundings, Xan locks away her magic inside of her for a few years till she turns 13, and then she would learn to control it and utilise it safely ( or so we think ). But the time keeps ticking, and it seems that Luna’s magic is spilling out of her now. Even worse, Xan is withered, and old. She will die once the young girl turns thirteen. Meanwhile, there is a real witch, in the town of Protectorate itself, who feeds herself on the sorrow of the people ( that’s dark, like really dark ). But who is she? Will she be stopped? Will Xan survive? Will Luna learn how to use her magic and will they survive the process?
My opinion: This book was awesomely amazing! It’s a sort of story that sticks to your mind and makes you think about it and wish the book never ended. ( Okay, but if that wish comes true we won’t be needing any more novels. One book would be enough. ) It’s got a very nicely imagined storyline, and the message given through it is ” Sorrow is a scary thing. It can make people angry, make them sad, or make them insanely depressed. Look towards hope. Think positively.” Or it might be “Don’t accidentally drink Moonlight if you want a normal life.” Or perhaps “Try not to be born in the city named Protectorate,where people sacrifice children to witches when there aren’t any.” You choose.
Also, it has a kind of deep storyline which might take some time to understand. One thing the book lacks is humour. It would have been the prize novel had it got jokes in it. There are some instances where humour is indicated ( very subtly). Like the part where the tiny dragon Fyrian tries to hug the big monster glerk, and he does not really succeed much. Or the parts where a story is told by some mother to her child, in some other part of the world. There are such typical phrases like “Wait till your father gets home.” or ” Okay, one story only, then do your chores!” it makes you smile.
Overall I rate this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars, for ages above 10 years old. It’s a nicely imagined story, and the fact that someone took the childish idea of wanting to drink the moon or eat it, and created that into such a glorious novel is absolutely fantastic! I have not yet read such a lovely story as this one was. Of course, I like Agatha Christie. Her writing style is really good. But there are very few of such books that have magical instances. I especially like the word ” enmagicked.” It’s a lovely word. “Magicked” is used sometimes, for instances like ” He magicked it away” informally, but enmagicked. Ah. That’s totally different. Two letters can make all the difference in the world. Fact proven!
Well goodbye now! See you later in my next post!
This is a W post for BlogchatterA2Z
Sharing is good Karma!
Young Detective at the Farm Robbery -New book #WorldBookDay
Did you know today is the World book day and I am happy to tell you that I am a passionate reader and also an author.Everything I am ,I owe to the Good God and books.If there’s a hobby I love,I will always read a book about it.
I literally read art books too.
But the best part was when in 2020 my little girl started writing short stories.She is infact a regular contributor to the kids book review section on my blog.
While her first book was published in 2020,it took us more than three years to publish the second book in the series.I wrote about the experience of writing a book with an under ten year old.
It’s called the Young Detective at the Farm Robbery.
You can read it for free on Kindle Unlimited or encourage her writing by buying it on Amazon.
Name of Book
Young Detectives at the Farm Robbery : Young Detective series (Young Detective Mystery Book 2)
Author
Anuprita Misra
Series Name
Young Detective Mystery
Book Blurb
From the author of Young detective series
Its summer time and the summer holidays means fun,adventure and mystery for Mira ,Rina and Cheenu .They are called to solve the mysterious robbery at their friend’s farm.Their mother wants them to have nothing to do with thieves and robbers ,but the young detectives cant seem to stop running into adventures,
Following the success of their first mystery together in the Library Ghost(Book 1 from Young Detective series) ,they work together to catch a robber and make their friend happy.
Ebooks are now available at Amazon.in/ebooks on the browser and not through the app.A new layer of complexity it seems.
This is R post for the BlogchatterA2Z
