Carrie and the Roller Blade Boots by Lisa Thompson illustrated by Jess Rose

In the children's school each week there is an assembly called Friday Fun Time. The young children (I imagine in Kindergarten or perhaps Grade One) are allowed to come on the stage and share their special talent. Sidney has been learning to tap dance. It is not easy but he has been practicing for a long time ready for his special moment. But what about Carrie - she is his friend - but does she have a special talent? 

Carrie and Sidney like to watch a talent show on television and one day they see a girl doing amazing tricks wearing roller boots. "As luck would have it" Carrie and her dad see some roller boots in a local charity shop and by an amazing coincidence they are exactly the right size.  Carrie expects to put in the boots and begin to skate up a storm - but of course she falls down and down and down. Will Carrie master this new skill and can she please say yes to the offer of help from her best friend Sidney. I am sure many young readers will relate to the ups and downs of this story. 

Bookseller blurb: Carrie's best friend Sidney is planning to show off his tap-dancing skills during Friday Fun Time at school and Carrie wants to join in. She plans an amazing routine where Sidney will dance and she will roller skate. But there's one big problem .... Carrie has never roller skated before. Will the performance end in disaster or will their friendship help them to dazzle the audience?

Carrie and the Roller Blade Boots is the second book featuring Sidney. The library I visit each week do something very helpful for the children. They add a little yellow circle sticker on the front cover of books in a series and add a number. I would have had no idea Carrie and the Roller Boots was the second book about these two friends. Note it is not the second book in the Little Gems series just the second book by Lisa Thompson where we meet Sidney and Carrie. 

Sidney Makes a Wish

I have talked previously about this series called Little Gems published by Barrington Stoke. Pop that name in my side bar or click the label at the bottom of this post. I know school library budgets here in Australia are shrinking but if you can afford to add books to your library, I highly recommend the Little Gems.

Here are some of the famous authors who write for this series: Holly Webb, Michael Morpurgo, Anne Fine, Dick King Smith, Jeremy Strong, Nick Sharratt, Alexander McCall Smith, Eoin Colfer, Ian Beck, Joseph Coelho and Julia Donaldson. 

Little Gems are gorgeous early reader chapter books, written by the cream of children’s talent, with super-readable layouts and design, and a chunky friendly format. Each Little Gem is fully illustrated and they are packed with fun extras and activities. The Little Gems are published with high quality cream paper, the special Barrington Stoke font and illustrations on every page.

The Lion above the Door by Onjali Q Rauf

"It was exactly my name! Not just the Leo part but all of it - Leo Kai Lim! But what was it doing inside a cathedral? On part of an old wall that remembered soldiers? And why did it have a golden lion above it, when none of the other names did? And what did DFC mean?"

Leo and his class go on a school excursion to Rochester Cathedral as a part of their class study of World War II. 

"The school library books about the war hardly mentioned any countries outside Europe and America. Even the ones that did only ever said things like "parts of the Commonwealth' or 'the Far East' or 'Africa' - as if those words were just a single thing and weren't made up of lots of huge countries with millions of people who might have been heroes too."

Leo's family come from Singapore and Sangeeta's family come from India. They also have a new friend Olivia who shares her (surprising) heritage. These three form a team to tell the real history of their connection to World War II. 

The joy and importance of family history are also recognised- gathering memories from those around you and exploring the lives of those who have gone before and acknowledging the contributions they have made.  North Sommerset Teachers' Book Award

Publisher blurb: Leo and his best friend Sangeeta are the odd ones out in their school. But as Leo's dad is always telling him, it's because they're special. Only thing is, if they're so special, how come they never see anyone who looks like them in their school history books?  Then, on a class trip to a nearby cathedral, Leo's attention is drawn to a large marble slab high above the doors of the hall. Right there, bang in the middle of a list of war heroes, Leo finds himself staring at something incredible: his own name. Desperate to know who this other Leo was, the two friends embark on a search. And together, they begin to uncover missing stories from the past, ones which they are determined to put back into their rightful place in the pages of history.

This book is has a slower pace than the previous books I enjoyed by Onjali Q Rauf but on page 251 the action really heats up. Readers aged 10+ with reading stamina, an interest in World War II, and those who enjoy stories about true heroes are sure to enjoy The Lion above the Door. Here are three other books by Onjali:

The Star outside my Window

The Boy at the Back of the Class

The Night Bus Hero