I recently read a book called ‘Stories of Wizards and Witches’. This book consists of many many stories of magic and fantasy. It is an absolutely fabulous book. It is a story collection written by Enid Blyton.
Enid Blyton was an English, children’s writer who lived between 1897 and 1968. She wrote over 700 books and they have been translated into 90 languages. The most famous among those books are the Adventures of Noddy, Adventures of the Wishing Chair, the Secret Seven, the Famous Five, and the Five Find-Outers. She won numerous awards and is regarded as one of the best authors ever.
Inesh Shenoy of i3andCo showing off his copy of Stories of Wizards & Witches
The Stories of Wizards and Witches has all sorts of magical creatures from fairies and unicorns, to wizards and witches, to pixie cats and elves. I remember our dad reading at least one story before putting us to bed every night when we were little. Since then, I have read this book again and again. Most of the stories also teach morals and good behaviour.
The best part is that there are 25 stories in this book. And they are all about magical characters. I love anything that has to do with magic. There are also many illustrations all across the book by Mark Beech. This book is a wonderful book for bed-time stories.
One of my favourite stories is The Strange Umbrella. It is about Tip Tap, a pixie who would always borrow others things, but never return them. Over time no one liked this and stopped lending their things to Tip Tap. One day he was going around asking for an umbrella, and of course everybody refused to lend him one. He asked Dame Trips if she would lend him her umbrella. When Trips told Tap she didn’t have one, he stole the umbrella that he found in her backyard. And then a lot of mishaps followed since the umbrella actually belonged to a mighty wizard. Read the book to find out what happens next, and many other stories!
Enid Blyton’s writing is very fluent and in good English. It always transports you to a land of magic and wonder, and makes your imagination run wild. I hope you read this book and enjoy it as much as I do.
Please tell us if you read this or other books by Enid Blyton. We love hearing from you. Stay safe, stay well. And keep reading.
Hi! I am Inesh and I recently finished watching a Netflix series called ‘A Series Of Unfortunate Events’. This televised show is based on a series of books by the same name, written by Daniel Handler.
Listen to the review directly from Inesh Shenoy
Daniel Handler is an American author and musician, best known for ‘A Series Of Unfortunate Events’. He writes most of his books under his pen name, Lemony Snicket.
Lemony Snicket is the narrator of ‘A Series Of Unfortunate Events’, and he is also a character in the story. Lemony introduces us to the Baudelaire family, which is made up of Beatrice Baudelaire (mother) and Bertrand Baudelaire (father) and their three children. The story revolves around the adventures of the Baudelaire children, Violet (eldest daughter), Klaus (son) and Sunny Baudelaire (baby daughter). They are played by Malina Weissman (Violet), Louis Hynes (Klaus), and Presley Smith (Sunny).
A Series of Unfortunate Events – A Netflix Series (Image: Netflix.com)
Violet Baudelaire is very inventive. She can build any device with the help of ordinary objects that are around her. Klaus Baudelaire loves reading and has read lots of books on different topics from the huge library in his house. He remembers all that he has read and can recall everything accurately. Sunny Baudelaire is an infant and loves biting into things. Her teeth are so strong that she can even bite into wood and metal!
The story starts with the Baudelaire mansion burning down completely in a sudden, terrible fire. Along with their home, the Baudelaires also lose their parents to the fire. In that moment, the Baudelaire children are turned into orphans and there is nowhere for them to live.
Mister Poe is a banker at Mulctuary Money Management, and is now in charge of managing the Baudelaire children and their “enormous fortune” till they grow up. Mister Poe takes the kids to Count Olaf (played by Neil Patrick Harris) as he is the “closest relative” and places them under his care.
Neil Patrick Harris is an Emmy award winning, American actor. He is multi-talented and is also a producer, singer, comedian, writer and magician. He is one of my favourite actors. I think his role as Count Olaf was perfect, as it allowed him to play many different roles.
Count Olaf is supposed to be a famous theatre actor and is always behaving like he is acting on stage. He takes charge of the Baudelaire children and takes them into his scary looking house. But Count Olaf and his bunch of actors are very cruel and they treat the children very badly. The children realise that they are in terrible danger: Count Olaf only wants their fortune, so they escape from him.
Mister Poe places the Baudelaire orphans under the care of another guardian, Uncle Monty, who appears to be an old friend of their parents. This is when they first start learning about something called V.F.D. But Count Olaf hasn’t given up on his chase, as he wants to take over the Baudelaire fortune at any cost. He disguises himself and comes to Uncle Monty’s house to catch the Baudelaire children.
This is how the whole story goes. The Baudelaire children keep running away from Count Olaf and his dangerous gang, and they keep coming after them in different disguises. Every time the Baudelaires escape from one unfortunate event, they only get trapped in another one! The Baudelaires run from one guardian to another guardian, and with each new guardian they learn something more about the V.F.D. For example, they learn that it is a top secret organisation and that their parents were part of it too.
Will Count Olaf and his gang stop at nothing to get the Baudelaire’s fortune? Can the Baudelaire orphans escape? Will their story remain to be a series of unfortunate events ending in sadness? How does V.F.D. fit into all this?
I found ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ so interesting that I watched the whole series episode after episode continuously, and I finished it within a matter of days! That is 25 episodes spread over three seasons! I think they call it “binge-watching”. Sometimes, our friend Ananya also joined us in watching these shows.
My favourite parts of the series are when Violet invents devices within a matter of seconds in the nick of time to help them in any situation. And every episode had so much suspense, and ended with a surprise!
You really need to watch ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’. It is extremely wonderful. In fact, even at the very end, the story ends with a big surprise! I loved it. I am sure you will too.
By the way, Neil Patrick Harris has recently written a new book series for kids called ‘The Magic Misfits’. I have just started listening to these on Audible, and will review them soon after I have finished listening to the books.
Hello! My name is Iresh Shenoy and I am seven-years-old. Today I am writing about the book ‘The Magic Finger’ by Roald Dahl. This book is illustrated by Quentin Blake.
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Roald Dahl is the world’s number one storyteller. I have seen movies about his books too. They were ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ and ‘BFG’ (Big, Friendly Giant).
The Magic Finger is about a girl called girl. We never get to know her real name in the story. The book is about this girl who has the power of the magic finger and a family whose children are the girl’s friends. The children’s names are Philip and William, and their family always goes to the forest to hunt birds and animals.
Iresh appears quite pleased with his read of The Magic Finger
Every time the girl tries to stop them or gets angry about anything, she uses the magic finger. She can’t stop it. If she gets very angry with somebody about something, she uses the magic finger.
The Magic Finger is a kind of super power. When she points her finger at somebody, a lightning like ray shoots out of her finger and makes some magical things. In school, the magic finger made her class teacher grow animal parts. When she is trying to stop the family from hunting, her magic finger turns their hands into bird wings!
My favourite part was when the family learnt their lesson. The girl tries to use her magic finger to save the birds from being hunted. She also uses her magic finger to turn the family into birds. But now it is the real birds who have hands and their guns. And now they are trying to hunt the family’s children! What will happen next?
I think you should read this book because it teaches us that we should not hurt any animal. It is also funny in many places. And filled with surprises.
Have you read any other book by Roald Dahl? How about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? If you like any other book let me know. I would like to read it too.
Hello! I am Inesh Shenoy and I am nine-years-old. Today I am writing about the book ‘Coraline’ by Neil Gaiman. This book is illustrated by Chris Riddell and published by Bloomsbury.
Listen to this book review directly from Inesh Shenoy
In the book, a family shifts to a new house with their daughter Coraline. This house used to have another section, which was removed in the past and covered up with a wall. But when Coraline opens the door, she sees that sometimes instead of a wall, it contains a mysterious passage to another place!
Our resident Neil Gaiman expert is happy with his books!
Inside this passage there appears to be a house that is exactly the opposite of the house she lives in. It is like looking into a mirror, but for real! Even the neighbouring house is there, but everything is exactly the opposite of how it is in the real world!
Coraline enters this mirror dimension of her house and is surprised to meet her parents there! But she quickly realises that these are not really her parents as they have black buttons instead of eyes. These mysterious creatures had already captured Coraline’s mother and father, and now have captured Coraline too! They are not letting Coraline go back to the real world.
Who are these mysterious creatures? Why do they want Coraline to stay with them? What is this mirror dimension? Can Coraline escape from there? Can she save her parents? Read the book to find out.
My favourite part was when Coraline tries to find various ways to escape from the mysterious mirror world. It was like solving a large puzzle, one piece at a time, and it was it all very interesting. When I read this book, I felt very scared. The book is amazingly spine-chilling spooky.
I think you should read this book as you will like it very much. It is scary, but much fun too. It also tells how Coraline is brave and fearless, when it most matters. If you read it, let me know.
Is there any other Neil Gaiman book that you have read? Or any other book that you would recommend me to read? Write to me!
Hello! My name is Ishaan Shenoy and I am nine-years-old. Today I am going to review the book, ‘Chakra The Invincible’ by Stan Lee. Yes! The same Stan Lee who is the legendary creator of Spiderman and all the Marvel characters! Chakra is illustrated by Jeevan J. Kang.
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The book is about a boy named Raju Rai, who stays in Mumbai. His parents are dead and he lives with his elder brother Sameer. Raju accidentally finds a super-hero suit created by a scientist, Dr Singh. This suit gives Raju super powers and lets him fly, shoot lasers, see the future, and even heal others!
My favourite part is when he gets struck by lightning and sees the future: he sees Rio, Bangalore, Mumbai, New York, and many more cities around the world going up in flames. He sees the end of the world!
Ishaan appears rather excited with the book
The villain of this story is Shatru Seth, who is also known as Boss Yama, the god of death. He wants to destroy the world and kill all the people. He wants to end the world. Raju knows that he is the only one that can stop this. But what can he, a small boy, do against the combined strength of Yama and his team of super villains?
This story is interesting because it takes place in Mumbai and India. Chakra is Stan Lee’s first Indian superhero. Also, there is a point where Raju’s brother Sameer joins the villains side, and unknowingly fights and captures Raju. What happens afterwards?
Boss Yama has captured all the leaders of the world in one place, and plans to replace them with his own people. Can Raju as Chakra stop him and save the world? You have to read the book to find out.
While Chakra is created by the same Stan Lee that created Spiderman and all the Avengers, I did not like it as much as all the other Marvel stories. The Avenger stories are more interesting, surprising, and fun. But I loved it when Stan Lee appears in the book. I always like the parts when Stan Lee appears in the comics and the MCU movies!
By the way, ‘Chakra The Invincible’ was also made into an animated movie. Have you seen that on TV? I liked the animation as much as the book. After all, the story is the same.
I think you should read this book because it has action, laughs, and a little bit of suspense. If you read this book, let me know. I would like to know if you liked it.
See you soon!
PS: Are you looking forward to watching Captain Marvel this weekend? It is releasing tomorrow and we can’t wait to watch it in the theatre!
Hello! My name is Iresh Shenoy and I am seven-years-old. Today I am going to write about the book ‘Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman’. This book is written by Francesca Simon and illustrated by Tony Ross.
Listen to this book review directly from Iresh Shenoy
Francesca Simon has written nearly 25 books about Horrid Henry. ‘Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman’ is number 16 in the series. My brother Inesh recently reviewed David Walliams’ latest book ‘The Ice Monster’, which is also illustrated by Tony Ross. If you have not read Inesh’s review, go and read it.
Horrid Henry is a nine-year-old boy and he is very naughty. And very mischievous. Most of the time his mother says, “Don’t be horrid, Henry!” That is why he is known as Horrid Henry. Horrid Henry has a younger brother, who is a goody-goody boy, and is known as Perfect Peter.
Iresh appear very happy from his read of the Horrid Henry book
Moody Margaret is Henry’s neighbour and most of the stories are about Henry troubling Perfect Peter or fighting with Moody Margaret. In this book there are four chapters.
Chapter one is about a snowman competition. Whoever wins it will get free ice-creams for one year! And Henry decides to build the largest, meanest, biggest snowman. Does Henry’s snowman win him lots of ice-creams?
In the second chapter, Horrid Henry is troubling his brother Perfect Peter. He offers Peter a deal and says he will not trouble him, if he will pay Henry some money. It is very funny. It felt like it was real. This was my favourite chapter in this book.
Chapter Three is about using make-up and giving people face-lifts. Henry sees Moody Margaret giving her friends face-lifts and think he can do a much better job and make loads of money. What happens is so funny that it has to be read!
Chapter four is about Henry meeting his favourite author TJ Fizz. The author is coming to visit Henry’s classroom to give them a book reading from Henry’s favourite books! But Henry has to behave and stay quiet in the class. Is Henry able to do this or does he get in trouble again?
Horrid Henry also comes as an animated series on TV. I have seen this same story of the author’s visit on TV also. I liked it very much. I think you should read this book because the stories are very funny and it feels real.
Have you read Horrid Henry? Do you like it? If you read any other book, let me know. I would like to read it too.
Hello! I am Inesh Shenoy and I am nine-years-old. Today I am writing about ‘The Ice Monster’ book by David Walliams. This book is illustrated by Tony Ross and published by HarperCollins Children’s Books.
Listen to the review directly from Inesh Shenoy
The Ice Monster is about a girl named Elsie who lives in an orphanage called Wormly Hall: Home for Unwanted Children. Elsie lives there with her 25 friends, who are also orphans. Miss Curdle who runs the orphanage is a mean old woman.
Elsie knew she had to escape from the orphanage or she would never survive. So one night she manages to escape into the streets of London via the hole she scraped in the roof.
Inesh poses happy with his copy of the Ice Monster
She keeps secretly visiting the Natural History Museum and there she becomes a friend of Dotty, a cleaning lady at the museum. One day she learns that a great ancient Mammoth was dug up and would be brought to the museum.
When the mammoth finally arrives at the museum, Elsie goes to see it. She then manages to bring the mammoth back to life and that is when the adventure really starts. The mammoth (who Elsie calls Wooly) wants to go back to the North Pole.
My favourite part of the story is when Elsie brings the mammoth back to life. The different things they do, from attaching wires to using hot air balloons, to bring the mammoth back to life is very interesting.
Elsie, Dotty, and a group of retired soldiers decide to take Wooly to the North Pole. But they have to face Lady Buckshot who is a hunter and wants to kill the mammoth, and The Professor who wants to keep the mammoth and become famous. Even the Queen wants the mammoth back and sends her soldiers to capture it.
At one point of the story, one of the Queen’s soldiers shoots Wooly. Can Elsie save Wooly? If she does, can she save it from Lady Buckshot and The Professor? Can Elsie and her friends really take Wooly safely to the North Pole? What other dangers await them there? Read the book to find out.
I hope you read this book because it shows how strong friendship can be, even between a 10-year-old girl and a 10,000-year-old mammoth. If you read this book, let me know.
Have you read any other book by David Walliams? Which of them should I read next? Write to me.
Hello! My name is Iresh Shenoy and I am seven-years-old. Today I am going to write about the book, ‘Dog Man’ by George Beard and Harold Hutchins. I’m kidding! Dog Man is written and drawn by Dav Pilkey! Dav Pilkey has also written Captain Underpants, Dog Man, and even Super Diaper Baby. Dog Man is published by Scholastic.
Listen to the Dog Man review directly from Iresh Shenoy
Dog Man is about a cop and a dog and the book starts with the Police Chief getting a new couch. The dog always sits on the Chief’s couch and the Chief doesn’t want dog hair on his new couch.
So the cop and the dog go out of the police station, but then they get blown up in a bomb blast by the evil cat Petey. They are both taken to the hospital, where the doctors fix the dog’s head to the man’s body! That’s how Dog Man is born!
Iresh poses with his copy of Dog Man
The evil cat Petey wants to rule the world. Can Dog Man fight and defeat Petey? Or will the evil cat win and take over the world? You need to read the book to find out!
My favourite part of the book is when Dog Man saves all the dogs from the Pointy Thingies. The evil cat had captured all the dogs in a big cage, but the Dog Man manages to save them all. Can he also defeat Petey and stop his evil plans?
I think you should read this book because it has a lot of action, suspense, and also a lot of funny jokes. I liked reading all the adventures of Dog Man and I think you will like it too.
Have you read the Dog Man book? Did you like it? What about other books by Dav Pilkey? Have you read them? Which is your favourite story?
‘Living Next Door To Alise’ is about a boy who is nine-years-old. His name is Siddharth. Siddharth finds an elephant living next to his house and then the elephant starts to talk to him! The elephant tells Siddharth that her name is Alise and soon they become best friends.
Iresh shows off his two Anita Nair books, which he hopes to get signed from her soon!
Alise is very intelligent and very good at maths! She knows so many things and wants to learn more things. So one day she follows Siddharth and goes to his school!
The way Alise shocks everybody at Siddharth’s school is very funny. I was laughing very much when I read how the teachers and students reacted to Alise talking and peeping from the window!
Another funny thing is when Alise joins Siddharth at a house party and finishes all the food! That food was for all the guests and Alise finishes all of it! Right after that, they run into the forest and get lost. Can they get out and come back home?
My favourite part in the book was when Alise and Siddharth find lots of wild elephants in the nearby forest. The drawing in the book showing lots of elephants in the forest. This made me feel very very happy.
But there was a Bearded Bandit in the forest. He wanted to kill all the elephants for their ivory tusks! Siddharth and Alise wanted to help the wild elephants and catch the Bearded Bandit.
Can Siddharth and Alise fight and defeat the Bearded Bandit? Will they be able to come back home? Or will they get trapped by the Bearded Bandit? You need to read the book to find out.
I liked reading this book by Anita Nair as it was very funny and interesting. It also shows friendship is important. It made me read one page after another, and I finished the book very quickly! I hope you read it and have fun.
Have you read this book or any other book by Anita Nair? If you like some other book let me know. I would like to read it too.
iThree and Co. 