The Saturday Boy- Book Review

I've recently finished reading a book called the Saturday Boy by David Fleming. It is a great book with lots of awesome characters. So,here's my review!

Derek Lamb is a boy who loves comics. Not just any comic but awesome comics. But this book isn't about Derek and his comics. This book is much more than Derek and his comics. See, Derek lives with his mom. His dad is out fighting in Afghanistan. All Derek has to remember his dad is letters and an Apache helicopter hanging on the ceiling of his bedroom. As if his life isn't already bad, Derek is bullied by his old best friend- Budgie. Budgie and Derek used to be best friends until one day, something just happened. Anyways, Budgie makes Derek's life horrible. During the school year, Derek meets a beautiful girl, Violet, who smells like apples on Fridays. Throughout the book, Derek has his awesome moments and then his horrible moments. Meet Derek, who's not a normal kid. 

"If there's one thing I've learned from comic books, its that everyone has a weakness, something that can ruin their day without fail."- Derek Lamb

 I give this book a 9 out of 10 and think David Fleming is a fantastic author. Check out his website here.

Thanks for reading, 

Noor (Check out the book, I might be giving it away for the giveaway.) 

April's Monthly Theme

In March I did something called "March's Weird and WaCkY Holidays" In April, I've decided to bring up a new theme: The Poetry Challenge. This challenge needs one thing to become successful: you! It's kind of simple so I'll explain!

Part One: The Task
April is one of my favorite months. Why? April is poetry month! For this month's theme I've decided to host a poetry contest right here on my blog. This challenge is pretty simple. What I want my readers to do is write a poem, it can't be anything else but a poem. Your poem must follow some certain rules. 

Rules and Entry Qualifications-
The rules are simple, your poem must be at least 5 lines long. It does not have to rhyme but I'll say at least two words have to rhyme with each other in your poem. I might make some exceptions but contact me to ask. Your poem must be entered by email. I do not accept poems that are entered through the comments. Also, if I don't recieve more than 10 entries, I will call off the giveaway. The entry qualifications are that you have to live in the UK or the USA. I'm sorry, its just the easiest for me. You can still contact me and send in a poem but if you win the contest you won't be able to recieve the prize from the giveaway. Speaking of giveaways.....

Part Two: The Giveaway
At the end of the month,I will choose 3 winners. One actual winner and two runner-ups. The actual winner will win the grand prize and the runner ups will win a slightly smaller prize. The only difficult part is that the company I choose the giveaway form might have ME mail the prize to you. This is a problem because you're going to have to send me your address. But we'll deal with that once that problem arises. 

Part Three- Share It!
As I said earlier, I need at least 10 entries in order to keep going with this contest.Unfourtunately, I only have about 4 or 5 people who check on my blog almost every time I have a new post. (thank you to those people by the way!!!! I really appreciate those who come and comment.) so I need you to tell your friends about my blog! Ask them to enter the contest. I would also appreciate if they could check out my site and maybe become one of those people who keep coming back! Also, if they inform me in their comments that you told them about my blog, I would give an extra entry into the giveaway. Thanks guys!

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS EMAIL ME!!!!(contact section)

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this challenge! Remember, share it!
Noor

Should Plastic Bags Be Banned?

                                Yes, I think plastic bags should be banned!

We've all used plastic bags many times in our lives. Aren't they convenient! Picking up our dog's waste, carrying our heavy groceries. Yeah, the marine animals don't agree with you.

      Plastic bags are extremely harmful to the environment. First of all, plastic isn't biodegradable. This means that it does not break down so fast. Actually, it takes about 10-20 years. Even after that, it still isn't fully gone! I know what you're thinking, what does that have to do with the marine animals, or me? Well, think again. Sometimes, these leftover pieces of fabric escape from the landfills and eventually end up in the oceans. When they end up in our oceans, marine animals might think that piece of plastic is a tasty snack. More like a deadly snack! One little bite of plastic bag may block an animal's digestive tract. This causes a very slow and painful death for the animal. (Cue the sad faces) Other times, instead of small pieces of plastic, entire plastic bags can escape the landfills. That causes even more danger for the animals. The animals can get caught or stuck in the plastic bags. The worst case scenario is that the bag gets caught around the animal's throat, strangling it and slowly killing it.

   Now the same question pops up again. How can plastic bags harm us? Do you like fish? Chicken? Guess what? Since the animals are digesting plastic bag chemicals, so are we. When we eat fish that have eaten plastic bags ,(which of course we don't know that they have) we are digesting chemicals from the fish that were in the plastic bag. GROSS!!

Plastic bags are harming our beautiful world. So next time you go to the store, ditch the plastic bag and go for the better choice: the reusable bag! 


Thanks for reading,

Noor (Save the oceans, don't use plastic bags!) 

World Water Day

Day 5: March's Weird and WaCkY Holiday's

March 22 is my birthday and also World Water Day. 

Let's celebrate our wonderful water! 

FUN FACTS ABOUT WATER

- Most of our Earth is made of water but only 1% of it is drinkble. 

- A lot of countries do not have access to clean water. (Don't waste your water, use it wisely, be grateful that you have access to clean water!)

- Millions of people die every year from drinking clean water. 

Use Your Water Wisley!

Water is not a toy. Please do not play with it. Instead use it wisely and don't waste it. Take showers, not baths, try not to buy toys that use water. Don't play with water guns as much, maybe once in a while. Our world is starting to run out of water. You can stop this from happening by saving our water!

Thanks for reading,

Noor, the water saver. 

Happy Birthday To Me!

Guess what everyone, today is my birthday! So, I am going to celebrate with my readers here on my blog! Today I am giving you a list of 10 things. Hope you will enjoy them. Ready? Let's get started!

List 1: 10 (More) Things About Me

1. I am (from today on) 10 years old.

2. My two favorite movies are Frozen and Rio.(Can't wait for Rio 2!)

3. I love cookies. Cookies are awesome!!!!

4. I sew. Not normal for kids but I do. It's really fun while in the process and when you are finished you can look at the amazing job you've done. 

5. I have a lot of stuffed animals. I love stuffed animals, I collect them. I love to do stuff with them. (Fun Fact: When I was just a bit younger, I used to play town or city with them. The city took uo my whole room!)

6. I dislike caramel. I know, so many people LOVE caramel, but I don't. It's too creamy and gooey. 

7. I love to ride my bike with my dad. Sometimes we bike around the neighborhood, other times we bike in a large, empty parking lot. It's really fun.

8. My favorite subject is ELA. I love to read and write. My least favorite subject is Math. *yawn*

9. I always get mad when people call me 9, when I'm really 9 1/2. I don't know, its something that really bugs me!

10. Blogging is awesome! I love to connect with my readers! Thank you so much everyone!

Thanks for reading,

Noor, now a 10-year old!

Absolutely Incredible Kid Day!

Day 4: March's Weird and WaCkY Holidays! 

Today is March 20 and also Absoulutely Incredible Kid Day. Today is the day where all kids show how incredible they are! Show off all your talents, tell the world that you are incredible. I invited some of my friends over to have a talent show for this special day! (Sorry for the short post) 

What are you going to do for Absolutely Incredible Kid Day? Tell me in the comments

Thanks for reading! 

Noor

The Truth About The Five Second Rule

You are walking into the kitchen to get a tasty snack, maybe some.... ooh cookies! You take one out of the box, but oops! It slipped out of your hand. As you reach down to pick it up, you think to yourself: "The cookie is still okay, five second rule!" But, is the cookie really okay? 

Food rules such as the five second rule have been around for a long time, there's even a 10 second rule. (Fun Fact: A ruler of China once created the 100 second rule. That failed of course!) But scientists in Britain have been studying this rule to see if it is really true. 

To test it, the scientist dropped a variety of foods on different indoor floors that had been exposed with two different types of common bacteria. We have not received any results yet. 

The scientists also did an experiment on 500 people testing who actually believed in the 5-second rule. They asked people if they would eat food dropped on the floor. 87% of the 500 people said they would eat food of the floor. Most of these people were women. 

Add caption

Thanks for visiting,

Noor

Country Round-Up

(This post was inspired by 9-year old Mara from Marabird.)

Hello everyone! I was checking my stats for the blog and I decided to check out which countries have seen my blog. I thought I'd share with you! (this is all time)


United States- 330

United Kingdom- 101 

Netherlands- 35

Germany- 10

Ireland- 6

Canada- 2

India- 2

Poland- 2

South Africa- 2

France- 1

Here is the map of my stats

Thanks for visiting! (The award goes to the U.S this time)

Noor

And The Award Goes To....

While browsing one of my FAVE blogs, I came across this amazing post. One of my blogger friends, Lexie posted this post called Awarding The Lexie's.

Inspired by this great post, I am posting a post called The Awesome Awards. 

Best TV Show
1. Doctor Who
2. Dog With A Blog
3. Scrubs

Best Book
1. Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix
2. Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse
3. Wonder 

Best Author
1. J.K Rowling
2. Rick Riordan
3. R.J Palacio 

Best Blog
1. Lexie Loves
2. Kids Blog Club
3. Blame The Blogger

Well that's it guys! The winners are: Doctor Who, HP and the OP, J.K Rowling, and Lexie Loves.

Thanks for reading,
Noor 

What's Happening With The Orcas?

Have you ever been to a place like Sea World, a marine park? If yes, maybe you've seen the killer whale shows they have there. Soon, these shows may be going away for good. 

Killer Whales + Small Pools= disaster

In 2010, a killer whale drowned a trainer in the pool during a show. This leads experts to a big question. Should orcas still be in captivity for shows? 

Many people think it is dangerous for the trainers and the audience, but others think it is harmful for the orcas. Living in a small pool all your life can be really hard. The killer whales can get bored and frustrated. 

What Do We Do?

Animal-rights groups say that the marine parks should open special ocean sanctuaries for the orcas so they have more space.

Another thing experts are saying is to ban orca shows at marine parks. If you wanted to see orcas you would see them in the ocean where they belong.

My Opinion

I think the ocean sanctuaries is a great idea. The sanctuaries can be pretty big and can even be put in the ocean. As for the dangerous factor, I think they have that solved. Trainers are no longer allowed to be in the water with the killer whales. Everyone will be safe.

I really hope that these magnificent creatures are set free or at least kept in ocean sanctuaries. 

Have hope for the orcas everyone!

Noor  

International Day of Awesomeness

Day 3: March's Weird and WaCkY Holidays: International Day of Awesomeness

Guess what today is everyone? Its International Day of Awesomeness. Which means today, we all need to show off our awesome stuff. Today we are devoted to doing awesome stuff all day. As I am writing this post now, my family and I are getting ready to go on an awesome tour where we spend some time at every awesome place in town.

You don't have to go anywhere to celebrate this holiday. You can just be awesome! I am also starting International Awesome Week which is going to be this week. Spread the awesomeness and tell we how you are going to celebrate. 

Stay AWESOME!

Noor

National Craft Month

DAY 2- March's Weird and WaCkY Holidays

I know, it isn't necessarily a holiday BUT, March is U.S Craft Month and I would like to celebrate with a craft or two.

CRAFT 1- Duct Tape Flower Pens

I love making these pens. We're actually handing them out as favors for a party coming up. All you need is duct tape, scissors, and a pen.

Step One: Measuring the tape

Each petal is a 2 inch piece of duct tape. Each flower can have anywhere from 21-24 petals. I have 6 colors, so I made 24 petals, 4 of each color. I found the easiest way to cut the duct tape was to measure each strip on a gridded mat and cut it with an exact o knife.  

Step Two: To make the petals

Take one 2 inch strip, sticky side up and fold down one corner so that you are left with an "L" of sticky. Fold the other upper corner down leaving just the bottom strip of the sticky "L". Repeat this to make all the petals. 

Step Three: Forming the flower

Take a small piece of duct tape and cover the bottom of the pen to create the center of the flower (not shown in picture). Take your first petal and wrap it around the end of the pen. Continue to wrap each petal so the points are staggered.

Step Four: Adding the stem
Measure a strip of green tape the size needed to cover the pen from the cap to the base of the flower. A BIC pen uses 4 inches of green tape. Wrap the piece of tape around the pen.  

Step Five: Finishing touches
Cut a half inch strip of green tape and cut it into 4 equal squares. Stick the squares to the base of the flower evenly spacing the points.

Now you're done!

Craft 2- Weaving on Cardboard

This one I found here, it has pictures and very nice instructions.

Sorry for Craft 1 that I don't have any pictures but if you have any trouble, ask me about it in the comments. 

Happy Crafting!

Noor

Guest Post- The Great Ice-Cream Heist... BONUS- Women's Day!

Hello everyone! Today we have a special guest poster. Lexie from Lexie Loves. Lexie has a fantabulous review blog where she reviews all kinds of things. She is going to share with us a review about The Great Ice-Cream Heist by Elen Caldecott. So here's her post:

"Hello everyone, before I do anything I'd like to say a big thank-you to Noor as I'm honored to be able to guest post on her amazing blog. I'm the writer of What Lexie Loves and today I'm going to write a review on The Great Ice-Cream Heist by Elen Caldecott.

Eva lives with her Dad and they lead a perfectly normal life - until Eva spots her next-door neighbor Jamie, boy from the 'problem family'. However that is not the last time she sees him. Oh no. Then Jamie joins the Elizabeth Park Youth Centre (the place Eva has recently started) and that's where the trouble stirs. Eva makes friends with the 'forbidden friend' and though they argue they always get through it. When Jamie is accused of vandalizing the park Eva jumps on an ice-cream van in order to get him back.

I loved this book so much as it is so funny yet sad at times - Elen, the author, can write about sad events in a light way. Before this amazing book I had read Elen's Operation Eiffel Tower which I also loved.

This book is a must-read for 7-8 year olds who like s hilarious book. And if you like this I would definitely recommend Operation Eiffel Tower.

Thank you so much to Bloomsbury for sending me this brilliant book and to Noor for letting me write this post. 

You can see more reviews from me at my blog What Lexie Loves"

Thank you Lexie for writing this awesome, amazing post. If you want to check out the book on Bloomsbury, click on the link Lexie gave us. 

BONUS:

As a lot of you may already know, today is International Women's Day. It's a day my mom and I like to celebrate. We celebrate it by creating a timeline for women's history. We highlight the happy times and leave the sad times white. Then, we discuss and eat a cake with the women symbol on it. (the cake is blue, supporting feminism.)

Anyways..... thank you Lexie for writing this amazing guest post and I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Happy International Women's Day!

Noor 

National Pig Day

Today is Day One of March's Weird And WaCkY Holidays

March 1st is National Pig Day and I am going to celebrate with some AWESOME pig pictures. Enjoy!

AWWW 

Deal with it

Pig Life

Mermaid Pigs

Cuddle Time!




Thanks for reading,
Noor

Small Acts Of Kindness

Did you know a Small Act of Kindness can make someone's day? People who do Small Acts of Kindness are called Kind Agents. Do you know who the best Kind Agents are? Kids. 

Today I am going to happily share with you 17 Small Acts of Kindnesses. (Is that even a word?) 

1. Smile 

Give a nice smile to someone, it might make their day.

2. Help out

See someone struggling with groceries? Help em' out! 

3. Plant a tree

When spring comes around the corner, which it will be (hopefully) go outside and plant a tree. Watch it grow over the years. How is this a Small Act of Kindness? You are being kind to the environment which is very helpful.

4. Manners

Give a nice please or thank you to someone who helped you.

5. Give a nice tip to waiters

This act is probably for adults but kids can just say "Thank You"

6. Make up a holiday for a loved one.

I created one for my mom, it's on December 17.

7. Write little notes to people you  are about.

Maybe: Have a nice day, I love you, Good Luck, etc.

8. Cook a meal for a friend

There are loads of cooking sites where you can find just the right meal to give as a gift.

9. Give a donation at the store to a local food bank.

Sometimes the store you shop at will be taking donations for a food bank. Donate! 

10. Pick up any trash you see.

This can add up to a lot if you pick one piece of trash up everyday.

11. Say hi to the mailman

I bet no one does this. I try to every time I see her!

12. Visit a lemonade stand

If you see a lemonade stand while driving by, stop by, grab a glass of lemonade.

13. Tape a dollar bill of a vending machine

Hopefully the person who finds it will use it for food. 

14. Leave a quarter in a gumball machine

Now someone gets a free gumball.

15. Pick a flower and leave it on a random car

Write a little note saying "Have a nice day!"

16. Give away your tickets to some younger kid

They will LOVE you. Trust me, I've done it before and it was worth seeing the HUGE smile on their faces. 

17. Laugh

Because laughter is the best medicine.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you do some of these acts,

Noor