Reviews of Alligator
Author: Theresa Breslin
Title: Alligator
More Info: See Shortlist 2008 page
You have sent us 150 reviews of this book so far. Keep them coming by letting us know what you think of Alligator on the Have your Say page!
Chante from Peter Hills Primary School said:
Alligator by Theresa Breslin I thought it was a good book because it was very short. I managed to read it in 5 minutes in total it was just like a nursery book I think they can read that because its sooo easyyyyyyy. I will not recommend this book because it's so impossible to look after a alligator in about ten seconds you and your house would have been eaten to death. Tue 30th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 1
james from Charter School said:
A reasonable book, Its a bit annoying but if your looking for a quick fifteen minute read then this is the book for you. Mon 29th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 6
Remel from Eveline Lowe Primary School said:
I found it a bit boring about being sold an alligator, and then sending it of to the zoo. I didn't think the ending was good either because he finds an egg and there is nothing to suport it.
By Remel
Fri 26th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 1
Zareth from Bacon's College said:
I liked the book Alligator because it's a quick and easy read. It has comedy and is guaranteed to make you smile. The only bad thing about this book it doesn't have enough words. It's too simple. Fri 26th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 7
Ryan from Bacon's College said:
This was an ok book the only bad thing I have to say is its too short! Fri 26th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 5
Alexandra from Charter School said:
It wasn'tg a very long book with a ridiculous storyline. I read the book in 10 minutes and I was disappointed at the end expecting something more exciting. I would advise giving this book to a Year 4 or 5 because it's a very short and easy book. This is my opinion and I am going to read other peoples views. Wed 24th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 5
Ruhad from Tower Bridge Primary School said:
I like this book because its so funny. Wed 24th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Amari from Tower Bridge Primary School said:
"An alligator for five pounds? Your gonna have to put the five pounds in my hand for me to buy it" What a funny book! The whole idea of the book is fabulous. Crusher is a smart seller by giving Jono the five pounds and just driving off and leaving Jono with the alligator. Jono is an easy to trick person and is quite funny from time to time. The alligator is my favourite character. He rips up the garage and eats the fish and chips.... and the boxes it came in! I really liked it. Wed 24th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 8
Fahima from Tower Bridge Primary School said:
This book was unpredictable if not funny. The illustrations weren't bad either. But I think that it is for younger children! Wed 24th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 4
Mehdi from Tower Bridge Primary School said:
Its a funny book and I find the book interesting because its hilarious. I think the book is a little bit disappointing because I thought it would have more action as its about an a alligator. Overall the book its quite good I think you should read it because its short. Wed 24th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 8
Amy from Tower Bridge Primary School said:
This book is ok but it's not for me. I have only read a little bit of it but I have been disappointed with the book - I thought it would be really funny because the boy buys the alligator but I must have thought wrong. Wed 24th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 2
RUHAD from Tower Bridge Primary School said:
Its funny because in the story the man said sell this alligator for £5. Wed 24th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Arij from Tower Bridge Primary School said:
I think this book is hilarious because Jono buys an alligator for £5.00. Wed 24th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 3
Steve from Tower Bridge Primary School said:
I think that the Alligator book is enjoyable and when you start reading it you will not take your eye of it. Wed 24th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Tasnim from Tower Bridge Primary School said:
I think that this book is boring because there is no excitement and it's too short for me........I only like long books. Wed 24th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 2
Lauren from Tower Bridge Primary School said:
I have only read a small bit of this book, as I have been away from class, but so far it's not that great. On the blurb it says it is a humorous book but it is the complete opposite. I am really disappointed with this book. Wed 24th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 2
Tolga from Tower Bridge Primary School said:
It was a fun book but selling a Alligator is confusing isn't it? Wed 24th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 9
danielle from Southwark Park Primary School said:
I loved alligator. it was ...
1.cool
2. scary
3. very funny
If I had a fiver i would buy the alligator and sell it for more money like £99, what did you think i would do, keep it? No way to scary,mean and scaly!!! its about a boy called jono and he buys an alligator. His mum dont like it. and then it all begins.... Wed 24th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 8
Dayo from Eveline Lowe Primary School said:
This book is not how I expected it to be. I thought it was going to be boring but it is not at all! However, there is a saying " don't judge a book by its cover". I like the ending, when the egg appeared , I think Theresa - the author- really expressed and showed what she's made off. I am inspired by this book. Tue 23rd Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Enid from Bacon's College said:
It's a wicked read, really fun and well written. You won't get bored as the story moves so quickly. A really fun book especially for those who can't concentrate for ages. Mon 22nd Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
kirstie from Charter School said:
this book is terribly short and pictures that fill the page it is ok to read if i was maybe younger, but im not and this book is a bit too babieish for me. Mon 22nd Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 3
Daniel from Eveline Lowe Primary School said:
I liked this because i thought it was funny in places. As a short book it was easy to read. I liked the way Crasher tricked Jono into buying the Alligator. Mon 22nd Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 7
Duncan from Charter School said:
For such a short book Aligator is surprisingly well written. With its short, well spaces paragraphs the book is a mear 56 pages! Compared to cosmics 311 page marathon.
The story is of a pre teen dislexic who gets paid to take an aligator off the hands of a con master. He then puts it in his mothers boyfriends lockup where it is found and taken to the zoo...the end, that is litrally all the story is. No wonder its only 56 pages, their is virtually no detail whatso ever it could have been writen by an 8 year old for a writing task.
All that aside its a good story line and the aside from the fact i read it in 20 minutes its a good read if your bored on the bus. Mon 22nd Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 7
Jack from Charter School said:
When I started to read this book I did not get gripped to it at all. Because it was a bit boring and plain. However I think this could be a good book for children around the ages of 6-9, because it is easy to understand so younger readers wouldn't feel like they were just reading something that they did not understand. But as I said this book is not good for my age group because it is to easy to read and not gripping. Fri 19th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 4
Tinashe from Redriff Primary School said:
Cover and Blurb ‘Alligator’is a very short story. Too short. In addition the blurb is short; it does not have enough information about the book and what it is about. Also the front cover is not really an eye catcher, in my opinion it didn’t really draw me in. Characters: Jono is the main character who gets given an alligator along with £5 by a dodgy salesman called Crusher. Sam is Jono's mum's boyfriend who has some sort of an idea about what is going on. Mum is the one and only Jono's mum. Storyline: The storyline was alright it was not the greatest but it could do with more improvement. The ending is really good, and it's a shame if only the whole story was that good. I am sorry to say that my overall rating is 2 out of 10. Fri 19th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 2
Jacques from Redriff Primary School said:
Cover and blurb. The cover was really dull because there was one photo of a Alligator. And the blurb didn't really give me a good first impression of the book because it was realy short. Characters. Jono: He bought the alligator. Mom: She had a boyfriend called Sam. Sam: Mom's boyfriend. Crush): The man who sold Jono the alligator. The story. Jono buys a alligator and puts his room. But Mum suspicious so he puts it in Sam's garage, but a man broke in and got scared. Overall. I thought it was boring because the story line was not that great . Fri 19th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 2
Caroline from Redriff Primary School said:
On the front cover it has one picture of an alligator but it shows only the head. The blub is very short like the book. The front cover is eye catching. Jono is one of the main characters. There is also mum's boyfriend Sam (who wants to get along with Jono), mum and the Crusher (he sells the alligator to Jono.) My favouirte character is Jono because he's the one who buys the alligator and I thougth that was a silly idea. The story is all about a boy called Jono and he goes to a boot sale and Crusher says," Do you want to buy an alligator?" but he is not sure that he wants to buy it but in the end he does. Next he takes it home to look after. In the end Sam finds out that Jono has been hiding the alligator and he tells Jono that he won't tell Jono's mum. Overall I thought it was good and exciting because on the blurb it says"His mum is going to kill him unless the alligator gets there first." Fri 19th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 4
Davina from Redriff Primary School said:
I chose the book "Alligator" because I thought the front cover of the book was really eye catching. And when it was my first time looking at the book I was shocked, for example, the alligator is close up with it's humongous teeth really close. Also on the other hand the book looks long, but when you read it, the pictures take up a hole page, so I was a bit disappointed about the book. And the end of the book is really short, the author that wrote the book should have carried on a bit to make it more interesting. Overall the front cover of the book is really good, it made me down, but I would say that was a bit interesting. Fri 19th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 5
Katie from Redriff Primary School said:
'ALLIGATOR' The front and back cover weren't very interesting. Infact, I thought they seemed dull! There was no other background colour except black, sometimes black can be effective but for this book it wasn't. The main characters were: Jono the one who gets the alligator. Crusher the one who sells the alligator. Also, there is Mum and Sam who is Mum's boyfriend. A boy called Jono accidently gets an alligator from the persuading Crusher. He knows he will be in trouble with his mum. But what can he do? So he decides to get his mum's boyfriend Sam's keys for his garage. Then he puts the alligator in there. When he comes home he finds that Sam has received a call saying that there has been a robbery at Sam's garage. As Mum Sam and Jono get to the garage, suprisingly there has been a robbery and the police have caught the man. As the man is being taken away the man shouts saying "There is an alligator in the garage!" Then the police, along with Sam, Mum and Jono look inside and find the alligator! When they get home Sam privately asks if Jono had anything to do with the alligator because when Sam left his keys at Jono's house they were on the table and when Sam got them they were in a different place. Overall I thought the book was guite good and funny, but I thought that it could have been written in more detail and made it a bit longer. Fri 19th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 4
Jade I. from Redriff Primary School said:
I've chosen to review "Alligator" not because it was my favourite of the six books but because whilst I thought the front cover was bold (with the black background and single photograph) and the blurb was enticing, I actually found the book a real disappointment... The book had an imaginative story line but I felt it needed much more detail to fill it in and hold my interest. I also prefer to read longer books. The main character is Jono, a boy who loves wildlife but doesn't know how vicious alligators can be! I don't think he can be that smart if he bought one and tried to keep it in the shed. I thought that his mum was very gullible to have been so easily tricked! Overall, I thought this book was a real let down and I'm afraid I wouldn't recommend it to children my age but maybe to younger readers. Fri 19th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 2
Sammy from Redriff Primary School said:
The cover for 'Alligator' was really plain and boring, I think they could have used more colour to make it more attractive. Also the blurb was dull as well. The main characters were Jono, Mum, Sam and Crusher. Jono lived with his Mum. His Mum had a boyfriend called Sam and he owned a garage. Jono's friend, Crusher had an Alligator he was asking everyone " Do you want an alligator?" The alligator was only a fiver but Jono didn't want it. Crusher said " I will give you a fiver!" but Jono still said no so Crusher left the fiver on the alligator box and drove off. Jono had to take it home but because Jono didn't know alot about alligators he went on the internet to find out stuff. Then Mum came in Jono said "project" as fast as he could so mum wouldn't ask what it was for. Mum asked if he could go to the chippie for her, he said yes, so on the way he looked in the shed to have a look at the alligator... he was awake, he was ripping up everything so Jono closed the door and just went. When he came back Sam was there, the keys were lying on the table Jono was going to put the alligator in Sam's van so he took the keys. Sam's phone rang it was the police someone had broken into the lock-up. So Sam had to go when he got there he went to get something to catch the man... The alligator jumped out and bit the robber so Sam gave Jono a fiver for sticking him in there. After Jono had found a alligator egg! Fri 19th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 4
Shana from Redriff Primary School said:
Alligator is a very very good book but it is really short. An interesting book about a boy called Crusher who sells an alligator to a boy called Jono . The thing I like about this book is that it has a very good beginning and because I like it when he tries to hide it from his mum. The thing I don't like about the book is that it is very short and I would like to read some more about the book. I think this book should win because it is very interesting and I think that it should carry on a bit more. Thu 18th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 4
Jack from Redriff Primary School said:
Jono has a problem. He just got himself an alligator. His mum is going to kill him. Unless the alligator gets there first. Crusher, Sam, Jona, Mum, alligator I really like it because it is short and I like he is keeping a alligator in his bedroom. Thu 18th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 9
Ganiat from Southwark Park Primary School said:
characters-
Sam is jono's mums boyfreind
Crusher is the boy who gives the alligator to jono
Jono is the boy who has the alligator
Alligator the main character
Mum is jono's mum
story-.
At the beggining of the story Crusher bribes Jono to have the alligator and if Jono takes it,crusher will give jono £5. Jono does not know how to look after a allgator,so he looks up facts about alligators on the internet. He has to hide the alligator before he's mum finds out ,at this point i realy wanted to know where he was going to hide the alligator and what will happen next. Jono decided to hide it in he's mum's boyfriend's garage...There was a brake in there and the police phoned Sam to tell him that there was a break in at he's garage. The police searched Sam's said e and tey had found a alligator. The police didn't fine Sam they just said somthing like get rid of it.Sam knew it was Jono who put the alligator in he's garage because while mum and Sam was watching the movie Sam heard he's keys move. Mum was suspicious that Jono put the alligator in Sam's garage.
My favourite part was when Sam stood up forJono by saying "oh, leave Jono alone".
i thought that was very nice how he stood up for Jono.
I recommend this book for 7 and over Thu 18th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 7
David from Kingsdale School said:
This book is amazing, funny and very enjoyable. It's a book that once you start reading it, you wouldn't put it down .It is childish and its meant for the ages 5-8. It's too short and you don't have enough time to get in to it. Wed 17th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 7
CHLOE from Kingsdale School said:
I think that this book is a great book, but for easy readers. I also think that this book is very imaginative book! Wed 17th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 6
Robert (Bobbie) from Southwark Park Primary School said:
Jono is my favroite character. I also like Sam, Crusher and Mum. Mum is the most moaniest person which is quite funny. Crusher is a nutter for having a Alligator. Sam is the most kind person. And Jono... is the most craziest person for takin the Alligator and is alsoa hero for saving sams garage and the car that was inside it.
My favroite part
My favroitepart is when Jono comes back with fish and chips shop, and goes to check on the Alligator , then the Alligator pounces up so Jono drops the chips then runs back to the chip shop again.
i would reccomend this to read.
thank you for reading my review. Wed 17th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Reiss from Peter Hills Primary School said:
Alligator Jono goes to a car boot sale and gets people to try and buy an alligator, everytime someone goes by he always shouts out alligator for sale £15 pound or your cheapest is £10, come here if you want one you can come and stroke it if you want to test it out, it won't bite you. It’s gone down to £5 now Crusher bought the alligator but when Jono put it in the boot of his truck with the lid on top all done up tight. Jono turned up at Crusher’s house and he changed his mind and said he never wanted it, Jono was begging and begging him and then finally he changed his mind saying yes, Jono took the £5 out of his pocket and shoved it in Crusher's hand and then drove away. Sam called the zoo and they said they will be with them in half an hour. A man and lady arrived across the road in a van, they went and pulled out a big net they took the alligator to the RSPCA, and Sam said we can go and visit it soon. Wed 17th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Mohsin from Southwark Park Primary School said:
This story was quite a funny story. Jono was the main character as well as the alligator. His mum's boyfriends name was Sam. Sam was a funny character. I laughed throughout the whole story. I was absolutely nackered at the end of the story.
It started when once Jono was walking along the street and his mate crusher (he wasn't much of a mate). Crusher then asked him does he want to buy a alligator. Jono knew that his mum would never allow a alligator in the house. At that point of the story me myself agreed with him. Anywayit would've been to hard to contain. In Crusher's eyes it looked like he needed to get rid of it; obviously he had to or else he'd have to go to jail. At that moment in a matter of time Crusher literally squished a five pound note in Jono's hand and ran away at the speed of lightning. He looked inside the box and saw it asleep but it would'nt sleep for long. For my opinion that was true. He kept it in the garden shed but it trashed it.So Jono kept it in Sam's lockup. A thief broke into the lock up but because the alligator was there he got petrified. The police caught him and the alligator got taken to the zoo and that was the story.
My favourite part was when the theif was going to break in. But because Jono put the alligator in there the theif couldn't steal anything which was good. I would recommend this book to children from the age of 6 to 12.
Thank you for taking the time to read my review.
Wed 17th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 7
chris from Southwark Park Primary School said:
In this book there is a boy colld Jono, had a prolpllem. He's jast got anlligator but a big problem he need permission from his mum andhe need to know whay the boy got the allrgator from and whay is he selling the alligator.
His mate was selling the alligator for sale. His mate said he was selling it for only a fiver! So he bought it.
His mum is going to kill him unless the alligator gets there first.
He put the alligator in the locker. Then a robber robbed the house.Then the robber saw the alligator. The robber screamed alligator!!!!!
I really liked the part where the robber screamed because the robber didn't know the alligators name. Wed 17th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Georgie from Southwark Park Primary School said:
ALLIGATOR
Jono is my best character in the book and so is the alligator they both play a big part.
It all started with jono walking along then he saw his (so called) freind ,crusher, asks him does he want to buy...an alligator , jono dont know what to say he is speachless. why would he want to buy a alligator? i thought that was weird but at the same time a bit funny. crusher tried and tried to convincing jono more and more, (someone hurry up and buy it or i will), i thought the book was fantastic i could not put it down , it felt like i was inside the book. if the alligator was so good why would he want to sell it.
My favourite part of the book was when jono found the egg, can you please bring out a number 2 please...
The reason why i enjoyed that it was because when jono found the egg was because it was so exciting. My marks out of 10 are...10/10 i would recormend this book to anyone.
Thank you for reading my writting.
Wed 17th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Hazel from Southwark Park Primary School said:
I really like the story of the alligator story a lot becuase it is good to read and i dont like reading at all, but when I read the book I got in to it. The part I like the most is where Jono puts the alligator in sams gareg and someone trys to break in to it and he gets scared because he saw the alligator in the car and the police come and they thing his a nutter because the alligator not there and they arrest him for breaking in to some ones car. Another part that I like is where Jono finds a egg but its a alligator egg. I would recommend this book to every one to read. Wed 17th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Titilayo from Bacon's College said:
Author: Theresa Breslin Alligator This book is sooooooooo boring if you want to read all the books quickly or you just can’t be bothered this is the book to read. To me the blurb doesn’t make sense or have anything to do with the actual story the blurb says ‘‘Jono has a problem. He’s just got himself an alligator. His mum is going to kill him .Unless the alligator gets there first’’…………….you’ll think that the book might just be a little scary and a tiny winy bit of tension will run through your body because the blurbs saying that the alligator might kill Jono, but this has nothing to do with it. I’ll give this book 3 out of 10: 1. The book is short 2. You can read it quickly because there’s a lot of pictures and lots of gaps and fairly big font. 3. I asked some of my friends what type of genre they think it is they mostly said comedy but I don’t think it's funny at all. Let me remind you that it’s SSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOO BBOOOOOORIIIIIIINNNG!!!!!!!! Wed 17th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 3
Ryan from Southwark Park Primary School said:
This book is about a boy who buys an alligator for five pounds!!!
The main character is a boy called Jono, he buys the alligator off another boy called Crusher!!! I dont think I would buy an
alligator, would you? But the thing is: his mum doesn't know he has an alligator because he hides it from her!!!
I wont tell you what else happens as it would ruin the book for you!
I really enjoyed this book. My favourite part was the bit about getting the alligator past airport security, it was really funny!!
I dont really like reading much, but this story really grabbed me, I didnt want it to end and I would recommend it to
everybody, even if you dont like reading!!
Wed 17th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 9
jade from Southwark Park Primary School said:
well the book starts of with a boy called Jono and he is a sweet, intelligent boy but gets tricked easily as you might know if you read the book. He's friend Crusher is a little tricker and tricks Jono in buying a alligatorand he's mum is a lovely lady and has a boyfriend called Sam as Jono's dad has died. Well the story is about a boy called Jono and he's friend tricks him into buying a alligator ( i thought that is crazy). Anyway he looks after and cares for this alligator when suddenly he puts it in he's shed and it trashes he's shed i felt a bit sorry when i read that part as he would have to clean it . He's mum tells him to go and buy some chips for dinner when he came back he checked on alligator and the alligator had woken up and become projective (well that is what it seemed like to me anyway). He got so frightened he droped the chips and the alligator ate them all and fell asleep again. When the alligator was fast asleep i got a bit worried that if he went in the shed and the alligator woke up the he would be eaten alive then when i turned the page i read the pagand realised that the alligator was fast asleep. When he picked it up and i saw the picture i knew that he wouldnt get bitten as he had he's dad's old golf bag on top of the alligators mouth and eyes. When i read the rest i thought that it was quite sensible to put the alligator in the lock up as if the thief would of took the car then i think it wouldnt of been a good book as the book would mostly talk about what happened to the car and wouldn't talk about the alligator and it wouldn't of been worth calling it alligator.
My favourite part was when he actually baught the alligator it made me really think about how would he cope and look after the alligator .I also like the part where he finds the alligator egg because then i realized why it was so angry when it was in the shed as it might of thought that Jono had come to steal the egg.
Recomendations
I thought it was a really good and i have gave it a 10/10 as you can.I enjoyed it so much that i could read it any day and any time i wouldnt care.
Any way i thought it was a great book and had amazing adventures in it.
Thank you for giving up your time to read my review
Wed 17th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
becky from Southwark Park Primary School said:
alligator is about a young boy called jono.
one day his mate crusher offered an alligator to jono but he refused in rage.
instead crusher gave him five pound ,to jono along with the alligator.
jono hid the alligator in his shed {back garden}
the alligator leped to the shed window and smashed down the door leaving jono lying on the floor.
jono ran to his house,with a tremendous screem.
next day
jonos mothers boyfriend came over to watch a film with jono and his mother .
however ,jono said he was going to see his friend for 10-15 min .
but he wasnt he snuck in to the kitching and took his mothers boy friends keys to his car and went out side.
got his alligator opened the boot and put it in.
later at night a man tried stalling his car ..... Wed 17th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Rachel from Southwark Park Primary School said:
Alligator is about a youngeboy called Jono.
One day his mate Crusher offered an Alligator to Jono but he refused in rage.
Instead Crusher gave five pound, to himalong with the alligator.
Jono hid the alligator in his she (backgarden), over night.
When morning striked he went over to check on the alligator. It had messes the hole shed up: Everything was torn and ruined.
The alligator was HUNGRY !
The alligator leped to the shed window snd smashed down the door leaving Jono lying on the floor.
Jono got up and ran to his house , with a tremendouse scream.
Next day:
Jono's mothers boyfriend came over to watch a film with Jono and his mother. However, Jono said he was going out to see his friend for 10-15 minutes.
But he wasn't. he snuck into the kitchen and took his mums boyfriends keys to his car and went outdide, got his alligator: unlocked the car and put the alligator in it.
Later at night a man tried stearling his car, but got frightened and ran away, because he thought the alligator was going to bite him Wed 17th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Connor from Southwark Park Primary School said:
ALLIGATOR...
This book is called alligator, it is about a boy called Jono who gets tricked into having an alligator. He finds out that it is not even fully grown yet and his mum does not know that he has it...
This is a good book because it is not long and there is not a lot of hard words in it, so i will give it a mark of seven out of ten. Wed 17th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 7
Moyo from Southwark Park Primary School said:
I thought this book was quite good because it's really easy to read and it's everyday chatty talk so it's easy for people to understand. The book is quite far-fetched because you wouldn't expect someone to keep and alligator and for no one to no is quite strange.
I thought the book got better as we went along because it starts to build more tension. I thought the book was not that funny but was intended to be funny. Myvourite character was Jono's mum's boyfriend because you can tell that he is loyal and very very trustworthy. Wed 17th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 6
Princess from Southwark Park Primary School said:
This book is about a boy name Jono who was tireing to hide the alligyor from his mother.
The Author tired to make us know that that Jono is not a good speller but his respondble. Jono had an idea, he hide the alligator at sam (mum boyfriend) garage.
I think it is a good story because it is easy to read and the spelling easy. The story explain the charchers feeling and thoughs.
The story was intresting and good. Wed 17th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Billy from Southwark Park Primary School said:
This book was amazing because we don't have any books like this in our classroom.
The part i liked the best was when the alligator was in the garden shed and Jono dropped the takeaway. The alligator ate it all up, even the onion rings and curry sauce.
Wed 17th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Maisie from Peter Hills Primary School said:
Alligator was o.k. but BORING. It was o.k. to read because I read it in a short time. I got BORED very easily, it was not my type of book. The pages were very full of large typing and the chapters were very short. This is what I thought about the book. My rating for this book is 1/10. Character rating 1/10. Cover 1/10 Tue 16th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 1
Agnes from City of London Academy said:
I thought alligator by theresa breslin was brilliant! it had loads of suspense and it really made me want to carry on reading. the most best bit of the book to me was the blurb. even though that sounds weir d you can already get a generall idea about the book from this small text. i think this is called subtexting or connoting. when you read a text and know what it represents or what its trying to say. what i think could be improved personally about the book is to write a bit more about other things that could have effected jono e.g (school life, events where he might have got caught) if you disagree with this that is absolutley fine because everyone is entitled to thier own opinion. well my overall summary of this book is that it was really good and imaginitive but it could be improved. well done Theresa Breslin! Mon 15th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 8
Mollie from Bacon's College said:
I am writing a review about Alligator. I think this book is aimed more at younger readers because I managed to read it in about 20 minutes. I think its a good story if you like the types of stories that have a good but typical ending, like the type of ending where only one or two people find out what was actually going on. My favourite part of the book was when the main character had to hide the alligator somewhere. I think the place he chose was really strange but made the book more exciting and made you want to read on. Although I did like this part of the story I wouldn't recommend it to people of my age. Maybe younger readers would enjoy but I didn't really enjoy it that much. Fri 12th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 5
Dayanara from Bacon's College said:
My review for ALLIGATOR. I think that the book alligator was quite good. My reason for this is because it is suitable for young readers because it is quite short and enjoyable . The book ALLIGATOR is about a boy buying a pet alligator for only £5. My favourite part of the story is when the main character finds an alligator's egg. I will recommend it to young students because they will enjoy it very much and it won't take long to read it. Fri 12th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Megan from Bacon's College said:
I thought the book was OK it was very short and the storyline wasn't perfect. There were not many adjectives. It was just a short and simple story that wasn't very good. The main character doesn't have a blast of an adventure. When our teacher was reading out the options and I heard Alligator I thought I would like to read it. I read it but it wasn't as good as it sounds. The story slows down in the middle and the end was not great. Fri 12th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 3
alice from City of London Academy said:
i didn't enjoy reading alligator because it was too short. that main story was a bit boring because its only about a boy called jono and he buys and alligator and has to look after it. i would recommend it to people who like short books but not to people who likes reading. Thu 11th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 2
Scott from Bacon's College said:
This book was quite short and the text was MASSIVE! It only took me a hour to finish it which is pretty fast! I think this book should be recommended to children in reception up to year 3. And anyway what kind of mother buys their son a alligator when they go on holiday? And why sell it? This book is pointless, stupid and rubbish and that is why i'm going to give a 2/10. Scott Kelly Fri 5th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 2
Beth from Bacon's College said:
This book was quite short and to easy. But it was a good book and quite ineresting. Fri 5th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Freddie from Bacon's College said:
I really dont see the point of this book being entered in the Southwark Book Awards because a book like this should be for year 2 and 3 not year 6 and 7. My reasons for this are the words are in big format yet the whole book is only 50 odd pages long. I think though it is quite funny that the boy got given a five pound note to take care of the alligator. If that was me I would have just walked away. I just think though its quite dull because the main points are: Get given an aligator hide it in garage get fish and chips mums boyfriend comes over boy gets given £20 by mums boyfriend And that is why I only give this book a 3/10 Fri 5th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 3
Rosie from St John's RC Primary School, St Elmos Rd said:
This book is really dull and it has no humour. It is really short and I don’t think older children would really enjoy it, it is too short for my liking and very boring! Fri 5th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 1
Megan from St John's RC Primary School, St Elmos Rd said:
The book is about an alligator, as you can probably guess by the title. Jono's friend Crusher tricks Jono into buying an alligator. Either his Mum or the alligator is going to kill him! Jono lands himself in a mess which he finds hard to get out of. He has to resort to drastic measures. What will happen to Jono and the alligator? I think this book is really good but a bit too short. Fri 5th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 5
Pierre from Bacon's College said:
Alligator is a boring book because it is very short and doesn't have many good parts in it. Alligator is about a boy called Crusher wanting his friend Jono to buy the alligator from him for a fiver. My favourite part in the book was when Crusher tried to persuade Jono to buy the alligator from him. The part I didn't like about the book was when Jono finally bought the alligator from Crusher because he knew his mum wouldn’t allow him to have a alligator as an pet. I would only recommend this to 6 and 7 year olds. Fri 5th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 1
Courtney from St John's RC Primary School, St Elmos Rd said:
Alligator was not my favourite book but it was very enjoyable. Jono who decides to buy an alligator off his friend, but he learns a lesson for buying the alligator. It turns out he was a hero. This book shows you how making a big mistake can turn you into being a big hero. My favourite part was when Jono hid the alligator in the shed and just went ballistic. So then when he came back from the shop, he took the alligator from the shed and drove him Sam’s lock up. This book is funny but it is also a learning curb for people who lie to your parents. He thinks his mum is going to kill him but the alligator gets there first. I would recommend this to ages 7 to 8. Fri 5th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 6
Parry from St John's RC Primary School, St Elmos Rd said:
Alligator is a bit hilarious and also mysterious, but I think it is really magnificent. It all started with a boy called Jono he was very anxious to get an alligater so he finally got one. But Jono's mum was not happy about anxious Jono having an alligator. His mum is always calling it names, but she had separate plans. She was up to mischief again and this time she did not hesitate to kill it. It was very exciting and really fast-paced. I really enjoyed it. I recommend this to children aged 9-10. Fri 5th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Amy-May from St John's RC Primary School, St Elmos Rd said:
I was disappointed with the book because when I read it, it was so short I finished it in about 10 minutes which is not good for a year 6 because we like reading and we have hard books. I thought that the book would be good because when my friend read it she said that even though it was short it still was good. I was very excited at the beginning but when he said" wanna buy an alligator" I thought who would want to read a book about a kid who bought an alligator? I would recommend this book to 6 or younger because it’s easy to read. Fri 5th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 2
Archie from St John's RC Primary School, St Elmos Rd said:
A strange and moderately compelling story. It starts off when an anomoly occurs - a boy named Jono buys an alligator from his old friend, Crusher (for a fiver!). The reason for giving the book a 6/10 is because it is too short and simple - even I, a 10 year old boy, could write a story similar to this. Personally, and I think many will agree with me, Alligator is suitable for people 6 - 9 years old. After reading this review I leave with these words: giving into peer pressure is a bad thing, however, it should never turn out like this! Fri 5th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 6
Summer from St John's RC Primary School, St Elmos Rd said:
This book is filled with excitement! Jono made a mistake buying an alligator because now his mum wants to kill it. Jono bought the alligator from his friend Crusher, for a fiver. My favourite part of the book was when the alligator was let loose and it ate everything in the garden, because it was very funny. The part i disliked about the book was when the alligator got caught by animal control, it was so sad. I would say this book is for children aged 7-16 because it is funny, sad, happy and a lot of other things too. I like this book so I give it 8 out of 10. Fri 5th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 8
Vytaute from St John's RC Primary School, St Elmos Rd said:
I really liked the book because it is very gripping and very interesting. I seriously got in to it and did not want to stop reading, however it was very short and I would say it's for children that are younger than 11. The book is about a boy and he has a problem, his friend gave him something in a big long box. When Jono got home he realised that it was an alligator! In some ways the book is very funny, but in some it is very serious. Fri 5th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 6
Silva from Kingsdale School said:
This book was very easy to read and I think it was for people who find reading hard. The story line didn't really make much sense. Overall this book was very boring. Thu 4th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 1
Rowan from Kingsdale School said:
Jono (the boy in the story) ends up with an alligator and he does not know what to do with it. I thought this book was way too short and I really did not like it . I suppose that first time readers might enjoy it. Thu 4th Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 3
Lydia Jessica Antonia Daniel from St Michael's RC School said:
We thought the book was boring and it seemed rushed. The book wasn't very interesting but the author had a good imagination of someone buying an alligator. We also thought that the author could have included more description of the characters and how Jonos' father died and if the author had less pictures and more writting.
Wed 3rd Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 6
Reiss from Peter Hills Primary School said:
The main characters in Alligator are Jono And Crusher and what happens is Jono goes to a car boot sale and try's and get people to by the alligator. When some one goes by he says alligator for sale £10's and Crusher Wed 3rd Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 8
Chaunte from Peter Hills Primary School said:
This book is interesting, but at the same time it’s weird, because you can never have a pet alligator. If someone did, then wow that’s a shock! I found it funny when Jono locked the alligator up in the mum’s boyfriend’s workplace! It’s also good for people who like short reading and lots of pictures. I give it a 8 out of 10 because it could have been funnier and exciting!!! But overall I still like. Wed 3rd Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
sabi from Alma Primary School said:
This book is about a boy called Juno and one day he went to the shop and he bumped into his friend who tricked him on getting an alligator. He has to keep it a secret from his mum otherwise he will get killed. I did not think the book was good because it to short and i wanted it to carry on. I would reccomend it to young people like in year 3 or 4.
Wed 3rd Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 6
Samir from Peter Hills Primary School said:
This book is the plainest book ever! The story is a boy who got left with an alligator then hides it in a garage and then its the end of the story. The jokes are rubbish and the character can't even read ! This is why I hate it!!!!!!!!!!!! Tue 2nd Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 4
Jose from St Thomas the Apostle College said:
This book was very short, but it was sort of summarised into main events.
But in overall the book was a very good interesting book. Tue 2nd Jun 2009
Marks out of 10: 7
Khalia from Harris Academy, Bermondsey said:
This book is really easy. I read it in 15 mins. I would have liked it to be a bit longer. Sat 23rd May 2009
Marks out of 10: 7
Tosin from Redriff Primary School said:
I really like this book because its short and really interesting. I would mostly recommend this book to people who like alligators because the whole book is based on a alligator. This book is really interesting to read and it is also funny when Jono accidentally buys the alligator off Clashers. Fri 22nd May 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Nelly from St Michael's RC School said:
really intersting book but too short Thu 21st May 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
shanice from St Michael's RC School said:
it is to short for my liking and very boring Thu 21st May 2009
Marks out of 10: 3
Michael from St Joseph's RC Primary School, George Row said:
This book is really funny because there is a boy called jono and he buys a pet alligator and who would have a alligator as a pet. This book is really silly because if his mum see,s the alligator she will kill it i would recomend this book to year 3 and 4 for children because the words are easy to read and that is what i have stopped at the moment.
Thu 21st May 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Tunde from St Joseph's RC Primary School, George Row said:
At the moment I am really enjoying this book, Because it is a really funny book and it is quiet a silly book because ``why would a person have an alligator as a pet I find it really silly``. I would recomend this book to year 3 and 4 because it is really really easy to read. At the moment my best character is jono because he is a good character and silly person because he stroked the alligator and alligators are extremily dangerous! I picked this book because on the front cover alligator just came in my mind and I really wanted to read it. And now i think it is one of the funniest and silliest book I have ever red. Thu 21st May 2009
Marks out of 10: 9
Chad from Kingsdale School said:
I think the book was ok. The vocabulary was not very imaginative and the book should be for less confident readers. Thu 21st May 2009
Marks out of 10: 3
Joseph from St Thomas the Apostle College said:
Hey, now this book is funny, but only at the start because... actualy, hardly funny. it's kind of boring and dull, and it just doesn't make sense! I remember the books I used to read at goodrich primary shcool, I then read this baby book, that was more entertaining than aligator. and one more thing, IT DOES NOT MAKE ANY SENSE! but still, it is ok. just needs something to laugh about. Tue 19th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 3
Quang from St Thomas the Apostle College said:
This book is about Jono bought an alligator from Crusher ( Jono's friend ). First, he hidden it. But then the sleeping pills whon off and the alligator started to destroy the place. Jono took the alligator and put it in his mother's boyfriend car. Then a thief trying to steal the car but when he saw the alligator, he so afraid that he scream and he got caught. Then the zoo buy the alligator from Jono. Tue 19th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 4
Jake from Kingsdale School said:
The Book has quite an amusing story-line, but is written in a very boring way. Firstly, why would he accept the alligator or even think about looking after it? Why would someone try to sell an alligator at a car boot sale? There is no part in the book that I found interesting at all. I wouldn't recommend anyone to read it. I would say it was written for children 5 to 6 years old or children that have just learnt to read. Mon 18th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 2
Luca from City of London Academy said:
I thought this book was very good because it was : funny , happy and had a very good story line i would recomend this book to 8 - 12 year olds .
The best part of the book for me was when Jono [ the main charicter ] hid an alligator in his mums boyfriends lock up. Mon 18th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Cesar from City of London Academy said:
This book is sick!!!!!! is about a boy that he has a alligator,that he was trying to sell it for a man.But he didnt sell it.That book i recomend to who like funny book!!! I realy liked..... Mon 18th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
charlie from City of London Academy said:
I find this book very poor because nothing really happends in this book. You would never keep a alligater as pet in real life it would kill you, so I found this very unrealistic. I did not like the way Jono treated the alligator, therefore I became frustrated with the character . The book was so short that none of the character were developed properly.
I would recomend this book to year 5/6 people because i found this book young myself . Mon 18th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 5
Bradley from City of London Academy said:
This book was very poor because there was a lack of excitement. I wouldn't recommend this book to age groups in secondary school because it will l be too easy for our age group to read. I gave it a six because you will never be able to keep an alligator as a pet. This book was not exciting because the book was too short and you get in the book and when you want to know what happens to the alligator the book ends. The main characters in this book are Jono and Crusher and his dad is allergic to alligators. I would reccomend this book to people the age group of year 5-6 because the book is very short and its easy to read. Mon 18th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 5
Roisin from Kingsdale School said:
‘Alligator’ is short story of a boy who has the stupidity to let someone give him an alligator. Jake was having an ordinary day until a tradesman gives him an alligator and a £5.00 note. Soon he discovers that accepting an alligator was very idiotic, but will it come to good use… In my opinion ‘Alligator’ was boring because there were no interesting parts. It would be more appreciated in a year three class. This book would be a three star because it’s not for year groups 4, 5, 6 and 7, unless they have learning difficulties. Sun 17th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 3
Ezra from Kingsdale School said:
This book was disappointing due to the lack of excitement.The plot does sound interesting, but the way the author has constructed it, makes the story seem unrealistic.The size of the text and the length of the book makes it look like an average year 2 or year 3 book and the fact that the pictures can take up to a page in space doesn't make it seem appealing to year 6's onwards. Thu 14th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 6
Wagner from Alma Primary School said:
This book is about a boy called Jono who was tricked by his friend (called Crasher) who made him by an alligator accidentally. He tried to hide it in his shed, but the alligator always escaped and the alligator went to Sam’s (His mum’s boyfriend) Garage where they called the zoo so they would come and collect him so they can take care of him.
I think this book is pretty dull because it didn’t have an interesting plot because it is boring and it is a short story and that makes it tedious.
Thu 14th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Anas from Alma Primary School said:
Alligator
I think this book is too babyish because it has a very big font and the storyline is quite strong. This book doesn’t make any sense. However, I think this book is quite fun for children aged 6-8 because it got a big font and children can easily read it. In my opinion, this book is very boring.
I will recommend this book 6/10
Thu 14th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Tina from Alma Primary School said:
This book is about a boy, Jono. He accidentally bought an alligator; he was trying to keep it away from his mum, by keeping it in his shed. The alligator was out of control so he hid it in his mum’s boyfriends (Sam). There was a robber trying to steal a car from the garage but, the alligator scared him away. Then Sam called the zoo to collect it, so that people were safe again.
I don’t really like this book because it‘s boring and meaningless, the story was not interesting at all because there’s nothing good about it. It’s short but still a bit stupid; they give him another alligator after all that happened with the other alligator.
Thu 14th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 4
Billy from Alma Primary School said:
Alligator
I think alligator is a kind of good book because it is very short but very interesting. Having read this book it is suitable for the ages 8-11.
Thu 14th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 6
Daisy from Alma Primary School said:
The book I have read is called Alligator. This book is about a boy called Jono, at the beginning him and his friend Crusher were talking and Crusher was trying to sell him an Alligator for £5 but Jono didn’t want the Alligator but he was trying to persuade him to have it.
I really liked the book Alligator. I enjoyed it because it was short and a bit sneaky. One of my favourite parts in the book was when Crusher tricked Jono because he gave him a fiver and then kicked the box towards him and drove off in his car. I particularly liked the character Jono because he was sneaky and a bit brave to take the Alligator when Crusher left it with him. I would recommend it to people who enjoy very short books. Read it you’ll love it as much as me!!! 6/10.
Thu 14th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 6
Kara from Alma Primary School said:
This book is quick and easy to read, it is funny because he bought an alligator for 5 pounds and alligator is about £500pounds in real life.
The character in this book is Jono and crusher thay are very funny because he got a pet but his dad has allergies to them and he knows that has. And he had the pet in his shed and his mum said no animals allowedd in this house thank you Jono.
I give this book about 10 out of 10 I really am getting in this book and it is fun to read if you are bored.
Thu 14th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Kara from Bacon's College said:
Alligator. This book is quick and easy to read. It is funny because he bought an alligator for 5 pounds and alligators are about £500 pounds in real life! The characters in this book are Jono and Crusher. It is very funny because Jono got a pet but his dad has allergies to them and he knows that he has. And he had the pet in his shed and his mum said no animals aloud in this house. Thank you Jono. I give this book about 10 out of 10. I really am getting into this book and it is fun to read if you are bored. Thu 14th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Kara from Bacon's College said:
The alligator. This book is quick and easy to read, it is funny because he bought an alligator for 5 pounds and alligator is about £500pounds in real life. The character in this book is Jono and crusher thay are very funny because he got a pet but his dad has allergies to them and he knows that has. And he had the pet in his shed and his mum said no animals aloud in this house. Thank you jono. I give this book about 10 out of 10 I really am getting in this book and it is fun to read if you are bored. Thu 14th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
yeside from Alma Primary School said:
I think that the book Alligator includes lots of humour and gullible characters for example (the only one) Jono, the quick witted one Chris and (obviously) the over protective one Mum. This humorous book from Theresa Breslin has a good plot-line the only conundrum about this book is that it is amazingly short which makes the reader want more. I think that having an alligator is really interesting and is something would not try at home. I would recommend this book (due to the font size) to children at the simple age of 7. Thu 14th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 4
Debbie from Kingsdale School said:
I found 'Alligator' quite okay for little children of the age of 6. But for the ages above, I thought it was just okay. Maybe the author can write a much more enthusiastic version for childern above 9. Overall I thought it an okay childrens book. Thu 14th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 1
charlie from Alma Primary School said:
Alligator
This book is quick and easy to read, but it is funny because he bought an alligator for £5 and an alligator is about £500 in real life.
The book is funny because Jono hides and alligator in his dads golfing bag and puts the bag in and he hides the alligator in Jonos mums, friend’s car then someone gets arrested. So I recommend you to read this book.
Thu 14th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 7
Eniola from Alma Primary School said:
I don’t like this book because it is easy to read and the lines are too spaced out. It is also very boring and it is extremely babyish. I will recommend this book to people that are 1-7 years old.
Thu 14th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 1
Sam from Peter Hills Primary School said:
I was very disappointed with this book. It is ridiculously short. I have got to say, this is one of the worst books I have read. I recommend this book to people only very new to reading. The fact that I read the entire book in just about 6 minutes proves it’s shortness. The weird thing about this book is that the blurb doesn’t even match the story line! The blurb says, “Jono has bought an alligator, his mum is going to kill him! If the alligator doesn’t get there first…” The thing is, the alligator does not really seem bothered about eating Jono and his mother didn’t even know about the alligator at all until the last minute. All I can say is that I am disappointed. This book seems as if it were written for an 8 year old. The text is way to big for a KS2-KS3 book. The only good thing about this book is the fact that the illustrations a well drawn and the way the characters react is realistic. Not a very, very, very, awful book, but it is way to short and he story line is rough around the edges! Wed 13th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 3
Chaunte from Peter Hills Primary School said:
Alligator Author: Theresa Breslin This book is interesting, but at the same time it’s weird, because you can never have a pet alligator! If someone did, then wow that’s a shock! I found it funny when Jono locked the alligator up in his mum’s boyfriend’s workplace! It’s also good for people who like short reading and lots of pictures. I give it 8 out of 10 because it could have been funnier and more exciting!!! But overall I still like the book. If you like short stories I suggest you should READ IT NOW!!! Wed 13th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 8
Daniel from Peter Hills Primary School said:
This book is about a boy called Jono who was bribed by his friend Crusher, a shifty character if ever there was one, to take his alligator. I didn’t like this book because the story wasn’t really interesting and the characters personalities were almost too good to be true. The only thing I liked about the book was the idea of having an alligator. It was not as interesting as I had hoped! Wed 13th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 3
Jeffrey from St Thomas the Apostle College said:
I think this book is a funny book because of the way it ends. That makes it a funny book that's why i loved it Tue 12th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 8
Natasha from Peter Hills Primary School said:
Alligator by Theresa Breslin is a brilliant book! It is especially good if you are only just getting into reading or are not a lover of books, as its content is very interesting but it is very short in length. The book is a bit weird as you would not have an alligator as a pet. The boy Jono is tricked into buying an alligator and then tries to hide it when he eats everything. He finds a new hiding place in his step dad's garage. The alligator is discovered by a robber and the step dad is glad that Jono hid it there. The ending is a surprise. The alligator is taken to the zoo but ... there is potential for the story to begin all over again when ... Jono finds an egg in the alligator's cage! I would say the only thing that let it down was how short it was as I read it in 8 minutes. I would definitely recommend it as a short reader but not as a book with which to pass a rainy afternoon. Tue 12th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Jordan from Peter Hills Primary School said:
This story is about a boy called Jono who accidentally buys an alligator. Jono gets his alligator from his friend Crusher and at first he hides it in the shed and then he hides it in his mum’s boyfriend’s lock up. I didn’t really enjoy this book because the storyline is pretty basic, there isn’t really much of a climax and the story is too short. The story doesn’t even match the blurb because the blurb says that his mum is going to kill him, unless the alligator gets there first, although the alligator doesn’t show any sense of wanting to kill Jono. Tue 12th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 3
Raymond from St Thomas the Apostle College said:
I give this book a 3 out of 10 because of the shortness of this book there isnt much adventure in this book and there is... if they made it longer i.e showing what happens when the alligator goes to the zoo. Tue 12th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 3
Stefan from St Thomas the Apostle College said:
Alligator is a good short book to read and you would not suspect for ther to be a alligator egg at the end Tue 12th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 8
Jeffrey from St Thomas the Apostle College said:
This book is an unusual book because of the way it ends Tue 12th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 8
joseph from St Thomas the Apostle College said:
i have to say i'm a little dissapointed in this book i expected more adventure and thrill even from such a short book but it was still humoros like when his mum questioned him why he looked up alligators on the internet Tue 12th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 5
Billy from City of London Academy said:
I think this is a great book to read and not too long. It is funny and at the same time it is weird because you don't know what is going to happen next. My favourite part of the book was the end because it was very funny when they discovered the egg. This means that the story will start over again.
Overall I would recommend this book to others. Tue 12th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 9
Paul from City of London Academy said:
This book is very unexpected because you wouldn't really have an alligator as a pet would you?
also i like it when Jono finds an alligator egg
really Jono is very gullible Tue 12th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 7
olivia from Charter School said:
Alligator
Alligator is a really dull book with font the size of America. This book is probably only two pages long in a normal font and for most of that it drones on about how the Alligator opens its yellow eye. Actually the 'yellow eye' is the only description the author gives in the book. The ending and the beginning are the only things of interest in the entire book. I really think the author, Theresa Breslin, should have planned her story- line better, as all her ideas are jumbled-up into what is little more than an essay.
If you read this book you may you well be bored to death.
By Olivia Sun 10th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 3
Stefan from St Thomas the Apostle College said:
Alligator is a excellent and good book to read and enjoy. Sun 10th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 8
Zhané from Eveline Lowe Primary School said:
This book is very short but also a very good book because Jono Solves the situation veryu quickly and gets £20 for it and at the end he finds a alligator egg and is suprised.You can read this book in a day in a short space of time. Sat 9th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Shaji from St Michael's RC School said:
It was good and enjoyable easy to read,it gets good at the end it gets better (Its a good laugh)
I would recomend it to primary schools though Thu 7th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Duy from Charter School said:
This book is about a boy, Jonno who didnt want to buy an alligator in a carboot sale but instead the seller gave him it and speed off away from him and now hes left of with the alligator.....
I didnt really like this book because it not really intresting, not much words that make you want to read on and the books not really adventury. But i think the start and the ending was good and forceful push read or read more. I think this book is not for childrens over about 8 or 9 its for little childrens.
i think little childrens should read more about this authors book, it would really be good for them. Wed 6th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 4
Chelsea from Charter School said:
I thought this book was to simple and easy. I finished it an hour or less... honestly. I found it unrealistic and boring.
This book is about a boy called Jono who is tricked into buying an alligator from a 'Friend' of his called Crusher. Jono takes the alligator back to his house and hides him in the shed. Away from his mum. While the alligator is in the shed Jono researches about alligators but his mum see's him. Jono tells his mum its just homework and luckily she belives him. Jono goes out to get takeaway with his mum, but when he comes back he finds the alligator has eaten some of the contents in the shed, also finds the alligator has escaped and now is staring right back at the boy. Scared he drops the food and the animal eats it. Jono gets more food, when he comes back Sam (the mum's boyfriend) is in the kitchen with his mum, they then eat their dinner and then mum says "lets watch a movie in the living room." but Jono lies and says "I need to go see a friend" (To some extent) his mum agrees. Jono doesn't really see a friend but he collects sam's keys to the garage where he works and takes the alligator with him. He keeps it there so its safe, but later on sam gets a phone call saying there was a robbery at his garage. When they get there the robber says that there is a monster or something in there. The police don't belive him but he's not lying. They see the alligator and call the animal control to take it away. When they get home Sam gives £20 to Jono for saving his garage.
Overall this book is terrible and you should read another book instead. =] Tue 5th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 3
Ashley from City of London Academy said:
The story is all about a boy named Jono, who unfortunatly is tricked into buying an alligator for a fiver or five pounds so its pretty good short and funky. Although I liked Jono as a character it would be better if the author (Theresa Breslin) whould have shown more emotion as he seems rather clumsy in many diffrent ways like falling for buying an alligator. Judging by the front cover i did not realise that it was a comedy so maybe change the front cover as it does not show a comedic feel. All in all the plot was rather intresting as he thought of many places to hide the alligator. So 9/10. Tue 5th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 9
hassan from St Thomas the Apostle College said:
the bad side for this book is that it is short but it was funny Tue 5th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 9
Dominic from St Thomas the Apostle College said:
I Give This A 5/10 For The Shortness Of It. I Was Hoping For Much Much more. But Unfortunaly There Was Only A Little Bit.
Beside The Bad- Alligator Is A Really Good Book Tue 5th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 5
Stanley from Eveline Lowe Primary School said:
I like alligator because i think it's a funny book, the reason why i like it is because i like alligators. My favourite bit is when the main character found out that alligators bite, that bit was really funny Tue 5th May 2009
Marks out of 10: 9
Thomas from Charter School said:
"Pssst! Wanna by an alligator?" is a catchy first line that really draws your attention to the book. Jono gets fooled by a dodgy business man, Crusher, into buying an alligator. Jono takes it home and places it into his shed hoping his mum won't find out while he searches Alligators on the internet telling his mum it was homework as it eats away at the contents of Jono's takeaway. Jono has a genious idea to hide the beast in Sam (his mothers boy friend's) garage as he takes the keys (off the kitchen table, while Sam and his mum watch a film) and puts the sleeping animal in Sam's garage. Near the end of the film Sam gets a call stating that a thief has brocken into his garage. The police catch the thief who cries out "There's a monster in there! A giant alligator!" They all look inside and see an alligator and tell the zoo to pick it up right away. Jono tells Sam the whole story and Sam gives him £20. Jono cleans up the shed where the alligator had been staying and finds an alligator egg in a box. Personally this short story doesn't really appeal to me as it is very short and easy to read and isn't very well written besides the line :"Pssst! Wanna buy an alligator?" It also doesn't hold you into the book and keep you wondering what was going to happen next. That is why i gave it a 4/10. Sun 3rd May 2009
Marks out of 10: 4
Nelly-joyce from St Michael's RC School said:
This is a book about Liam a boy that is so tall people believe as being older than he is. He pretends to be an adult so he can go and do what most adults do, but when he goes on the newest theme park ride `The Rocket'. He doesn’t know it’s a real rocket .He will have to try and be the adult in this adventure. It gets very dramatic as the story unfolds….you will have to read on yourself to find out what happens, but trust me don’t judge it before you get to the middle page, if u get to the middle page but its still boring(which is not going to happen) then you have the right to put the book down.
When I first picked the book up it didn’t crab my attention ,and I wasn’t very clear about what was going on when I a started reading ,but as I gradually read towards the end of the book It crab me and I couldn’t move any more ,its hilariously funny ,heart warming ,dramatic at times ,not even East Enders could make me put it down .
I totally loved it and would recommend it to many people who have a love for reading but mostly for those who don’t because this book would change anyone view of reading after reading this one.
Though one point of improvement would be to make the cover more welcoming and attractive .However the overall outcome of the book is outstandingly out of this world.
Sat 2nd May 2009
Marks out of 10: 9
Deiby from St Michael's RC School said:
I enjoyed the book because it was quite funny that an alligator help police to get a robber.
My favourite part was when the alligator scared the robber and the police got him the robber was trying to steal a car in a garage the robber was screaming that there was a alligator and the police thought he was mad.
My favourite character was Jono because he was a bit mad to buy an alligator and because he did what he could to keep the alligator away from his mum and her boyfriend as a pet in his house. Wed 29th Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Afolarin from St Mary Magdalene CofE Primary School said:
Alligator is a book which i thought was not recommended beacause it was way to easy. I really disliked the length of the book the most. All that happens is that a boy called Jono gets an alligator who destroyes alot of things. Wed 29th Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 3
mikun from St Mary Magdalene CofE Primary School said:
Alligator i thought was a pretty easy book that didn't make me want to read it more.
the main storyline is that a boy named Jono is tricked into illegally buying an alligator but then he has to keep it a secret from his mum or he is going to get killed. What do you think will happen next ?????
i dont think i can telll you unless you have read it.
As i said i did not really like this book but id love to see if anyone has a different view and thought nthe book was perfect............ Wed 29th Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 5
moise from St Michael's RC School said:
easy and simlpe to read Tue 28th Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Britney from St Mary Magdalene CofE Primary School said:
tis book was kind of scary in a way. Alligator is a book about a boy and a alligator.First of all the boy got tricked by a man then after that he realised that he has made a very big mistake and didnt tell his mom about it and his mom is going to kill him. Tue 28th Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 6
dylan from St Mary Magdalene CofE Primary School said:
I gave it a five because it took me about 3 minutes to read it because it was to short and a Year 3 book. I hoped that this book would be more adventurous but it wasn`t that good. Tue 28th Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 5
charlie from St Mary Magdalene CofE Primary School said:
Jono's friend gave him an alligator. He put it in his shed. Jono's mum and her friend were watching a film. Jono put the alligator in the man's shed.The police came and took the alligator to the zoo. I liked the pictures. I liked the ending because therewas a new egg. I would read this book again. Tue 28th Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 6
ruby from Charter School said:
i think this book was too short, easy and boring. this was because it had a severe lack of description and excitment , it was far too unrealistic. it was about a boy who buys an aligator from a car boot sale and instantly regrets it this is where the plot thickens. Mon 27th Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 4
Stephen from Bacon's College said:
This was a short book. The words were not that exciting and that was kind of a step down for me, but some other people have different opinions, but this is mine. Mon 27th Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Viatney from Alma Primary School said:
I think that Alligator is a fantastic book about a little boy called Jono that has a friend that tries to sell him an Alligator but he ends giving him the Alligator and £5.00p. When Jono takes the Alligator he hides it in the garden shed inside a box. Later on Jono hides the Alligator in a garage without permission were his mum’s boyfriend works. When a robber enters the garage to try and steal a car that is worth a lot he gets scared by the Alligator a runs out and then gets captured by the police. When Jono’s mum finds out about the Alligator he would have got into trouble but his Alligator saves the day therefore he can’t get into trouble. Although he still does not get to keep the Alligator because it has to be kept in a zoo, the police says that he can still go and visit him in the zoo.
My favourite character is Jono because he is a very funny character and he is smart. The book might be short but it has a large amount of adventure in it. I recommend this book for ages 6-8 and rate it a 4/10 because I don’t think that many older children would like this book so much.
Mon 27th Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Mahir from Alma Primary School said:
Alligator is a really funny and has a really good plot-line so I like it, the only problem is that the book is too short and the lines are too spaced out. So I can read this book in 5 minutes and is too easy for me, but I recommend this book to everybody that is about 7. Mon 27th Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 8
Youcef from Alma Primary School said:
Alligator is easy to read. The weird thing is that Jono buys an alligator for only 5 pounds. His step dad is a quite smart character and thanks Jono for putting the alligator in the back of his car. I hate the book because it is too short and it was too easy to read.
Mon 27th Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 2
Hussein from Alma Primary School said:
I like the book Alligator because it was very interesting and made you want to read more. I also like the characters who were very convincing to get into this kind of mess all the time and when you read more it gets better and better also my favourite part was when his mum found out that he had pet Alligator, and then he was in deep trouble from his mum. Mon 27th Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Hussein from Alma Primary School said:
I like the book Alligator because it was very interesting and made you want to read more. I also like the characters who were very convincing to get into this kind of mess all the time and when you read more it gets better and better also my favourite part was when his mum found out that he had pet Alligator, and then he was in deep trouble from his mum. Mon 27th Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Jordan from Bacon's College said:
In Alligator, a boy buys an alligator off his friend, then he doesn't know what do with it, so he puts it in his garage. He then goes on the computer to find out about alligators and what they eat. Soon his mum comes in and she asks him to go down the chippy. While he is there he is thinking about what he should do. He then asks his mum if he could ever have a pet, she says yes, but never an alligator. Then his mum's boyfriend comes to put the kettle on, they then sit down until a burglar tries to steal a car from the garage.The alligator scares the burglar and the police come, and then his mum's boyfriend says " Well done, if it wasn't for you the car would of have been stolen." The zoo then pick up the alligator and take it away. Then he gets money for saving his mum's boyfriend's car. Mon 27th Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Willa from Goodrich Primary School said:
Alligator is a really easy book to read. But in my opinoin the lines are too spaced out, but i should be for younger years such as: 7-9 because i read this in 5 minutes!!!!!! The names & language is interestingI But too little for me! I hope you enjoy your short time reading alligator!!!!! Fri 24th Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 2
Aaron from St Mary Magdalene CofE Primary School said:
Only for inexperinced readers. WAY too short for me. Not enough punctuation. The vocabulary and storyline were obviously thought out for people who just want a quick book. Thu 23rd Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 3
Haider from Goodrich Primary School said:
A good book. I liked the way how he got the alligator but could be longer and more descritive. Thu 23rd Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 7
Keir from Kingsdale School said:
hi i thought that alligator was a short SNAPPY! book that jumped out at me i think it was for younger children around the age of eight to ten and i would recommend it bye Thu 23rd Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 8
George from Kingsdale School said:
Alligator is a good book for less confident readers as it is not very long, the vocab is fairly simple and the text is quite big. I didn't personally like the book as i felt it was unrealistic and too short. Thu 23rd Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 3
Nigel from Other School said:
I thought this book was really funny, especially the bit where Jono ends up buying the alligator sort of by accident. Sun 19th Apr 2009
Marks out of 10: 10
Another way to have your say
