Poppy's review
The Children of the Benin Kingdom is a book based on the rainforest and the Edo city where a young girl called Ada pronounced a-da goes on a quest to hide from the Edo people and rescue her brother Nosa pronounced no-sa with the help from Mbe pronounced mm-bey, mama Ginika pronounced ji-nee-kah and papa Eze pronounced eht-zeh. 

My favourite character was Ada because she was strong, brave, and courageous and has an incredible family past. My least favourite character was Ujo pronounced oo-jor because he betrayed papa Eze and Ada to the Edo king (the sky king) Ogiso. 

I learned that there was a powerful Edo kingdom in the rainforest. What interested me most was the history of the kingdom and its people. The plot for this book was very exciting, dangerous and full of trickery. The thing that most stood out for me was the fact that the main character was a girl and was not a tomboy. 

I would recommend this book to ages 8 and over as there are some tricky words to understand. I hope anyone who reads this likes it as much as me.   

Fatima's review
My favourite character in this book has to be Ada. This is because she is brave and is really adventurous and she always perseveres. My least favourite character in this book is Chief Iwe because he treats people horribly and is very ungrateful and rude to everyone he comes across. Most of this book is set in a rainforest which is ruled by the Edo people. In real life over a thousand years ago in Nigeria the Edo people lived in a tropical rainforest.

What stood out for me most in this book was how Dinah (the author) made me feel like I was there when I was reading the book and also that the main character is a girl! In summary this book is about a girl who finds out her father is the Sky-king and that Papa Eze who is Ada’s guardian offered to look after her for Ada’s mother. The Sky-king, who does not like Ada’s mother, wants to kill Ada because he does not want any of Ada’s mother’s children to live. Ada has to go on an adventure with Mbe to find Ada’s twin brother and stop her father from trying to kill her.

I would recommend this book to 9-11 year olds who enjoy adventure books. Out of 10 I would rate this 9/10. I would have rated it 10/10 if there was more description in the book because there wasn’t much and it would have made a more clearer image of the book in my head.

Emily's review
Children of the Benin Kingdom is about a girl called Ada and how the discovery of her astonishing birth and family affects her life and future. A man sells the story of Ada’s true identity, so she, Papa Eze (her foster father) and a boy called Mbe, who lives with them, have to flee into the forest. I loved that the girl was the main character and the boy the other character – for a change!!

Ada was my favourite character because she was brave and resilient. She had a fascinating back story and past. She also caught out Chief Obir, who was my least favourite character because he tried to get Ada and Nosa sacrificed to save his throne. He deserved to be overthrown but instead of letting it happen, he tried to have kids murdered to stop it.

The story was set in the village, the forest and the Edo kingdom. I learnt that a civilisation (the Ebo civilisation) existed in a rainforest. It sounds like it was an incredible kingdom. I liked that such a unique and fascinating place could actually exist and how the Edos lived.

The plot was exciting because there were lots of cliffhangers and it was light-hearted and serious at different times. The thing that most stands out was the three descriptions of the journey through the forest that Mbe and Ada took.

I would recommend the book to anyone 8+ as it was amazing.

Erin-Alice's review
I loved this book because it has a new adventure every day!!!

I thought the book was very interesting because a little girl was lost in the rain forest and an old man took her in and looked after her. I absolutely love this book. It was actually placed in the 12th Century in a part of West Africa. 

My main characters are called Eze – he is very helpful and caring, and Ade – adventurous and always happy. 

I would recommend this book to all of my friends mostly my best friend Eliza. 

Star Rating 4 out of 4 stars

Neive's review
I enjoyed the book because there’s lots of wildlife in the book. My favourite character is Ada because she has cool adventures. I liked everyone because they were very interesting.  The ending most stood out for me because its very fun and fascinating. I would recommend this book to someone else so they can have a magical time reading this book. This book was very interesting and amazing to read.

Harry's review
I really enjoyed the book because it was full of adventure and crazyness. My favourite character is Papaeze because he can heal the sick like Jesus but the worst character is chief Ewe because he treats people very terribly. I think the ending of the book was very interesting and happy because Ada found her brother half way in the book and at the end they met her dad. I would recommend this book to my friend because he really likes adventure and this book is full of adventure.

Grace's review
I found Ada the most interesting character because she is very resilient and brave.  I did not really like Mama Ginga because she tries to stop Ada in the forest.
I did not really learn anything about the past but I did enjoy the story.  In the forest was interesting because of all of the animals that were there. 
The plot was good because each chapter ended in a shocking way and the beginning of the new chapter gave me a sense of relief.
The thing that most stands out is that Ada kept going even though she got stopped lots of times.
I would recommend this book to people who like shocking and adventurous stories.

Archie's review
This book is adventurous. It is set in a forest. A man takes the ally inside a root and looks for a golden tree. A person called Mbe helped find the tree and Now oh the Aunt for the Edo rite. 

I think it is good but not the best book but very exciting and lots of twists. The most sad thing is then a main chat then dead. 

The characters are Zze, Adl and Mbe and the main one is Ade and Mbe worked hard and wakes up early.

I would recommend the book to 6+ and people who are readers. 

Star rating 2 out of 4 stars

Safwan's review

• Did you enjoy the book? Yes. It was full of detail.
• Which of the characters did you find most interesting? Why? Papa Eze. He looked after Ada and was an herbalist.
• Which of the characters (if any) you did not like. Why? Chief Obiro. He was hunting Ada and her friends.
• What made the history or the time it was set in interesting to you? They did many things we do not do.
• Was the plot exciting, thought-provoking, serious or light-hearted (or any mixture of these)? Exciting. Many unexpected events happened.
• What most stands out for you from the book? Papa Eze. He was an herbalist.
• Would you recommend it to other children? Yes. It was very interesting.
• Did you learn any new words or facts as a result of the story? Yes.

Tahiyah's review

• Did you enjoy the book? Explain your answer if it is yes or no. Yes. It shows a girl who is ten years old learning a lot of important stuff.
• Which of the characters did you find most interesting? Why? Ada. She liked climbing trees and most people her age can’t do it very well.
• Which of the characters (if any) you did not like. Why? Ginika, for not letting Eze teach Ada.
• Was the plot exciting, thought-provoking, serious or light-hearted (or any mixture of these)? Yes! Ada got to explore a lot and do what she wanted to do.
• What most stands out for you from the book? People learning new things.
• Would you recommend it to other children? Yes.  

Faeza's review

• Did you enjoy the book? Yes. There were lots of powerful words.
• Which of the characters did you find most interesting? Why? Ada. She was fast.
• Which of the characters (if any) you did not like. Why? Mbe. He did too much work.
• Was the plot exciting, thought-provoking, serious or light-hearted (or any mixture of these)? Exciting.
• What most stands out for you from the book? Ada. She is my favourite
• Would you recommend it to other children? Yes. There are some cool words.
• Did you learn any new words or facts as a result of the story? Nimble. Stealthy.