1. I liked the whole book. It made me want to read more and more. I liked Alex’s rock collection its weird why Alex collects different types of rocks like the smallest rock in the world. I really want to read the other book so see what happens to the romans. That left me thinking what will happen next. There was nothing that I disliked and my favourite character was Pliny because he trained Julius zebra to fight in the Coliseum.

By Eddie

2. Did you like the book? yes

I like Julius and my  favourite place is the ring.

Do you think the history in the book was realistic? Yes

Did the book make you want to find out more about history? Yes

Did the book make you want to read more books by this author?

 

Is there anything else want to say about this book?

I like where you put sum information at the end.

By Freya

3. The story is about talking animals and humans. Even though the animals talk, the story is meant to be a fiction story telling you about history. It is set in the time when the Romans had invaded Britannia where the Celts lived.

The main character is Julius.  Here is some information about him he: likes porridge, gets on well with a lion and he is a champion gladiator and clever.  This is what some of the other people in the book think of him: he hates the stinky lake, a bit of a loser, probably got eaten by a lion and stupid. Julius Zebra is a soldier.

The other main characters are Felix, a Gazelle who loves collecting rocks, Rufus, a giraffe who loves going on holiday, Cornelius, a boar who is a pain in the neck, Lucia, a crocodile who thinks of what she calls “amazing plans”, Milus, a lion who is extremely fierce, Pliny, a mouse who is incredibly violent, Septimus, a human who is unbelievably grouchy, and Emperor Hadrian, an Emperor who is detestable.    

The story starts when Julius and his friends think that they are going on a jolly holiday to Britannia because Septimus and Emperor Hadrian think that Julius and his friends are not strong enough.  Emperor Hadrian tells Julius Zebra that he will grant him freedom if he and his friends fight against the vicious and brave animals in Britannia. Julius and his friends fight against the animals.  The first time they lose but the second time they fight against all the animals and they succeed. Because they beat all of the animals, the Celts love them and rebel under Julius’ leadership.  The Celts win and Julius becomes head of Britannia.

My favourite character is Julius because he always helps other people.  He is very strong, brave and courageous. My least favourite character is Septimus. I dislike him because he is unpleasant and because he painfully beats up Julius.

The most exciting parts of the book were when the vicious animals beat Julius and his friends because in real life pigs, buffalos and sheep can’t beat a lion or a zebra.

The author could have added more animals that talk to make the book more exciting.

The part that kept my attention was when Julius became head of Britannia because I didn't know what would happen to him next.

My favourite part of the book was when the Britons fought against the Romans - the Britons won and the Romans deserved it. I feel excited that I finished the book because Gary Northfield’s books are hilarious and I want to start the next one. When I read the book it made me feel lucky that I didn't live in ancient Rome because there were fierce battles including animals and humans.

The thing in the story I did not enjoy before the animals sailed to Britannia was the language because whilst the author described the animals lives, the words were not very imaginative.

I thought this book was really interesting but I do not really like comics. I prefer normal books because proper books give you more information about the characters and the story. 

I would recommend this book because it is adventurous especially when Julius goes on a boat from Rome to Britannia. I would recommend this book for people at school who are learning about the Romans because it would teach them more about Roman history and life.  I learnt that in Britannia they also had arenas and in the arenas animals fought against animals. The book made me want to find out more about the Romans and Celts.

By Shani

4. I love reading this book- it’s very entertaining and super inspiring.

My favourite character in the book is Lucia, she is extremely brave, she even tried to escape Septimus  with her friends,  although sadly it  failed.

I feel the book is slightly misleading, because the characters are drawn in a cartoon style, which makes you think it will be funny like a comic, but the story is about war and invasion which isn’t a laughing matter.

Personally I really enjoyed reading the book. I love history and I enjoyed finding out new things about the Romans. I’d love to read more from the same author, it was very inspiring to read and I am going to ask my mum to buy me more for my birthday!

My favourite part is where Lucia tries chainmail to look somewhat like fish scales, because they’re shiny and reflect the water. An excellent disguise!  When Septimus spots that there just disguises, he captured them and made them his slaves.

I would recommend this book to anyone- they’d really enjoy it like I did!

By Ruby

5. I loved this book as it was quite silly and in-formal. I loved how the author really got into the mind of the gladiator slaves and how the events that happened during the gladiators’ training sounded real. The history in this book was realistic, yet it wasn’t. It sounded like it was realistic but events happened that weren’t. This book definitely made me curious about history.

By Anna

6. Julius Zebra is a funny book set in the time of the romans. It has gladiators and weird characters that are animals. I think that Gary Northfield must have had a great sense of humour to write this book. It’s absolute bonkers but brilliant at the same time.

Julius Zebra is a roman gladiator trying to win his freedom along with his friends. They go on a boat and travel to Britannia (Briton). He and his friends are made to fight the massive British warriors in order to win their freedom but Emperor Hadrian has a few tricks up his sleeve.

My favourite part in the book was when they tried to escape the boat by pretending to be fish. This was one of the amazingly (not) good ideas of Lucia the crocodile. Will this stupid idea make them free or will they be stuck as gladiators forever?

The illustrations in this book are funny and surprisingly detailed. The book doesn’t give much description but the pictures say it all. Your imagination really goes wild when reading. Also some of the speech bubbles in the pictures made me giggle.

In conclusion, I think this book is an enjoyable read and a great story. Some of the characters personalities are so unusual that it makes the story ten times better. I think young children could read this book as it is quite easy and contains lots of pictures.                                                     

By Lauren

7. I would like to start by saying that Julius Zebra is really funny and his friends are too! Their conversations make you feel part of their adventures.

I learnt a lot from this book, a lot about what it was like to live in Roman times. For example, if you were a gladiator, you had to win your freedom.  I learnt about Emperors too but I’d like to know more. After reading the book, I know I’m happy to live in Britain now, not then!

I hope to read more books by this author and I hope they’re as funny as this one. I have some questions for Gary Northfield:

• Was it easy to research about the Romans?
• Will your next book be about the Romans? If not, why not?
• How do you do your research?

I hope he does write another book. I’ll be buying it!

By Georgina

8. I really enjoyed this book because it was really interesting and creative. I also liked this book because teaches children about the Romans and how they lived in Roman times. I really liked studying about Romans and other parts of history and this book made me want to learn even more.

My favourite part was when Julius met his brother in the arena and they had to fight. My other favourite part was when Brutus helped his brother Julius. Both of these parts were really funny and made me laugh a lot.

My favourite characters were Brutus and Julius. I liked Julius because he never gave up on what he had to do and was always courageous. I liked Brutus because he helped Julius.

Most of the book had accurate history because the country Britain did used to be spelt as Britannia and I know that was true because I learnt about it in class.

I would recommend this book to children the same age as me so that they can learn about Romans and become interested in them like me.

By Hala

9. I enjoyed the book because it tells you about the Roman times and I really loved learning about the Romans in school.

There were many parts of the book that I really liked reading about. I especially enjoyed reading about the things Romans did when they travelled to Britannia because I learnt they had to do chores when they really wanted to relax because they thought they were on holiday.

One of my favourite characters was Julius Zebra because he was so funny, especially when he gave his autograph with his muddy foot and the girl kissed it. He was also very thoughtful and not like a normal zebra.

I would want to read more books from this author if his other books are like this. Julius Zebra is a very good. It’s funny and teaches you a lot about history at the same time.

By Kristin

10. I think that Julius Zebra is a very funny book full of comedy. Another very good thing about it is that it includes a lot history, like how the Britons would fight the Romans in a battlefield. It relates to real life as well because the Romans had the Coliseum to fight in with different gladiators. The book makes you actually feel like you’re the zebra going up to fight against the Britons. My favourite part was when the Romans where on a holiday on a cruise ship and they want to escape, so they come up with a master plan of dressing up like fish and diving into the ocean. This overall was a really great book it was full of emotions and really was a great book.

By Blake

11. I really enjoyed Julius Zebra by Garry Northfield because it was funny and at some points even intense and I learned loads of things about the Romans along the way.

I particularly liked the character Cornelius. This is because he was brave, kind and helpful and whenever one of the animals in the book needed help or comforting, Cornelius would be there in a jiff!

I do think that the histoy in the book was realistic because the Romans did fight animals, but I’m pretty sure that the animals didn’t talk or fight back! I don’t know if there were specific animals that the Romans fought or not, so this book has encouraged me to try to find out more about the Romans.

I am definitely going to keep an eye out for more of Gary’s books beause they are so funny and very child-friendly (in a good way!) I can’t wait to read more of his books!

I would recommend this book to someone who loves comedy and enjoys history. I know I do!

By Caitlin

12. Julius Zebra was the main character in this book – his name was fabulous as it was just like Julius Caesar! I really liked him because he is funny and humorous (a bit like me). I loved the part when Hadrian says he will give Julius and his friends freedom when he finishes one last tournament (this turned out to be a lie) because after that tournament he betrayed Julius and said he had to fight the Britons who were much stronger. Although I know the events in the book did not happen in real life, the weapons, clothing and names were realistic and of the time. I did get out my Year 4 books from when we did Romans after I had read it just to check this. I think this will engage children from a younger age because of the humour. Who says you can’t learn and have fun at the same time?

By Tahiya

13. I had fun reading this book. My favourite character was the zebra- the things he said were just so funny. ‘Yay! We’re going on holibobs.’ I really enjoyed the book and it made me laugh out loud on many an occasion, however, I feel that the laughs and jokes got in the way of the history. When I try to remember the story, all I remember are the fun and jokes not anything historical. I loved the book because it was funny.

By Mohib

14. This book is about a zebra called Julius Zebra with his pals which are Cornelius the warthog, Felix the antelope, Lucia the crocodile, Rufus the giraffe, Milus the lion and Pliny the mouse are all slaves for Emperor Hadrian to do gladiator fighting. So after one of Julius’s fights Emperor Hadrian told them to go to Britannia and fight the gladiators. So the first fight they lost but the second fight they won. But Hadrian put in prison. One day, Julius was escorted to fight his brother Brutus, luckily, Julius won and Hadrian took into a bag with two snakes and put into a river. Luckily the snakes were fans of him so Julius got out, found Brutus, found his friends and defeated the Romans who were there.

I enjoyed this book because it was hilarious – I will recommend this book to 7-9 because of the tricky Roman numeral numbers.

By Elliot