Julius Zebra: Rumble with the Romans!

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My favourite part is where they get put on a boat on the way to the Colosseum. My favourite character is the lion because he calls Julius ‘Debra’! (Mia, 7)

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. 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.

Julius je zebrí mladík, ktorý si chce robiť veci po svojom. Pri návšteve jazierka sa zatúla ďaleko od svojho stáda a nešťastnou náhodou skončí v rukách Rimanov. Po dlhej ceste z Afriky až do Ríma je aj s ostatnými zvieratami vhodený do Kolosea, kde preukáže veľkú odvahu a cisár Hadrián mu udelí šancu vybojovať si slobodu. Julius spolu so svojimi zvieracími priateľmi trénuje v gladiátorskej škole, ktorá ho má pripraviť na veľké hry. Podarí sa mu poraziť slávnych gladiátorov a vybojovať si svoju slobodu? 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. The part that kept my attention was when Julius became head of Britannia because I didn't know what would happen to him next. Pretend?” Julius was puzzled. “But they don’t even have any arms or legs! Call this a gladiator school? You don’t even know how to make a pretend gladiator!”

I've studied the Egyptians at school and the history rang true although I wasn't quite sure if it's really true that Heter was a real horse God, although there was a statue of him. During a visit to the stinky lake he wanders off and is followed by Cornelius, a know-it-all, chatterbox warthog who he finds quite annoying. They fall into what they think is a sinkhole, where they find a grumpy, old lion called Milus. 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. Kniha je plná skvelých ilustrácií. Veľmi sa mi páčili, dopĺňali príbeh a určite udržia pozornosť malých čitateľov.

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. NO! NO! THERE’LL BE NO FACES ON MY FIGHTING POLES!” Septimus wrested away the paint pot and brushes and threw them out of the arena..

What they don't realise is they have been kidnapped and are being taken to Rome by soldiers to fight great battles with gladiators in the world's deadliest theatre, the Colosseum! This will be popular with students who like text broken up and easy-to-read chapters. In a story typical of many children's books, a main character doesn't quite fit in with his family and tries to get away by himself. Unfortunately though, Julius is a zebra living in Roman times, and is captured and sent to Rome to perform in the arena for Hadrian. 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. You may have already met Julius Zebra from previous books. He was a gladiator champion and rebel of the Roman empire. He made sure the Romans left Britainia and freed animals gladiators from amphitheatres across Europe. And of course this book is also stuffed to the brim with illustrations. At times stand-alone just giving a better look at things, but mostly a continuation of the story. It makes the read even more engaging and fun (and also funnier).

About Gary Northfield

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!

When they get there they meet a group of other animals: Felix, who is a nice but dim giraffe, Rufus, the simple antelope, Lucia, the ditsy, vegetarian crocodile and Pliny, the feisty, little mouse. We join Julius and his friends on their epic adventure. They are made to join a gladiator school run by Septimus, the angry gladiator teacher, who sets about training them to fight the deadliest battle of their lives! The training for gladiators was pretty fun to watch, if it wasn't for those annoying human gladiators who really need to get their heads out of their butts. Gee, he already said he was sorry and that the didn't mean it the way he meant it. And yes, he humiliated you, but come on, that is how it works in gladiator stuff. I did like that the animals were so dedicated to the cause. And that Plinie was helping them out afterwards with some more training. Oh, and I didn't even think Plinie was that annoying in this one. *cheers*I think the history wasn't very realistic because only very few parts were true, but it did make me want to find out more about what actually happened and I wanted to read more by this author; he is so funny! I enjoyed this book so much I went out and bought the first book in the series (It was the last one on the book shelf.) 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.