Merry Christmas

I found this picture HERE

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

End of Year 2013 - Update

(Updated every day or so until 19 December 2013)

Wow your overdue books are coming back to the library really quickly this year. Congratulations to Rooms 5 & 7, who were the first classes with all student library books returned and also to Room 11, a close second . Well done.

The library stocktake is now almost complete. We again have a number of books that are missing - they are not in the library and they are not on issue. We'd love to have these books back again, so if you find any hiding behind shelves or under the furniture, at school or at home, please hurry them along back to the library before the holidays.

End of Year Reminder 2013

This image from HERE

Thanks to Miss McCombs for telling me about this picture...

Getting Ready for End of Year 2013

Picture via HERE

The Christmas School Holidays are not far away now, but before they arrive there are some important tasks to get done. In the library we are preparing for our annual end of year stocktake. All library books are due back before this Friday, 6th December. You can help out by returning all your library books to the library A.S.A.P. (As Soon As Possible) and before the end of this week please. Lets see if it's your class that's first to return all their library books this year.

If you find any other school books

such as journals, junior reading books

and class books lying around at home

 please return these to school too.

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "The Boy Who Was Followed Home" by Margaret MAHY; illustrated by Steven KELLOGG
• "Merry Christmas, Stinky Face" by Lisa McCOURT; illustrated by Cyd MOORE

Fiction Book:

• "Pilot & Huxley vs Planet Arpros" by Dan McGUINNESS (Pilot & Huxley series)
• "Christmas Around the World" by Lesley SIMS (Usbourne Young Reading series)
• "The Journey to Atlantis" by Thea STILTON (Thea Stilton series)

Senior Fiction:

• "Shahana" by Rosanne HAWKE (Through My Eyes series) [You can see the book trailer HERE]

Non-fiction:

• "Something From Nothing" by Phoebe GILMAN
• "Time" by Arianne HOLDEN (Fun To Learn series)

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "Slinky Malinki Cat Flaps" by Lynley DODD
• "Christmas Wishes" by Tony MITTON; illustrated by Layn MARLOW

Fiction Book:

• "Save Our Sharks" by David METZENTHEN (Aussie Bites series)
• "Vidia and the Fairy Crown" by Laura DRISCOLL (Disney Fairies series)
• "Rani in the Mermaid Lagoon" by Lisa PAPADEMETRIOU (Disney Fairies series)
• "Wild Born" by Brandon MULL (Spirit Animals series)

Senior Fiction:

• "Liar & Spy" by Rebecca STEAD

Non-fiction:

• "Ancient Greece" by Philip STEELE (Navigators series)
• "Illustrated History of New Zealand" by Marcia STENSON

Baking & Writing Competition

If you like writing and you also like baking THIS could be just the competition for you.

There are two age groups: 5-8yrs and 9-12yrs

The Competition runs from 11 November 2013 until 11 Jan 2014

Winners outside Auckland will receive: 

• A Book Island Voucher - you can choose $50 from the Book Island website
• A Book Island Voucher for your School - you can choose $100 from the Book Island website

For more details about the competition see the competition page HERE

Find tips about what one judge is looking for in the cake entries HERE

You can also follow the Meet the Maia Blog Tour

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "How Santa Lost His Job" by Stephen KRENSKY; illustrated by S. D. SCHINDLER
• "The Three-Legged Cat" by Margaret MAHY; illustrated by Jonathan ALLEN

Fiction Book:

• "The Daring Rescue" by R. A. STRATT (Nanny Piggins series)
• "Iggy and Me and the Happy Birthday" by Jenny VALENTINE (Iggy and Me series)
• "Zac Blasts Off" by H. I. LARRY (Zac Power : Spy Camp series)
• "Zac Strikes Out" by H. I. LARRY (Zac Power : Spy Camp series)

Senior Fiction:

• "The Maleficent Seven" by Derek LANDY

Non-fiction:

• "Body Basics : Bodies" by Anita GANERI
• "My Dog is a Hero - Working Dogs with Amazing Jobs" by Anita GANERI 

Michael Morpurgo Month

Michael Morpurgo celebrates his 70th birthday this month and as part of the celebrations the Michael Morpurgo website HERE is focusing on a different book every day. You can click on a book cover to find out a little about the book and listen to a short audio excerpt of many of the books too. You can also enter the competition to win a signed copy of the War Horse and an iPad HERE (it's an international competition and open to NZer's) but you can't enter the school visit competition - sadly you can only enter that one if you live in the United Kingdom.

 

You can find out a bit more about Michael Morpurgo and his books on my earlier blog post HERE as well as about some of the Michael Morpurgo books we have in our library - we've got some new ones since then too.

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "Old Will : The First Arapawa Goat" by Alison SUTHERLAND; illustrated by Hideaki KATSUMATA
• "One Winter's Night" by John HERMAN; illustrated by Leo & Diane DILLON

Fiction Book:

• "Stories of Santa" by Russell PUNTER
• "Operation Bunny" by Sally GARDNER (Wings & Co. series)
• "Play it Again, Mozart!" by Geronimo STILTON (Geronimo Stilton - Graphic series)

Senior Fiction:

• "Wonder" by R.J.PALACIO

Non-fiction:

• "Fun With Flax : 50 Projects for Beginners" by Mick PENDERGRAST
• "Mean Machines : Performance Cars" (Mean Machines series)

Lego Bookstore

Another for the Lego fans....

This image from HERE.

The Powell's Bookstore in Portland, Oregon, USA constructed this miniature version of their store as part of a Lego book sale - I found out about it HERE.

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "Albert Le Blanc" by Nick BUTTERWORTH
• "A Letter to Father Christmas" by Rose IMPEY; illustrated by Sue PORTER

Fiction Book:

• "Fortune Cookie" by Jean URE
• "Dragonbreath : Curse of the Were-Wiener " by Ursula VERNON (Dragonbreath series)
• "The Big Waves" by Raewyn CAISLEY (Aussie Nibbles series)

Senior Fiction:

• "The Reluctant Assassin" by Eion COLFER  (WARP series)

Non-fiction:

• "Wearable Wonders" by Fifi COLSTON
• "Children's Prayers for all Occassions" by Fr LOVASIK

Uneasy

Uneasy

Adjective:
causing or feeling anxiety; troubled or uncomfortable.
Synonyms:
anxious - restless - worried - troubled - uncomfortable
definition via Google search

Image from HERE.

This chameleon sure looks "uneasy" to me, perhaps he's read one too many thrillers. I'm thinking we might know exactly why he looked like this if only we could see who, or what, was behind him!

Chameleons are also masters of camouflage (see my earlier post on camouflage) they are able to change their skin colouring to match their surroundings - usually in shades of green and brown, though some can turn almost any colour. You can find our more about chameleons HERE.

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "The Boy with Two Shadows" by Margaret MAHY; illustrated by Jenny WILLIAMS
• "Santa's Gift" by Charise NEUGEBAUER; illustrated by Barbara NASCIMBENI

Fiction Book:

• "The Longest Whale Song" by Jacqueline WILSON
• "The Secret of the Fortune Wookie" by Tom ANGELBERGER (Origami Yoda series)
• "Lily's Pesky Plant" by Kirsten LARSEN (Disney Fairies series)
• "Beck and the Great Berry Battle" by Laura DRISCOLL (Disney Fairies series)

Senior Fiction:

• "A Winter's Day in 1939" by Melinda SZYMANIK

Non-fiction:

• "Chemistry" by Nicolas BRASCH (Go Facts series)
• "Biology" by Nicolas BRASCH (Go Facts series)

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "A Bad Kitty Christmas" by Nick BRUEL

Mature Picture Book:

• "The Red Poppy" by David HILL; illustrated by Fifi COLSTON

Fiction Book:

• "The Boy in the Dress" by David WALLIAMS
• "No Nits!" by Jane CLARKE
• "Stanley's Christmas Adventure" by Jeff BROWN
• "Who Stole the Mona Lisa?" by Geronimo STILTON (Geronimo Stilton - Graphic Novel series)

Senior Fiction:

• "The Last Thirteen : 13" by James PHELAN (The Last Thirteen series)

Non-fiction:

• "Guinness World Records : To The Extreme" by Lisa RYAN-HERNDON

Which Fictional Character are You?

Image source

Have you ever wondered what character you would be if you were a character in a fiction book?

If you have, now you can find out, by answering a short quiz  HERE at AbeBooks.

After finding out about this quiz here I thought I'd try it out and see how it went ... and was surprised to discover the fictional character I am most like is Hermione, from the Harry Potter series.

Today, as a bit of fun, I decided to do the quiz and choose the answers for each question that I would be "Least Likely" to choose to do in real life and see which fictional character I was maybe the least like ... and apparently I am least like the White Witch from the Chronicles of Narnia.

Image source

Why don't you have a go at the quiz HERE at AbeBooks and see what fictional character you are most like and let me know in the comments below. You never know who you might be most like, perhaps Peter Pan or Lucy Pevensie or Harry Potter or Katniss Everdeen or Achilles or Juliet!

You might even like to find out your "anti-character" - the one you are least like.

Another School Library in a Bus

This image from HERE.

Abbots Langley School in the United Kingdom have part of their library in a bus in the school grounds. Find out more HERE.

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "The Christmas Angel" by Hans WILHELM
• "The Three Bears, Sort Of" by Yvonne MORRISON; Illustrated by Donovan BIXLEY

Fiction Book:

• "Big Brother" by Susannah McFARLANE (EJ12 series)
• "Tom Gates : Excellent Excuses (And Other Good Stuff)" by Liz PICHON (Tom Gates series)

Senior Fiction:

• "Hachet" by Gary PAULSEN
• "Claws" by Mike & Rachel GRINTI

Non-fiction:

• "Dinosaurs" by Sally LEE
• "Geology" by Nicholas BRASCH (Go Facts series)

The Secret Garden

Another in a series of posts about children's classic books available for borrowing from our school library.

The Secret Garden was written by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  Though now regarded as children's literature it was originally published in serial format in an adult magazine during 1910, and first published in book format in 1911.

The Secret Garden tells the story of 10 year old Mary Lennox who begins the story living in India with her wealthy parents. She is spoilt and selfish and has little respect for those who are less well off than herself. After her parents and much of the household die in a Cholera epidemic Mary is sent back to England to live with an uncle she has never met. Feeling unwelcome and with little to occupy her time Mary wanders the house and grounds meeting her invalid cousin and eventually discovering a secret garden locked and forgotten since the death of her aunt. This is the beginning of the transformation of her life and of those of her uncle and cousin also.

This image from the 1993 movie is from HERE

A number of film, television and stage adaptions of The Secret Garden have been made, currently the most well known of these being the 1993 American film adaption, from which the image above is taken.

Currently we have a copy of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett in the Fiction section of our library.

Upper Hutt Library currently holds 4 copies of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett as well as an ebook version; an audio book and a DVD.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett can be read online at Project Gutenburg and is available for download free at Project Gutenburg.

Most of the above information about The Secret Garden was adapted from here, here and here.

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "Merry Christmas, Splat" by Rob SCOTTON
• "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" by Dr SEUSS

Fiction Book:

• "Billie B Brown : The Copycat Kid" by Sally RIPPIN (Billie B Brown series)
• "Billie B Brown : The Deep End" by Sally RIPPIN (Billie B Brown series)
• "A Mutiny in Time" by James DASHNER (The Infinity Ring series)
• "The 13-Storey Treehouse" by Andy GRIFFITHS

Senior Fiction:

• "Vampirates : Tide of Terror" by Phillip WEBB (Vampirates series)

Non-fiction:

• "Solar System : A Visual Exploration of the Planets, Moons and Other Heavenly Bodies that Orbit our Sum" by Marcus CHOWN 
• "ANZAC Day : The New Zealand Story - What it is and why it matters" by Phillippa WERRY

Roald Dahl Day 2013

HAPPY ROALD DAHL DAY!

Roald Dahl wrote oodles of splendiferous books for kids and every year on 13th September people all over the world celebrate Roald Dahl and his books. 

A few facts about Roald Dahl which you might not already know:

• If he was still alive today it would be his 97th birthday
• Heaps of his books have been made into movies
• He wrote books for adults too
• There's a Marvellous Roald Dahl website with treats - make sure you have the sound turned on if you go there for a peek!
  
  

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "Good Night, Gorilla" by Peggy RATHMAN
• "Slinky Malinki, Open the Door" by Lynley DODD

Fiction Book:

• "Bad Kitty for President" by Nick BRUEL (Bad Kitty series)
• "The BFG" by Roald DAHL
• "Pearlie and the Christmas Angel" by Wendy HARMER (Pearlie series)

Senior Fiction:

• "Six Days" by Phillip WEBB

Non-fiction:

• "The Complete Guide to Flags of the World" by Brian JOHNSON BARKER
• "Physics" by Nicholas BRASCH (Go Facts series)

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "The Witch in the Cherry Tree" by Margaret MAHY; Illustrated by Jenny WILLIAMS
• "Mog the Forgetful Cat" by Judith KERR

Fiction:

• "Horse Crazy : The Complete Adventures of Bonnie and Sam" by Alison LESTER
• "Cows in Action : The Wild West Moo-nster" by Steve COLE (Cows in Action series)

Senior Fiction:

• "The Silver Sword" by Ian SERRAILLIER
• "Lily Alone" by Jacqueline WILSON

Non-fiction:

• "The Elements : A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe" by Theodore GRAY
• "Charles Dickens and his Penpals" by Tracey TURNER (Horribly Famous series)

Lego Library

For all the Lego fans here's the Lego Library created by Mr. Library Dude. 

This image from HERE

You can see more pictures of the Lego Library and a short video clip, as well as find out a little about the story behind Mr. Library Dude's Lego Library in his blog post HERE.

This image from HERE

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "Silly Suzy Goose" by Petr HORACEK
• "Little Red and the Cunning Kuri" by Chris GURNEY; Illustrated by Sarah ANDERSON

Fiction:

• "Lulu Bell and the Birthday Unicorn" by Belinda MURRELL (Lulu Bell series)
• "Billionaire Boy" by David WALLIAMS
• "Following the Trail of Marco Polo" by Geronimo Stilton (Geronimo Stilton - Graphic Novel series)
• "The Great Ice Age" by Geronimo Stilton (Geronimo Stilton - Graphic Novel series)

Senior Fiction:

• "Cyclone Bola : Gisborne 1988" by Kath BEATIE (My New Zealand Story series)

Non-fiction:

• "WOW! Earth" by John WOODWARD (WOW! series)
• "Blue Smoke : Portraits from the Lost Dawn of New Zealand Popular Music" by Chris Bourke

And Another Book Sculpture

Image from Pinterest HERE

This book sculpture is by Curt Lund.

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "Goldie and the Three Penguins" by Chris GURNEY; Illustrated by Sarah ANDERSON
• "Zorro Gets an Outfit" by Carter GOODRICH

Fiction:

• "The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket" by John BOYNE
• "Judy Moody Around the World in 8 1/2 Days" by Megan McDONALD (Judy Moody series)
• "Tom Gates is Absolutely Fantastic (At Some Things)" by Liz PICHON (Tom Gates series)

Senior Fiction:

• "Coco Caramel" by Cathy CASSIDY (Chocolate Box Girls series)

Non-fiction:

• "Tennis" by Cilve GIFFORD (Know Your Sport series)
• "Swimming" by Paul MASON (Know Your Sport series)

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "Mr Brown Can Moo! Can You?" by Dr SEUSS
• "Perky the Pukeko goes to School" by Michelle OSMENT; illustrated by SUNSET

Fiction:

• "Dragonbreath" by Ursula VERNON (Dragonbreath series)
• "Alice-Miranda on Holiday" by Jacqueline HARVEY (Alice-Miranda series)
• "The Abominables" by Eva IBBOTSON

Senior Fiction:

• "Berlin Olympics" by Vince CROSS (My Story UK series)
• "Give Us The Vote" by Sue REID (My True Story UK series)

Non-fiction:

• "Anne Frank : The Diary of a Young Girl" edited by Otto FRANK & Mirjam PRESSLER
• "Snake Dictionary - An A to Z of Amazing Snakes" 

Storylines Free Family Days 2013

Coming soon:  Saturday, 17 August, 10am-3pm 

                         Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington.

For more information about guest authors and a full programme of the days events go to the Storylines Wellington Family Day page.

Book Fair 2013 - Update

St Brendan's Book Fair is over again for another year. A BIG Thank You to everyone who came along and supported our major library "fundraiser". It was our most successful Book Fair EVER with the value of sales this year earning us an amazing 37 free new books for our library collection. A BIG Thank you also to the families who purchased a "Red Dot" book for donation to the library - keep a look out for them in the library later this term, they'll all have special Book Fair 2013 Donation book plates inside!

Book Fair 2013

St Brendan's Book Fair will open after school on Wednesday, 31st July and be open before and after school until it closes on the morning of Tuesday, 6th August.

Book Fair will also be open late during Yr 3-8 Student Conferences.  

Opening Hours:                        

Wed 31st July   2.40pm-8.00pm

Thur 1st August 8.40am-9.15am

                 and    2.40pm-5.00pm

Fri 2nd August  8.40am-9.15am

                 and    2.40pm-3.15pm

Mon 5th August 8.40am-9.15am

                 and    2.40pm-3.15pm

Tues 6th August 8.40am-9.15am

Hope to see you there.

Remember all purchases from the Book Fair help 

to earn free books for our school library.