Showing posts with label Fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fantasy. Show all posts

Thursday, February 18, 2016

New Harry Potter Book

Image via Twitter HERE

Have you heard? There's going to be a new book about Harry Potter!!

The book will be released on Harry's birthday, the 31st of July 2016. It will be different to the other books because it won't be a novel, it will be the script of the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts I & II, in book form. The play opens in London the day before the book is released. As you will imagine A LOT of Harry Potter fans in New Zealand, and around the world, will not be able to go to London to see the play, so although it's not the novel we might have all wished for, at least we'll find out whats happened to Harry after he's left Hogwarts.

I've adapted the above information from HERE and HERE - where you can also go to find out more.

Monday, September 29, 2014

Mrs Keane recommends ...

Senior Fiction:



City of Bones (Mortal Instruments series) by Cassandra Clare 
(Horror/Fantasy/Supernatural):
Clary witnesses a murder at the all-ages nightclub Pandemonium. The perpetrators seem invisible to everyone else and the body vanishes into thin air. She has witnessed a clash between ancient enemies, between a demon and Shadowhunters, and now her life will never be the same.

Tomorrow When the War Began (Tomorrow series) by John Marsden 
(War/Survival):
Ellie and her friends head off for a week camping in the Australian bush, none of them suspecting that when they return their homes will be empty and their families imprisoned by hostile invaders. They have three choices: surrender, run back into the wilderness and hide or fight to save their families and their way of life.

Claws by Mike & Rachel Grinti (Fantasy):
Emma's sister is lost to the fairies, her parents have spent all their money following any lead to find her. Now forced to live in the least desirable part of town, her parents still desperate to find her sister, Emma meets Jack, a down on his luck cat who says he knows exactly how Emma can find her sister and reunite her family.

Freedom Merchants by Sherryl Jordan (Historical/Adventure):
Liam lives in a small Irish village. It's 1615 and like many coastal villages of the time they live in fear of slave raids by Barbary Coast pirates. When his brother is taken in a raid Liam hopes that with the help of local monks they can bargain for the return of the villagers. But first they must cross the treacherous, pirate infested waters before they can begin their search.

Maleficent Seven (Skulduggery Pleasant spin-off) by Derek Landy 
(Fantasy/Action/Horror):
Not for the faint hearted this is Tanith Low at her best, and worst! Tanith is desperate for Darquesse to win the coming battle and bring an end to the world. With a hand picked team she sets out to collect the four God-killer weapons together and aid her cause, but she doesn't have it all her own way as another team, the good guys, are out to find them first.


Thursday, June 5, 2014

Rick Riordan

Another in a series of posts about popular children's authors and their books

Rick Riordan was born on the 5th of June 1964, in San Antonio, Texas.

Image via RickRiordan.com HERE

Today is his birthday
 Happy Birthday Rick!

Rick started writing as a young adult but didn't take it seriously until after he had graduated from college and was teaching in San  Francisco. His first publishing successes were mysteries for adult readers. When asked by his student's why he didn't write children's books he found he didn't have a good answer for them, and so began his journey into writing books for a younger audience. Rick now writes full time but admits he enjoyed teaching and may sometime return to the classroom.

Rick is the author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, The Kane Chronicles and the Heroes of Olympus series, and also the creator of the 39 Clues series which includes books written by a number of authors including Rick himself.

The first two books in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, The Lightning Thief and Sea of Monsters, have been adapted for movies.

Currently we have 12 books written by Rick Riordan in our Fiction or Senior Fiction areas.

Upper Hutt Library currently holds copies of about 22 children's books by Rick Riordan, as well as audio versions of some books and copies of the movie adaptions.

The above information about Rick Riordan was adapted from HERE, and HERE. You can find out more about Rick, his books and other fun stuff on his website HERE too.   


Monday, October 8, 2012

Mrs Keane recommends ...

 Fiction



Thornspell by Helen LOWE
(Fairy Tale Adaption/Fantasy/Adventure) Prince Sigismund has grown up listening to stories of magical enchantments, knights and dragons, he'd love to be part of such a fantastical adventure but they're all just stories aren't they?

The Familiars series by Adam James EPSTEIN & Andrew JACOBSON
(Fantasy/Animal stories) Find out how Alwyn, a young alley cat without a speck of magic, can become the familiar of a trainee wizard. When the wizard and his fellow trainees are kidnapped Alwyn teams up with the other familiars to save them.

Alice-Miranda series by Jacqueline HARVEY
(Girls stories) Alice-Miranda is a perpetually positive seven year old girl who takes herself off to boarding school, just because it appeals to her sense of adventure and regardless of the protests from her tearful parents.

Three Doors Trilogy by Emily RODDA
(Fantasy/Adventure) The Warden of Weld asks for volunteers to venture out and find and destroy the enemy. Many young heroes volunteer and none has ever returned. Rye is too young to follow his brothers on this quest, but things change and he feels he must go now if he's to find and help them.

The One And Only Ivan by Katherine APPLEGATE
(Animal stories) Ivan the gorilla has spent most of his life with humans and the other animals in the Big Top Mall.  He has only vague memories of the time before his cage until the arrival of a young elephant who reminds him of the importance of family and belonging.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Derek Landy visits Upper Hutt

Yesterday Irish author Derek Landy visited Upper Hutt, he was co-hosted by Hutt International Boys School (HIBS) and St Brendan's School. The event was held in HIBS auditorium and students from the Hutt Valley, and perhaps a bit further afield, were welcomed by Kapa Haka performed by St Brendan's senior students. (Well done seniors, I've had some great feedback from other schools about your Kapa Haka.)

Derek began by talking about his life - from childhood till now, it took about nine minutes...  He filled in some of the rest of his talk telling us about his pets, his German Shepherd - who now lives with his parents, and two Staffordshire Bull Terriers that he adopted as older dogs.  He also told us how he became a Dog and Cat person after originally being a Dog person.  It was all the fault of this little grey cat who kept visiting him in his new house and staring at him as he was working on his next Skulduggery book. The cat kept visiting, and kept visiting and he noticed it was getting a bit thin, so he started to feed it (big mistake!) He didn't know if the cat was a boy or a girl, and he didn't ask. He soon found out when two cute wee kittens arrived.  Now he had three cats!  Derek soon discovered that cats can multiply a bit like rabbits if you're not careful and at one point he had 13 cats in his house. Lucky for him he managed to find homes for most of them with other people.

Derek is "World Famous" for his Skulduggery Pleasant series of books for children and young adults - and he has a few adult fans too I hear! We found out some interesting facts about the Skulduggery books and here are a couple that I remember from yesterday. 
  • It took him six months to write the first draft of the first Skulduggery Pleasant book, and in this first draft Tanith Lee was killed.
  • The only character that is based on a real person in some way is Skulduggery Pleasant who is based on Derek Landy  Stephanie/Valkyrie who is based on a martial arts student he knew - this helped him with how a teenage girl would react to things, he didn't know this since he was never a teenage girl.
  • There may one day be a Skulduggery Pleasant movie.
photo by Mr Lawrence
After question time those who were interested (and who remembered to bring their Skulduggery book along) were able to go and get a book signed by Derek.  A few St Brendan's students had books with them for signing - of course us adults were only in the photo with Derek Landy and the students to make up the numbers - Honest!

You can find out more about Derek Landy and the Skulduggery Pleasant books in my earlier blog post here

Friday, June 29, 2012

Christopher Paolini visits Upper Hutt

Photo by Lis at HIBS
Students from  Hutt Valley schools, and perhaps some from further afield, were yesterday treated to a presentation at Hutt International Boys School by Christopher Paolini, author of the Inheritance Cycle series. Christopher told us a little about his early childhood - he really did not want to learn to read, he even told his mother he "hated reading". At about age 5 he experienced a complete switch and became hooked on reading. The culprit was the first book he ever borrowed 'by himself' from the library, he doesn't remember the exact book but recalls it had a bright appealing cover and was a detective type story where tomato sauce was mistaken for blood!   
Christopher was Home Schooled and after graduating at age 15 he became quite bored. He dug a 2 metre deep hole in the backyard and using an abandoned satellite dish, hay bales and hunks of tree bark he created his own Medieval Mead Hall accessed via a tunnel.  He realised he needed something to keep him occupied, other that digging holes, this is when he started planning the Inheritance Cycle books.

Christopher signing books afterwards 
Christopher read favourite passages from each of the four books, briefly explaining why he liked them and then it was question time.  Earlier we'd heard that Eragon (the character) wasn't always called Eragon, at first he was going to be called Kevin!  During question time we found out that originally, when Eragon (the character)was called Kevin, Eragon (the book) was called Inheritance. We also discovered that he spends quite a lot of time online gaming - once he challenged someone who logged on as Eragon, unfortunately they were better than him and when he lost the game "You have been killed by Eragon" flashed across the screen.

My favourite Q & A was about where he got the idea for the Razak.  It turns out this idea came from the Potato Bug or Jerusalem Cricket found in Montana - Christopher described it as looking similar to the Weta found in New Zealand only smaller. One night he took a torch to investigate the horrible noise coming from another room in the house .... he discovered a huge ugly black monster - the larger than life silhouette of a Jerusalem Cricket that was sitting on the back of the couch!

New Zealand Tree Weta
Picture from here

Potato Bug or Jerusalem Cricket
Picture from here
These two bugs look pretty similar to me too.

You can find out more about Christopher Paolini here or you can watch him talk about the Inheritance Cycle books in an earlier blog post here.

P.S.  You can also read a recent interview with Christopher Paolini in Christchurch - here.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Derek Landy is coming to New Zealand

Thats right Derek Landy is visiting New Zealand and Australia later in the year.  If you'd like a chance to meet him while he's down this way then why not enter the End of the World Competition currently running on the Skulduggery Pleasant website. The competition closes on 30th April 2012 and the winner will be announced the following week.

Haven't heard about the Skulduggery Pleasant series of books before?  Then find out about it on my earlier Skulduggery Pleasant post.
I found out about this competition here and the picture is from there too.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Mrs Keane recommends....

Fiction books:


Measle and the Wrathmonk by Ian Ogilvy
(Fantasy) Measle touches his uncle's precious miniature train set, his uncle's so angry he shrinks him into the train set. There he meets all sorts of people sent there before him, and they all want to find a way out.

Lionboy by Zizou Corder
(Adventure) What do you do when you discover that your parents have been kidnapped? Well if you're brave you go looking for them of course, and if you can speak cat you have help from all your feline friends too.

Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage
(Fantasy) Septimus Heap is stolen at birth and the very same night his father rescues a baby girl from a path in the woods. The Heaps decide to bring her up as their own. But who is she, and where is Septimus?

The Adventures of Nanny Piggins by R.A Spratt
(Humorous) Nanny Piggins, the world’s most glamorous flying pig, runs away from the circus and goes to live with the Greens as their nanny.

The Key to Rondo  series by Emily Rodda
(Fantasy/Adventure) The old music box, with its strict rules, has been carefully handed down through Leo’s family for hundreds of years, but it's black lid hides an amazing secret as Leo is about to find out.

How to Train your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell
(Humorous/Fantasy) Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III wasn't always a truly extraordinary Viking Hero. In the beginning, he was the least Viking-like Viking you've ever seen. This is the story of his rise to fame.

The Mysterious Howling by Mary Rose Wood
(Historical) Fifteen-year-old Miss Penelope is hired as governess to three young children who have been raised by wolves. She must teach them to behave in a civilized manner, and quickly, before the Christmas ball.

Ice Lolly by Jean Ure
(Real Life)When her mum dies Laurel is sent to stay with relatives, they don't seem to care about anything she loves, so she decides she won't feel anything and becomes Ice Lolly, the girl with the frozen heart.

Ottoline and the Yellow Cat by Chris Riddell
(Adventure/Mystery) A string of daring burglaries have taken place all over town. Something must be done. Can Miss Ottoline Brown and her friend Mr Munroe come up with a clever plan?

Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi
(Fantasy/Graphic Novel format)  Emily and Navin move to a new home, but the strange house is dangerous. Soon a creature lures their mum through a door in the basement, they follow her into an under-ground world inhabited by demons, robots, and talking animals.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Mrs Keane recommends ...

Senior Fiction:

  
Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy (Fantasy/Horror/Humour)
In the Shadow of the Palace by Judith Simpson (Historical-India)
The 13 Treasures and sequels by Michelle Harrison (Fantasy)
The Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan (Adventure/Fantasy)
Malice and Havoc by Chris Wooding (Horror)
The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer (Fantasy/Adventure)
The Gypsy Crown by Kate Forsyth (Historical-England/Adventure)
At the Sign of the Sugared Plum & Petals in the Ashes by Mary Hooper (Historical-England)


The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R.Tolkien (Fantasy/Classic)
Send Simon Savage by Stephen Measday (Time-travel/Adventure)
The Merlin Conspiracy by Dianna Wynne Jones (Fantasy)
The Phoenix Files series by Chris Morphew (Mystery/Thriller)
Oracle by Jackie French (Historical-Ancient Greece)
The Crowfield Curse and sequel by Pat Walsh (Fantasy/Horror)
Knife and sequels by R.J.Anderson (Fantasy)
The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud (Fantasy)

You can follow the links on the book or series titles above to a review or homepage for that book or series.

Have you read any of these books? 
What books would you recommend?

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Inheritance Cycle - Interviews

Recently I discovered these short videos of Fan Question sessions with Christopher Paolini, author of the Inheritance Cycle series.  Less than two months too go now till the release of the final book in the series, Inheritance, due out in November.



I first found out about these interviews here.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Cornelia Funke

Image via The Seattle Times

Another in a series of posts about popular children's authors and their books.

Cornelia Caroline Funke (pronounced: FOON-ka) was born  in Dorsten, Germany, on 10th December 1958, she has a sister and two brothers. As a child Cornelia wanted to be an astronaut but instead she studied education theory at Hamburg University and then went on to study book illustration at design college. She began a career as a book illustrator but soon realized that she wanted to write and illustrate her own stories.  During the 1980s and early 1990s, she became well-known as an author of children's books in her native Germany, with the Ghosthunters (Gespensterjäger) and Wild Chicks (Wild Hühner) series of books. But her international breakthrough came in 1997 when Dragonrider and later The Thief Lord (2000), both huge successes in  Germany,  were  published  in  English and  brought  her  writing  to  an international audience.

Cornelia is best known for the Inkheart trilogy (Inkheart, Inkspell and Inkdeath) the first book of the series has been adapted into a movie.  Cornelia has been writing for about 25 years and has written more than 40 books.  Some 18 of her books have so far been translated into English, and this number is set to increase.

Books by Cornelia Funke we have in our library:  Princess Pigsty - a Picture Book; and copies of  Igraine the Brave; When Santa Fell to Earth; Dragonrider;  Saving Mississippi and the four books in the Ghosthunters series in the Fiction section. Also Inkheart and The Thief Lord in the  Senior Fiction section.

Upper Hutt Library currently holds copies of 14 children's books and 4 teen books by Cornelia Funke and  one Teen DVD.

The above information about Cornelia Funke was adapted from here, here, here and here.

For more information about Cornelia Funke and her books you could visit the Cornelia Funke Fansite.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Favourite Harry Potter Character

Something for Harry Potter fans as they wait for the release of the eighth and final movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 on the 14th of July.

Do you have a favourite Harry Potter Character?

Picture source
Bloomsbury, the publisher of the Harry Potter books, is asking Harry Potter Fans everywhere to vote for their favourite character and help decide who is the official Favourite Harry Potter Character.

Voting closed on Friday 26th August 2011.

You can see the results here.

Who do you think the favourite will be?

I can't help but think the favourite character will be Harry Potter .... but, it could be Professor Dumbledore .... or then again it might be Professor Snape .... Oh I don't know, I guess we'll just have to wait till 30th August to find out.

I found out about the Favourite Harry Potter Character poll here too.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Skulduggery Pleasant

Have you been tempted to read the Skulduggery Pleasant series of books or wondered what they are all about?

Take a look at this book trailer which was released late in 2010, about the same time as the latest book  in the series - Mortal Coil.  It gives you a quick peek into the world of Skulduggery Pleasant.

 

The next book in the series Death Bringer is due to be released on Thursday 1st September 2011, and three more books are planned to complete the series.  You can find out news and more at  the Skulduggery Pleasant Homepage, and watch an interview with author Derek Landy here. You can even listen to an interview with Skulduggery Pleasant - below the Read a Sample links.

The Skulduggery Pleasant books are for older readers and can be found in our Senior Fiction section.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Inheritance Cycle - Book 4

Coming soon - but perhaps not soon enough for many....

Publication of the fourth and final book in Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle has been announced by Random House NZ. Inheritance will be published simultaneously in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, USA and Canada on Wednesday 9th November 2011.

The first three books, Eragon, Eldest and Brisingr have all been international bestsellers selling over 25 million copies worldwide, with over 120,000 being sold in New Zealand.

The above information adapted from here.


Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Diana Wynne Jones

The fourth in a series of posts about popular children's authors and their books.

Diana Wynne Jones was born in London in August 1934.  Her family moved around a lot, finally settling in rural England. Neglected by their parents, she and her sisters, Isobel and Ursula, lived in a shack away from the main house. They ran wild, washed seldom and grew very close. Diana and her sisters were deprived of a good, steady supply of books by their father, 'who could beat Scrooge in a meanness contest'. So, armed with a vivid imagination and an insatiable quest for good books to read, she decided that she would have to write them herself.  Her first book was published in 1970 and her first children's book Wilkin's Tooth was published in 1973. Since then she has written some 40 science fiction and fantasy books, and is one of Britain's most respected fantasy writers. Diana's most popular books are the Chrestomanci series: Charmed Life, The Magicians of Caprona, The Lives of Christopher Chant, Conrad's Fate, Mixed Magics and Stealer of Souls, which take place in a magical chain of different worlds. Her book Howl's Moving Castle was released as an animated movie in 2004.
Books by Diana Wynne Jones we have in our library: Wilkin's Tooth, Howl's Moving Castle, Castle in the Air, The Power of Three, Stealer of Souls, Conrad's Fate, The Magicians of Caprona, The Game, The Merlin Conspiracy.

Upper Hutt Library currently holds copies of about 20 books written by Diana Wynne Jones, also a copy of the animated DVD of  Howl's Moving Castle.

The above information about Diana Wynne Jones was adapted from here and here, you can also find more information about Diana and her books here.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

The Indian in the Cupboard

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

The Indian in the Cupboard was written in 1980 by Lynne Reid Banks, it is the first in a series of books about a boy whose toy Iroquois Indian comes to life. It was made into a movie in 1995.



Omri, a young boy, discovers that when an old cabinet is unlocked with an antique key it has the power to bring small plastic figurines to life. The first toy he puts into the cabinet is a 10cm tall Iroquois Indian figure. Omri is shocked when the toy comes out of the cabinet and tells him that his name is Little Bear, and that he is from the 18th century. But Omri’s troubles really start after he puts a plastic cowboy into the cupboard and then has to deal with “Boone” the cowboy trying to kill Little Bear. Boone wounds Little Bear and Omri must try to bring a plastic WWII medic to life to save him. You will have to read the book to find out what happens next but I can tell you that the book finishes with Omri giving his mother the key so that he won’t be tempted to bring more toys to life. (I guess this idea didn't work so well as The Indian in the Cupboard is the first in a series of five books....)

We have a copy of The Indian in the Cupboard in the Fiction section. The other books in the series, and the The Indian in the Cupboard DVD, are available for borrowing from Upper Hutt Library.

Information adapted from here and here.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Eoin Colfer

This is the first in a series of posts about popular children's authors and their books.

Eoin Colfer (pronounced Owen) was born and raised in Ireland. After leaving school he gained a degree from Dublin University and qualified as a primary school teacher. He currently lives in Ireland with his wife and two children.
His first book, Benny and Omar, was published in 1998 and was based on his experiences in Tunisia where he and his wife spent time working in the 1990's. Eoin is best known for his Artemis Fowl series of books about a 12-year-old criminal mastermind from North Dublin. Artemis lives in a world where the traditional Irish folktale meets the world of modern technology - hardcase leprechauns, elves with attitude and fairies with machine guns! In 2001 when the first Artemis Fowl book was published he was able to resign from teaching and concentrate fully on writing. Eoin has also written a series of books about Will and Marty for younger readers (The Legend of ...)

Books by Eoin Colfer:
Artemis Fowl
Artemis Fowl : The Arctic Incident
Artemis Fowl : The Eternity Code
Artemis Fowl : The Opal Deception
Artemis Fowl and the The Lost Colony
Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox
Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex
The Artemis Fowl Files
Airman
Half Moon Investigations

The Supernaturalist

The Wishlist

Benny and Omar
Benny and Babe
The Legend of Captain Crow's Teeth

The Legend of Spud Murphy
The Legend of the Worst Boy in the World

We have copies of most of Eoin's books in the library.

Most of the information above has come from Eoin Colfer's official website. To find out more about him and his books visit his official website here.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

New Library Display

Have you read any scary, spooky or creepy stories recently?

Check out the spooky display now on show in the library just in time for Halloween. All of the featured books (those displayed in the library and here) are in the library, many are from series and we also have other titles in most of the series.