Sally Rippin Holiday Program - Billie B Brown

Image taken from sallyrippin.com

Author Sally Rippin has launched a FREE Holiday Program. If you love Billie B Brown then head over HERE now for Billie B Brown activities and other fun. If you want to know which Billie B Brown books will be featured, and when, check out the book schedule HERE. 

Remember to make sure it's OK with mum, dad or another grown up before you to sign up to anything online.

Read Alikes

Do you have a favourite author or book? Do you want to read something else like it? Take a look at the "Book Sites Worth a Look" list of links down the right hand side of the blog for some sites you can look at for ideas on what to read next...

Here's a new addition I've added to the list today...

Happy Birthday, Pippi Longstocking!

Pippi Longstocking, the strongest girl in the world, turns 70 this month - though she still doesn't look a day over nine!

Image from Publishers Weekly HERE

Last week kids and grown-ups all over the world celebrated Pippi's birthday you can find out more about them and see other photos at the Publishers Weekly Happy Birthday, Pippi Longstocking article HERE.

You can find out more about the Pippi Longstocking books on my earlier Pippi Longstocking blog post.

Cathy Cassidy

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

Cathy Cassidy is a British author who writes for young adults and more recently for younger readers. Her books are especially popular with girls.

Cathy was born in Coventry in 1962, and wrote her first book at about the age of eight for her younger brother. She has worked as a teacher, an editor of Jackie magazine and for 12 years was an agony aunt for Shout magazine. Cathy has been a vegetarian for 35 years and loves chocolate - she's not alone there I'm sure!  She's married and lives in the Galloway hills in Scotland with her husband, two teenage children, two dogs, two cats and a rabbit.

Cathy's recent books are from the Daizy Star series (for younger readers) and The Chocolate Box Girls series about five girls whose parents start a business making chocolate truffles (Yum!).

Currently we have 7 books by Cathy Cassidy in the Senior Fiction section (including 3 books in the The Chocolate Box Girls series) and 2 books in the Daizy Star series in the Fiction section of our library.

Upper Hutt Library currently holds copies of about 16 books by Cathy Cassidy, 1 of them is in the Teen fiction section, and 1 is on order.

The above information about Cathy Cassidy was adapted from HERE, HERE and HERE. You can find out more about Cathy, her books and other cool stuff on her website.       The photo of Cathy Cassidy at the top of this post is from her website.

Mrs Keane recommends ...

 Fiction

Northwood by Brian Falkner
(Adventure/Fantasy) Cecelia Undergarment is a courageous girl. When she discovers a neighbour's dog needs her help she hatches a plan. Unfortunately her plan didn't involve the place she finds herself, Northwood Forest, a dark and mysterious place from which no one has ever returned. 
(Book trailer HERE)

An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo

(Historical-WWII) Lizzie's father is fighting in the war, her mother works at Dresden Zoo. To save a zoo elephant Lizzie's mum brings it home to live in their backyard. But when the bombing starts it's not safe there either and the family and elephant must leave to find somewhere safe to stay.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda series by Tom Angleberger
(Humorous stories) Tommy's friend Dwight does some weird things, but he does one cool thing - origami. One day he makes a Yoda finger puppet, and Yoda gives great advice that really works. Tommy wants to know how Yoda can be so smart when Dwight really isn't smart. Is Yoda using The Force?
(Book trailer HERE)

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

(Historical/Children's Classic) Orphaned Mary is sure she won't like living at her uncle's estate until she finds a secret garden, locked and forgotten since the death of her aunt. Mary starts working on the garden to restore it to its former glory. When she finds she has a young invalid cousin living in the house she hopes the secret garden will work its magic on him too.

Grimsdon by Deborah Abela
(Science fiction/Adventure) When the sea surged into Grimsdon three years ago many were rescued, some were lost. Those left behind inhabit the floors of buildings which still rise above the water. Isabella, Griffen and friends survive by scavenging, hiding from bounty hunters & making deals. But these aren't their only worries, they also fear the monster of the deep!
(Book trailer HERE)

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.

Mrs Keane recommends ...

Senior Fiction:

Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld (Science Fiction/Steampunk):

In an alternate 1914 Europe, Prince Alek is on the run from the Clanker Powers who are attempting to take over the world using machinery, he forms an uneasy alliance with Deryn who, disguised as a boy, is learning to fly genetically-engineered beasts.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (Time travel):

Miranda and Sal are best friends but when Sal gets punched by a new kid for no apparent reason, he shuts Miranda out of his life. Then she finds a mysterious note scrawled on a tiny slip of paper: I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own. I ask two favours...

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (Science Fiction):

A story of a catastrophic natural disaster which catapults one into a terrifyingly real world - where life as we know it has gone for ever... Through journal entries sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family’s struggle to survive.

Spooks Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney (Horror):

Thomas Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son and has been apprenticed to the local spook. The job is hard, the spook is distant and many apprentices have failed before him. Somehow Thomas must learn how to exorcise ghosts, contain witches and bind boggarts.

H.I.V.E. series by Mark Walden (Thriller/Science Fiction):
Swept away to a hidden academy for training budding evil geniuses, Otto, a brilliant orphan, Wing, a sensitive warrior, Laura, a shy computer specialist, and Shelby, an infamous jewel thief, plot to beat the odds and escape the prison known as H.I.V.E.

Princess Plot by Kirsten Boie (Suspense):
When auditions take place for a movie about a princess, Jenna is amazed to be chosen over her more talented friends. Strangely, even Jenna’s strict mother gives permission for her to fly off to begin filming in the small, romantic kingdom of Scandia. But soon Jenna discovers things aren’t what they seem. She’s the spitting image of the real Princess of Scandia - who’s mysteriously gone missing... An extraordinary coincidence - or is Jenna caught up in some sort of dangerous plot?"

Tunnels series by Roderick Gordon & Brian Williams (Fantasy/Adventure):

Will Burrows has little in common with his family except for a passion for digging which he shares with his father. When his father suddenly disappears down an unknown tunnel, Will decides to investigate with his friend Chester. Soon they find themselves deep underground, where they unearth a dark and terrifying secret.

Beauty by Robin McKinley (Fairytale adaption):

A retelling of the story of Beauty and the Beast. Contrary to her name, Beauty is not the prettiest girl in her family. But she is the cleverest, bravest, and most honorable. When her father makes a promise with a beast who lives in an enchanted castle, Beauty fulfills her father’s pledge.

Mortal Engines series by Philip Reeve (Science Fiction/Steampunk):

Set in the distant future, when cities move about and consume smaller towns. Tom lives in London and has a boring job at the Museum.  He unexpectedly gets a chance to fulfill his day-dream of being a hero, as he attempts to save a famous adventurer from a would-be assassin. But Tom is not at all prepared for what happens next...

Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson (Historical-Germany/Suspense):

After twelve-year-old Annika, a foundling living in late nineteenth-century Vienna, inherits a trunk of costume jewelry, a woman claiming to be her aristocratic mother arrives and takes her to live in a strangely decrepit mansion in Germany.

Read it! Loved it! Now Updated

Earlier in the year I made a post about the site Read it! Loved it!  Todays post is to let you know that Read it! Loved it! has been updated and it now includes recommended reads for boys aged 10 to 16+ as well as girls.  So if you're stuck for ideas of what to read next why not take a look - you might find just what you've been looking for.

Read it! Loved it!

Read it! Loved it! is a site set up to help girls aged 10-19 find great fiction books to read. The site is run by teacher librarian Mr Gavin Jones who has read all of these books and can personally recommend them. It's divided into school year levels (including approximate ages) and gives suggestions of books for different fiction genre as well as giving overall favourites at each year level. There are some purple buttons (Mr Jones likes purple!) on the bottom of the home page where you can find out other stuff about reading and books, about Mr Jones and where you can also make suggestions or comments. Even better for todays tech world - the site has been designed to be used on mobile phones too. 

St Brendan's library has many of the books recommended at Read it! Loved it! for Year 6 to Year 8  and I can personally recommended many of these books myself too.

An equivalent site for boys is also planned.

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.

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?

Milly-Molly-Mandy

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

Milly-Molly-Mandy lives in a “nice white cottage with a thatched roof” along with her father, mother, aunt, uncle, and grandparents. They have a small farm and Milly-Molly-Mandy gets to ride to market with her grandfather in the pony and trap, paddle in the brook, keep a little yellow duckling, and grow a pumpkin in her own vegetable patch. She also has two friends, called Susan and Billy Blunt, and together they sleep outside in tents made from sheets and kitchen chairs, learn to cycle on two old bicycles, and make a little house together in a tree.

Picture Source

The Milly-Molly-Mandy stories were written and illustrated by Joyce Lankester Brisley who was born in Bexhill, England in 1896. Most of the Milly-Molly-Mandy stories were first published in the Christian Science Monitor, and then collected into three volumes: Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories (1928), More of Milly-Molly-Mandy (1929) and Further Doings of Milly-Molly-Mandy (1932). A fourth volume of stories, Milly-Molly-Mandy Again was published in 1948.  In 1992, Puffin published the four books together in a single volume titled The Adventures Of Milly-Molly-Mandy.

We have The Adventures Of Milly-Molly-Mandy in the fiction section of our library.

Upper Hutt Public Library has five Milly-Molly-Mandy titles and one audio book in the Children's section.

Most of the above information was obtained or adapted from: here, here and here.

Little Women

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

Little Women, a novel written by Louisa May Alcott, is the heartwarming story of the March family that has thrilled generations of readers. It was originally published in two volumes in 1868 (Little Women) and 1869 (Good Wives), and was first published as a single volume in 1880. It is the story of four sisters - Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth - and of the courage, humor and ingenuity they display to survive poverty and the absence of their father during the American Civil War. The novel  is loosely based on the author's childhood experiences growing up with her three sisters and was written and set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts. Two sequels featuring the March sisters were also published, Little Men in 1871 and Jo's Boys in 1886.

A number of Movie and Television adaptions have been filmed, the most recent in 1994.

We have a copy of Little Women in the Senior Fiction.  Other books by Louisa May Alcott are available from Upper Hutt Public Library.

For more information about Louisa May Alcott try this biography.

The information above was adapted from  here and here.