Happy Birthday!

St Brendan's Library Blog

 is Five Years Old Today!

New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults 2015 - Children's Choice

The New Zealand Book Awards for Children's & Young Adults have been revamped for 2015.  This year there are two finalist lists:

• A finalist list chosen by the 3 award judges from which they will choose the winners and ...
• A finalist list chosen by children at Children's Choice judge schools from which NZ school children like you can vote for your favourite book or books.

Over the next few days I'll be adding posts about the different Children's Choice category finalists. You can also come to the library to look at and read the books we have to help you decide which book to vote for in each category.

You can vote online HERE.

Some past overall Children's Choice Award winners have been:

2014 Children's Choice Winner

"The Three Bears ... Sort Of "

by Yvonne Morrison &

Donovan Bixley

2012 Childrens Choice Winner
"The Cat's Pyjamas"
by Catherine Foreman

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "Just Imagine" by Pippa GOODHEART; illustrated by Nick SHARRATT
• "Holy Socks" by Dawn McMILLAN; illustrated by Philip WEBB

Fiction Book:

• "Tale of a Tail" by Margaret MAHY
• "I Funny" by James PATTERSON (A Middle School story)
• "Pearlie and the Big Doll" by Wendy HARMER (Pearlie series)
• "Pearlie and the Lost Handbag" by Wendy HARMER (Pearlie series)

Senior Fiction:

• "Enchanted" by Althea KONTIS (The Woodcutter Sisters series)

Non- Fiction:

• "Heaven is for Real for Kids" by Colton, Sonja & Todd BURPA
• "Molecules : The Elements and the Architecture of Everything" by Theodore GRAY

Reading Gives You Superpowers!

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "Return of the Jedi" by Emma GRANGE (Lego Star Wars : DK Readers series)
• "In My Heart" by Jo WITEK; illustrated by Christine ROUSSEY

Fiction Book:

• "Against the Tide" by Tui T. SUTHERLAND (Spirit Animals series)
• "The Weird Book Machine" by Geronimo STILTON (Geronimo Stilton : Graphic Novel series)
• "Emerald Star" by Jacqueline WILSON (Hetty Feather series)

Senior Fiction:

• "Excalibur : The Legend of King Arthur" by Tony LEE; illustrated by Sam HART (Heroes and Heroines series)

Non- Fiction:

• "Whales and Dolphins" by Caroline HARRIS (Discover Science series)
• "Rocks and Fossils" by Chris PELLANT (Discover Science series)
• "A Treasury of NZ Poems for Children" edited by Paula GREEN; illustrated by Jenny COOPER

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.

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "Ribbit!" by Rodrigo FOLGUEIRA; illustrated by Poly BERNATENE

Mature Picture Book:

• "Asterix and the Cauldron" by Rene GOSCINNY & Albert UDERZO (Asterix series)

Fiction Book:

• "Amulet : Escape from Lucien" by Kazu KABUISHI (Amulet series)
• "Blaze and the Dark Rider" by Stacy GREGG (Pony Club Secrets series)
• "Mud Mega-Mutant" by Mac PARK (Boy vs Beast series)
• "Water Mega-Mutant" by Mac PARK (Boy vs Beast series)

Senior Fiction:

• "Storm Thief" by Chris WOODING

Non- Fiction:

• "Europe : Everything You Ever Wanted to Know" by Clive GIFFORD (Lonely Planet : Not For Parents series)
• "Living on Shaky Ground" by Matthew WRIGHT

Magnify

Magnify

Verb: 
1) make (something) appear larger than it is, especially with a lens or microscope; increase or exaggerate the importance of.  
Synonyms: enlarge - boost - enhance - maximize - increase - augment - extend - expand - amplify - intensify;  informal - blow up.
definition via Google.com

Image from Pinterest HERE

This fun picture is possible because the fishbowl acts to magnify the face of the cat. 

It works the same way that a lens or magnifying glass works because of the curved surface of the bowl and because the light travels through water and glass differently to the way they pass through air. If you'd like to find out a little more about the science behind why this happens you could take a look HERE.

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "The Empire Strikes Back" by Emma GRANGE (Lego StarWars : DK Readers series)
• "Mister Wuffles!" by David WIESNER

Fiction Book:

• "Fire and Ice" by Shannon HALE (Spirit Animals series)
• "Middle School : The Worst Years of my Life" by James PATTERSON & Charlie TEBBETTS (Middle School series)
• "Stolen Stash" by Sally RIPPIN (Billie B Mystery series)

Senior Fiction:

• "The Supernaturalist - Graphic Novel" by Eion COLFER & Andrew DONKIN; art by Giovani RIGANO; colours by Paolo LAMANNA

Non- Fiction:

• "The Uga Hunt" by Jill MACGREGOR (Children of the Pacific series)
• "Billy's Weekend" by Jill MACGREGOR (Children of the Pacific series)
• "Light and Sound" by Dr Mike GOLDSMITH (Science Kids series)

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "I Wish That I Had Duck Feet" by Dr SEUSS (writing as Theo LeSIEG); illustrated by B. TOBEY
• "Please Try to Remember the First of Octember" by Dr SEUSS (writing as Theo LeSIEG); illustrated by Art CUMMINGS
• "LMNO Peas" by Keith BAKER

Fiction Book:

• "Catching the Giant Wave" by Thea STILTON (Thea Stilton - Graphic Novel series)
• "Vampire Brat" by Angie SAGE (Araminta Spook series)
• "The Hunt for the Golden Book" byGeronimo STILTON (Geronimo Stilton series)

Senior Fiction:

• "The Spooks Nightmare" by  Joseph DELANEY (Wardstone Chronicles series)

Non- Fiction:

• "Waitangi Day : The New Zealand Story" by Philippa WERRY
• "Senses" by Jinny JOHNSON (Discover Science series)

Philippa Werry Visit

Today author Philippa Werry visited St Brendan's and spoke to our Senior Syndicate. Philippa spent her first two sessions with our Year 5&6 students and then after morning tea she spoke to our Year 7&8's. She talked about her writing and how she goes about choosing what to write about and about some of her books. Students were then able to ask her questions - some of these she didn't recall being asked before. Philippa has put some of the questions on her blog here. Is your question there?
Like many school students, our seniors have recently been studying ANZAC Day and WWI and to finish off her sessions Philippa read her picture book Best Mates, which is set in Gallipolli in WWI. The students were completely transfixed while she read and there was the odd tear filled eye as the story pulled at heart strings.

Thank you so much for your visit Philippa, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did, and thank you Mrs Williams for having the idea to invite her.

Philippa Werry books we have in our library: ANZAC Day: The New Zealand Story, Waitangi Day: The New Zealand Story, Harbour Bridge: My New Zealand Story, Lighthouse Family: My New Zealand Story, Enemy at the Gate, The Great Chocolate Cake Bake-off, The Lost Watch and Wonderful Wheels Day.

Philippa's visit was part of the New Zealand Book Council's Writers in Schools programme. You can find out more about Philippa and her books on her website HERE and the New Zealand Book Council website HERE.

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed" by Lauren CHILD
• "Children Make Terrible Pets" by Peter BROWN

Fiction Book:

• "Timmy Failure : We Meet Again" by Stephan PASTIS (Timmy Failure series)
• "Mystic and the Midnight Ride" by Stacy GREGG (Pony Club Secrets series)
• "Ice Mega-Mutant" by Mac PARK (Boy vs Beast series)
• "Ice Mega-Mutant" by Mac PARK (Boy vs Beast series)

Senior Fiction:

• "The Maze Runner" by  James DASHNER (Maze Runner series)

Non- Fiction:

• "Market Day" by Jill MACGREGOR (Children of the Pacific series)
• "Materials" by Clive GIFFORD (Discover Science series)

Audiobooks Seriously Fun Reading