Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays

This picture is from HERE

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

End of Year 2015 - Update

(Updated every day or so until 18 December 2015)

Your overdue books are coming back to the library a few per day. Congratulations to Rooms 11 & 12 who were the first classes with all student library books returned.   Well done.

The library stocktake is now almost finished. 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 2015

This picture is from HERE

Getting Ready for End of Year 2015

Image from Clipart Panda

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 - server permitting!
All library books are due back before this Friday, 4th December. You can help out by returning all your library books to the library "As Soon As Possible" and before the end of this week please.
I wonder which class will be first to return all their library books this year?

If you have any other school books

such as journals, junior reading books

and class books lying around at home

 now is a good time to return these
 to school too.

Harry Potter Prequel Movie - First Pictures Released

The first pictures from the Harry Potter prequel movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them were released earlier this month...

Image from HERE

You can find more still shots from the movie HERE too.

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "Monster Chef" by Nick BLAND
• "Charlotte's Piggy Bank" by David McKEE

Fiction Book:

• "Flora and Ulysses" by Kate DiCAMILLO
• "Princess Posey and the Perfect Present" by Stephanie GREENE (Princess Posey series)
• "Wheelnuts! : Spooky Smack Down" by KNIFE & PACKER (Wheelnuts! series)
• "Wheelnuts! : Desert Dust Up" by KNIFE & PACKER (Wheelnuts! series)

Senior Fiction:

• "Geek Girl : Geek Drama" by Holly SMALE (Geek Girl series)

Non- Fiction:

• "Ghoulish Get-Ups : How to Create Your Own Freaky Costumes" by Fifi COLSTON 
• "My Moshi Monsters Joke Book"

Strange But True ....

Image from HERE

Why are there goats up this tree?

I think this photo would make a great story starter, lets see......how good is your imagination?

• Maybe the sand is too hot to stand on
• Perhaps they're hiding from someone or something
• Maybe they're magic goats
• Maybe they're magic birds that just look like goats!

What do you think? 

You can find out why they're really up the tree HERE.

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "Yucky Worms" by Vivian FRENCH; illustrated by Jessica AHLBERG
• "The Very Noisy Bear" by Nick BLAND

Fiction Book:

• "Judy Moody, Mood Martian" by Megan McDONALD; illustrated by Peter H REYNOLDS (Judy Moody series)
• "Tom Gates : Yes! No (Maybe...)" by Liz PICHON (Tom Gates series)
• "The Shooting Star" by HERGE (Adventures of Tintin series)

Senior Fiction:

• "Big Game" by Dan SMITH

Non- Fiction:

• "Bone Collection : Skulls" by Rob COLSON  (Bone Collection series)
• "Painful Poison" by Nick ARNOLD; illustarted by Tony De SAULLS  (Horrible Science series)
• "Terrible Time" by Nick ARNOLD; illustarted by Tony De SAULLS  (Horrible Science series)

MetKids : The Metropolitan Museum of Art for Kids

"#MetKids is a digital feature made for, with, and by kids! Discover fun facts about works of art, hop in our time machine, watch behind-the-scenes videos, and get ideas for your own creative projects."

Image from HERE

You can .... Explore the Map

Image from HERE

or .... Ride in the Time Machine

Image from HERE

or .... Watch videos

Image from HERE

The above information was found on The Metropolitan Museum webpages HERE and HERE - You can find out more information on both of these webpages too.

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "This Book Just Ate My Dog!" by Richard BYRNE
• "All I Said Was" by Michael MORPURGO; illustrated by Ross COLLINS

Fiction Book:

• "EJ Spy School : Lights Out!" by Susannah McFARLANE (EJ Spy School series)
• "You Can Bet On That" by Jim BENTON (Dear Dumb Diary Year Two series)
• "Meanwhile" by Jason SHIGA

Senior Fiction:

• "The Invaders" by John FLANAGAN  (Brotherband series)

Non- Fiction:

• "Doctor" by Amanda ASKEW; illustarted by Andrew CROWSON  (People Who Help Us series)
• "Chef" by Amanda ASKEW; illustarted by Andrew CROWSON  (People Who Help Us series)
• "Vet" by Amanda ASKEW; illustarted by Andrew CROWSON  (People Who Help Us series)

P.J. Sheppard Visit

Yesterday author PJ Sheppard visited St Brendan's and read his picture book Davey's Hairy Fear to our year 3 and 4 students. He then talked about the process he goes through when he writes and where he gets his ideas from. He also explained that although a picture book is quite short there are many steps to go through from the first ideas and plans, through adjustments and improvements to the final book, it takes months and months. Some people illustrate their own picture books but PJ said although he's good at writing, he's not so good at drawing so he asked someone else to illustrate his book. Afterwards there was time for a few questions before PJ needed to head away to his next appointment. Thanks for your visit yesterday PJ, it was a great way to start the week! 

PJ Sheppard was born in New Zealand but now lives near Melbourne, Australia. Davey's Hairy Fear is the first of three books about Davey, that PJ has written, the other two books will be available in 2016. You can find out more about PJ's books on his website HERE.

Look out for a copy of Davey's Hairy Fear in our library soon.

On the New Books Display this Week

Picture Book:

• "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" by Mo WILLEMS
• "Don't Let the Pigeon Stay up Late!" by Mo WILLEMS
• "Sophie and Rose" by Kathryn LASKY; illustrated by Wendy Anderson HALPERIN

Fiction Book:

• "Eva The Enchanted Ball Fairy" by Daisy MEADOWS (Rainbow Magic series)
• "Friday Barnes : Big Trouble" by R.A. SRATT (Friday Barnes series)
• "House of Robots" by James PATTERSON & Chris GRABENSTEIN

Senior Fiction:

• "I am Not Esther" by Fleur BEALE

Non- Fiction:

• "The Ulitimate Kid's Joke Book : Hours of Side Splitting Fun" edited by Fiona TULLOCH
• "Underworld : Secret World Beneath Your Feet" by Jane PRICE; illustrated by James Gulliver HANCOCK

New Zealand Book Week 2015

Ooops I almost forgot... It's NZ Book Week a week where we celebrate NZ books and NZ authors. Have you read or bought a book by a NZ author this week? If not, it's OK, there's still time :)