After concentrating on the reviews from the boys earlier in the week, it's time to find out what the girls have been reading today.
Mackenzie had to read about a famous person and she chose a book called Who is Queen Elizabeth by June Eding. She didn't like King Henry VIII very much but enjoyed reading about England at the time of Elizabeth I and especially when the English Navy defeated the Armada (Spanish Navy). Mackenzie also read The Black Stallion and Flame by Walter Farley (one of my favourites at her age). She thought is was awesome, very exciting and gave it five stars.
Ashleigh had to read a non-fiction book about animals and her review is on Whales and Dolphins by Caroline Bingham. She called the book interesting with lots of information, although she did think she might have to get another book out as well if she was using it to do a school project.
Nicole thought Pish Posh by Ellen Potter was very exciting. She recommends it as a book where the mystery is a bit different because you can't guess the ending.
Rowan read a New Zealand book Big Fish Little Fish by Melanie Drewery. Her favourite character was Grandad and her least favourite was Jim. She thought it was awesome and interesting and particularly liked when they went fishing.
Ashleigh reviewed the Ingo trilogy by Helen Dunmore (Ingo, The Tide Knot and The Deep). This magical trilogy is based on the mermaid legend and she thinks it is an awesome series.
Friday, 15 January 2010
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Rodney Writes!
The Rodney Writes writing competition 2010 is open for entries. The theme is "Your Story". You can write a short story up to 2,500 words on any topic of your choice. Write to inspire, provoke, excite or entice your reader. There are three categories:
Premier Award: 1st prize $1000, runner up $500
Open only to entrants who have had creative writing published or broadcast for payment previously.
Premier Award: 1st prize $1000, runner up $500
Open only to entrants who have had creative writing published or broadcast for payment previously.
Novice Award: 1st prize $500, runner up $200
Open only to entrants who have not had creative writing published or broadcast for payment previously.
Open only to entrants who have not had creative writing published or broadcast for payment previously.
Young Writers Award: 1st prize $500, runner up $200
Open only to entrants under the age of 18 as at 1 January 2010.
Open only to entrants under the age of 18 as at 1 January 2010.
Important dates:
Entries open - now!
Entries open - now!
Closing date: 5 March 2010
Awards evening: 5 May 2010
Awards evening: 5 May 2010
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Library on Location
The 143rd Warkworth A & P Show is held this weekend. Cross your fingers for fine weather on Saturday 16th January because the Library will be there.
We took the Library to the Show for the first time last year and got a fantastic response from the community. This year we are back, bigger and brighter than ever.
One of the highlights will be the 15 minute storytimes we will be having. I will be encouraging you all (big and small) to join me in songs, rhymes and if you are good, will read you some stories as well. We have some fantastic new picture books just in, plus some classics, which I know you will enjoy.
Storytimes will be held:
We took the Library to the Show for the first time last year and got a fantastic response from the community. This year we are back, bigger and brighter than ever.
One of the highlights will be the 15 minute storytimes we will be having. I will be encouraging you all (big and small) to join me in songs, rhymes and if you are good, will read you some stories as well. We have some fantastic new picture books just in, plus some classics, which I know you will enjoy.
Storytimes will be held:
- 10 am
- 11 am
- 12 noon
- 1 pm
There will also be books for sale, if you have your library card with you there are books that can be taken out and if you don't have a library card at all, we can sign you up. We also have photos and information about all our Library Programmes.
Look out for the big white van with the big red van painted on the side of it. We are right next to the Rodney District Council tent and look forward to seeing you there.
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Summer Reading programmes continue
There is only one week left for children to complete the Rodney Libraries two Summer Reading Programmes. Dive into Reading has been focussed on the 5 - 8 year olds and encouraging them to show off their reading skills to the librarians, while Library Monopoly has been encouraging the older children to read a range of different books as they roll the dice on our special Board.
The book reviews are flooding in. Here are some more recommended by our young readers.
The book Chantelle enjoyed most was Fartsy Claus by Mitch Chivus. This picture book was exciting & funny with (of course) Santa being the favourite character. The part Chantelle liked best was "All of it especially when Santa ate the beans and didn't stop farting. I recommend this book because: it is a very funny book for children." Chantelle gave it a Star Rating of ***** for Awesome.
Jacob took a book I recommended to him from the Adult non-fiction shelves, The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hal Iggulden. This has lots of things for boys (big and little) to do or read about together. Jacob was particularly interested in the rules to soccer but said the whole book was exciting with "lots of historical facts and it teaches you how to do lots of cool stuff". It also got *****.
Glyn had to read a funny book and chose Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People by Dave Pilkey. He recommends this book because it was cool and funny. He especially liked when George and Harold changed the letters on a sign next to the teacher's entrance. it was from "push button to open door" to "push on butt to open door".
Miles had to read a book that I recommended to him. I gave him a couple of options and he read Gladiator Boy, one of our new books by David Grimstone. He found it really exciting with a mysterious ending because you don't know what's going to happen next. Miles recommends this book, not only because of the story, but because of the interesting descriptive words and the great illustrations. He will definitely be reading the next book to find out what happens to Decimus Rex. This was one of the best book reviews I have received so far this summer.
Duncan thought that the Louis Sachar classic young adult novel Holes was awesome, describing it as exciting funny and scary all at the same time. He thought the best part was when Stanley crashed the water truck in a hole. Duncan recommends this book because of the way it is written and how there is a goal in what they (the characters) do, which I thought was a very perceptive comment.
I seem to have concentrated mainly on the boys this time round, so later in the week I will let you know what the girls have been reading.
The book reviews are flooding in. Here are some more recommended by our young readers.
The book Chantelle enjoyed most was Fartsy Claus by Mitch Chivus. This picture book was exciting & funny with (of course) Santa being the favourite character. The part Chantelle liked best was "All of it especially when Santa ate the beans and didn't stop farting. I recommend this book because: it is a very funny book for children." Chantelle gave it a Star Rating of ***** for Awesome.
Jacob took a book I recommended to him from the Adult non-fiction shelves, The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hal Iggulden. This has lots of things for boys (big and little) to do or read about together. Jacob was particularly interested in the rules to soccer but said the whole book was exciting with "lots of historical facts and it teaches you how to do lots of cool stuff". It also got *****.
Glyn had to read a funny book and chose Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People by Dave Pilkey. He recommends this book because it was cool and funny. He especially liked when George and Harold changed the letters on a sign next to the teacher's entrance. it was from "push button to open door" to "push on butt to open door".
Miles had to read a book that I recommended to him. I gave him a couple of options and he read Gladiator Boy, one of our new books by David Grimstone. He found it really exciting with a mysterious ending because you don't know what's going to happen next. Miles recommends this book, not only because of the story, but because of the interesting descriptive words and the great illustrations. He will definitely be reading the next book to find out what happens to Decimus Rex. This was one of the best book reviews I have received so far this summer.
Duncan thought that the Louis Sachar classic young adult novel Holes was awesome, describing it as exciting funny and scary all at the same time. He thought the best part was when Stanley crashed the water truck in a hole. Duncan recommends this book because of the way it is written and how there is a goal in what they (the characters) do, which I thought was a very perceptive comment.
I seem to have concentrated mainly on the boys this time round, so later in the week I will let you know what the girls have been reading.
Monday, 11 January 2010
Other people's favourites
These holidays I've been reading books that other people have recommended to me. I'm not sure whether they're all favourites (if so, I know at least one very disturbed person...) or just titles that have come up in conversation. We were talking about the books they like to re-read so there has to be some kind of love in there.
Being dead by Jim Crace.
If I'd read the summary I would have known what this book was going to be about. Essentially it's a beautifully written explanation of what happens to a corpse when it decays. Warning - don't read it when you're eating unless you have a strong stomach.
Summary: Lying in the sand dunes of Baritone Bay are the bodies of a middle-aged couple. Celice and Joseph, in their mid-50s and married for more than 30 years, are returning to the seacoast where they met as students. Instead, they are battered to death by a thief with a chunk of granite. Their corpses lie undiscovered and rotting for a week, prey to sand crabs, flies, and gulls. . . From that moment forward, Being Dead becomes less about murder and more about death. Alternating chapters move back in time from the murder in hourly and two-hourly increments. As the narrative moves backward, we see Celice and Joseph make the small decisions about their day that will lead them inexorably towards their own deaths."-- www.amazon.com
The Corfu trilogy by Gerald Durrell.
After years of hearing about "My family and other animals" I finally cracked and read the trilogy. Guess what? It's the perfect book for summer. It describes long hot lazy days with lots of insects and birdlife. Gerald has a lot of freedom to roam about Corfu by himself and with other people getting into some remarkable situations. His family (as seen from his perspective) are crazy funny.
Summary: 'The Corfu Trilogy' consists of the popular classic 'My Family and Other Animals' and its sequels, 'Birds, Beasts and Relatives' and 'The Garden of the Gods'. All three books are set on the enchanted island of Corfu in the 1930s, and tell the story of an eccentric English family who moved there.
Good omens : the nice and accurate prophecies of Agnes Nutter, a witch : a novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.
A Pratchett/Gaiman crossover? Brilliant. Written before they became famous this is an interesting mix of their two styles. It's clever and loud out loud funny in places. The ending may seem a bit deus ex machina but you can't accuse them of keeping it secret....
Summary: The world is going to end next Saturday, just before dinner, but it turns out there are a few problems--the Antichrist has been misplaced, the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse ride motorcycles, and the local representatives from heaven and hell decide, on the whole, they prefer the Earth the way it is.
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham.
The last time I tried to read a book by this author someone had ripped out the last few pages so I have no idea what happened. Thankfully this hadn't happened to this book. Well written, easy to read. Some startling scenes interspersed with descriptions of day-to-day life.
Summary: In the community of Waknut it is believed mutants are the products of the Devil and must be stamped out. David's ability to communicate by "thought shapes" is a dangerous secret. When he and his friends are discovered, the results are horrific.
Being dead by Jim Crace.
If I'd read the summary I would have known what this book was going to be about. Essentially it's a beautifully written explanation of what happens to a corpse when it decays. Warning - don't read it when you're eating unless you have a strong stomach.
Summary: Lying in the sand dunes of Baritone Bay are the bodies of a middle-aged couple. Celice and Joseph, in their mid-50s and married for more than 30 years, are returning to the seacoast where they met as students. Instead, they are battered to death by a thief with a chunk of granite. Their corpses lie undiscovered and rotting for a week, prey to sand crabs, flies, and gulls. . . From that moment forward, Being Dead becomes less about murder and more about death. Alternating chapters move back in time from the murder in hourly and two-hourly increments. As the narrative moves backward, we see Celice and Joseph make the small decisions about their day that will lead them inexorably towards their own deaths."-- www.amazon.com
The Corfu trilogy by Gerald Durrell.
After years of hearing about "My family and other animals" I finally cracked and read the trilogy. Guess what? It's the perfect book for summer. It describes long hot lazy days with lots of insects and birdlife. Gerald has a lot of freedom to roam about Corfu by himself and with other people getting into some remarkable situations. His family (as seen from his perspective) are crazy funny.
Summary: 'The Corfu Trilogy' consists of the popular classic 'My Family and Other Animals' and its sequels, 'Birds, Beasts and Relatives' and 'The Garden of the Gods'. All three books are set on the enchanted island of Corfu in the 1930s, and tell the story of an eccentric English family who moved there.
Good omens : the nice and accurate prophecies of Agnes Nutter, a witch : a novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.
A Pratchett/Gaiman crossover? Brilliant. Written before they became famous this is an interesting mix of their two styles. It's clever and loud out loud funny in places. The ending may seem a bit deus ex machina but you can't accuse them of keeping it secret....
Summary: The world is going to end next Saturday, just before dinner, but it turns out there are a few problems--the Antichrist has been misplaced, the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse ride motorcycles, and the local representatives from heaven and hell decide, on the whole, they prefer the Earth the way it is.
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham.
The last time I tried to read a book by this author someone had ripped out the last few pages so I have no idea what happened. Thankfully this hadn't happened to this book. Well written, easy to read. Some startling scenes interspersed with descriptions of day-to-day life.
Summary: In the community of Waknut it is believed mutants are the products of the Devil and must be stamped out. David's ability to communicate by "thought shapes" is a dangerous secret. When he and his friends are discovered, the results are horrific.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)