As part of one of our Summer Reading Programmes, the participants have to provide us with a short book review. This has led to some very interesting discussions around the district and is a great chance for the librarians (that's us) to interact with the children and find out what they like and reading and why. Here are some extracts from Warkworth Library reviews.
The Hardy Boys: Dude Ranch O'Death by Scott Lobdell.
Miles found this book very exciting and gave it a five star rating. He recommends it because it is a "story with lots of action and humour, and the graphics help you interpret the story". (This is a graphic novelisation of the children's chapter book and is an excellent way to introduce longer stories to reluctant and emergent readers).
The Famous Five Adventures by Enid Blyton
Emily had to read a mystery book and she enjoyed trying to work out what was going on in this book. She said the part she liked best was when things started to make sense (to her this was around page 130). It had adventure, true friendship and a tiny bit of sadness which made it a good read - another five star recommendation. (We have a huge collection of Famous Five books both in print and in audio).
The Adventures of Tin-Tin by Herge.
Indiana and Tynan both landed on Fun Books and chose to read some of the Tin-Tin adventures. They thought they were really exciting, sometimes funny and once you started reading them you wanted to know more. (We have Tin Tin in Portugese, Spanish and French as well as English, so check out our catalogue).
Over the next two weeks I will be posting some reviews from the children at other libraries so look out for those.
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
Monday, 10 January 2011
Farwell to some greats
Over the extended festive season, literature lost several prolific and respected authors.
Ruth Park was born in New Zealand but spent much of her life in Australia where she published 10 award-winning adult novels, 35 books for children, two volumes of autobiography and several works of non-fiction. Read more about her life and legacy in this NZ Herald tribute
Harvey McQueen was a poet, editor, anthropologist and educator. He was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002. There is a tribute on the TV3 news website.
Dick King-Smith (real name Ronald Gordon King-Smith) is probably best known for penning the Sheep-Pig on which the move Babe was based. As well as being a soldier, farmer and teacher he was a prolific author and pets ranging from rats and mice to pheasants and dogs. There are world-wide tributes being paid to this extremely popular children's author. Read more about his life in this article from the Telegraph.
Rest in Peace. Your legacies live on in the words you have left behind.
Ruth Park was born in New Zealand but spent much of her life in Australia where she published 10 award-winning adult novels, 35 books for children, two volumes of autobiography and several works of non-fiction. Read more about her life and legacy in this NZ Herald tribute
Harvey McQueen was a poet, editor, anthropologist and educator. He was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002. There is a tribute on the TV3 news website.
Dick King-Smith (real name Ronald Gordon King-Smith) is probably best known for penning the Sheep-Pig on which the move Babe was based. As well as being a soldier, farmer and teacher he was a prolific author and pets ranging from rats and mice to pheasants and dogs. There are world-wide tributes being paid to this extremely popular children's author. Read more about his life in this article from the Telegraph.
Rest in Peace. Your legacies live on in the words you have left behind.
Friday, 7 January 2011
Popular Resolutions #3 - All the Rest
This week we are covering off library resources which will help you keep to some of the most popular New Year's Resolutions that you have made. So far we have dealt with Giving Up (smoking, drinking, etc) and the Health Kick (weight management, exercise, etc). So today let's look at some of the others.
- Time Management. This goes to the heart of resolutions such as more time for family and friends and activities that you want to pick up this year. If you are anything like me there never seems to be enough time to fit in all the things I want to do (and read all the books I want to read). Unfortunately there is no magic wand that can be waved but there are plenty of books to help you get organised, de-clutter and which give you lots of different hints on how to find extra minutes in your day. We all have different lifestyles and personalities so what works for one person might not work for another. Have a look through our collection under the subject heading of Time Management.
- Friends and Family. One of the main things people want more time for is to spend with Family and Friends. In our busy world today, sometimes those minutes aren't large which makes it difficult, especially if there are tensions to be sorted out. The key to any relationships is quality time and communication and we have a range of resources to help you through this minefield. Look under subject headings such as Families and Friendships to help you out with ideas.
- Travel. You don't have to have come into the library very often to know that we have shelves of books, travel guides and DVD's to help you plan your next holiday, give you ideas on where to go next or tell you tales of other peoples adventures. Travel Guidebooks is a good place to start but anywhere in the non-fiction shelves from Dewey numbers 910 to 919 will help you out. This is where you find your Lonely Planets, Rough Guides and all the things in between.
- Saving. Of course to be able to head away on holiday, you need to have saved a little bit of dosh to pay for the memories you are going to create. That means budgetting and saving. Or maybe this is the year you are going to buy the house, car, boat... that you always wanted. Personal Finance is one key term you can use to find resources to help you plan to reach your goal. Budgets - Personal is another one.
- Learn Something New. If you want to start doing more photography, cooking, crafts or sport. If you want to know more about our world, the past world or other worlds. A new langauge, new friends or new music. Helping others or helping yourself. The library is your one-stop shop for information to help you with all of this. All you need to do is step inside the door or you can even do it from home by checking out our website for a range of digital resources.
So that's the New Years Resolutions sorted. Good luck with yours. I have to go and find some help with mine. Have a fantastic weekend everyone. Ka kite.
Thursday, 6 January 2011
Popular Resolutions # 2 - The Health Kick
The key words for today are 'More' and 'Better'. Yes - today we are talking about diet and fitness.
After seeing a couple of comments recently on Facebook, I decided to change around the way I was thinking about these particular resolutions which are so popular. Normally I think of it in terms of Less food i.e. concentrating on the negatives. Which is why I thought if I changed them around to More exercise equals better fitness and Better health choices (i.e. diet) results in better health (i.e. a more acceptable weight) and more energy.
Exercise and Fitness - There are over 500 different resources to be found at Auckland Libraries under the subject heading of Exercise ranging from books (including audio books) to DVD's. The activites range from simple walking to martial arts, pilates and yoga to racquet and ball sports. Some of the more intriguing titles include Fit in your jeans by Friday, a DVD by Kim Kardashian and The kitchen gym : get lean while you clean by Anne-Marie Millard. If that sounds a little tame there are always the Spartan Warrior or Navy Seal workout programmes to make you sweat.
Diet - For a lot of us it is a four letter word, but it doesn't have to be that way. There are over 200 diet books alone in our catalogue and thats without going anywhere near a subject heading like Nutrition or into the cooking section. It has to be said there are a lot of Fad diets out there so it does pay to make an informed and healthy choice when you are starting a weight loss programme. A catchy title might be a good read but not necessarily the right choice for your lifestyle. For that reason and because there are over 800 resources to choose from, I personally am going to head to Nutrition to get my information.
Motivation - The thing that stops me from achieving either my fitness or weight goals is usually that I run out of puff, not just literally but also mentally. So although most good diet and exercise books include ideas to keep you on track, I have added this one in here. Check out subject headings such as Motivation and key words such as Attitude to give yourself a kick in the right direction.
Catch me for a run down on how the library might help you with some of those other popular New Year's resolutions tomorrow. Ka kite.
After seeing a couple of comments recently on Facebook, I decided to change around the way I was thinking about these particular resolutions which are so popular. Normally I think of it in terms of Less food i.e. concentrating on the negatives. Which is why I thought if I changed them around to More exercise equals better fitness and Better health choices (i.e. diet) results in better health (i.e. a more acceptable weight) and more energy.
Exercise and Fitness - There are over 500 different resources to be found at Auckland Libraries under the subject heading of Exercise ranging from books (including audio books) to DVD's. The activites range from simple walking to martial arts, pilates and yoga to racquet and ball sports. Some of the more intriguing titles include Fit in your jeans by Friday, a DVD by Kim Kardashian and The kitchen gym : get lean while you clean by Anne-Marie Millard. If that sounds a little tame there are always the Spartan Warrior or Navy Seal workout programmes to make you sweat.
Diet - For a lot of us it is a four letter word, but it doesn't have to be that way. There are over 200 diet books alone in our catalogue and thats without going anywhere near a subject heading like Nutrition or into the cooking section. It has to be said there are a lot of Fad diets out there so it does pay to make an informed and healthy choice when you are starting a weight loss programme. A catchy title might be a good read but not necessarily the right choice for your lifestyle. For that reason and because there are over 800 resources to choose from, I personally am going to head to Nutrition to get my information.
Motivation - The thing that stops me from achieving either my fitness or weight goals is usually that I run out of puff, not just literally but also mentally. So although most good diet and exercise books include ideas to keep you on track, I have added this one in here. Check out subject headings such as Motivation and key words such as Attitude to give yourself a kick in the right direction.
Catch me for a run down on how the library might help you with some of those other popular New Year's resolutions tomorrow. Ka kite.
Wednesday, 5 January 2011
Popular Resolution 1 - Giving it up
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope everyone had an excellent New Year break and made it to where you were going and back again safely. I enjoyed the sun and the beach (Martin's Bay has got to be the best beach in the world) and relaxing with with several good books.
Obviously it is that time of the year where we all do New Year's resolutions. So I am going to cram the Top 5 (or if I can manage it 10) resolutions that we all make into three posts this week and point you in the direction of some library resources that could help you. Today we start off with the Number One resolution - Giving it up!
Smoking - Allen Carr is the guru of "Giving up Smoking" books but they are also the most popular and therefore the hardest to get your hands on. Instead of putting it off until the book comes in (excuses!!), grab one of the other ones off the shelf to help you in the meantime. Simply type Smoking Cessation into our catalogue as a subject search (or just hit on the link) and you will find plenty of other books to encourage and motivate you.
Alcohol - Most of us have seen the ads on TV. If your friends and family don't like some of your 'mates' then maybe it is time to do something about it. Click on this link for Alcohol and consider if the way you are drinking needs to be modified.
There are plenty of other habits and addictions that are bad for us. Click on the following to find information in the library about just a few:
Obviously it is that time of the year where we all do New Year's resolutions. So I am going to cram the Top 5 (or if I can manage it 10) resolutions that we all make into three posts this week and point you in the direction of some library resources that could help you. Today we start off with the Number One resolution - Giving it up!
Smoking - Allen Carr is the guru of "Giving up Smoking" books but they are also the most popular and therefore the hardest to get your hands on. Instead of putting it off until the book comes in (excuses!!), grab one of the other ones off the shelf to help you in the meantime. Simply type Smoking Cessation into our catalogue as a subject search (or just hit on the link) and you will find plenty of other books to encourage and motivate you.
Alcohol - Most of us have seen the ads on TV. If your friends and family don't like some of your 'mates' then maybe it is time to do something about it. Click on this link for Alcohol and consider if the way you are drinking needs to be modified.
There are plenty of other habits and addictions that are bad for us. Click on the following to find information in the library about just a few:
Tomorrow - my big 2011 resolution (or maybe I will call it an aspiration in the hope that it will make a difference to me keeping it for longer than a couple of weeks). Fitness and diet.
Ka kite
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