There are lots of fabulous redheads in movies that you can get out from the library. If the one you want isn’t at your branch then just reserve it! Here’s a list of some of them, if you think of more please add them into the comments section.

• Ariel, The Little Mermaid which also has a sequel Return to the Sea
• Intelligent and independent Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables
• Courageous Jane and the Dragon
• Fiesty crimefighter Kim Possible
• From an old house in Paris, little Madeline
• Princess Fiona, wife of Shrek
• Russian princess Anastasia Nikolaevna
• Foxy Maid Marion in Robin Hood
• Wendy’s daughter, Jane in Return to Neverland
• Eliza in The Wild Thornberrys
• Dangerously flirty Lola (Angelina Jolie) in Shark Tale 
• Tigger and Pooh’s cute friend Darby in Super Sleuth Christmas Movie

On Sunday August 31 Te Papa is launching New Zealand Book Month with a day of fun events and activities for kids!

10.30-11.00am: Capital E National Theatre for Children - Kiwi Moon Puppet Performance

11.30-12.00pm: Joy Cowley’s award winning book Snake and Lizard comes to life

12.30-1.00pm: Dress up competition with Lynley Dodd (Hairy McLary)

1.30-2.00pm: Fifi Colston - craft and illustration for kids

2.30-3.00pm: Kate DeGoldi and Jacqui Colley present their popular Lolly Leopold books with readings and badge making

3.30-4.00pm: Mike Dickinson will teach kids great ukulele tunes for the Great Wellington Ukulele Off… so come along with your ukuleles!

Check out the NZ Book Month website for more information.

The Egyptians believed in an afterlife. When someone died they believed that the person’s “Ka”, or double, lived on. Therefore, the Egyptians would preserve a person’s body, so that the “Ka” could bring the body back to life in the afterlife.

The bodies of the dead would be embalmed. The internal organs, such as the intestines, stomach, liver and lungs, were removed and placed in jars called canopic jars. The heart was left in the body to be weighed in the afterlife. The body would then be dried out with natron crystals. Once it was dry, the body was wrapped in linen bandages.

Then the body could be placed in its coffin. If someone was wealthy, they could have several, highly decorated layers to their coffin. Pharaohs were placed in tombs with their canopic jars, weapons, clothes, furniture and jewellery.

For more on Egyptians check out this book.

Hi! This poll is for all you Olympics fans! Which sports have you enjoyed watching so far? Vote on our poll to let us know what you think. You could also comment on this post to let us know what your favourite bits have been so far!

p.s. you can also get to the poll from the kids homepage.

Elizabeth was born on September 7th 1533. This Royal Diary covers the year 1544 when she was 11. Elizabeth’s father King Henry VIII has just married his sixth wife - Elizabeth’s fourth step-mother! Elizabeth’s mother was Anne Boleyn. Anne married Henry in 1533 and three years later he had  her head cut off! (He married his third wife just eleven days later. What a brute!) Elizabeth has been banished to the country for most of her life but her kind new stepmother has convinced the King to let her come to Court. My favourite bit is when Elizabeth describes her ‘quite, no, very fat’ father being winched onto his horse by four servants and a crane. He is too heavy to get on his horse by himself and has ‘terrible sores’ on his legs that make them swell up. Yuck! Princess Elizabeth thinks it’s nearly as much fun as watching tournaments.

Library Week is coming up soon (18 to 24 August), and as part of Library Week you guys have the chance to let the country know what you think of kiwi books. You can register on The Lunch Pack website and review books through video, podcasts or just by writing… during Library Week the top 25 kiwi kids’ books will be announced!

Currently there are 28 summer sports on the Olympic Games programme for this year. Approximately 10,500 athletes are expected to participate in this year’s games. Did you know that the 28 summer sports break down into 302 events?! Some of the sports are: archery, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, boxing, canoe/kayak flatwater, canoe/kayak slalom, cycling BMX, cycling mountain bike, cycling road, cycling track, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics artistic, gymnastics rhythmic, trampoline, handball, hockey, judo, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, softball, swimming, softball, synchronized swimmimg, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, triathlon, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, and wrestling. Interesting aye?! See any sports you could try for? So keep doing your swimmimg lessons, bouncing on your trampoline, riding your BMX and playing table tennis! They are Olympic sports!

Bet lots of you will be learning about the Olympic Games to be hosted by China soon. If you want to know more about China, Modern China is a great new book in a series  published by DK Eyewitness books. The layout is great with tons of photos and info on topics like megacities, family life, fashion and much more. There is also a bonus clipart CD for any projects. 

I came across the book Taming the Sun by Gavin Bishop and was engrossed with it. It is sort of a quick read one and has lots of wonderful illustrations. It has four Maori myths in one book so you really get a cool deal. The stories are entertaining and it always has a bit of moral lesson in each one. The stories are

• Maui and the Sun
• Kahu snd the taniwha
• Maui and the big fish
• Rona and the moon

It illustrates the rich Maori culture and myths and legends. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

Hey guys its only four days to go till the Olympics start! Check out the official website for the Olympics: http://en.beijing2008.cn/ . Also check out New Zealand’s official site: http://www.olympic.org.nz/Front.aspx?ID=3783 . Our team is already there and they are saying how hot it is! Check out this site also: http://tvnz.co.nz/content/olympics_2008_index/olympics_index . It’s going to be very exciting to watch…..