Hello,

This month we’ve got some new series books. There’s the new 39 Clues book, The Black Circle, the new Charlie Bone (Charlie Bone and the Red Knight), and the next instalment in the Rondo series by Emily Rodda (The Battle for Rondo).

There are other interesting new books too, from monstrous saltwater crocodiles to werewolf warriors and a Viking adventure. Visit the My Library Children’s Fiction page for more descriptions!

Sandy our author says – ‘Yes you do. You need to be historically accurate. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use your imagination. Much of history is undocumented. We don’t know exactly what happened so we make realistic guesses.

While writing Samurai Kids I spent days researching 17^th century Japan. Many story features were determined by what happened in the past. I can’t change the clothes the samurai wore, their hairstyle or katana swords. History has a detailed record of the samurai way of life.

But history doesn’t have a record of Sensei Ki-yaga or Niya – they aren’t real people. One way to write imaginative history is to invent characters. If you write about real people you need to be true to what is known about them. If you create people then you can create their life and adventures.

So I can’t change how Niya dressed, or the skills he learned but I can invent his friends, his teacher, the Cockroach ryu where he trains and all the adventures a one-legged samurai might have.

My favourite advice about writing history is: go to the library junior reference section and find books with pictures. Pictures show you historical accuracy and kick-start your imagination. What is the person in the picture doing? What can he see from the castle wall? Who is coming to the castle tomorrow?

Getting the facts right doesn’t limit your imagination. It helps you pretend you were really there.’

Hey guys I found this really cool site called Toondoo that you can make your own cartoons on. It’s quite neat to see how they turn out. Check out the one I made….Send me the link to yours when you have made one!

My name is Sandy Fussell and I write historical fiction – books set in the past. Polar Boy is about a brother and sister who lived above the Arctic Circle 800 years ago and the Samurai Kids lived in Japan almost 400 years ago. I write about ancient history because I find it interesting. I like to imagine what it was like to live then. People had to be more resourceful, they couldn’t ring anyone for help.

Kids, no older than you, had amazing adventures. In my stories a boy saves his people from a bear, a group of kids stop a war and in my next book Jaguar Warrior, a boy runs from one Aztec city to another to deliver a life saving message.

Writing is heaps of fun and history is an exciting place to be.

Hey Guys, don’t forget that tomorrow we’re celebrating 400 years since the famous astronomer Galileo first used a telescope to look at the night sky. You can join in with fun activities and science experiments at Central Library on Saturday 24 October from 2-4pm.

Find out how to make a simple telescope and try out other fun experiments exploring things such as gravity and pendulums, just like Galileo did.

All young astronomers who come along will also get to make their own special Galileo badge to take home (suitable for 5-12 year olds).

Have you meet Henry before? Henry lives in an extraordinary house. If you want to check it out step inside (wipe your feet first) and discover all the fact-packed, fun-packed information about dinosaurs in Dinosaurs by Philip Ardagh. This book is in a comic style with lots of fun pictures, so join Henry as he makes some amazing discoveries!

It turns out that we are not the only smart creatures in this planet. Animals also have some extraordinary abilities at being clever, as I had read in The Smartest Animals on the Planet, by Dr Sally Boysen. Bees have a special dance they do to show other bees the locations of flowers,  but not as fascinating as the ants who find their way home by keeping track of the number of steps they take as they search for food! I really had a great time reading this book so check it out yourself and find out more extraordinary tales of the planet’s cleverest creatures. The call number, by the way, is J591.51 in the children’s non fiction area.

You’re just a kid, right? So what can you do to change the world? Well then check out Teach your Granny to Text & other ways to change the world. This book was created by thousands of children but it has to be finished by one person in particular (you!). You can test your teacher, make a pizza, walk your dad and sticker the street.  All these things you can do to help other people or our planet. So get out there and inspire people to use everday actions to change the world.

We’re celebrating 400 years since the famous astronomer Galileo first used a telescope to look at the night sky, and you can join in with fun activities and science experiments at Central Library on Saturday 24 October from 2-4pm.
Find out how to make a simple telescope and try out other fun experiments exploring things such as gravity and pendulums, just like Galileo did.

All young astronomers who come along will also get to make their own special Galileo badge to take home (suitable for 5-12 year olds).

In Shakespeare’s time London was one of the biggest cities. It was the capital of England and had a population of 200,000 people, most of whom lived in cramped conditions inside the city walls.

London was a maze of narrow, twisting, muddy lanes. It was dirty, smelly and dangerous, with robbers waiting to attack passers-by. Despite this, London was visited by people from all over the world for business, trade and entertainment.

Part of the entertainment of London was its theatres. They were located outside the city walls so they could not be controlled by the city authorities. The Theatre was built in 1576 and was the first purpose-built theatre in London since Roman times.

Plays were performed everyday in London. When there was going to be a performance, a silk flag was flown from the theatre’s roof to let people know. Just before the play was to start at 2 o’clock, a trumpet would sound to remind people to hurry to their seats.

To find out heaps of stuff about Shakespeare have a look at what we’ve got in the library!