Kids Blog

We love Gordon Korman; he writes really great books. His latest is Schooled, which is about Cap Anderson (real name: Capricorn), who’s been brought up in a commune by his grandmother, Rain. When Rain injures herself and has to stay in hospital, Cap has to attend his local intermediate school. This is a bit tough for a boy who doesn’t know what a wedgie is. How will Cap cope in school? Will he survive even? Read it and tell us what you think. If you think it’s amazing you can nominate it as a Kids’ Choice.

Did you read Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy and think it was awesome? Well this year there’s a sequel coming out: Skulduggery Pleasant: playing with fire.

Amazon.co.uk tells us: ‘Just when you think you’ve saved the world! “You will kill her?” the Torment asked. Skulduggery sagged. “Yes.” He hesitated, then took his gun from his jacket. “I’m sorry, Valkyrie,” he said softly. “Don’t talk to me,” Valkyrie said. “Just do what you have to do.” Valkyrie parted her tunic, and Skulduggery pointed the gun at the vest beneath. “Please forgive me,” Skulduggery said, then aimed the gun at the girl and pulled the trigger. With Serpine dead, the world is safe once more. At least, that’s what Valkyrie and Skulduggery think, until the notorious Baron Vengeous makes a bloody escape from prison, and dead bodies and vampires start showing up all over Ireland. With Baron Vengeous after the deadly armour of Lord Vile, and pretty much everyone out to kill Valkyrie, the daring detective duo face their biggest challenge yet. But what if the greatest threat to Valkyrie is just a little closer to home!?’

Sounds excellent, yes? Well you can reserve it now!

After reading the post by Bridget about the book awards I decided to check out some of the books on the website. Weather watch New Zealand by Sandra Carrod is full of the most coolest weather stuff. Did you know that there are about 25 tornadoes a year in New Zealand? I didn’t. I thought that only the United States got tornadoes. It even tells you how to read a weather map like the weather reporters do when they give a weather report on the TV news. It’s got really neat experiments in it too, like how to make a barometer or a hot air balloon! Excellent ideas for school projects or science fair projects. But wait there’s more….. there’s a chapter called ’Why is Wellington so windy?’. You’re gonna have to read it to find out! I’m not telling! It’s a really cool book!

If you’re sad you’ve read all the Harry Potter books, here are a few ideas:
James Moloney, The book of lies (2004)
Henry H Neff, The hound of Rowan (Tapestry, 2007)
Susan Cooper, The dark is rising sequence
Jonathan Stroud, Bartimaeus trilogy.

You could also check out the After Harry Potter list on the kids’ catalogue for more ideas.

If you’ve got a book you think is a bit Harry Potter-ish (or maybe you think it’s even better?) then let us know!

Artemis Fowl fans will know all about Eoin Colfer. Well, maybe you also know he’s written a new book? Airman is about Conor Broekhart, who lives on the Saltee Islands off the Irish Coast in the 19th century. Conor is thrown into jail when he tries to uncover a plot to overthrow the king. While in jail he spends his time drawing flying machines, until one day he must make one of his designs a reality…

Is this a fantastic book? If you think so, let us know by nominating it as a Kids’ Choice for 2008!

The New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults recognises the best books for children and young adults published in New Zealand. Each year there is also the chance for kids to let New Zealand know which is their favourite finalist. You can vote online here. Voting closes at 5pm on Tuesday 1 May 2008.

Have you ever wondered who came up with the wonderful idea and taste of chocolate? Especially as we get closer to Easter! George Cadbury was one of the first people to make and sell chocolate bars. If you want to read more about chocolate and how it started out try The life of George Cadbury by Leonie Bennett. This book is written for ages 5-7.

Want more information about chocolate try:

Chocolate : the bean that conquered the world by Vivian French.

How is chocolate made? by Angela Royston.

If you want to read a book with chocolate in it try:

Margret and H.A. Rey’s Curious George goes to a chocolate factory by H. A. Rey

Chocolate wishes by Fiona Dunbar

Charlie and the chocolate factory  by Roald Dahl

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the book Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery, a prequel to the Anne of Green Gables series has just been published. The book is called Before Green Gables : The Prequel to Anne of Green Gables by Budge Wilson (pretty original title, don’t you think?) and it is going to tell us all about what Anne got up to before she moved to Green Gables.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Anne of Green Gables and all the other books in the series. I even LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the DVD adaptations of the books (except for Anne of Green Gables : The Continuing Saga which really had nothing to do with the books what-so-ever) and most of all, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Gilbert Blythe (if you don’t know who he is, you should read the books and then you will LOVE, LOVE, LOVE him too!).

What I’m not sure about is the idea of someone other than L. M. Montgomery writing another Anne book 100 years later. Because of that and because I am lazy and because there is absolutely no chance that Gilbert Blythe will feature in this book, I’m not going to read it….unless, someone else out there reads it first and tells me that it is the best (and I mean best) book ever! So, please, someone out there, give it a read and let me know what you think!

Follow this link for a list of all the Anne of Green Gables stuff that you can borrow from the library.

Fergus, this month’s Books to Babies competition winner, examines his prize with his mum at the Central Library.

Books to Babies is a gift pack from Wellington City Libraries to all babies in the Wellington region. For more information about the pack visit our services page.

The Vikings believed in many different Gods and Goddesses. Each god had its own personality. The main gods were Odin, Thor and Frey:
Odin was the Viking god of wisdom and war.
Thor was very strong, and Vikings would often wear Thor’s symbol, a hammer, as a pendant around their necks. Thor rode through the night sky in a chariot pulled by goats. There are many stories of his battles against giants and monsters, whom he defeated with his mighty hammer.
Frey was the god of fertility and birth. Vikings would pray to Frey for good crops, and when they married, would ask Frey to bless them with many children. Frey’s sister Freyja was the goddess of fertility and love.
Loki was part god and part devil. He loved to get into mischief.
Berserk Tyr was the Viking God of War. Warriors called Berserkir prepared for battle by wearing bearskin cloaks and working themselves into a frenzy. This was called going berserk, from the Old Norse word meaning “bear shirt”. 
For more interesting Viking facts check out this book.