Kids Blog

“‘Little Mabel blew a bubble and it caused a lot of trouble… Such a lot of bubble trouble in a bibble-bobble way. For it broke away from Mabel as it bobbed across the table, Where it bobbled over Baby, and it wafted him away.’

“Follow the hilarious efforts of the townsfolk as they chase the baby far across the town in an effort to get him down from the bubble safe and sound.” (Amazon.co.uk)

Make sure you check out Bubble Trouble by master New Zealand story teller Margaret Mahy! With illustrations by Polly Dunbar (Penguin).

Now you can keep rocking and rhyming at home!

Wellington City Libraries has produced a CD of 33 traditional songs, nursery rhymes and waiata that will appeal to all tamariki under five. The CD encourages parents to continue modelling early literacy skills by interacting with their children in a fun way.

Baby Rock & Rhyme will be on sale very soon at all library branches for only $15 per CD! For more information please call Kini Piper on 801-3737.

 The Amazing Mind of Alice Makin by Alan Shea is set in London just after World War II has ended. Alice finds her world dark and dreary, so she escapes into her imagination. When Reggie starts at her school, she’s drawn to him; together with him and her imagination the world becomes an exciting place, but are her imaginings becoming reality?

This is a great new historical book about best friendships, fantasy and reality. Check it out.

Do you like scary stories? Well if you do then check out Tales of Terror from the Black Ship by Chris Priestley. It’s about Ethan and Cathy, sick at home, who welcome a stranger into their home – the stranger has a talent for telling the most gruesome and freaky stories, so he entertains them while they wait for their father to return with the doctor, but there’s something weird and uneasy about this man…

With spooky illustrations by David Roberts.

The next instalment of the Jimmy Coates series has arrived. Called Power, the book cover says that Jimmy “discovers what some people will do for power – and what he must do to stop them.”

So who is Jimmy Coates then? He’s part average boy, part deadly weapon (he’s been genetically modified to be the “perfect government assassin”).

If you love spy books then make sure you read this series. If you love these books then also check out the Young Bond, CHERUB and Alex Rider series (and that’s just for starters)!

Leonardo da Vinci wasn’t just a painter: he liked gadgets, and he drew incredible flying, war and nautical machines. You can see these incredible inventions come to life at the Leonardo da Vinci Machines Exhibition, which is on at the New Zealand Gallery of Fine Art. Check out the website – it’s got photos of the exhibition, and they look really cool.

Ticket prices are $12.00 for adults and $8.00 for children, but there are family passes too. It’s worth a look!

Here are some French terms of endearment, expressions, and other items of note found in The Daring Book for Girls written by Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz

Terms of Endearment:

Ma petit chou means “My little cabbage” which can be used romantically to mean “my darling” or said to a younger person to mean ‘my little one”

Bonjour ma petit chou, t’as passe un bonne journee? Means “hello my little cabbage, did you have a good day?”

Ma puce means “my flea”. Bonne nuit, ma puce! means “goodnight, my flea!”

Fun French words to say:

Pamplemousse (pom-pler-mooss) is a grapefruit

Aubergine (oh-bear-jean) is an eggplant

Chantilly (shan-tee) is whipped cream OR a kind of lace

Dodo (doe-doe) is a baby’s naptime

Coucou (coo-coo) means ‘Hello there!’

Interesting French expressions:

Avoir un chat dans la gorge means you have a cat in your throat like the expression “I have a frog in my throat”

Revenons a nos moutons means “let’s get back to our sheep” whcih means to return to the subject at hand.

Oui, quand les poulets auront des dents meas “yes, when chicken have teeth” This is the French way of saying “when pigs fly!”

Have fun trying these words and phrases out on your friends and see if they know what you mean!

Au revoir!

Calling all mums and daughters (and grandmothers and aunts and all other cool girls)!

Sunday December 7 from 2pm to 3pm at the Central Library is Girls’ Day Out: Take time out from your Christmas shopping with your mums/daughters/best friends to enjoy a girly afternoon tea (including special treats and spot prizes).

Meet Jill Marshall, author of the Jane Blonde Spylet series, who will talk about her new Jane Blonde book, Goldenspy, and her book for adults, The Two Miss Parsons.

So talk your Mum/Grandmother/Aunt/cool female adult into coming along to a fun time! Let us know if you’re coming: email enquiries@wcl.govt.nz.

Tickets (you can pay on the day) cost $5.00 for adults and $2.00 for children (under 16). So make sure you book your spot: it’s going to be awesome!

Special books for girls:

In preparation for your girly afternoon you might like to check out some of these items:

The Girls’ Book of Glamour: a guide to being a goddess (all you need to know about being glamorous, really)

Hair: Things to Make and Do (do glamorous things with your hairstyle and pamper yourself)

Fairy Things to Make and Do (get creative!)

Biscuits and Cakes (for all those delicious cupcakes and other yummy afternoon tea food)

How to be a Princess (the last word in princesses!)

Hey, if you really, really love High School Musical you’ll be wanting to check out The Essential Guide (to HSM #1,2 and 3).

There are heaps of photos of your favourite stars, and lots of interesting facts. You can find out all you ever need to know (and some things you don’t) about Troy, Gabriella and the rest of the crew… what they like, what they don’t like and stuff like that.

The back cover also says you can join the Wildcats for their senior year!

Francis L’Ollonais: The cruellest of the cruel pirates. The French buccaneer tortured his captives and cut them into little pieces.

Rock Braziliano: He was named after his long exile in Brazil. He was called “brutish” and “foolish”, and a drunkard. He once spit-roasted two Spanish farmers alive because they would not give him their pigs.

Batholomew Portugues: Once escaped from a prison ship by using wine jars for floats.

Sir Henry Morgan: The most famous of the buccaneers. He carried out merciless raids on Spanish colonies. In 1668 he forced the men of El Puerto del Principe in Cuba to surrender by threatening their children and wives. They were imprisoned in churches and starved while their village was pillaged. Despite his cruelty he was awarded an English knighthood and governorship of Jamaica.

Read this for more information