Kids Blog

Paddy the Wanderer  by Diane Haworth is a book about an amazing Airedale terrier, Paddy, who captured public imagination throughout New Zealand during the Great Depression, and who is today honoured in Wellington by a statue! Do you know where the statue is? Paddy is considered a much-loved local legend. He was a great friend to the taxi drivers, and those who worked around the wharf area of Wellington. Click on this link to see his memorial.

Blackbeard was a famous pirate of the eighteenth century. Born in England, he was said to have had 14 wives, and many names, including: Drummond, Thatch, Tash, and (officially) Edward Teach.

Infamous for his brutality, he encouraged his evil reputation in order to make his victims fear him.

Whenever he went into battle, Blackbeard stuck smouldering fuses under his hat so that he appeared in a thick cloud of black smoke.

He carried on him six pistols, each of which could only fire one shot at a time.

Blackbeard was greatly feared in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1718 he blockaded the harbour. He then ransomed one of the town’s council, and his four-year-old child, in exchange for a chest of medicines.

Blackbeard’s reign of terror only lasted two years. The British navy cornered him at Ocracoke inlet in 1718 where he was slain in a famous duel with Lieutenant Maynard. Blackbeard received 25 wounds, five of them gunshots. Blackbeard’s head was then hung from the bowsprit of the HMS Pearl ship.

Check this out for more.

In December kids voted for their favourite Kids’ Choice book for 2008* and we’re happy to announce that My Sister Jodie by Jacqueline Wilson won the Kids’ Choice 2008 Gold Medal, thanks to lots and lots of Jacqueline Wilson fans out there.

The second most popular book was Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney, and the awesome Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire by Derek Landy also got heaps of votes.

If you haven’t read any of these books maybe you should check them out? They’re all good reads. For other good reads and recommendations from kids check out the Kids’ Choice page or the Book Reviews page on the kids’ site. If you don’t see your favourite book there and you think that’s scandalous, don’t fret! You can submit a review, and also nominate a kids’ choice here. We like hearing which books you love!

* This was for new books received by the library in 2008 only, so while The BFG by Roald Dahl is a fab book it wasn’t included, since we’ve had it for aaaages!

You are invited to join the Churlyshes on their quest to the East Indies to search for all things vile…. The Search for Vile Things by Jane Hammerslough describes the highly bizarre, and often disgusting, but very real plants, animals, food, insects, customs and artifacts that Ephemera Churlyshe (explorer extraordinaire) found and documented on her most unusual adventure to the South Pacific. Did you know that sea apples vomit on their attachers when threatened? A cone snail’s venom is so toxic, it can kill a human in minutes and there are frogs and snakes that can fly?

Needing something to do in the holidays? I found a book called Stuff to hold your stuff  by Ellen Warwick. It’s got brilliant ideas on making funky bags for any occasion to carry your things, they can be made out of interesting materials. Come in, borrow the book and be creative!

This new year amaze people with magic mind tricks. Create awesome tricks like floating in the air, finger magnets and magic number nine among others. Watch your friends and family be astounded by the tricks that you perform. So get going and check out Magic Handbook Mind Tricks by Joe Fullman at the children’s non-fiction area now. Enjoy!

Dragonfly, by Julia Golding.

Princess Taoshira is the 4th Crown Princess of the Blue Crescent Islands and being the youngest (16) she is the one going to Gerfal to marry the prince and cement an alliance between their two countries. To Tashi the prince appears to be an unsophisticated bore who seems to care for nothing but when they are both abducted by their enemy Fergox Spearthrower, Tashi and Ram find they have something in common afterall, a love for their country and hope of preventing a war which could change their worlds forever.

A great adventure story with some very good twists!

You might know that Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (book one of the Inkworld trilogy*) has been turned into a movie (it will be in New Zealand around April this year). It stars Brendan Fraser (from George and the Jungle) as Mo Flochart and people say it’s good (although movies are nearly always not as good as the book, are they?). So if you’re planning on seeing the movie we recommend you re-read all the books before then, just so you remember what’s going on:

* Basically, in the Inkworld trilogy, Meggie Flochart discovers that her father Mo can bring make-believe characters from books to life by reading out loud.

Hot on the heals of last year’s Playing With Fire comes The Faceless Ones (due out around May this year). So what happens next? Well, the sneaky people at Skulduggery’s publishers aren’t telling us anything! Here’s what their description says:

“Third bone-breaking, belly-busting adventure in the series that puts the ‘funny’ back in… um… funny series. That didn’t really work, did it? If you’ve read the previous Skulduggery books then you know what the Faceless Ones are – and if you know what the Faceless Ones are, then you can probably take a wild guess that things in this book are going to get AWFULLY sticky for our skeletal hero and his young sidekick. If you haven’t read the previous Skulduggery books then what are you doing reading this? Go and read them right now, so that you know what all that stuff in the previous paragraph was about. Done? Good. So now you’re on tenterhooks too, desperately awaiting the answers to all your questions, and instead you’re going to have to wait till April to get hold of the book. Sorry about that.” (Amazon.co.uk)

How annoying! I have no idea what’s going on. Does anyone know who the Faceless Ones are? Reserve your copy now so you get to find out.

In the mean time, check out Skulduggery and Stephanie’s website. You can play the Quest and be in to win a Wii!

If you are fans of mystery, adventure and the Famous Five then check out The Famous Five’s Survival Guide. It’s packed with useful information on surviving outdoors and solving mysteries, but there is one mystery that the Famous Five never managed to solve. See how good you are by following the trail to discover the location of the priceless Royal Dragon of Siam.