Kids Blog

Hey guys!

The school holidays are almost here. Whew! We’ve got some great events planned to celebrate and give you guys something fun to do!

Pop along to your local library to rediscover some old adventures. We’ll be dusting off the classic stories that have inspired movies and children all around the world. You’ll be surprised at how many of them you know!

We’ve got heaps of stories and activities to keep you entertained, and it’s all free! Don’t forget to bring your library card too! Here’s where they’re at:

Khandallah Library

‘Where the Wild things Are’

Wednesday 15^th April, 10.30am

Karori Library

‘Peter Pan’

Wednesday 15^th April, 11am

Ruth Gotlieb library (Kilbirnie)

‘Peter Pan’

Wednesday 15^th April, 2pm

Wellington Central Library

‘Alice in Wonderland’

Monday 20^th April, 11am

Mervyn Kemp Library (Tawa)

‘The Velveteen Rabbit’

Monday 20th April, 11am

Brooklyn Library

‘Treasure Island’

Tuesday 21^st April, 10.30am

Newtown Library

‘Treasure Island’

Wednesday 22^nd April, 10.30am

Miramar Library

‘Puss in Boots’

Wednesday 22^nd April, 11am

Cummings Park Library (Ngaio)

‘Peter pan’

Wednesday 22^nd April, 11am

Island Bay Library

‘Treasure Island’

Thursday 23^rd April, 10.30am

Johnsonville Library

Fairy Tales – Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm

Thursday 23^rd April, 11am

Wadestown Library

‘Peter Pan’

Thursday 23^rd April, 11am

Hey guys, mark the cultural diversity of our city and celebrate the closing day of the Capital E National Arts Festival. Global Fest will see Civic Square come alive with a sea of colourful costumes, scintillating sounds and tantalising tastes. Enjoy great food, hands-on activities and stunning dance and music performances. 
10am–4pm, tomorrow (Saturday 20th, March), Civic Square.
Free
For more information, call Rachel Chapman on 913 3724.

Parents will love this particularly (and kids might find some useful tips). Pirate Parenting* is a site that makes fun of all the advice people give about how to raise kids so that they’re incredibly well behaved and all that. Pirate Parenting imagines what advice you’d need if you wanted your kids to turn into… pirates!

If you’re really into pirates you can check out what books we’ve got in the library. One really cool one is Piratepedia - everything you need to know and more.

If you’re on the internet and you’re looking for pirate sites, you might like to try this pirate webring (what’s a webring? Check out Sam’s post to find out.)

* Thank you to Magalie who got this from Twitter.

                                                  
Hey guys if you have read any of the ‘39 clues’ series, send us a review about any of the books in the series and we will send you a set of the 39 clues cards. We only have so many sets to give away, so be in quick…..make sure you add your name and address to your review so we can send them to you! Look out for the 3rd book in the series which is coming soon!

If you liked ‘Kiss! Kiss! Yuck! Yuck!’ by Kyle Mewburn then you’ll love his book ‘Duck’s Stuck’.

The guys at the New Zealand Post Book Awards though it was so good that they’ve nominated it as a finalist in the Picture Book Category! Their website says that it’s ‘a cautionary tale about a duck that stuck its head somewhere it shouldn’t.

Curious yet?! I am! Go to the Wellington City Libraries catalogue to see where it’s at and get your copy today!

Hey Guys, Earth Hour is coming up on Saturday 28 March at 8.30pm and Wellington businesses are getting onboard. So far, many local shops and businesses have said they’ll be switching off non-essential lights for Earth Hour. Across the country, Toyota dealerships, McDonalds and Burger Wisconsin restaurants and Starbucks coffee shops will be lighting up the candles too.  More than 50 of the city’s large commercial buildings to go dark, including Te Papa, the Beehive, the Railway Station, Victoria University, Grand Plimmer Tower and the Majestic Centre. And, of course, Council buildings will be in the dark too but essential services like traffic lights and streetlights aren’t affected.
Six Wellington schools are also taking part. We’d really like to get more schools involved so if you want to have your school involved, have a chat with your teacher. We can provide Earth Hour flyers, posters and DVDs.

If you’d like to switch off at home too, make sure you sign up on http://www.earthhour.org/news/nz:en Ask mum or dad first!

Hey guys, buy a copy of the Dominion Post tomorrow and read the Presto Club page which is published on Tuesdays. One of our very own Kid’s Choice reviewers has their Kid’s Choice review in there!! Also if you get the Presto page tomorrow you can enter to win your very own set of of the Inkheart Trilogy!! Wow!! Also, don’t forget to keep sending us your Kid’s Choice reviews….who knows? Your review may end up in the Dominion Post on the Presto Club page also!!

Hey guys, make sure you keep sending us the reviews of your favourite books! You can either get a form from your library or send it off the website. Has anyone read the book ‘39 Clues’? If you have and want to send me a review for it please do! The title is The Maze of bones  . Send me a reivew if you have read it and think it should be nominated for a Kids Choice. Check out the ‘39 Clues’ website too.

All you book lovers out there will be excited to hear that the list of books nominated for the New Zealand Post Book Awards it out!

Each year the New Zealand Post Book Awards celebrate the best children’s and teens’ picture books, fiction and non-fiction from New Zealand authors and illustrators. So if you’re looking for something awesome to read, then these are the books for you!

Check out their website for the list of books nominated to win for 2009 and then go to your local library to get your hot little hands on them! You even have the chance to have your say and vote for a winner! Click on the Children’s Choice logo to vote for your favourite book and you could win your school $1000 of book vouchers. How cool is that?!

We will be reviewing each book on this blog and letting you know about more events and news. So keep your eyes peeled for more info…

Amazing tales of Aotearoa as told by Glenn Colquhoun and illustrated by Ali Teo, is a beautiful bookof stories about New Zealand. In Amazing tales of Aotearoa Hareata and Brianne listen to stores of the gods – how Maui got fire from his grandmother’s fingernails; how he fished up the land and slowed the sun; how Rata built a great canoe and Hinemoa swam across a lake!! This is a beautiful book and worth a read.