Kids Blog

We’ve got some cool new stuff for you to read this month, from the new Skulduggery Pleasant book, The Faceless Ones (do panic, do read it, do tell us what you think!), Shaolin Tiger by Sandy Fussell (for people who like the Samuria Kids books), a scary looking book called Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman (who wrote the Land of Elyon books), and the new Redwall book by Brian Jacques called Doomwyte. Actually, there’s heaps more so make sure you check out the My Library Children’s Fiction page.

Voting isn’t just for adults! You, too, can have a say. You get the opportunity to pick the best children’s book in NZ and could win $1000 of book vouchers for your school.

The New Zealand Post Book Awards seeks to find the best children’s books in New Zealand and they want to know what you think. Go to the Children’s Choice webpage to vote now.

We’ve reviewed some of the books you can vote for- The Were-Nana,  Piggity-Wiggity Jiggity Jig, Every Second Firday,  The Crafting of Narnia,  and Duck’s Stuck. There are heaps more too!

Voting closes at 5pm on Friday 1st of May. That’s this week! Better get voting…

Calling all stories@7 people! Make sure you’re at the Central Library (65 Victoria Street) at 7pm this Friday (the 1st of May) for a really cool stories@7. The theme this month: food. Yum! So be there, or be a chocolate icecream with caramel sauce.

There have been some pretty outrageous inventions over the last 150 years. One example would be a ladder for spiders to climb out of the bath. How about spectacles for chickens to stop them from pecking each other’s eyes? There are also accidental inventions such as the sandwich which was made by the cook of a busy John Montagu’s who was too busy to eat a proper meal.  If you’d like to find out more check out the book Outrageous Inventions by John Townsend at the children’s non fiction area today. 

Sports are cool, there are lots to choose from and they’re fun to play. We want to know which sport you think is the most fun to play (or watch). So vote on our poll and tell us what you think. If your favourite sport isn’t on the poll then send us a comment telling us which sport you enjoy watching or playing the most.

If you’re looking for sports books in the library you can just go straight to the 700s in the children’s nonfiction area, or search our kid friendly catalogue.

 Looking for something fun to do on a Saturday…? Read on…

What: A performance of the book Duck’s Stuck by  the Java Dance Company

Why? Because the book is so cool that it has been nominated for the New Zealand Post Book Awards and people want to celebrate that.

When: Saturday 16th May at 1.30pm

Where: at the Wellington Central Library on the Mezzanine floor. Go up to Clarkes Cafe and follow the signs around to the left.

How much? FREE! And there’s no need to book; just turn up on the day and drag your friends along with you.

Join top History Spy Charlie Cartwright in his adventures as he travels through space and time, dodging bombs, dinosaurs and erupting volcanoes. Check out the Escape from Vesuvius mission. Vesuvius is about to erupt and the Department of Historical Accuracy needs a History Spy with nerves of steel. Is that you?

Now this book is really cool! The Were-Nana by Melinda Szymanik is a crafty tale and is one of the finalists for the New Zealand Post Book Awards.

Here’s what the awards’ website had to say:

There’s nothing Simon enjoys more than scaring his little sister, Stella Rosa. And now that the mysterious Nana Lupin is coming to stay, Simon is having great fun. Stella Rosa is afraid. Is her nana really a monster?

If this is your favourite of the finalist books then make sure you vote for it in the Children’s Choice Award.

Have you ever wished you could say “dragon” in Estonian? Or Finnish? Or Latin? Well here’s your chance. Here’s the word dragon in a whole lot of languages. If you’re interested in dragons, check out our kids’ catalogue for heaps of books, both fiction and non-fiction (if you love stories about dragons then check out our blog post here).

Afrikaans: draak
Arabic: tinneen
Armenian: vishap
Cantonese: loong
Chinese: long
Croatian: zmaj
Czech: draj
Danish: drage
Dutch: draak
French: dragon
Estonian: drakon
Finnish: lohikaarme
German: drache
Greek: drakont
Hebrew: tannin
Italian: drago
Japanese: ryo
Korean: yung
Latin: draco
Lithuanian: Drakonas
Mandarin: long
Norwegian: drake
Polish: smok
Portuguese: dragao
Russian: zmey
Spanish: dragon
Swedish: drake
Turkish: ejderha
Welsh: draig

Read this book for more information!

“Nancy, I can’t believe it. When Aunt Estelle invited you to come on this trip to Italy with Bess and me, I figured it would give you a break from mysteries and you’ve still managed to find one!”

“I know, George, but isn’t it strange to find an American girl in the middle of Rome with no memory of how she got there?”

Come along for the ride with three of the best teen detectives of all time in the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Super Mystery, Danger Overseas.