Kids Blog

Pirates! Arrrrrrh Sir! This morning at Newtown Library pre-school storytime was about Pirates along with a sing song accompanied by ukuleles. Don’t forget to check out our regular preschool story times at all our branches!

If you like the Henry’s House series, then this is another book for you. It’s called Creepy Crawlies by Philip Ardagh. It is like every other Henry’s House book, packed with fun facts about all the types of creepy crawlies you can imagine. There are lots of cool illustrations as well. Would you like to know what the world’s most dangerous insect is?  It is the mosquito. Now you would have to read the book to find out why. Check it out at the children’s non fiction area with the call number J 592 ARD. Enjoy!

The dragons of Europe were shown as looking different to the British Dragons. Generally they were Wyverns, a species of winged dragon with only two legs.

The smallest of all the different kinds of dragon, they ranged in size from that of a large dog to the size of a horse. Instead of scales their hides were covered in hair with markings. They had long, tapered tales that could be used like a whip. Their two legs had bird-like feet with claws. European Dragons have small but vicious teeth and their blood is poisonous.

European Dragons live in nests on the sides of mountains. They are not as aggressive as some dragons, but they have a nasty bite. Once they are captured they are easily tamed.

Descriptions of European Dragons very from country to country: for example French dragons are often female and can shape-shift into beautiful women. Some European Dragons are half-woman, half-dragon. Swiss Dragons are only found in the Alps and hibernate over winter.

For more information and books about dragons in the library have a look at this link.

I just love reading about interesting facts - things that are strange and weird and things that are wonderful and amazing. You can learn new facts about everyday animals and things that you would never have considered. For instance, did you know that the blue whale has a heart the size of a small car and that some of the major arteries in the whale a five year old child could crawl through? I think that is incredible. Or did you know that you grow faster in the first two years of your life than you do at any other time, and that as people get older they sometimes start to shrink? There are some great books in the library about this kind of stuff but check out Really Big Stuff for some super size stuff to expand your brain.

There’s a new Winnie the Pooh book about to be published, and it has a new character – Lottie the Otter. Have a look at an illustration. The book is called Return to the Hundred Acre Wood, and it will be published this month. In the mean time make sure you read the Pooh books we’ve got in the library.