Kids Blog

Welcome to a world of new characters that have wings but are tougher than fairies and very good singers with an on the spot B flat. They are known as the Tollins, fictional creatures that get into every kind of adventures and mischief. The title of the book is called, Tollins: Explosive Tales for Children. This book is by Conn Iggulden, who also wrote the  The Dangerous Books for Boys. It’s a collection of three stories in one book so it’s a pretty good read. Have a go and explore the world of the Tollins.

Hello,

Have you ever wondered about how they make the cool pop up books with animals and pirate ships and pyramids and things like that? Well, this website teaches you how to make your own pop up animals, castles, angels… there are heaps to try, some of them look super challenging but I think I could give the rabbit a go.

Are you going to visit the latest big new exhibition ” A Day in Pompeii “at Te Papa these holidays?  It opened 19 December and runs until 25 April. You can see what Pompeii was like before the big eruption. There are lots of objects to see and a 3D experience. Have a look at the Te Papa website for more information.

We have some great books too about Pompeii to check out either before or after you go. Try these – Escape from Vesuvius,  Avoid being a slave in Pompeii! and Pompeii.

Although Shakespeare is most famous for his playwriting now, in Shakespeare’s time, poetry was much more well-regarded. Shakespeare wrote two long-form poems, and over ten years he wrote 154 sonnets. Sonnets are poems that have 14 lines, and a set rhyme structure.

No one is exactly sure how many plays Shakespeare wrote, but 37 have been decided by scholars as having been written, or co-written, by him.

Shakespeare’s plays can be divided into the following categories: tragedy (ends unhappily, nearly everyone dies); comedy (usually has a love-story and a happy ending); History (tells the story of real people).

Shakespeare used a huge vocabulary when he wrote, with over 25,000 different words in his poems and plays. 2000 of those words are recorded as being used by Shakespeare for the first time, so perhaps he made them up! A lot of those words are words which we still use today.

For more information about Shakespeare visit the library catalogue here. If you want to read something he wrote, or stories based on Shakespeare’s plays, then have a look at this list.

In Seven sorcerers by Caro King Ninevah Redstone is looking for her brother Toby. She knows that he has been taken by the thing lurking in the shadows in their hall. A Bogeyman! She also realises, when no one else in the family remembers that Toby existed, that she has been allowed to remember him because she is next on the list!

When Skerridge tries to snatch Nin and she manages to give him the slip, he is not prepared for the adventure that follows but he is certainly not going to lose his excellent capture record by letting her get away. 5 star adventure

Congratulations to Kate who won the spot prize in our Best of 2009 voting competition. The best book that Kate read in 2009 was Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. We agree that this is a most excellent read!

So, what were Wellington’s best books of 2009? We’re just counting all the votes (there were hundreds) and we’ll have some lists for you very soon. Keep reading this blog to find out. In the mean time I can tell you that Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight books were very popular (surprise!), but there were also votes for some other interesting books like The Twits and The Perfect Hamburger.