Special Pre-School Storytime and Kids Press Conference!

All systems are go, down at Central Library on Monday the 14th of August as the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults kicks off with a day full of exciting events. These unique awards celebrate the wonderful writers and illustrators from Aotearoa who give us so many great books to read and help to shape our identity as a country. I’m sure many of you have already been reading some of the finalists along with getting clips on your HELL Pizza Wheels!

The day starts with 3 fantabulous Storytime sessions featuring finalists from the Book Awards so come along to hear the stories being read by their very own authors and illustrators.

Storytime sessions

9.30am: “My Grandpa is a Dinosaur” read by Richard Fairgray and “The Day the Costumes Stuck” read by Toby Morris. Both of these books are very funny and destined to become family favourites. What would you do if your Grandpa’s pants needed tail holes? Imagine if you couldn’t get your party costume off and your parents didn’t even notice!

 

10am: “Tuna rāua ko Hiriwa” read by Ripeka Goddard and “Torty and the Soldier” read by Fifi Colston. Hiriwa is a beautiful nymph that glows and dances along the river bank in the moonlight while Tuna watches on from the water in awe. Do you know how Tuna got its silver belly? Come along and hear the story to find out why. “Torty and the Soldier” is a very moving story based on a true incident in WW1, did you know that tortoises can live for over 100 years?

10.30am: “The Mouse and the Octopus” read by Lisala Halapua and “Helper and Helper” read by Gavin Bishop. I love stories about animals and both of these are wonderful tales about friendship. “The Mouse and the Octopus” is a Tongan fable from a rich oral  tradition with beautiful illustrations to accompany it. In “Helper and Helper” Snake and Lizard are up to their usual hilarious antics in this latest collection of stories to keep you rolling about the floor with laughter.

All these wonderful tales are followed by a very special press conference with a twist…

12noon Press Conference:

Calling all budding interviewers now’s your chance! At 12noon we have: Kids ask the tough questions! Yes this is where you get to ask authors the questions at a very special press conference. We are going to line up some of the finalist authors from the New Zealand Book awards and you can come along and ask them all those burning questions you want to know the answers too!

Writers include:

Jenifer Beck, “Torty and the Soldier”

Calico McClintock, “Ngā Manu Tukutuku e Whitu o Matariki”

Maris O’Rourke, “Te Haerenga Māia e Riripata i Te Araroa

Heather Hunt, “The Cuckoo and the Warbler”

So start thinking about what you want to say and come along on the day!