Kids Blog

Wow we are so lucky here in good old NZ with the high level of local authors and illustrators that create books that are a joy to read and share. This year’s nominations for the best Picture Books are no exception with a range of books for all reading levels.

My favs of this bunch would have to be Ruth Paul’s newest title Stomp and The Cat’s Pyjamas by Catherine Foreman. Stomp is a fun, follow the leader story great for preschoolers and younger primary aged children and The Cat’s Pyjamas introduces a cat who entertains us with a different pair of pyjamas and dream for each day of the week.

If you’re around the middle primary age or older give Rahui by Chris Szekely (also in Te Reo) and Waiting for Later by Tina Matthews a go. 

For the senior primary/intermediate and teen readers Shaolin Burning by Ant Sang (of Bro Town fame) is a graphic novel with a modern take on kung fu mythology with plenty of Shaolin principles, non-stop action and burning revenge!

Don’t forget to vote for your favourite – you could win!

There’s something for everyone is this selection of Junior Fiction finalists, from genetically engineered mutant fly traps (the Flytrap Snaps by Johanna Knox), a boy who wants to be a super hero when he grows up (Super Finn by Leonie Agnew), the quest for the return of magic to the world of fontania (The Travelling Restaurant by Barbara Else), a tale of finding your place in the world (Just Jack by Adele Broadbent) and a sequel to the mysterious Loblolly Boy which was a finalist in the 2010 Junior Fiction category with The Loblolly Boy and the Sorcerer by James Norcliffe.

Pick one off the Library shelf today or place a reserve to get one in your hands soon!

Its not just the authors who get all the winning fun. Vote for your favourite and you could be a winner too!

Here’s a run-down on the Non-Fiction finalists for The New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards

Nice Day for a War by Chris Slane and Matt Elliot is an engaging and enlightening look at World War 1. With real excerpts from the war diary of Cyril Elliot (Matt Elliott’s grandfather), cartoon strips, authentic pictures of our soldiers and heaps of other interesting information it will capture even the most reluctant war-story reader.

Likewise with Chris Grosz’s, Kimble Bent Malcontent, the story of an American soldier who deserts while stationed in New Zealand during the land wars, and ends up fighting with the Hauhau, a Taranaki tribe of fearsome reputation.

The Life Cycle of the Tuatara by Betty Brownlie -everything you want to know about Tuatara! It includes interesting facts beautiful pictures of Tuatara in the wild and really easy to follow format that will have you reciting Tuatara facts with ease!

For the budding archaeologists, Digging Up the Past by David Veart will captivate all readers and have you thinking like an archaelogists as it excavates the stories of the past.

Lastly, New Zealand Hall of Fame by Maria Gill and Bruce Potter, look at 50 famous New Zealanders and the contributions they have made that warrants their inclusion in this beautifully rendered collection of biographies.

Its not just the authors that can win – you can too! Vote for your favourite and you could win yourself and your school some book vouchers. Cool!

Pheww, what a mouthful of a title but don’t let that put you off checking out some of the nominations for the 2012 Children’s Book Awards. With 4 categories: Picture Book, Junior Fiction, Young Adult Fiction and Non-fiction, there is a fine selection of books that showcase the talents of our New Zealand authors and illustrators.

You can be in to win as well by voting for your favourite book. Grab a voting form from your school or local library or vote online. This goes into the Children’s Choice Award and enters you into the draw to win $500 worth of books for yourself and your school!

We’ll be writing about the finalist books here. So check back to find out more.

Get reading and get voting! You could find a new favourite book, or pick the winner! The winning books will be announced on May 16th.

Did you know that Race Relations Day is on March 21st? Well now you do!

Race Relations Day is a worldwide celebration of different cultures and ethnicities. Have a think about how many people from different countries are in your class or school - we are lucky to have many people from different countries living in New Zealand.

Everyone that lives in NZ has an interesting story to tell about how their family got here, and we want to hear it. You may be Tangata Whenua, a recent migrant or from a family that came to NZ a long time ago.

Send us an email with your story. We’d like to hear about how your family arrived in New Zealand, no matter how long ago it was, or write about your whakapapa. You can write as much or as little as you want and your story could end up published on our website (which means you would get a cool special badge from the Human Rights Commission).

Did you know we also have bilingual books in the library? These are picture books that are in English and another language, and are perfect for learning a new language or just to see how different languages look or sound. The stories are really good too! Ask the friendly librarian at your nearest wellington library to show them where they are, or look them up on our Easyfind catalogue using the words ‘juvenile bilingual’

What a treat! Come and meet a real Ballerina at your local library during the school holidays.

Just for you, the Royal New Zealand Ballet Dance Explorer Team are visiting to show you some of their latest show – Angelina Ballerina, at special library storytimes.

Friday 13th April, 10.30am at Wellington Central Library

Monday 16th April, 10.30am at Ruth Gotlieb (Kilbirnie) Library

Monday 16th April, 2pm at Cummings Park (Ngaio) Library

Tuesday 17th April, 10.30am at Johnsonville Library

Tuesday 17th April, 2pm at Karori Library

Wednesday 18th April, 10.30am at Mervyn Kemp (Tawa) Library.

Wednesday 18th April, 2pm at Newtown Library

Thursday 19th April, 10.15am at Miramar Library

Thursday 19th April, 2pm at Khandallah Library

This free event is suitable for 3-8 year olds. No bookings required – just pop on your best tutu and dancing shoes and turn up!

Hey Kids!

You have a double feature to enjoy during the April School Holidays (5th - 20th of April, in case you had forgotten)

Will you sink or swim? Find out by taking part in fun stories and activities to mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

Angelina Ballerina Dance with a member of the Royal New Zealand Ballet Dance Explorer Team at special storytimes.

All free and all fun, and at a Wellington Library near you.

Watch this space… details soon!

2012 is the International Year of Sustainable Energy and Wadestown School have been working hard to spread the message of sustainability to their local community.  Wadestown School’s solar panels have been generating clean, renewable electricity and an awareness of solar energy for three years now.  Since the panels were installed in 2009, 8150 kWh of electricity has been generated and 1.589 tonnes of CO2 emissions have been saved as the school generated their own electricity!

Since the solar panels have been installed, Wadestown School has achieved and learnt a lot about solar energy – finishing in the top 10 schools in the Schoolgen programme in 2009; they were in the top 3 schools in 2010 and were named a Top Schoolgen School for outstanding contribution and student involvement in the Schoolgen programme for 2011!  Congratulations – what a fantastic accomplishment!!

Come along to Wadestown Library and check out the school’s sustainable energy display in the children’s area.  We’d love to see ya there!

Last Saturday Wellington Central Library building celebrated it’s 20th birthday.  It was a fantastic day with cake, balloons, music, library tours, badge making and of course the Family Treasure Hunt.  Everyone enjoyed themselves trying to find out the answers to all the questions.  Although everyone had fun there can only be one winner of the wonderful Wii and it is….

Milo Guthrie. Congratulations, Milo and we hope you and your family have lots and lots of fun playing together on your Wii.

There was also a draw for people who couldn’t join in the Treasure Hunt but were able to colour in the picture on the entry form – we drew 3 winners – Lucy Mabbett, Nico Virtue and Tamlyn Gore. Each of our colouring in winners have won a fabulous playaway of Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Rodrick Rules.

Well done to everyone who joined in and thanks for celebrating our day with us.

Today the Wellington Central Library building is 20 years old!  But we are also celebrating another very special library birthday.

He was born on December 10 1851 – that is 160 years ago!  He was a very famous librarian who thought it would be really helpful if all books about the same things were shelved in the same place.  So, he invented the Dewey Decimal system.  That is what all those numbers on the spines of non-fiction books are, dewey decimal numbers.

Even though the Dewey Decimal system was invented over 100 years ago a lot of school and public libraries still use it today.  His name was Melvil Dewey.

There are heaps of books in the library about famous people – here are a few: