Top 10 non-fiction for May
by adrienne
Looking for some cool non-fiction to get your hands on? Here are the top 10 most favourite non-fiction books for May 2013:
1. Star Wars series by david Reynolds West
2. Star Wars character encyclopedia by Simon Beecroft
3. The horrible history of the world by Terry Deary
4. Ripley’s believe it or not by Rosie Alexander
5. Pokemon Ultimate Handbook by Cris Silvestri
6. The wimpy kid movie diary by Jef Kinney
7. Guinness world records 2013 by Craig Glenday
8. Beastly Best Bits by Terry Deary
9. Big book of paper craft by Fiona Watt
10. World War 1 by Simon Adams
Top 10 fiction for May
by adrienne
Here are the most popular fiction books for May:
1. Diary of a wimpy kid series by Jeff Kinney
2. Dirty Bertie series by Alan MacDonald
3. Conspiracy 365 series by Gabrielle Lord
4. Captain Underpants and the big, bad battle of the Bionic Booger Boy by Dav Pilkey
5. Where’s Wally? series by Martin handford
6. Judy Moody & Stink series by Megan McDonald
7. Captain Underpants and the revolting revenge of the radioactive robo-boxers by Dav Pilkey
8. Puzzle pirates by Susannah Leigh
9. Charlie and the chocolate factory by Roald dahl
10. James and the giant peach by Roald Dahl
(special mention to The Hobbit, which continues to be in the top 15 most popular books for children!)
New non-fiction: books for younger readers
First illustrated Science dictionary
This is a great little book for younger readers who are curious about how the world works. It’s beautifully illustrated, and the information is presented in a clear, simple way. It talks about everything from cells to the stars, and is a great introduction to scientific concepts.
If the Illustrated Science dictionary has sparked your interest in black holes, this is the book you want to read next. It’s simple, clear and if you get stuck, there’s a glossary of words at the back. Plus there are some great pictures that take you through how Black Holes work.
All cultures tell amazing stories about the past. This is a great little collection of myths and legends from all African cultures. Gods, heroes and trickster spirits all have their own special stories, depending on where they come from. If you liked this book, you could check out other myths in our collection.
If you like crafts and want to save the planet, this book is filled with awesome projects that will help you do just that. All of these are pretty easy, but very fun, so you probably won’t need Mum or Dad looking over your shoulder when you make toys out of odd socks or rocket ships from milk bottles.
This book is a lot like Make it! except you’ve got one project to focus on; making a robot costume out of an old cardboard box. Sounds boring? Well, it isn’t. There’s plenty of ideas here about how to customise your ‘robot’ as well as a cool comic strip showing how a kid (with a bit of help from Mum) made theirs. It’s not your average craft book.
What exciting things can be found beneath the sea? Mankind has been sailing the seas for centuries; but occasionally, things go wrong, and all sorts of ships end up on the ocean floor. It’s not just about the treasure; shipwrecks
New Non Fiction: Homework Help, Sweet treats for winter and Boredom Busters!
One Day: Around the world in 24 hours.
This is a beautifully illustrated book that gives children an introduction to the idea of time and time zones. This book follows the story of 15 different children around the world and the time zones they live in throughout one day. There are 24 hours in a day, so there are 24 time zones. Discover and learn all about time zones around the world, how they work and what’s happening on one side of the world while the other side sleeps. This book is a great resource for homework help and assignments on time zones around the world.
For anyone who wants to study and explore the history of cars, bicycles, scooters, trains and even an oil tanker, this is the book you must read! So hop on board and take an express journey through every vehicle and travel known to man and how each engineering milestone has changed and transformed world history. This book is a great resource for homework help and assignments on the history of transport, vehicles and even a section on the history of the wheel.
A troop of chimpanzees, and other primate groups.
How do chimpanzees use tools? Why do chimpanzees groom each other? What does it mean when one chimpanzee grins at another? Find out all the answers to these questions and more by reading this book on chimpanzees and primates. You will also discover and get to explores the behaviors and daily life of a chimpanzee troop, as well as their habitat, environmental threats, and the advantages of group living. Great for children of Primary and Intermediate school age.
Explorer Tales.
This is a great series to read if you are interested in finding information about famous landmarks and destinations. These are great homework resources to use for projects on world exploration. This year marks the 60th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay climbing to the Mount Everest, why not have a read of one of the books from the series, Mount Everest. Reread and relive how Hillary and Tenzing being the first men to climb one of the most dangerous places to explore. How about exploring New Worlds? Read all about them in New Worlds, where you will read and learn all about famous first voyages to new and undiscovered lands and famous explorers like Christopher Columbus, Marco Polo and Captain James Cook. In South Pole, readers don’t just learn about this cold and dangerous location. They also learn about the explorers who went to great lengths to discover it! I think you will also like reading all about The Amazon, which is home to many amazing plants, animals (Jaguars that wait ready to pounce and piranha fish fish that strip the flesh off your bones in five minutes – Wow!) and land forms that runs over 6,000 kilometers across South America. You will also read stories about people who have explored and survived in the Amazon.
100 yummy things to cook and eat.
With winter around the corner, why not make some tasty treats and goodies to share with your friends and family, like a good old fashioned apple crumble?, a spicy bean soup or vegetable casserole? You will find the recipes and more in this book. This cook book, published by Usborne has 100 yummy sweet and savory recipes to choose from for some good old comfort food during the cold, blizzardy days and nights. There are also a lot of fantastic baking ideas for school fairs and gifts. I liked the recipes for Oranges and Lemons and Chocolate dipped fruit. I am fan of the recipes for Marzipan toadstools and chocolate nests. This is a book that can be enjoyed by both children, parents and adults.
This is a great picture book for young children (or for parents and teachers to read to children) about creatures that interact within burrow habitats. You will read and learn about all the different types of burrows. (I must confess I wasn’t aware there was more than one type of burrow.) Lots of amazing pictures of various types of animals that live in burrows, including a photo of a toad flicking its tongue, a close up of ants carrying food back to its nest and an even bigger close up of a centipede’s face!
The Usborne Big Book of Holiday Things to make and do.
School holidays may be a while away, but still now is the time to think ahead of ideas of banishing boredom in the long school holidays. How about reading this book from the Usborne Activities series? You are bound to find ideas for seasonal activities for each holiday, such as reindeer wrapping paper and an Easter egg card, sit alongside things to make and do all year round including a coral necklace, a pirate cutlass and fairy wings. You will find easy to follow step-by-step instructions and photos for each activity. Great book to use for gift ideas .
New Non Fiction: Amazing Sea Mammals and Caring for your Pets.
Info Search: Living in the Wild: Sea Mammals.
Mammals are warm blooded creatures that give birth and produce milk for their babies. By reading this series, you have an introduction to information about sea mammals, including their classification, habitats, adaptations, food chains, life cycles, behaviors and intelligence. Each title also contains maps, charts, colorful photographs and a profile that will tell you everything you want to know about each sea mammal. I managed to learn a lot about the sea mammals that I did not know or would never have guessed. (See under Believe it or not.)
Wellington City Libraries has some new books from this series which includes :
This book is great to read if you are looking for information about the walrus, a sea mammal that spends one third of their time on land or pack ice and the other two thirds in the ocean. Find out amazing facts and answers to questions about the walrus like what do walruses use thier tusks for?, Why do walruses sometimes turn red? and what amazing thing can happen when a walrus calf loses its mother? Comes complete with fantastic photos, especially one with a female walrus and her calf.
Believe it or not: Male walruses are called bulls, female walruses are called cows and baby walruses are called carves.
This is a fantastic read! Lots of fantastic photographs, especially seal pups. (If you are a sucker for baby animals photographs like me, then this is the book to read.) Contains lots of great information, especially that you can find out the age of a sea lion by counting the growth rings in its teeth. You will also find out answers to questions about seals which includes what do seals use their claws for? and What is “hauling out”.?
Believe it or not: Whiskers are one of the most sensitive parts of a seal’s body.
Move over Free Willy, this book gives the full run down of everything you ever wanted to know about orcas/killer whales. However seal fans may not like this book as orcas are predators that hunt sea lions. Still, I find this book very enjoyable with the information and photographs. You will also find out the answers to questions like what is “spyhopping”?, why are orcas light on the bottom and dark on the top? and how do orcas hunt?
Believe it or not: Orcas give birth to one calf every three to five years and pregnancy lasts 15 to 18 months.
This is a great picture book for young children (or for parents and teachers to read to children) about sea otters. This book follows the story of a baby otter, just a little bigger than a kitten born far away in the Pacific Ocean. You will read about this sea otter’s fantastic journey as she learns how dive, find food and how she fends for herself when she becomes fully grown. There are some fantastic photographs of the baby otter devouring clams and crabs and cuddling up with her mum.
Believe it or not: By the time a sea otter is three months old, she can swim and dive by herself. When she is one year old, she is fully grown and ready to have a baby of her own.
You will also like A rookery of penguins, and other bird groups and Giant Pandas.
Pet Guides:
What is great about these pet guides is that they are great picture books for young children (or for parents and teachers to read to children), with simple, helpful tips and advise on how to care for your pets, whether you own a cat, dog, goldfish, rabbit and horse. Kitty’s Guide to Caring for your cat covers all the basic elements of caring for your pet cat, which includes what is the best way to pick up a cat, what do cats eat and when you should take your cat to the vet. Ruff’s guide to caring for your dog offers adviseon how to care for your dog, for example where is the best place to get a Goldie’s Guide to caring for your goldfish provides simple information about caring for a goldfish, including feeding, cleaning the tank, and what to do if it is ill. Bunny’s guide to caring for your rabbit gives you advise on caring for your rabbit, including feeding, exercising and keeping a rabbit house clean. And finally Winnie’s guide to caring for your horse or pony tells you all you need to know about caring, feeding and exercising horses and ponies.
How to look after your pet cat.
This is the book to read if you are looking for a practical guide with expert advise on how to care for your pet cat. This book comes complete with step by step photographs and filled with useful information and guidance from how to choose a kitten or cat, feeding and healthcare. There are also photographs on various cat breeds around the world. Great for ages 5 to 9 years old.
Something a little different..
This book presents a collection of eighteen whimsical animal poems that describe eccentric animal behaviors and are beautifully complemented by bright art collage illustrations. The poems and the art bring to life funny and elegant moments that take place in every animal’s life, whether it is a fly sipping spilled milk or a cat’s quiet gift of a mouse on the doorstep.
Cool events at the Newlands Community Centre
Have you ever visited the Newlands Community Centre? It’s really cool and they always have fun stuff happening. Here’s what’s coming up:
- Come along to the ‘Legends of Maui story time’ on Monday 10th, 17th, and 24th June from from 9.30–10.15am. snuggle up and listen to stories of Maui’s legendary adventures
- Join us for a weaving session with Ngā Hau e Whā o Paparārangi Marae’s rāranga (weaving) group. We will be making putiputi (flowers) and Taonga Takaro (toys). A koha towards the rāranga group would be appreciated. Wednesday 12 June, 6.30 – 8.30pm
New Non-Fiction : Big Books of interesting facts and things to do
Star Trek : The Visual Dictionary
Like it says on the cover, this really is the ultimate guide to characters, aliens and technology of Star Trek. It’s almost been 50 years since Star Trek first appeared on television, so there’s a lot to include! It doesn’t look at the more recent movies, but for all the old school tv series and movies, you can’t beat this book.
This has to be one of the coolest books we have in the library. It’s got gorgeous pictures of different houses through history; from the Chinese courtyard house to the medieval English manor. Each picture of the house has small flaps you can lift to see inside the houses and learn all sorts of interesting facts about how people lived in the past.
With over 100 recipes, this is a pretty extensive cook book that could teach you how to make pretty much anything. There are lots of pictures that take you through each recipe, and there’s some great information on basic cooking techniques as well. It’s a great book for a beginner cook, but there’s plenty healthy, delicious recipes in here that anyone could make.
The Great Big Book of Feelings
What do you do when you feel jealous? What things make you sad? What do you do when you feel satisfied? This book doesn’t have all the answers, but it will make you think about the hows and whys of your feelings and what to do when they cause you trouble.
RHS Garden Projects : loads of fun things to do and make in the garden
If the weather holds up, there’s plenty here to keep you entertained in your backyard. Or you could keep them in mind for the warmer weather. At any rate, this is a fantastic book full of awesome projects. They’re divided into three sections: “make it”, “cook it”, and “create it.” There’s plenty of instructions on when to make the projects, as well. My favourite project is making a fairy ring for your garden…just ask your Mum or Dad first!
If you’re a nut about all sorts of movers, diggers, flyers and cars then this is an excellent choice. It’s got lots of fold out pages, so you can appreciate just how big these machines are. It doesn’t go into much detail about exactly how these machines work, but there’s enough information to give you a pretty much basic understanding of what the biggest machines are and what they do.
Animal diaries: Tyrannosaurus Rex
This is an unusual book that’s told from the perspective of a Tyrannosaurus Rex who hatches from an egg shortly before the end of the dinosaurs. The reader stays with him as he grows up, and learns all about how young t-rex dinosaurs learn to hunt, how they live in their family groups, and all the other creatures they would have interacted with. Which were not necessarily dinosaurs and not necessarily food! It also looks at what survived after the meteorite and why. If you find the mighty meat eater a bit much, there’s also a really cool book from the same series told from the point of view of an elephant.
Got questions? We have the answers!
Do you have some tough homework, an assignment due in, or just don’t know where to start finding info? You need to know about this website then – anyquestions.co.nz
AnyQuestions is a New Zealand website set up to help NZ school students find online information. It’s a live website that open Monday to Friday from 1pm till 6pm. during those housrs there are librarians waiting to help you find online information to help answer your questions or to help with your school work.
It’s really simple – just state what your information need is, then chat live to a librarian who will help you find what you are looking for online. Not only will you discover reliable and helpful websites together, but the librarian will also give you hints and tips on good internet searching. Cool, right?
Sometimes you’ll need help when AnyQuestions is closed (like late in the evenings, in the mornings or on the weekends). But we’ve got that covered too.
ManyAnswers.co.nz is the sister site to AnyQuestions and contains helpful information, website links and search tips for heaps of topics. We carefully look at all the types of questions and topics we get at AnyQuestions, and write up information about how to find info about really popular topics and common questions over at ManyAnswers.
These two free websites are great for helping you find info for school, or just answering some of life’s tricky questions. Check them out today and impress your teachers and parents with how much you know.
Vote for your favourite… and WIN!
The finalists for the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards have been out for a while now, which means you’ve had heaps of time to read some and figure out your favourite… right?
Did you know that you could win a really cool prize just by voting for your favourite book?
Every year one book wins the Children’s Choice Award – this is the book that get’s the most votes by New Zealand Children. Often the authors say that it is the best award to win out of all of them.
By voting you and your school could win $1000 of book vouchers ($500 for you and $500 for your school). How many books do you think you could buy with that much money!!??
It’s really easy to vote – just go to the Children’s Choice voting page, enter your details and the name of your school, then choose your favourite book from the finalist list. Easy!
Voting closes on May 31st, so make sure you do it soon.
The New Zealand Post Book Awards winners are announced during the festival week on Monday 24th June. In the week leading up to the ceremony we have some cool, free and fun events happening that I’m sure you’d love to come to. Stayed tuned for more info on this!
Happy voting!
Finalists announced for the LIANZA Children’s Book Awards
The LIANZA (Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa) children’s book awards finalists have been announced.
Basically these are New Zealand librarians recognising the best books that have been published for children and teens in the last year.
The awards are separated up into 5 categories: best junior fiction (the top book wins the Esther Glen Medal), best illustration (The winner gets the Russell Clark Award), best non-fiction (the winner gets the Elsie Locke Award), best book written in te reo Maori (Te Kura Pounamu Award), and there is also a prize for the top teen book too.
The finalists for each category have just been announced (check them out below). A winner will be chosen from the finalists in each category, which will be announced at a sparkly awards ceremony on August 5th in Wellington.
Hot fact: The Esther Glen Medal for Junior Fiction is the oldest book award in New Zealand. It was first awarded in 1945 – that’s 68 years ago!
LIANZA Junior Fiction Award – Esther Glen Medal
The Queen and the Nobody Boy: A tale of Fontania by Barbara Else
The Drover’s Quest by Susan Brocker
When Empire Calls by Ken Catran
Red Rocks by Rachael King
The ACB with Honora Lee by Kate de Goldi
Lightning Strikes: The Slice by Rose Quilter (We don’t have this in the libraries yet. Check back later)
LIANZA Illustration Award – Russell Clark Award
The Dragon Hunters by James Russell, illustrated by Link Choi
Mister Whistler by Margaret Mahy, illustrated by Gavin Bishop
Kiwi: The Real Story by Annemarie Florian, illustrated by Heather Hunt
Blue Gnu by Kyle Mewburn, illustrated by Daron Parton
Melu byKyle Mewburn, illustrated by Ali Teo and John O’Reilly
A Great Cake by Tina Matthews
LIANZA Non Fiction Award – Elsie Locke Medal
At the Beach: Explore & Discover the New Zealand Seashore by Ned Barraud and Gillian Candler
Eruption! Discovering New Zealand Volcanoes by Maria Gill
100 Amazing Tales from Aotearoa by Simon Morton and Riria Hotere,
Te Kura Pounamu (te reo Māori)
Hautipua Rererangi story by Julian Arahanga, illustrated by Andrew Burdan
Ngā Waituhi o Rēhua by Katerina Te Heikoko Mataira
Arohanui by Huia Publishers, illustrated Andrew Burdan (Sorry, we don’t have this one in our libraries yet)
Ko Meru by Kyle Mewburn, translated by Ngaere Roberts, illustrated by Ali Teo and John O’Reilly (Sorry, we don’t have this one in our libraries yet)
Taea ngā whetū by Dawn McMillan, translated by Ngaere Roberts, illustrated by Keinyo White
