Kids Blog

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

On Monday 27 May at 10.30am we will be holding a very special preschool storytime at Ruth Gotlieb, Kilbirnie Library. Come along and listen to African stories with our Librarian-turned-Story-reader, Taitu! There will also be music and songs to celebrate Africa month. See you there!

The shortlist for the annual New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards have been announced.

The awards nominate the best NZ children’s books that have been published in the last year in 4 categories – Picture Book, Junior Fiction, Non-Fiction and Teen.

During the NZ Post Book Awards festival week, which is June 17th – June 24th, there will be fun events and the winners of each category will be announced. Watch this space for more info.

The best thing is that you get to vote for one of the winners! Every year children can vote for their favourite book from any of the categories. The Children’s Choice Award is the one that all the authors and illustrators want to win, and you could win too! By voting you could win $500 of book vouchers for yourself and for your school – cool! Get voting!

We’ll be profiling the shortlist here on the blog so you can find out about all these super cool books and get your hands on them.

Will you be among the thousands of people expected at the world premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey? Will you be watching movie stars, celebrities and very important people (VIPs) walk along the red carpet, stretching all the way from Reading Cinema to The Embassy?

Premiere is a French word and it means first, this will be the first screening of The Hobbit in the whole world. It’s happening in Wellington on Wednesday November 28th, starting around 5pm in Courtenay Place.

For the week around the priemier Wellington will be renamed the Middle of Middle-earth

There will be lots of other fun events including A countdown clock on the front of the Embassy Theatre and free outdoor public screenings of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy at Waitangi Park from 6pm on November 25, 26 and 27. You can also borrow the The Lord of the Rings DVDs or the book The Hobbit from your local library.

From the Kilbirnie Children’s Bookshop:

It’s party time for Ivy and Bean. Join us for easy peasy activities and lots of fun, details below.

Ivy and Bean are two friends who never meant to like each other but now are inseparable. There are eight books in the series so far and they’re ideal for ages 5 to 9 years.

The party would be suitable for ages 5 to 8. Visit the bookshop’s Facebook page to find out details.

There have been a few changes to the days and times for Preschool Storytime and Baby Rock & Rhyme.

Here is the new schedule for Preschool Storytime:

Brooklyn Library: Tuesday 10.30am

Central Library: Tuesday and Friday 10.30am

Cummings Park Library (Ngaio): Wednesday 10.30am

Island Bay Library: Thursday 10.30am

Johnsonville Library: Tuesday 10.30am

Karori Library: Monday, tuesday and Wednesday 10.30am

Khandallah Library:  Tuesday 10.30am

Mervyn Kemp Library (Tawa): Monday 10.30am

Miramar Library: Thursday 10.15am

Newtown Library: Wednesday 10.30am

Ruth Gotlieb Library (Kilbirnie): Monday and Wednesday 10.30am

Here is the new schedule for Baby Rock & Rhyme:

Central Library: Wednesday 9.30am

Cummings Park Library (Ngaio): Tuesday 10.30am

Island Bay Library: Wednesday 9.30am

Johnsonville library: Wednesday and Thursday 9.30am

Karori Library: Thursday and Fiday 10.30am

Mervyn Kemp Library (Tawa): Friday 9.30am

Miramar Library: Tuesday 10.15am

Ruth Gotlieb Library (Kilbirnie): Friday 10.15 am

These sessions are free and no bookings are required. Preschool Storytime is designed with 3-5 year olds in mind, and Baby Rock & Rhyme is perfect for developing early literacy skills for 0-2 year olds. Go to the Kids What’s On page to find out when events are on in your local library.

Can you believe that the school holidays are just over 2 weeks away, and then it will be Term 4 and then it will be the summer holidays, and before you know it it’ll be Christmas! But let’s just concentrate on the upcoming holidays for now. Here’s what’s happening…

Wonderful and Grimm School Holiday activities at your local library.

Celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Brothers Grimm and the 150th anniversary of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with stories and activities at participating libraries. These free fun activities are suitable for 5-12 year olds, and no bookings are required.

Monday 1st October:

Cummings Park Library at 11am: Gruesome and gory Grimm stories and fun activities

Tuesday 2nd October:

Karori Library at 11am: Gruesome and gory Grimm stories and fun activities

Newtown Library at 11am: Funtastical fairytales and fables at a special Brothers Grimm storytime

Thursday 4th October:

Ruth Gotlieb library (Kilbirnie) at 11am: Topsy turvy, inside out, upside down, magical Alice in Wonderland, play croquet and come dressed up. But remember, curiosity often leads to trouble!

Central Library at 11am: Amazing performance poems, action rhymes, songs and stories with Children’s Poet Greg O’Connell

Monday 8th October:

Mervyn Kemp Library (Tawa) at 11am: Gruesome and gory Grimm stories and fun activities. Don’t forget your costume!

Tuesday 9th October:

Island Bay Library at 11am: Funtastical fairytales and fables at a special Brothers Grimm storytime.

Johnsonville Library at 11am: Gruesome and gory Brothers Grimm stories and fun activities. Come dressed up!

Central Library at 11am: Follow the trail of Hansel and Gretel, but beware of the witch!

Thursday 11th October:

Miramar Library at 11am: Halloween, witches’ tales, scary stories and a spell or two! Dress up in your favourite Halloween costume.

Get your skate on at the Roller Disco!

Details:

When: Saturday 22nd September

Children (12 and under) and their parents: 5-7pm

Teens and adults (13 and over): 8-11pm

Where: Kilbirnie Recreation Centre

Cost: $15 if you need to hire skates or $10 if you bring your own skates. Buy your ticket at the door on the night.

There will be DJs, games and competitions, and costumes are a must. Sounds like fun!

There’s a facebook page you could check out for info about this and other events at the Kilbirnie Recreation Centre.

New Zealand Author Barbara Else, who wrote the popular and award winning book The travelling restaurant: Jasper’s voyage in three parts is launching her newest book very soon.

The Queen and the Nobody Boy: A tale of fontania will be launched at the Kilbirnie Children’s Bookshop (26 Kilbirnie Plaza) on Wednesday 19th of September at 6pm. Everyone’s welcome to attend. RSVP by 14 September to jane@geckopress.com

We don’t have The Queen and the Nobody Boy in the library yet – it’s that new! But we will soon and then you’ll be able to take it out and read it.

In the meantime, you might like to read The travelling restaurant. It really is an excellent story; there’s a reason why it has won so many awards. Here’s the blurb from our catalogue:

In the city of Fontania, during the reign of the Lady Gall, magic is forbidden. When twelve-year-old Jasper Ludlow’s parents flee the city, leaving him behind, Jasper finds refuge on The Travelling Restaurant, a sailing ship. Jasper embarks on a journey to find his baby sister and his parents and to find the true monarch of Fontania. Suggested level: primary, intermediate.