Kids Blog

Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson

In which Hetty is abandoned as a baby, brought up in a foster family, sneaks off to visit the circus, dreams her real mother is the beautiful lady with the performing horses and has to face the drab reality of life in a foundling hospital; the hideous uniform, the terrible food, the being locked in an attic. Fans will enjoy.

Don’t Pat the Wombat by Elizabeth Honey

In which a group of year 6 boys head off to have the time of their lives at camp, only to have the school’s cruellest teacher come with them. But even “The Bomb” can’t stop the practical jokes, and other hilarious misadventures in this true blue aussie tale.

The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton

In which Joe, Beth, and Frannie introduce their cousin Rick to their many magical  friends who live in the enormous tree, they have plenty of adventures together and eat lots of delicious food.

The Complete Peanuts by Charles Shultz

In which you get to hang out with Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Schroeder, Lucy & Linus and the rest of the gang for 313 pages. Don’t be put off by that number of pages, seriously,  you can read that many comic strips!

Captain Underpants and the invasion of the incredibly naughty cafeteria ladies from outer space (and the subsequent assault of the equally evil lunchroom zombie nerds) : the third epic novel by by Dav Pilkey
In which Harold, George, and Captain Underpants use Wedgie Power to save the universe from the evil aliens, disguised as dinner ladies. Actually I got all that from our catalogue, because this is a book that no grown up would ever read. Which is maybe why you should?:-)

If you enjoyed the first book of Sticky Burr: Adventures in Burrwood Forest then look out for the next sticky adventure - Sticky Burr: The Prickly Peril. In this new adventure Sticky Burr and his friends are getting ready for the harvest festival but Scurvy Burr is up to his usual tricks and is planning on making plenty of mischief.

Did you know that Sticky Burr  has his own website where you can learn all about Sticky Burr and his friends. There is great fun stuff to do and even a Comic strip that you can follow each week.

The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future is the latest from the creator of Captain Underpants. It’s due out in August.

Why wait! Reserve your copy to read now!

Other Recommended Graphic-Novels and Comic Books

Some people have been asking me, what is the difference between a comic and a graphic-novel? I think this is a good explanation:

Novels: These are books that you will find in the fiction section. In novels the words are the important part, and what you focus on while you read. They might have some illustrations too, but these are there to support the words.

Comics: These are books you will find in the comics section. Sometimes they are bound books, but sometimes they are just paper like magazines. In comics the pictures are the important part, and what you focus on while you read. They often have words too, but the words are there to support the pictures.

Graphic- Novels: These are books you will find in the fiction section, in the picture book section and in the comics section. In Graphic-Novels the words and the pictures are equally important. The pictures support the words and the words support the pictures.

You should check out some of the Comics and Graphic-Novels we have at the library – I think you would really like them. Comics and Graphic-Novels can be delicious snacks in between your novel meals. Try these:

Calvin and Hobbes: Humorous stories about an impish boy, Calvin, and his debonair toy tiger, Hobbes.

Tintin: Lots of people love Tintin and have read them all. One really cool thing about the Tintin books is the attention to detail. The creator Herge never travelled from Europe but he researched everything very carefully, so his pictures are like exploring a new place through the page.

Peanuts: I love it when Snoopy dresses up as Joe Cool.

The Arrival: This is a work of art. Shaun Tan uses just pictures to tell a tale about arriving in a new place and the feelings involved.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret: Clocks, Runaways, Trains, The man on the moon and automatons… Automatons!

Moomin: I haven’t read these but lots of my friends like them. This is what they said: “I really like them”, “I like the daddy one”, “They have cool illustrations”.

Also check out:

The Adventures of Polo

Babymouse Burns Rubber

The Midnight Circus and The Tooth Fairy

Sticky Burr

Owly

Glister

The list could go on and on, there are so many excellent books. Which comics or graphic-novels do you like? Which comic do you think is better: Asterix or Tintin? Have you ever tried making one yourself? Making them is really fun; if you make one would you please send me a copy? I would really like to see one about pandas, and biscuits, and books. Oh, and Automatons!

Spotlight on Raymond Briggs

Raymond Briggs is the godfather of children’s graphic novels. He is a quiet, eccentric man who lives in Sussex and collects jigsaw puzzles of The Queen Mother. I collect playing cards I find on the ground (one day I will have a whole set), and I really like Raymond Briggs books.

The book I like the most is The Bear which is a story about a young red headed girl who thinks her teddy knows everything (he might) and the polar bear that comes to live with her. The bear is immense, and fills her room and the pages with white. He is terrifying but deliciously cuddly.

Another book about an unexpected visitor is The Man. This time a red headed boy has to deal with a seven-inch-tall man who barges into his room and demands toast and sanctuary.

A lot of Raymond Brigg’s books are about magical friends. In The Snowman (which is a book without any words at all) a boy (yes, a red head) makes himself a friend from snow and has a winter adventure.

The Puddleman is a magical friend too. I never thought about how the water got put into puddles and how the wavy reflections relate to our world. Luckily, this book explains it all.

Briggs can be really, really funny too, like an old granddad with biscuits in his beard making you laugh until your milk snorts up and out of your nose.

Fungus the Bogeyman is a hilariously revolting book. Bogeymen revel in all things slimy and disgusting. It is a good book to read on a damp, smelly day when you have no clean pants left.

There are lots more Raymond Briggs books too, like Ug: Boy Genius of the Stone Age and his search for soft trousers, and the stories about cantankerous Father Christmas. You should have a look. Some of them will be in the picture books, some in the fiction, and some in the comics section. Have a hunt around – they are well worth it.

I am jealous of Raymond Briggs because he tells such amazing stories and he has the ability to put the little people in his head down on the page for us to see so we can share the story as he knows it. I am also jealous of Raymond Briggs’ friends: I would love to sit and chat with him, maybe tell some bogey jokes, have a fruit mince pie, do a jigsaw. It would be lovely.

Two Brilliant new Graphic-Novels for Children:

The Clouds Above by Jordan Crane

My favourite weather is mist. My second favourite weather is rain. It has been very rainy in Wellington recently. I love it.

Have you ever heard people say that rain is the clouds crying? My sister used to say that, and this book proves she was right.

“The Clouds Above” is a graphic-novel with wonderful pictures that recounts “the terribly terrific and tremendously true travels of Simon and Jack”. Simon is a boy with a wicked teacher, Jack is a cat with a long tail; they are best friends. Simon and Jack arrive at school late; instead of facing the wrath of Simon’s teacher Missus Poe, they risk a trip up a flight of stairs and into the clouds. “We should go back down- you’re missing school” meows Jack, “but I don’t miss it at all!” Simon replies. Missus Poe might be scary but so is some of the stuff above: mean birds, thunder, fear of heights, mean birds again, cold and an evil storm with (dun, dun, dun) a heart of darkness. Remember though, they are best friends and with the help of a sad and lonely cloud they find their way back to clearer skies. Apparently “a rained on cat is no cat at all” but Jack is the best kind of cat, and I would love to go on adventures in the sky with a friend like that.

This is a beautiful, short book which is nice to hold.

Reflections of a Solitary Hamster by Astrid Desbordes and Pauline Martin

My favourite food is Ice Cream. Hamster’s favourite food is waffles. Hamster is a very selfish Hamster and he never shares his waffles. Lucky for Hamster he has lovely friends: Mole, Hedgehog, Snail, Squirrel and Rabbit, and they like him even though he is selfish, lazy and a bit arrogant.

“Reflections of a Solitary Hamster” is another graphic-novel about friendship. Astrid Desbordes- the author – and Pauline Martin- the illustrator- work together to reveal snippets of life on a pretty, big sky prairie. Sometimes I wonder what my friends do at the end of the day, when the party is over, when there are no more biscuits and when they tuck themselves into bed. What do they think about? This hilarious book shows you. The animals ponder their lives, their anxieties and walnuts as they get ready for; (drum roll please): Hamster’s birthday! However odd and imperfect they may be, this book is still very funny and full of kindness:

“Hedgehog, will you dance with me?”

“With me? Oh, yes please, Mole. No one has ever asked me to dance before, because of my prickles”

“And no one asks me because I step on my partners paws”

“Then let’s fingertip dance, okay?”

Okay.

If you love Peanuts cartoon strips then you’ll be very pleased to hear that you can view all the Peanuts cartoons ever on this website! Check it out!

You can simpsonize yourself on the Simpsons Movie website.

When you’ve got your looks just right you can save the avatar and you can email it to your friends!

You may have seen that there’s a new collection in the children’s fiction area at your library, called “Junior Comics”. These will probably be where you normally find your favourite Asterix and Tintin books, but you’ll notice there’s a whole heap more too. For example, there’s Disney’s Kim Possible, The Man and The Puddleman, both by Raymond Briggs, also Lucky Luke, and some easy to read Batman and Spider-man comics.

Check out the Junior Comics collection the next time you’re in the library, it’s awesome! For a complete list of the comics in the collection you can visit the classic catalogue.

Do you often find yourself making doodly figures or characters sometimes? Or would you like to create a cartoony character but don’t know how to go about it? Why don’t you try some cartooning books in the library? Draw Cartoons by  Noel Ford, Pete Dredge, Steve Chadburn has loads of stuff that can help you create a wacky character of your own.  It shows you basic techniques in drawing cartoons plus some exercises to help you practice your new found cartooning hobby. Go on have a go, who knows your character might be the next big thing in the cartoon world!