Announcing our Summer Reading Adventure Prize-Winners!

The winners themselves have known for a couple of weeks, but the day has finally come — it’s time for us to publicly announce the Grand Prize winners of the 2023-24 Summer Reading Adventure!

Of course, everyone who took part is a winner in some way — whether you won badges, books, stationery, vouchers, or just the eternal respect and admiration of your peers, your fearless ventures into the Land of Literature have not gone unrewarded. In fact, during the Summer Reading Adventure, our librarians gave out 2,270 prizes to intrepid word explorers across our fair city.

Some of these prizes came along with another, hidden prize — the opportunity to put your name in the hat to win one of the Grand Prizes. There were 10 Grand Prizes up for grabs in total — four for kids, three for teens, and another three for adults. Our lucky prize-winners are listed below:


Kids

Grand Prize #1 – Into the Wild

Winner: Natalie, age 8, from St Benedict’s School and Tari-kākā | Khandallah Library

Prize description:

  • 1x family pass to Staglands Wildlife Reserve and Cafe
  • 1x family pass to Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne
  • 1x family pass to Wellington Zoo
  • Assorted locally-made goodies, including chocolate!

Grand Prize #2 – Science and Wonder

Winner: Michelle, age 6, from Wadestown School and Ōtari | Wadestown Library

Prize description:

  • 1x family pass to the Wētā Cave Workshop Experience
  • Activity books from Te Papa Press
  • A NeoBear AR Globe
  • Assorted locally-made goodies, including chocolate!

Grand Prize #3 – Ultimate Artistry

Winner: Alin, age 12, from St Catherine’s College and Ngā Puna Waiora | Newtown Library

Prize description:

  • A selection of high-quality artistic stationery from Gordon Harris
  • A NeoBear AR Globe
  • Assorted locally-made goodies, including chocolate!

Grand Prize #4 – Books and More!

Winner: Abhirup, age 9, from Amesbury School and Waitohi | Johnsonville Library

Prize description:

  • A Summer Reading book bundle from Gecko Press
  • A voucher for Unity Books
  • Assorted locally-made goodies, including chocolate!

Teens

Grand Prize #5 – Books, Books, Books!

Winner: Rebecca, age 15, from Wellington Girls’ College and Waitohi | Johnsonville Library

Prize description:

  • A voucher for Unity Books
  • A voucher for a VIP experience at Te Pātaka, the site of our Central Library collection
  • Assorted locally-made goodies, including chocolate!

Grand Prize #6 – Artistic Endeavours

Winner: Penelope, age 13, from Waitohi | Johnsonville Library

Prize description:

  • A voucher for Gordon Harris Fine Art Supplies
  • A voucher for 3D printing and lasercutting services at Tūhura | The HIVE in Johnsonville
  • Assorted locally-made goodies, including chocolate!

Grand Prize #7 – Games and More

Winner: TJ, age 15, from St Patrick’s College and Te Awa-a-Taia | Ruth Gotlieb (Kilbirnie) Library

Prize description:

  • 20x tokens for experiences at Ye Olde Pinball Shoppe
  • 1x family pass to the Wētā Cave Workshop Experience
  • A voucher for Cerberus Games and a set of artisan gaming dice
  • Assorted locally-made goodies, including chocolate!

Adults

Grand Prize #8 – Books and Blockbusters

Winner: Doreen from Te Awa-a-Taia | Ruth Gotlieb (Kilbirnie) Library

Prize description:

  • A voucher for Unity Books
  • Double pass to Light House Cinema movie screening
  • A voucher for a VIP experience at Te Pātaka, the site of our Central Library collection
  • Assorted locally-made goodies, including chocolate!

Grand Prize #9 – Cultural Capital

Winner: Alex from Waitohi | Johnsonville Library

Prize description:

  • Double pass to a show at Circa Theatre
  • Double pass to a show presented by the Wellington Footlights Society
  • Assorted locally-made goodies, including chocolate!

Grand Prize #10 – Sonic Wonderland

Winner: Moriah from Te Awe Brandon Street Library

Prize description:

  • Double pass to a concert in Orchestra Wellington’s The Story season
  • Selection of recent CD releases from Rattle Records
  • Assorted locally-made goodies, including chocolate!

Massive congratulations to all our winners!

Thank you as well to all of our wonderful sponsors for their support of this year’s Summer Reading Adventure. In no particular order: Ben & Jerry’s WellingtonCirca TheatreGecko PressLight House CinemaOffice Max NZOrchestra WellingtonRattle RecordsRead NZ Te Pou MuramuraStaglands Wildlife Reserve and CafeUnity Books, the Wellington Footlights SocietyWētā WorkshopYe Olde Pinball ShoppeZealandia Te Māra a Tāne, and Wellington Zoo. Ngā mihi to you all for helping us help you keep reading over the summer!

But most of all, thank you and congratulations to everyone who took part! As we’ve noted before, you have positively blown our socks off with your reading and we couldn’t be prouder of you all. See you for the next Adventure!

View Finders Photo Competition

This April School Holidays, tell us a story by taking a photo!

From the 16th of April to the 1st of May, we’re running View Findersa photo competition for tamariki and rangatahi across Wellington City. There are heaps of cool prizes to be won — and a special exhibition to take part in at the end!

We’re taking submissions in three categories: Nature, Whānau, and Objects/Books, and in two age groups, 5-12 and 13-18.

Don’t forget to check out our special View Finders Beanstack Challenge to earn spot prizes, log your reading, and do some simple activities to get your photography skills into top gear for the competition!

Submissions for View Finders are now closed! We will be announcing the winners on the 13th of May — keep an eye on this blog for updates!

Nature:

Take a picture of something that blows your mind in a local park, down at the beach, or high in the hills! See what flora and fauna you can discover in the great outdoors of Aotearoa.

While you’re out and about, you might want to check out iNaturalist NZ – Mātaki Taiao, which is an app that you can use to record what you see in the natural world! There is also an annual City Nature Challenge for Pōneke/Wellington where us locals can make a big effort to see what we can find!

Whānau:

In a literal sense, whānau means family in Te Reo Māori, and is based on shared whakapapa and descent from a common ancestor.

Whānau is also used by non-Māori to talk about their family. Sometimes, Whānau is used to describe groups of people who come together bound by a common purpose, this could also be called whānau ā kaupapa.

So, for our photo competition, you can take a picture that tells a story about your family, or you can take a broader view of whānau to tell a story about a team or group you are involved in, or even a group of friends.

Objects or Books:

Tell us a story about a physical object that is important to you. It could be a cherished toy, or your comfiest couch! Maybe the object would even be a book (we do love books at the library!) With ComicFest coming up on May 7th, you could find a creative way to photograph your favourite comic book, maybe by putting it in a funny or unexpected location!


View Finders

Get your phone, tablet, or camera at the ready!


You can enter once per category. If anyone else appears in your photo, make sure you have permission to share it with us.

We look forward to seeing your photos and hearing the story behind them! You may want to display your photo at your local branch library at the end of the competition.

Special thanks to our friends at Splendid Photo, who are helping us to judge the competition, and Ben & Jerry’s Wellington, Light House Cinema, and Unity Books, who are kindly providing us with spot prizes to give away. Ka rawe!

Announcing the Summer Reading Adventure 2021-22 Champions!

The day is finally here! You’ve waited very patiently, and now it’s time for us to announce the Grand Prize Winners of the 2021-22 Summer Reading Adventure.

Of course, everyone who took part is a winner in some way — whether you won badges, books, stationery, vouchers, or just the eternal respect and admiration of your peers, your fearless ventures into the Land of Literature have not gone unrewarded. In fact, during the Summer Reading Adventure, our librarians gave out 3,578 prizes to intrepid word explorers across our fair city.

Some of these prizes came along with another, hidden prize — the opportunity to put your name in the hat to win one of the four Grand Prizes. When all was said and done, we had nearly 10,000 names in the four Grand Prize hats. Out of those honourable 10,000, the following lucky four names were drawn:


Grand Prize #1 — Into the Wild

Winner: Charlotte, age 8, from Redwood School and Tawa Library

Prizes:

  • 1x Family Pass to Zealandia
  • 1x Family Pass to Wellington Zoo
  • Assorted goodies, including books and chocolate!


Grand Prize #2 — Science and Wonder

Winner: Sophia, age 6, from Sacred Heart Cathedral School and Johnsonville Library

Prizes:

  • 1x Family Pass to the Space Place
  • 1x Capital E voucher
  • Assorted goodies, including books and chocolate!


Grand Prize #3 — Artistic Aspirations

Winner: Felix, age 9, from Seatoun School and Miramar Library

Prizes:

  • 1x Family Pass to Hilma af Klimt: The Secret Paintings at the City Gallery
  • A selection of high-quality artistic stationery from Gordon Harris
  • Assorted goodies, including books and chocolate


Grand Prize #4 — Books, Movies and More

Winner: Pia, age 10, from Wa Ora Montessori School and Karori Library

Prizes:

  • 5x tickets to Light House Cinemas
  • $50 Unity Books voucher
  • Assorted goodies, including books and chocolate

Massive congratulations to all our winners!

But most of all, congratulations to everyone who took part! As we’ve noted before, you have positively blown our socks off and we couldn’t be prouder of the kids of Wellington and your incredible reading prowess. See you for the next Adventure!

Sophia, age 6, proudly holding her bag full of prizes in front of the main desk at Johnsonville Library

Sophia from Sacred Heart Cathedral School and Johnsonville Library

Charlotte, age 8, standing with a broad smile and a bag full of prizes in front of a row of colourful shelves containing children's books.

Charlotte from Redwood School and Tawa Library


Pia, age 10, standing next to a staff member at Karori Library, proudly holding her bag full of prizes

Pia from Wa Ora Montessori School and Karori Library

Absolutely Positively Wellington Short Story Competition

This summer, young scribes and aspiring writers around the city are invited to enter the The Mayor and Deputy Mayors Absolutely Positively Wellington Short Story Competition!

The theme for this year is ‘The City of Wind.’ Mayor Andy Foster adds that “Wellington is famous for its iconic wind – and whether you love it or hate it – it shapes our lives.”

You can write your story in Te Reo Māori or English and/or a combination.

Deputy Mayor Sarah Free says: “We are looking for fact or fiction stories that explore the love hate relationship people have with this force of nature. Serious or fun, futuristic, or based on a historical chapter in Wellington’s history, now is the moment to unsheathe your pen, sharpen your pencil and fire up your word processor.”

There are some exciting prizes up for grabs, including a $200 book voucher, a lunch with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor and a creative development session with the competition judge, and award-winning writer Lauren Keenan.

Categories:

  • Best Story: 9-12 year old, up to 1500 words
  • Best Story 13-18 year olds, up to 3000 words
  • Best Title of a Story
  • Best Premise of a Story
  • Most Imaginative Story

The competition closes at 11:59pm on 25 February 2022. We look forward to reading all your stories!

Find more details and the online entry form here.

Books to check out!

Unleash your creative monster : a children’s guide to writing / Jones, Andy
“A side-splitting and informative guide to creative writing by author/illustrator comedic duo Andy and Olaf, jam-packed with lashings of monster-inspired fun. Unleash your creative monster and write stories to inspire, amaze and awe your friends. With top tips on getting your story started, learn essential skills for storytellers in this brilliant guide to writing. Give your descriptions claws, add a little bite to your writing and feed your monster inspiration with over 50 writing prompts and exercises”–Publisher’s description.” (Catalogue)

How to be a young #writer / Edge, Christopher
“This is an authoritative book from the word experts at Oxford to get budding writers crafting brilliant stories. It will help you think about how to develop an idea into a gripping and powerful story, with examples and tips from the best known authors to show you how it’s done. For children aged 11 and over, it covers all the key elements of plot, characterization, building a believable world, thinking about tone and style, weaving description into stories, through to endings and editing your work. Practical tips will get any struggling writer to beat the fear of the blank page and inspirational advice will help young authors to achieve their creative writing goals. It includes information on sharing stories and how to get people reading your work.” (Catalogue)

Kid authors : true tales of childhood from famous writers / Stabler, David
“Presents stories featuring authors when they were children, including Roald Dahl, J.K. Rowling, and Zora Neale Hurston.” (Catalogue)

Before they were authors : famous writers as kids / Haidle, Elizabeth
“This exciting debut in graphic novel format tells the childhood stories of literary legends including Maya Angelou, Roald Dahl, and Sandra Cisneros. Perfect for fans of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls and Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World.” (Catalogue)

The Wonderful World of LEGO®

What is LEGO®?

This simple concept of colourful, interlocking plastic bricks that, when built together, can create almost anything has entertained children and adults for years. Originating in Denmark, the popularity of LEGO® has remained strong to this day, and people have used LEGO® blocks to create everything from massive replicas of famous monuments (such as the Eiffel Tower) to modern art. The original LEGO® blocks were created in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen in a town called Billund, Denmark in 1949. Two years later he named his company LEGO® after the Danish phrase leg godt (“play well”). Christiansen’s son Godtfred Kirk, who replaced his father as the head of the company, patented the brick in 1958, which has remained the same design since it was patented.

Legoland Billund | Legoland Billund, Danmark | bobbsled | Flickr

Image: Legoland Billund, Denmark by bobbsled on Flickr, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

LEGO® has become such a creative success, it has given rise to features such as

  • The LEGOLAND theme park in Billund – This opened in 1968 and offers rides and attractions featuring large LEGO models.
  • DUPLO® – In 1969 the company started selling the DUPLO® line of larger bricks for young children.
  • MINDSTORMS® – In 1998 LEGO® started production of customised bricks to make programmable robots.
  • LEGO® MASTERS NZ – This television show has become a huge hit both here and overseas. Contestants build some wonderful creations all in the bid to win the TV competition. And Aotearoa is about to start filming its own version! Stay tuned!

LEGO® Fun at Wellington City Libraries

Let's Go LEGO®Check out the Events pages on our website to see when the next LEGO® activity is happening near you:


Build Wellington’s Heritage in LEGO® – COMPETITION!

LEGO GardenThis is a great new competition run by the Department of Conservation to celebrate NZ Heritage Week. Go to this page to find out more!

This competition is open to all ages of young from 1 August to 30 September 2021.  All you have to do is build your favourite  heritage site LEGO® from the Wellington / Kāpiti region, take a photo of it and send it into DoC at this email: agents@doc.govt.nz.

Easy-peasy!


LEGO® Books to Explore!

Wellington City Libraries have LOTS of LEGO® books as a go-to for all your creations. Simply check out 688.72 in the Children’s Non Fiction section of your library, or trawl through the E-T-Rs (Easy to Reads) for some great LEGO® adventures.

Here’re some recently added LEGO® books to get you excited:

LEGO minifigure handbook / Dolan, Hannah
“Meet the coolest LEGO Minifigures ever! The strange, the spooky, and the silly – all of your favourite LEGO minifigures are here. Go back in time with retro minifigures from the LEGO archives. Meet new characters from fun LEGO themes, including LEGO NINJAGO, LEGO City, and LEGO Collectible Minifigures. Your guide to more than 300 awesome minifigures!” (Catalogue)

Bricks & tricks : the new big unofficial Lego builders book / Klang, Joachim
“Joachim Klang and Uwe Kurth show how to re-purpose a varied assortment of Lego bricks, tiles and plates to create even newer models, scenes, and entire worlds.” (Catalogue)

Amazing brick mosaics : fantastic projects to build with the Lego blocks you already have / Brack, Amanda
“Every LEGO-loving kid has at least one huge bin of bricks the sets are built, dismantled, and typically never built again and this book gives them dozens of ways to reusethem in fun projects that range from easy to challenging. Featuring a simple yet elegant mosaic technique, step-by-step instructions, and full-color photographs for making 25 cool two-dimensional pictures, Amazing Brick Mosaics offers unique projects that will delight any LEGO enthusiast”–Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)

100 ways to rebuild the world / Murray, Helen
“You’re never too young to change the world! Discover 100 fun ideas to be kind and spread joy to the world around you. Get creative with your LEGO bricks and be inspired to care for others, yourself, and the planet. For example: Make a neighbour a LEGO thank-you card; Get active with a LEGO building race; Create a LEGO emoji to make your friend smile. How will you rebuild the world?” (Catalogue)

Brickman’s family challenge book / McNaught, Ryan
“Challenge each member of your household to a building competition that is the brainchild of Brickman himself, star judge of smash hit TV show LEGO (R) Masters and a LEGO Certified Professional. Each of the 30 challenges can be attempted at beginner, intermediate or advanced levels. So whether you’re 5 or 105, an infrequent brick builder or a huge LEGO fan, these challenges will get you off the screens, and your creative juices flowing with even the most basic of LEGO collections. Is your family up for the challenge?” (Catalogue)

Incredible LEGO creations from space : with bricks you already have : 25 new spaceships, rovers, aliens and other fun projects to expand your LEGO Universe / Dees, Sarah
“Turn your bucket of LEGO® bricks into fun new space expeditions–complete with epic spaceships, kooky aliens and cool vehicles!” — back cover.” (Catalogue)

Spot the crook : a search-and-find book.
“Can you spot the crook? There’s a crook hiding in the crowds in Lego City, and it’s your job to find him! This search-and-find book is packed with amazing detailed scenes featuring all your favourite Lego City characters. Once you’ve found the Red Scarf Crook, there are loads of extra cool things to spot for hours of Lego fun!” (Catalogue)

Summer Reading Challenge

You can even read a book at the beach!

The 2019 – 2020 Summer Reading Challenge is here!

We challenge you! How many can you read? From 1 December to 31 January you can pick up a challenge booklet from your local library, or download and print, and get Reading, Reviewing and Winning!

An extra special treat for this year… Win more prizes by doing the Book Bingo!

Find out more and get started at the Summer Reading Challenge page.

Summer Reading Challenge – starts this week!

Summer Reading 2017Look out! It’s back again! Your favourite reading challenge starts this week on 1st December. Welcome to Summer, and welcome to the annual Summer Reading Challenge!

Drop into to any Wellington City Library, or go online to the kids’ webpages to pick up or print the Summer Reading Challenge booklet. You can start reading and reviewing, and completing the challenges from this Sunday.

The Summer Reading Challenge runs through to 31st January 2020, and is open to all 5 – 12 year olds with a Wellington City libraries card.

Don’t forget that schools are also competing to see who has the most students involved in the challenge, so make sure you tell your friends and get them on board.

 

Super Smash Reading Challenge

It’s cricket season! We hope you are as cricket-mad as we are! So we were so excited to see the launch of the Super Smash Reading Challenge.

All New Zealand primary and intermediate kids can register (for free!) for the Challenge, which runs from now until 19th January 2020.

Pick your local cricket team to ‘play’ for (go ahead and choose the Firebirds if you live in Wellington), and watch them move up and down the leaderboard as you read and register the books you read over summer. The more books you read the higher the Wellington Firebirds will go up the leader board.

It’s Wellington vs the rest of the country and only you can help them to victory! Oh, and did we mention that you can win prizes too?

Visit the Super Smash website to find out more and register.

Also don’t forget our very own Wellington City Libraries Summer Reading Challenge, which starts on 1st December. So much reading! So many prizes!

ComicFest 2019 is nearly here!

Do you like free comics? Do you like winning prizes just for wearing a cool costume? Or for drawing a super nerdy picture? Would you like to meet some of the awesome people behind some of your favourite comics, including the Tea Dragon Society, Snarked, and even Batman?

You can do all that and more at ComicFest 2019, running from Thursday the 2nd to Saturday the 4th of May. Come on down to the National Library, just across the road from the Beehive, for all kinds of super-amazing stuff to do, from drawing workshops to drawing competitions, making your own comic zines to winning your own comic at Free Comic Book Day. ComicFest is one of our favourite times of the literary year, and we’d love to see you all there!

Check out some of the comic books by some of the artists and writers you might get to meet at ComicFest 2019:

Snarked!. Book one, Forks and hope / Langridge, Roger Roger Langridge is one of the insanely talented comic book creators joining us for ComicFest. He’s well known for his work on Thor: The Mighty Avenger and The Muppet Show, but the Snarked! books are probably my favourite by him! They’re set in the crazy world of Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland), which only makes them cooler!

The Tea Dragon Society / O’Neill, Katie I totally love Katie O’Neill’s Tea Dragon Society — apprentive blacksmith Greta’s amazing journey is told through the some of the most beautiful art you’ll ever see in a comic book. Don’t miss Katie’s Tea Dragon Workshop during ComicFest — join her in the National Library Programme Rooms on Saturday the 4th of May at 9.00am to see a new species of Tea Dragon take flight before your eyes. I know I can’t wait!

Helen and the Go-Go Ninjas / Sang, Anthony Ant Sang’s Helen and the Go-Go Ninjas should be a go-to comic for older kids. Set in Auckland deep in the future, Helen is enlisted by a group of time-travelling ninjas to save the world from the tyranny of the Peace Balls — will she succeed in her quest? It’s truly a read that keeps you on the edge of your seat right ’til the end. Love it!

There’s heaps more to see and do, and heaps more books to read, at ComicFest 2019. Can’t wait to see you there! Click the banner below to see the whole programme of events.

Summer Reading is a blast!

So far the Summer Reading Challenge has had almost 1000 book reviews submitted! Wow! That’s a lot of books and a lot of reading. You’re all amazing superdooper readers!

There’s still 3 weeks to go, so plenty of time to grab some books from the library, find a cool sunny spot, and lose yourself in fantasy and imagination.

And remember, each time you write a review of a Summer Reading Challenge book you will win an entry into the main prize draw. We have two big prize packs to give away, which will be drawn in the first week of February. The prize packs are filled with vouchers, toys, books, puzzles and games, and more!