Kids Blog

This month we have a wide variety of new titles. Something for everyone. Whether your interest is experiments, learning the guitar or just rubbish, we have the book for you!

This book is totally rubbish / illustrated by Nik Afia.
“Meet Meggie, Rose, Oscar and Bentley. They are having a ‘totally rubbish day’ where they will reuse oodles of things and invent new stuff to play with. They’re doing this to help the environment and to become eco superheroes.” (Book Cover) One of the best books on recycling activities that I’ve seen. Great for Years 2 to 5.

First guitar tutor / Terry Burrows ; text adapted by Stephen Cole.
This book gives you tips on how to choose your first guitar and how to play it, even if you’re left handed! Great for years 5 and up.

Electric motor experiments / Ed Sobey.
“How do motors work? Using the experiments in this book, learn how to build and use your own motor! See how motors work in cars and boats. Find out what other cool things motors can do.” (Book cover) My favourite is the motor boat made out of the milk carton. Try it out! Great ideas for science fair projects here too. Perfect for all budding engineers years 2/3 and up.

I can remember World War II / Sally Hewitt.
In this book six people remember and tell you about their experinces of living through World War ll. Hear from a land girl, a child, a prisoner of war and a navy commando what is was really like. I love this book because the great layout and cool photos, cartoons and posters helped me easily learn heaps about the war. Perfect if you are interested in the Second World War and are Year 4 or up.

Terezín : voices from the Holocaust / Ruth Thomson.
This book explores the lives of Jewish people in one of the most infamous of the Nazi transit camps. Through inmates’  secret diary entries and artwork along with interviews done after the war, we get a clear picture of exactly what life was like for them in this camp.  An informative read for anyone studying or interested in the Holocaust.

What’s for dinner? : quirky, squirmy poems from the animal world / Katherine B. Hauth ; illustrated by David Clark.
Eating is a matter of life and death for us all, but it can also be weird, surprising, or just plain gross. Enjoy these twenty-nine poems which are all about the unusual and sometimes gruesome ways animals eat. Warning – do not try these eating habits at your own dinner table!

Everything you need to know about animals / Nicola Davies.

Did you know that the Peregrine falcon is the fastest animal/bird on earth, recorded at speeds of 270km/hour! This book is crammed with fantastic facts, illustrations and creative activities you can do at home.

Celebrate Conservation Week at the Zoo

Conservation is at the heart of all they do at the Zoo, and to celebrate Conservation Week, they’ve organised a hands-on, fun and informative day of activities on Sunday 20 September. Go and get involved!

Be a bush-builder, make a bird-feeder, and learn about the biodiversity in your own neighbourhood. Meet the animals, chill out with a documentary, and hear from their keepers and DOC rangers about the work they do to protect native species.

Complete their Conservation Quiz on 20 September and you will go into the draw to win a ‘junior zoo keeper for a day’ experience, among other prizes.

For more information please go to http://www.wellingtonzoo.com/, call 389 3692 or email zooevents@wellingtonzoo.com.

Do you want to do your part in saving the earth? Little steps combined together add up to giant leap to help keep the earth green and clean. Rubbish and Recycling by Gerard Bertolini and Claire Delalande will help you get and idea on how the rubbish can be reused. It also has a lot of interesting facts about the history of rubbish and what happens to things we throw away. It also has great illustrations and helpful tips on how we can help out. There’s even a mini quiz at the end which is a fun thing to try. Its at the children’s non fiction area with the call number J363.7 BER. Remember: reduce, reuse, recycle!

Hey guys! In honour of Earth Hour, our libraries will be giving light bulbs to customers who borrow items from Wednesday 25 to Saturday 28 March, courtesy of Energy Mad. Tell mum and dad to come and get some books with you and get a light bulb! Remember to turn your lights off for Earth Hour this Saturday.

Teach Your Granny to Text & other Ways to Change the World by 4 386 children (more or less) is the title of a new book that caught my attention. It covers 30 actions to try that will change the world as suggested by kids – a global social change book they call it. There are big colourful glossy pages of graphics and photos, a “Where’s Wally?” puzzle plus many interactive activities and freebies. Number 15 is Teach Your Granny to Text: take a look to discover the other great suggestions.

Hey guys, Wellingtonians will be turning off their lights and appliances for one hour – Earth Hour – on Saturday 28 March at 8.30pm to show their support for action on climate change. Wellington is a partner city for Earth Hour and is aiming to get 1 billion people in 1000 cities around the world to take part, which would make it the largest mass participation event in history. So we’re turning off the lights on our buildings and we’re encouraging the people of Wellington to get involved. So what can you do? First, turn off your lights and appliances (get mum or dad to help) at home for Earth Hour and encourage other children to get involved too! We’re the first capital city in the world to celebrate Earth Hour so let’s show them how it’s done. For more information or to register for Earth Hour, visit http://www.earthhour.org.nz/.

Andrew Crowe has just won a childrens’ award for his books. He is the first person who writes non-fiction (true-stories) to win the Storylines Margaret Mahy Award! Have you read his books? They are awesome. They have pictures of life sized creatures, insects, and often plants too. He lives on the Coromandel Peninsula when he is not travelling through New Zealand or to places overseas like Tibet or Nepal or going sailing! Check out his books. They are great to go into your back yard or at the beach to check out the living creepy crawlies! I love his life-sized books!

The life-size guide to New Zealand wildflowers, The life-size guide to the New Zealand beach, Click here to see a picture of him and a list of all his books!

Wellington City Libraries’ School Holiday Programme is drawing to a close. So tomorrow is your last chance to get in on the recycling fun! Children from all over the city have been popping into their local libraries to get their hands mucky in worm farms, find out how recycling trucks work, learn what can and cannot be recycled and to make some cool art out of recycled rubbish.

Coming up tomorrow:

11am-1pm Create a wicked sculpture out of recycled rubbish at Johnsonville Library, 11am-midday learn about worm farms and what happens to your recycling with some cool craft activities at Island Bay Library, 2pm-3pm more craft activities and the chance to crawl around inside a recycling truck at Miramar Library.

They’re all fun and free! See you there!

This week is Conservation Week. Cummings Park Library in Ngaio is having a special after school session on Friday the 12th. They will have Juliet Cooke there from 3.30-4.00pm to tell us all about Kiwi Kids Conservation Club, as well as a colouring-in competition with spot prizes. So if you’re aged between 5 and 12 years old make sure you get down there to help celebrate!

Did you know that Wellington is hosting the World Environment Day on Thursday, June 5, 2008? I’m sure you are wondering what this is all about. Well it is a major international event that aims to promote awareness and action on global environmental issues.

The Wellington Zoo is also into it. There will be talks in the Wild Theatre from 11am–2pm and native tree planting around the zoo at 11am. The cool thing about it is that ten percent of all Zoo admissions on the day will go to the Wellington Zoo Conservation Fund to help us support the protection of the New Zealand frog species.

So do your share and try to help make the earth a better place to live in!