7 New Non Fiction to read during August.

Spring into reading with this new selection of junior non fiction about great explorers, animals and the world during the month of August.

Enjoy!

 

Explorers: Amazing Tales Of The World’s Greatest Adventures.

Meet famous explorers and adventurers in this exciting non-fiction storybook for children. Venture into steaming jungles in search of lost temples, fight off frostbite in the Arctic, and blast off into space!

There Are Bugs Everywhere.

There are bugs everywhere! Some of them live in jungles, some of them underwater, and some certainly live in your house. There are Bugs Everywhere is the second in a series of non-fiction books from Britta Teckentrup.

Wild In The Streets: 20 Poems Of City Animals.

A beautifully illustrated book which pairs poetry with non-fiction, telling the fascinating stories of the animals that have found their homes in urban landscapes all over the world.

Save The Gorilla (Animal SOS!).

Gorillas are magnificent creatures of the forest and are loved by many people. So why are they under threat of extinction? Find out all about gorillas, the threats that they face, what is being done to try and save them and how you can help to answer their SOS call.

Weird and Wonderful Animals.

Follow the adventures of an intrepid explorer, and meet some of the world’s most bizarre animals! Did you know there’s a wasp that looks like a panda, a basilisk snake that runs over water, a butterfly with a large skull on its body, and a fish that seems to be wearing lipstick?

image courtesy of syndeticsRebel Dogs! Heroic Tales of Trusty Hounds.

Tail wagging tales of real life Rebel Dogs! Get your paws on the stories and secrets of some of history’s most heroic hounds! An engaging collection packed with over 30 real life dogs, including film stars with fur, hounds that love to help, superstars of science and war heroes; these rebel dogs are the stars of their own stories.

How Trains Work.

How Trains Work takes kids on a fun behind-the-scenes adventure to discover the secrets of train travel. From the earliest steam locomotives to modern super-speedy bullet trains, we peek inside trains, carriages, routes and stations to reveal how they operate and transport people.

6 New Non Fiction to step into spring with – Part Two.

Hey Kids! September and spring has finally sprung! Not to mention, new junior fiction has also sprung into the library collection. Check new books that will shatter your senses, get boys into reading with he promise of rugby, wrestling and exploration, where girls can journey into mythology where they become the heroines rather than being saved by the heroes and  much more!

Enjoy!

image courtesy of syndeticsRipley’s Believe it or not! : Shatter your senses.

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Shatter Your Senses! is filled with thousands of strange stories, bizarre feats, and hair-raising oddities from around the world. Discover the sport of underwater ice hockey or marvel at the flower that bloomed in space-it’s all weird and all true! Bursting with vibrant and eye-catching photos, as well as submissions from our dedicated readers, this book is a must-have for every Ripley’s fan.

 

image courtesy of syndeticsThe WWE Book of Top 10s.

A must read book for boys! From the greatest champions to memorable matches and everything in between, the best of WWE is ranked once and for all. Let the countdown begin!

 

 

 

image courtesy of syndeticsGirls, Goddesses and Giants.

Handsome princes need not apply – these girls are doing it for themselves! In these stories it’s the girls who save the day through their courage, cunning or kindness – whether they are facing up to wolves, demons, dragons, enemy tribes, or the sun itself! A selection of brilliant folk tales from Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe make this a really inclusive anthology of girl power, stunningly illustrated in papercut style.

image courtesy of syndeticsRugby The History.

Who brought the game of rugby to New Zealand? How did the All Blacks get their name? What are the rules of wheelchair rugby? Find out how rugby evolved from a game played by English schoolboys to become one of the most popular sports in the world! Read how rugby spread throughout New Zealand and the Pacific, including: the greatest matches and the greatest players; Rugby at the Olympics and Paralympics; and a chapter on women’s rugby.

image courtesy of sydneticsThe Quest for Z: The True Story of Explorer Percy Fawcett and a lost city in the Amazon.

“The true story of the British explorer Percy Fawcett, who set out on a doomed expedition to find a lost city in the Amazon jungle”– Provided by publisher. It’s hard to imagine in these days of Google earth that explorers would go off into the unknown on quests to find lost cities only talked about in legends but many did and the mystery of the expeditions disappearance is still not solved.

image courtesy of syndeticsWhat is a Monarchy?

What is a Monarchy and how does this political system work? This fascinating book looks at different aspects of Monarchies, explaining what they are, how they have come about and giving examples of such political systems in the world today. Age 9+

 

 

image courtesy of syndeticsMythology.

This is an intriguing and captivating introduction to the culturally diverse world of mythology. Discover everything from creation myths, the origin of humans, and mythical beasts, to gods and goddesses – and explore how different mythologies explain the mysteries of our world. Find out about the supernatural powers of the gods, the mystical powers of shamans, the purpose of the Native American Sun Dance, and the story behind the stunning medicine beaver mask. Discover who swallowed the Sun god Ra, the secrets of the towering totem pole, how many animals make a Chimera, who had snakes for hair, the magical powers of Thor’s hammer, and much, much more! With stunning photographs of masks, jewellery, and sculptures, Eyewitness Mythology offers a unique view of mythology and its gods, goddesses, heroes and monsters. See Native American love dolls, a fire-breathing dragon, African trickster Eshu, and the one-eyed Cyclops. Includes a fact-filled wall chart perfect for bedrooms or classrooms.

Top 10 Childrens DVD’s May 2016

Monsters and dragons and minions, oh my! There are some great favourite movies amongst the DVD listings for May.

Adventures abound for Geronimo, the popular mouse hero of middle fiction continues on his world wide escapades.  Fancy writing your own article for The Rodent Gazette?  What adventure would you report to the editor? Let us know your ideas in the comments.

Here’s your Top 10 for last month:

1. My little pony, friendship is magic

2. Inside out

3. Strawberry Shortcake

4. Minions

5. Hotel Transylvania

6. Dragons

7. Geronimo Stilton

8. Legends of Chima

9. Home

10. The new adventures of Peter Pan

Earth in 30 seconds!

Are you feeling under pressure?

Did you know the weight of the air in the atmosphere presses down on everything on the Earth, including you.

This is air pressure. It varies all the time. Lows are areas of low pressure, with the lowest pressure in the centre. Highs are areas of high pressure, with the highest pressure in the centre. Lows usually bring wet, cloudy weather and Highs usually bring sunny, dry weather. So poor old Wellington has been getting a lot of low pressure recently.

 

 

Try this 3 minute mission Air-pressure trick.

You need:

  • One piece of card (7.5 x 12.5 cm)
  • A glass
  • Water
  1. Fill the glass a third full with water.
  2. Wet the lip of the glass and cover the top with the card. Hold the card in place.
  3. Take the glass to the sink and turn it upside down. Carefully, take your hand away.
  4. What happens? The force of air pressure against the card should hold the card in place.

Earth in 30 seconds has 30 amazing topics for Earth explorers explained in half a minute and there are lots of exciting mini-mission to test facts or find out more.

So explore the earth’s structure, learn about the season, understand volcanoes, earthquakes, wild weather and discover our watery world.

New Non Fiction: Sports, Inspirational Lives and objects… and bringing out your inner artist.

Netball.

A great book to read that tells you everything you want to know about Netball, one of the greatest and most popular sports played in Australia and New Zealand. In reading this book, you will learn everything there is to know about Netball including the history of the sport, the rules, training, clothing and equipment. Great for anyone who is a fan, plays  netball and/or wanting to play.

For more information about Netball, you visit the website, Netball New Zealand.

 

 

The Story of Buildings.

Anyone who is doing a project on the history of buildings and architecture will love this book! This book explains how and why famous buildings in history came to be built. The book also goes into further detail about how did people start making buildings, how did they learn to make them bigger, stronger and more comfortable? And why they decorated them in so many different ways. Great for ages 10 years and over.

 

 

Pastels.

As a child of the 80’s and 90’s, pastels were the norm of bringing out children’s inner artist. Thirty/twenty years later using pastels still hasn’t gone out of fashion. So what are you waiting for? Now is the Time to bring out your own inner artist! Have a big art project coming up? Bored with water colors and acrylic paints, Why not give pastels a go? This book will provide you with step-by-step guides show how to create a variety of projects using pastels.

 

 

Dare the Wind.

Girls, this is one book you need to read on inspirational women. This book tells the true story of one of the first female navigators, Eleanor Prentiss and her ship, the Flying Cloud who, despite battling raging storms, broken masts, and dangerously slow winds managed to complete its maiden voyage  from New York to San Francisco in a period (and world breaking record) of eighty nine days. Also will be thoroughly enjoyed by anyone who is interested in sailing and ships.

 

 

Florence Nightingale.

Children of all ages will enjoy this beautifully illustrated picture book written by celebrated author and artist Demi. This new picture book biography of Florence Nightingale beautifully portrays the story of Florence’s life and explores the long-lasting effects of her career, including her innovative and revolutionary ideas on medicine, emphasising the need of cleanliness in hospitals, nutritional values of hot food and organization of hospitals. Children will not only learn about Florence Nightingale’s inspirational life, but also the history of hospital and nursing practices that are still used today.

 

 

How the Beatles changed the world.

The Beatles are one of the most innovative and revolutionary bands that broke many world records and changed the face of music forever. Fifty years after the British invasion began, Martin Sandler explores The Beatles’ long-lasting impact on the world in this wonderful book. Overall I think you will be overly impressed and astonished by the amount of information held in this book about everything you thought you knew (and didn’t know) about The Beatles and their musical history. A great book for anyone who is a fan of The Beatles’ music and history.

You may also like The Beatles were fab (and they were funny).

FACT: “Hey Jude” was released in August 1968 as the first single from the Beatles’ record label Apple Records. More than seven minutes in length, it was at the time the longest single ever to top the British charts.

 

New non fiction : a miscellaneous collection

Definition of miscellaneous, from the Merriam-Webster dictionaryadjective, consisting of many things of different sorts.

500 fantastic facts

This book is definitely a miscellany (that’s a collection of various facts). It doesn’t go into much detail about each fact, but what it lacks in depth it makes up in the sheer number of topics covered.  It starts out with the big picture: the solar system is the first thing to be covered. And then it gets smaller and smaller, ending up with ‘miscellaneous’ facts.  It’s a quick and fun read and a great way to learn information for quizzes! You might also find that you get interested in a particular fact, and want to do some more research…

Do you know Dewey? Exploring the Dewey Decimal System

If you’ve ever looked at our non-fiction collection (which I hope you have!) You’ll have noticed that all the books have a number on their spines. This is because all the books are grouped together by subject, so everything is much easier to find! Melvil  Dewey invented the system in 1876, and it revolutionised the way libraries are organised.  This is great book for younger readers explaining what the different numbers mean and how to use the system to find the book you want.

 

 

 

 

You can fill a swimming pool with your spit! : the fact or fiction behind human bodies 

Rather than just a collection of “gross out” facts, this book takes a hard look at all the urban legends and old wives’ tales about the human body.  In fact, after reading this, you might be able to disprove stuff you’ve found out in other books! Of course, the book can get pretty gross, so don’t read it if you have a sensitive stomach, but it’s really interesting book and well worth a read. If only to work out whether eating your crusts makes your hair grow curly.  (Spoiler: it doesn’t.)

 

 

 

 

Let’s Get Art: children look at contemporary New Zealand Art

If you’ve ever been to an art gallery, you might have been surprised that not all the art consisted of paintings or statues. Some of it might look strange or not like ‘real’ art at all. This book looks at the different kinds of “contemporary” art (art that’s made by living artists) and tries to work out what these weird and wonderful pieces are all about.  It’s a good book  that will show you the different sorts of art that New Zealand artists are making today and will perhaps make you think about what the artworks might mean. It’s also a cool looking book; it’s a mixture of painting illustrations and photographs, so the book’s almost a work of art in itself.

 

 

 

Explore! The most dangerous journeys of all time

The price of glory is often danger; this is what this book will teach you. This is especially true if you were an explorer in the days before modern equipment. Marco Polo,  Roald Amundsen, and Yuri Gagarin are just some of the big names you’ll learn about. Of course, it wasn’t always men who were willing to risk their lives to make great discoveries; Mary Kingsley and Gertrude Bell also undertook dangerous voyages.  This book also has survival tips, although whether you’ll want to venture out into the jungle or to Antarctica after reading this book is entirely up to you!