Be prepared, Vera Brosgol
I think that this is a good book because I like books about going on camps.
4 stars
Reviewed by Elyse from Miramar and Seatoun School , 8 years old
families
Kids’ Club Review by Ilona: His dark materials : Northern lights ; The subtle knife ; The amber spyglass
His dark materials : Northern lights ; The subtle knife ; The amber spyglass, Philip Pullman
It is about a girl called Lyra and her daemon companion which can take the form of any animal it wishes. If the daemon or human feels pain they both feel pain.
It’s about Lyra’s uncle who is an explorer who has discovered something people want. It’s top secret and she wants to join him. When her friend disappears she goes on a quest to find him. Some of the words are a bit confusing so I would recommend for a good reader 10 +. It is the first book in a trilogy. I think the writer is a very good writer and I recommend all his books. It is a movie called the Golden Compass.
5 stars
Reviewed by Ilona from Miramar and Seatoun School , 10 years old
Top 10 recommended children’s Halloween movies for 2018
Hey kids! Halloween is just around the corner and Wellington City Libraries has some spooktacular DVDs in the collection for your viewing pleasure and frightful night in.
Check out this year’s top 10 Halloween movies for kids that is guaranteed to make you scream… sometimes of fear or laughter!
Let the scare fest begin!
Enjoy!… and Happy Halloween.
Based on the popular series by R.L. Stine, Goosebumps comes to life on the small screen. After moving to a small town, teenager Zach Cooper discovers that his new friend, Hannah’s mysterious dad is in fact R.L. Stine, the author of the bestselling Goosebumps series and holds a dangerous secret that bridges the gap between fiction and reality.
Also check out the trailer to the sequel: Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween.
Join Casper the friendly ghost is a kind young ghost who peacefully haunts a mansion in Maine. When specialist James Harvey (Bill Pullman) arrives to communicate with Casper and his fellow spirits, he brings along his teenage daughter, Kat (Christina Ricci). Casper quickly falls in love with Kat, but their budding relationship is complicated not only by his transparent state, but also by his troublemaking apparition uncles and their mischievous antics.
Monsters Inc and Monsters University.
Mike Wazowski and James “Sulley” P. Sullivan are an inseparable pair, but that wasn’t always the case. From the moment these two mismatched monsters met they couldn’t stand each other. Monsters University unlocks the door to how Mike and Sulley overcame their differences and became the best of friends.
In Monsters Inc, Lovable Sulley and Mike Wazowski are the top scare team at MONSTERS, INC., the scream-processing factory in Monstropolis. When a little girl named Boo wanders into their world, monsters are scared silly, and it’s up to Sulley and Mike to get her back home. But Boo’s presence is more than just a mere accident. Now, Mike and Sulley have to face an enemy within their own ranks. Overall a heart-warming movie where guaranteed to scare and make you laugh.
What if you could bring your pets back to life? Young Victor successfully proves that theory when he revives his best friend back to life. However problems emerge when his class mates want follow suit in bringing their pets to life and ensues disastrous consequences. Overall a heart-warming and hilarious tale about how far a boy will go for his best friend. A must see movie for Halloween.
A community of quirky, mischievous creatures who have lovingly raised an orphaned human boy named Eggs in the amazing cavernous home they’ve built beneath the streets of Cheesebridge. The town’s villain, Archibald Snatcher, comes up with a plot to get rid of the Boxtrolls, so Eggs decides to venture above ground, ‘into the light,’ where he meets and teams up with feisty Winnie. Together, they devise a daring plan to save Eggs’ family.
A young girl walks through a secret door that she has found in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life, but much better. When her adventure turns dangerous, and her counterfeit parents, including the Other Mother, try to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to get back home – and save her family.
Hotel Transylvania 1 and 2, and 3.
The Hotel Transylvania, run by Dracula, is a unique, high-end resort catering only to the finest monsters and their families. Check out The Hotel Transylvania trilogy and watch all three films back to back starting with the original film, where Dracula is preparing for an extra special weekend – his daughter Mavis’s 118th birthday – when trouble arises: a human has stumbled upon the resort for the first time ever! Even worse: the human has taken a liking to Mavis! In the sequel, everything seems to be changing for the better at Hotel Transylvania. Dracula’s rigid monster-only hotel policy has finally relaxed, opening up its doors to human guests. But behind closed coffins, Drac is worried that his adorable half-human, half-vampire grandson, Dennis, isn’t showing signs of being a vampire. In third film, A monster vacation, The monster family embarks on a vacation on a luxury monster cruise ship so Drac can take a summer vacation from providing everyone else’s vacation at the hotel. It’s smooth sailing for Drac’s Pack as the monsters indulge in all of the shipboard fun the cruise has to offer. But the dream vacation turns into a nightmare when Mavis realizes Drac has fallen for the mysterious captain of the ship, Ericka, who hides a dangerous secret that could destroy all of monster kind.
Harry Potter and the philosopher’s stone… and the chamber of secrets.
An oldie but a goodie, watch Harry Potter and the philosopher’s stone and relive the magic where Harry learns on his eleventh birthday that he is the orphaned son of two powerful wizards and possesses unique magical powers of his own, becoming a student at Hogwarts, an English boarding school for wizards and having to battle some “enemies” along the way. In the Chamber of Secrets, Harry finds the second year more challenging with flying cars, trees fighting back, duelling clubs and a fifty year old secret that threatens to destroy Hogwarts.
Nine-year-old Luke finds that saving the world from witches is a tall order for a boy who has been turned into a mouse.
When teenager Lucas (voice of Phillip Vasquez) discovers that he is not human as he always thought, his world is turned upside down as he must adapt to being a monster. Not only is Lucas troubled by the fact that his first transformation occurred at school but also that his father had kept him in the dark about his true nature. His frustrations lead Lucas to leave home in pursuit of the fabled Monster Island with the hope of learning the truth about his heritage. His journey brings him into contact with several weird and wonderful individuals, not all of whom have good intentions.
Kids’ Club Review by Genevye: James and the Giant Peach
James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl
This book was a mixture of sadness, excitingness and happiness. James Henry Trotter lives with two horrible people. Aunt Sponge is enormously fat with a face that looks horribly awful (not to be rude) and Aunt Spiker is bony and thin as a stick. Every single day, James has to do all of the chores without stopping. How horrible is that! Then one day something magical happens. At the end of the garden a peach starts to grow and grow! Everybody looks at the amazing sight. Quickly, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker called in carpenters and had them build a strong fence around the peach to save it from the crowd. They made a bunch of tickets and started charging everyone for coming in. That night, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker locked the door so James couldn’t come in. He sees a hole in the peach and starts climbing in… he meets all sorts of creatures. What are their names? Read the book to find out! I thought this was an amazing book and you should too!
5 stars
Reviewed by Genevye from Johnsonville, 7 years old
Kids’ Club Review by Avin: Diamond Girls
Diamond Girls, by Jacqueline Wilson
THIS IS NOW MY FAVOURITE BOOK! Though I suggest the age rating of 9+ since it has bad influences. This book is about a poor family that move into a house provided by the council. The mum is a pregnant single mum to 4 girls. She thinks that her 5th child is going to be a boy. Is it?
5 stars
Reviewed by Avin from Johnsonville, 11 years old
Kids’ Club Review by Avin: No stars to wish on
No stars to wish on, by Zana Fraillon
This is a very interesting book! I am really hooked into finding out the ending! It is about a boy who has been taken from his family and taken to a childcare with nuns Will they be nice to him? This book is highly suggested by me!
5 stars
Reviewed by Avin from Johnsonville, 11 years old
Kids’ Club Review by Kohaya: the boxcar children
The boxcar children, by Gertrude chandler warner
This book is about the four Alden children, who’s parents died. They are supposed to live with their grandfather but they hear that he is mean and they run away. They make a house in a boxcar so that must be were the name Boxcar Children comes in. They have fun until one of them gets sick. The one who gets sick is called Violet. Luckily they know a doctor. But will their grandfather find them? It is a good book. Go on and read it . . .
4 stars
Reviewed by Kohaya from Brooklyn, 9 years old
Some great new kids fiction for Term 2!
Term 2 is well under way, so take some time to sit back, relax and enjoy some of these fantastic new kids fiction books available through your local library!
Stanley will probably be fine by Sally J Pla
After fainting during a school assembly, Stanley uses his time in a safe room to begin drawing a comic book superhero and then enters a treasure hunt so that he can win passes to Comic Fest.
Stonebird By Mike Revell
When ten-year-old Liam moves house to be closer to his dementia-suffering grandma, he’s thrown into an unfamiliar place, with a family that seems to be falling apart. Liam doesn’t remember what his grandma was like before she became ill. He only knows the witch-like old woman who snaps and snarls and eats her birthday cards. He wants to fix it, but he can’t. Walking his dog one day, Liam discovers an old stone gargoyle in a rundown church, and his life changes in impossible ways. The gargoyle is alive. It moves unseen in the night, acting out Liam’s stories. And stories can be dangerous things…Seeking revenge against the bullies at his new school, Liam tells a story about the gargoyle attacking them. When one of them ends up in hospital, a regretful Liam vows never to go near the gargoyle again. But his grandma’s illness is getting worse, his mum isn’t coping, and his sister is skipping school…What if the gargoyle is the only thing that can save Liam’s family?
The wishmakers by Tyler Whitesides
Ace unwittingly releases a genie from a peanut butter jar and gets unlimited wishes that he must learn to use with their consequences before all the world’s cats and dogs turn into zombies who will eat mankind.
The short but brilliant career of Lucas Weed by Chrissie Walker
“Lucas Weed hasn’t really made any friends at his new school, so when the ‘cool kids’ suggest he carry out a prank in class, Lucas thinks it might be his path to being accepted. And when the pranks keep getting more and more outrageous – and with videos uploaded to YouTube – Lucas Weed’s popularity soars! But after an embarrassing stunt that doesn’t quite go according to plan – in front of a very important person – Lucas decides it’s time to call it a day. But how?”–Publisher information.
Nothings fair in fifth grade by Barthe De Clements
A fifth grade class, repelled by the overweight new student who has serious home problems, finally learns to accept her.
Cave bear mountain by Jo Sandhu
At Cave Bear Mountain, Tarin is given tragic news about his Clan, and wants to return to them immediately. But Kaija and Luuka have discovered an astonishing truth about their mother. It seems the friends will be divided. But when the wolf cubs are kidnapped to fight in the Bear Festival. Only together will they have a chance of saving them.
Star friends: Secret spell by Linda Chapman
“Do you believe in magic? Maia and her friends do! And when they meet the Star Animals, a whole world of magical adventure unfolds. Lottie and her star animal, a squirrel called Juniper, must use their special powers to stop the forces of dark magic. Someone in the village is using dark magic and the Star Friends need to work together to figure it out who it is. But things keep going wrong! Sita is convinced a Shade is following her, Lottie is sure she’s going to fail her piano exam and Ionie thinks the others don’t want to be her friends. Only Maia seems her usual self. She needs to find out what is happening and how to stop it! Perfect for fans of My Secret Unicorn and The Rescue Princesses, and for Rainbow Magic readers looking to move on to a more challenging adventure.” –Publisher description.
Wings of fire; a winglets collection by Tui T Sutherland
“In Pyrrhia, every dragon has a story … Before the dragonets, beyond the war of the SandWing queens — the dragons of Pyrrhia each have their own story to tell. Like Fierceteeth, stuck in a SandWing prison, obsessed and full of thwarted ambition. Deathbringer, at the very beginning of his journey, desperate to prove himself. And Six-Claws, a loyal SandWing who will soon find out that loyalty comes with a price. Fly further into the dangerous territories of Pyrrhia than ever before to learn the secrets behind Wings of fire”.
Kids’ Club Review by Kohaya: The Ersatz Elevator
The Ersatz Elevator, by Lemony Snicket
I think this book is really good. It is about the Bauldaire orphans are taken in by people who are rich and their names are Esme and Jerome Squalor. If you have read the previous book, the Austere Academy you would know that the Bauldaires new friends Duncan and Isadora Quagmire have been kidnapped by count Olaf. Here Count Olaf tries yet again to steal the Bauldaire fortune. This time posing as a man named Gunther he befriends Esme Squalor. I liked this book because there is a lot of action and there is also a funny pun. See if you can find it. Go on and read it . . .
4 stars
Reviewed by Kohaya from Brooklyn, 9 years old
Kids’ Club Review by Keya: Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins, by P. L. Travers (1899-1996)
The original best-loved classic about the world’s most famous nanny – Mary Poppins.
When the Banks family advertise for a nanny, Mary Poppins and her talking umbrella appear out of the sky, ready to take the children on extraordinary adventures.
Mary Poppins is strict but fair, and soon Michael and Jane are whisked off to a funfair inside a pavement picture and on many more outings with their wonderful new nanny!
But, Mary has only promised to stay until the wind changes…
4 stars
Reviewed by Keya from Central City, 11 years old