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Another new Skulduggery Pleasant!

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Book CoverHot on the heals of last year’s Playing With Fire comes The Faceless Ones (due out around May this year). So what happens next? Well, the sneaky people at Skulduggery’s publishers aren’t telling us anything! Here’s what their description says:

 

“Third bone-breaking, belly-busting adventure in the series that puts the ‘funny’ back in… um… funny series. That didn’t really work, did it? If you’ve read the previous Skulduggery books then you know what the Faceless Ones are – and if you know what the Faceless Ones are, then you can probably take a wild guess that things in this book are going to get AWFULLY sticky for our skeletal hero and his young sidekick. If you haven’t read the previous Skulduggery books then what are you doing reading this? Go and read them right now, so that you know what all that stuff in the previous paragraph was about. Done? Good. So now you’re on tenterhooks too, desperately awaiting the answers to all your questions, and instead you’re going to have to wait till April to get hold of the book. Sorry about that.” (Amazon.co.uk)

 

How annoying! I have no idea what’s going on. Does anyone know who the Faceless Ones are? Reserve your copy now so you get to find out.

 

In the mean time, check out Skulduggery and Stephanie’s website. You can play the Quest and be in to win a Wii!

Kids’ Catalogue: there’s lots of stuff about Christmas in here!

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Kids' CatIf you’re looking for Christmas ideas and books with facts and stories then the Kids’ Catalogue is the place for you!

 

Kids’ Cat has got heaps of popular topics, from Animals to Weird & Scary Stuff, Transport to Arts, Music & Dance (just select the “Explore” button). And in the Holidays and Festivals section you’ll find… Christmas! Stories, crafts, recipes, carols, gifts, information about Santa Claus and Jesus… all the info you’ll need and much more! Check it out.

Robots!

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IncrediBots.com is a website with robot games you can play – you can do challenges like drive a tank, launch a catapult, construct a car-bot and other cool stuff. I’m really bad at it but I’m sure you’re excellent!

 

book coverMore on robots: have you checked out Robots! Draw Your Own Androids, Cyborgs & Fighting Bots by Jay Stephens? This book will show you all you’ll need to know about how to draw robots. Have a look and then impress your friends with your robot art.

 

book coverIf you’re more into building than drawing then there’s Making Robot Warriors from Junk by Stephen Munzer. Here you can learn about making robots using everyday household items. You can even fit lights and buzzers to your robot to make it more, well, robot-like.

 

 

Doodling in the 13th century

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So what did kids do when they got bored while they were learning to read and write in the 13th century? Pretty much what kids do now, really! Archeologists discovered some drawings done by a Russian boy called Onfim who lived in Novgorod in the 12th or 13th century. He drew pictures of his friends, himself as a warrior in battle, and with his dad. (Warning: because this is a freeserve site it has pop up adverts.)

 

If you’re interested in History, check out the “Explore History” option on the kids’ catalogue for heaps of books and information.

Back to school homework help

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Well, the school holidays are nearly over which means you’re heading back into a world of lessons and homework… But…

 

Never Fear! We have the solution!

 

If you’re stuck on your homework or projects and need to get some good info you can jump onto AnyQuestions to find the info you need on the web. AnyQuestions is a free online homework help site where you can chat live to librarians from across the country who will help you by showing you good websites to use.

 

If you don’t want to chat you can visit the Many Answers site and see if what you need is there. Many Answers has heaps of cool links to helpful homework sites.

 

Good Luck!

Do you cook?

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Hey, do you like cooking? Are you a chef in waiting? If you are, and you’re on the lookout for some tasty new recipes to try then have a look at this site. Real Meals is a recipe book put together in the UK with kid chefs in mind, using healthy food to create really tasty meals like crispy potatoes, chicken tikka, roast chicken legs and apple crumble. You can download the recipes and give them a go and impress your family and friends!

 

Eat your veges,

Bridget

The 39 Clues… be in to win!

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Rick Riordan, our favourite author of the fab Percy Jackson series, is getting in on a new cool series: The 39 Clues*. The books are connected to an interactive website where you find clues, solve mysteries and win prizes. The prizes page tells me there’s $100,000 worth of prizes to win in New Zealand alone! That’s a lot!

 

Mr Riordan’s book, The Maze of Bones, is on the catalogue now. You can reserve it, read it, find the clue and begin the hunt! Cool.

 

* 39 Clues books by other writers like Gordon Korman and Peter Lerangis will be coming soon too.

Stories online

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Did you know that you can watch and listen to stories from the comfort of your own home on your own computer?

 

We have a few cool stories available from the Downloads page of the Kids’ website that you can listen to any time you want, including Snake and Lizard by Joy Cowley, overall winner of the New Zealand Post Book Awards this year.

 

There are other sites you can visit with online stories too, for example Storyline Online, where you can listen to famous Americans reading picture books… like Al Gore (who used to be the Vice President of the United States), or Elijah Wood (who was Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings movies).

 

Check them out!