Did you know that there is an International Asteroid Day?
Asteroid Day aims to raise awareness about asteroids and what can be done to protect the Earth, its families, communities and future generations from a catastrophic event.
Following on from this the United Nations General Assembly officially declared June 30th each year as the International Asteroid Day.
June 30 was chosen because it marks Earth’s largest asteroid impact in recorded history, the Siberia Tunguska event, which occurred on the 30 June 1908 and devastated over 2,000 km2 of forest, an area the size of any major city today.
A declaration was created called the 100X Declaration where scientist and technologist who support the idea of saving the earth from asteroids were asked to sign. But the really cool thing is that everyone has the opportunity to sign. To date the 100X Declaration has been signed by more that 22,000 private citizens.
There is heaps of information, resources, movies, videos, fun stuff plus the countdown until June 30 on the official International Asteroid Day website so check it out. And don’t forget we also have lots of information and books in the library.
Hi Kids! Check four latest new non fiction added to the children’s collections. Read all about dragon and other fascinating creatures, ways you can create minecraft projects with household items, how a writer overcame difficulty and challenges to becoming a successful author of a timeless children’s classic and how girls can become more confident! Great books to read during the winter season!
“In Unofficial Minecraft STEM Lab for Kids, you’ll find a collection of creative projects that make learning science, technology, engineering, and math exciting and fun for the whole family. Start with a Minecraft lesson that gets beginners up to speed on terminology and gameplay. Then venture off on six action-packed Quests, each with four unique Labs that pair a hands-on activity with an in-game project. Look to the sky, dig beneath the ground, explore cycles in science, and engineer solutions to design challenges! Learn to document your Lab activities with sketchnoting, and how to screencast and narrate videos to share with family, friends, and other Minecrafters. Enjoy Minecraft together–and harness its powerful potential for learning–with Unofficial Minecraft STEM Lab for Kids”– Provided by publisher.
Overall, the coolest book to date, that encompasses all the elements of STEM concepts that will help kids get the necessary skills to go far in the future, while having fun at the same time with elements of Minecraft.
An illustrated collection of poems about dragons and other fantastic creatures by a variety of authors, combined with Carle’s artistic illustrations that beautifully capture the descriptions embedded within the poems.
Read all about the life of Madeleine L’Engle, famous writer and author of timeless classic, A Wrinkle in Time from her lonely childhood, financial insecurity, and countless rejections of her writing–and eventual triumph. A inspirational book to read and ideal for fans of L’Engle’s writing or anyone want to become a writer.
“Girls can rule the world– all they need is confidence. This empowering, entertaining guide from the bestselling authors of The Confidence Code gives girls the essential yet elusive code to becoming bold, brave, and fearless. It’s a paradox familiar to parents everywhere: girls are achieving like never before, yet they’re consumed with doubt on the inside. Girls worry constantly about how they look, what people think, whether to try out for a sports team or school play, why they aren’t getting “perfect” grades, and how many likes and followers they have online. Katty Kay and Claire Shipman use cutting-edge science and research, as well as proven methods of behavioral change, to reach girls just when they need it the most– the tween and teen years. Packed with graphic novel strips; appealing illustrations; fun lists, quizzes, and challenges; and true stories from tons of real girls, The Confidence Code for Girls teaches girls to embrace risk, deal with failure, and be their most authentic selves”–Amazon.com.
Wellington City Libraries will be at the Space and Science Festival at Onslow College on 19th May. We will have all our robots and programmable toys there for you to have a go with, and lots of Lego! There will be mBots, Spheros, Dash, Ozobot and more. You can even say hello to one of our Nao Robots (and they will say hello back)!
There will be heaps of cool companies, scientists, and tech experts at the Space and Science festival, including a scientist and astronaut from NASA. Take a look at the full list and programme to find out more.
Hey Kids! More new non fiction in the Wellington City Libraries collection for your reading pleasure! Featured in this post are books about lego (and space!), awesome science projects good for your brain, where the world of mathematics and computers collides and much, much more!
What’s better than space or building with LEGO bricks? Building amazing space projects out of your LEGO bricks, of course! Brick by Brick Space provides more than twenty-five amazing projects to build with your LEGO bricks. Follow the easy step-by-step instructions to create space stations, satellites, planets, rocket ships, and more.
Irene Latham, who is white, and Charles Waters, who is black, present paired poems about topics including family dinners, sports, recess, and much more. This relatable collection explores different experiences of race in America. Great for ages 8 and up. Just in time for Race Relations Day.
Hot from the Maths Quest series, check out Attack on Circuit City, where you must thwart the attacks using your statistical knowledge. Finding the answers enables readers to advance through the story, learning more about maths – focusing on statistics – with every step they take. Clues are dotted along the way, and wrong turns will direct readers towards the right answer! Action, adventure and mathematics all rolled into one amazing book!
“Brain Lab for Kids is an interactive and hands-on book that takes readers on an exciting journey into the functions of the brain through enlightening experiments and creative activities.”– Provided by publisher.
A cute little interactive book for young children that features foldout pages and use photographic images to detail the basic dance instructions involved in ballet.
Check out the latest new non fiction at Wellington City Libraries. Lots of cool books about from the DK findout! series, lego, coding and augmented reality. Enjoy!
Brick by Brick dinosaurs will teach you how to build more that 15 amazing prehistoric projects, with clearly illustrated step-by-step instructions. An ideal book for anyone who loves lego and dinosaurs.
Explains how to use the programming language Scratch to create computer games, presenting projects that can be altered as young readers gain proficiency.
Have you ever wanted to find out how the First World War began? Or how soldiers lived and fought in trenches? This book from the DKfindout! series is packed with surprising facts and amazing pictures for World War 1. It’s a small book filled with big ideas. — Cover.
Look inside your brilliant body with DK’s brand new human body book. DKfindout! Human Body will satisfy any child who is eager to learn and acquire facts – and keep them coming back for more! From gooey gastric juices, to our amazing brains, and everything in the human body in-between, this book will give kids the understanding they crave about how our bodies work. DKfindout! Human Body explains the complex systems like digestion that keep us ticking over, and will satisfy any budding biologist.DKfindout! Human Body will surprise and delight young readers aged 6 to 9.
“IExplore Micro Monsters is an amazing book that reveals the tiny creatures all around us that are normally invisible to the human eye. Marvel at these incredible mini monsters – and watch as Digital Magic makes them leap off the page! Fact-filled spreads give the reader background information on each tiny beast: where it’s found, what it does and how it survives in even the harshest conditions, from skin cells to outer space! Then simply open the app on your smartphone or tablet to trigger the AR action and awaken the Digital Magic. The book comes to life using the latest technology of augmented reality with the free app. All you need is a smartphone or tablet.”–bookdepository.com.
Check out The Magic School Bus collection, written by Joanne Cole and published by Scholastic. This series is rated “the bestselling science series ever”, and “the freshest, most approach to science for children”, by the New York Times. Join Ms Fizzle and her students on gripping and unorthodox adventures where kids will be introduced through storytelling to the basic concepts of science in all areas such as biology, astronomy, and paleontology.
Dinosaurs, adventure, science and time travel all rolled into one in this book. The magic school bus turns into a time machine and transports Ms Fizzle and her class back into the prehistoric times, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Highly recommended!
Take a special field trip in the magic school bus with Ms. Frizzle and her class, where they go into outer space and visits each planet in the solar system. Includes narrated version on audio disc.
Also check out the nonfiction companion to the original Magic School Bus series.
This is a book about the human body (combined with facts and a story) that makes learning and science more fun, interactive and innovative.This book is packed with incredible photographs, amazing facts and everything you have ever wanted to know about your brain, bones, lungs, muscles and much, much more!
Join Ms Fizzle and her class on another special field trip on the magic school bus where they take a journey to the ocean where they learn about the different creatures that live there. This week is Sea Week – Dive into some fishy books! Glub glub!
Happy New Year! Welcome to the first junior non fiction blog post of 2018! Featured are books all about science experiments, a follow up of successful women who changed the world and made history, history at its most horrible and entertainment thrown in for good measure.
Whether you’re making your own slime, rockets, crystals, and hovercrafts or performing magic (science!) tricks and using science to become a secret agent, this book has something for every type of curious kid. Each experiment features safety precautions, materials needed, step-by-step instructions with illustrations, fun facts, and further explorations.
“From the inspiring author of Girls Who Rocked the World comes another comprehensive collection of true, inspiring profiles of successful young women throughout history who made their mark on the world before turning twenty. Young women today crave strong, independent role models to look to for motivation. In the follow-up to the bestseller Girls Who Rocked the World, More Girls Who Rocked the World offers a fun and uplifting collection of influential stories with forty-five more movers and shakers who made a difference before turning twenty. From Annie Oakley and Queen Victoria to Malala Yousafzai and Adele–each with her own incredible story of how she created life-changing opportunities for herself and the world–you’ll get to know these capable queens of empires and courageous icons of entertainment. Also included are profiles of gutsy teenagers who are out there rocking the world right now and personal aspirations from today’s young women”– Provided by publisher. Also check out Girls who rocked the world.
Planet Earth. Four elements. Once incredible story. Get ready for a roller-coaster ride through history, geography, science and more. Take an amazing journey into the planet’s past and discover how four elements — earth, fire, air and water — created the world and everything that exists today. This book combines amazing facts with stunning photography and hand-drawn illustrations to bring our planet and its past to life in an exciting and engaging way.
Take your football skills to the next level with the world’s biggest football YouTubers, the F2.F2: Football Academy features the greatest players, the biggest teams, and most jaw-dropping moments from across the football world, and teaches the skills and the tekkers it takes to be the best!Want step-overs like Sanchez? Or a pile-driver like Ibrahimovic? Or quick-feet like Messi? Let the F2 show you how. Filled with tips and hacks, as well as the inside track on your favourite stars: Pogba, Suarez, Aguero and the rest. With a free app that brings the book to life and shows you how to turbo-charge your tekkers, there’s not a moment to lose open, read, learn, download and get out on the pitch and practice. Love, peace and tekkers.
This book presents a guide to the characters, droids, aliens, and creatures of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” with details on costumes, weapons, and accessories.
This is a must-have for all Horrible Histories fans. Packed with foul facts, gory games, dreadful jokes, quick quizzes and putrid puzzles, it’s a yearbook with rat-itude! Discover all the dreadful details about your favourite eras of history from the Rotten Romans, to the Terrible Tudors and the Gorgeous Georgians to the Woeful World Wars. History has never been so horrible!
Hey kids! Halloween is just around the corner (AHHHWWOOOOOO!) Wellington City Libraries has some spooktacular DVDs in the collection for your viewing pleasure and frightful night in. Let the scare fest begin!
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.
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 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.
Join Shrek, Donkey, Puss and B.O.B. as they get the fright of their lives in five spooktacular stories the will keep you howling with laughter. It’s a Shrektastic halloween treat that’s ogre-the-top fun for the whole family.
What starts out as an exciting road trip for the Toy Story gang takes an unexpected turn for the worse following a detour to a roadside motel. After Mr. Potato Head suddenly disappears, his friends find themselves caught up in a hilarious mystery that must be solved before they suffer the same fate in this thrilling story of TERROR!
“From the imagination of Steven Spielberg, The Goonies plunges a band of small heroes into a swashbuckling, surprise-around-every-corner quest beyond their wildest dreams! Following a mysterious treasure map into a spectacular underground realm of twisting passages, outrageous booby-traps and a long-lost pirate ship full of golden doubloons, the kids race to stay one step ahead of bumbling bad guys… and a mild-mannered monster with a face only a mother could love. A family adventure classic from start to buccaneering finish, The Goonies is a cinematic treasure trove of breathtaking action, dazzling effects and shiver-yer-timber thrills!” –Container.
The Hotel Transylvania, run by Dracula, is a unique, high-end resort catering only to the finest monsters and their families. 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.
Ghouls Rule unearths an old conflict between ‘Normies’ and monsters – and things are about to get scary. For years, students at Monster High were warned that Halloween was a night to stay inside and avoid conflict at all costs. But Frankie and her friends discover that ghouls and ‘Normies’ once loved to spend the holiday together. The ghouls decide to turn back the clock and use the night to celebrate their individuality and show that it’s okay to ‘Be Yourself. Be Unique. Be a Monster’.
“The story of a kind witch who invites a surprising collection of animals to join her on her broom, much to the frustration of her cat. When the gang saves the witch from a fearsome dragon she rewards them with a magnificent new broom which has room for everyone!”–Container. Based on the book by Julia Donaldson.
Every wondered what’s out there when you look at the stars? Want to meet an astronaut? What was New Zealand like before humans arrived? What goes on in the mind of a robot?
You might just find an answer to these and many other fascinating questions if you come along to the Space and Science Festival at Onslow College, Johnsonville on Saturday the 13th of August from 12 noon to 4pm.
The Space and Science Festival is an event run by volunteers made up of scientists, astronomers, astrophotographers, engineers, mathematicians, technologists and many more people who all give up their time to help you gain greater understanding of the World and space around us both near and far.
This year Wellington City Libraries and Hutt City Libraries have got together and will have a room at the Space and Science Festival packed full of exciting things including robotics, stop/go animation, coding and lego construction. There will be lots of hands on stuff to get involved with including Red, our Nao Robot who can do all sorts of amazing things, even understand what you are saying!
The website for the festival is www.spacesciencefestival.org – you’ll need to get a ticket to get in (best to buy before you go) – Child: $10 or a Family Pass: $50.
Has the back to school blues finally sunk in? Have no fear, there’s more and exciting new non fiction in stock at your local library.
Featured in this blog post are books on the latest and innovative trends in the world of gaming, science and technology, not to mention an old favourite Pokémon, which has been reinvented, evolved and rebranded as Pokémon GO! Not to mention, Lego mania has been unleashed in the library once again with some new and not so new books on the original Lego Movie and the upcoming release of The Lego Batman Movie! I for one am excited about The Lego Batman movie because this is where the world of Lego, DC comics, innovation, play and imagination comes together and opens you up to a world of endless possibilities, creativity and entertainment.
As I mentioned in a previous blog post, Lego Bricks has been applauded by teachers and parents as one of the best toys for learning, building creativity, and strengthening fine-motor skills, not to mention Lego Bricks are an open-ended toy, meaning they can become just about anything a child or adult imagines, including an educational tool. See more about this on Inner Child Learning,
But enough about Lego, the 8 non fiction books featured in this post will keep you amused and entertained for hours and also will keep you informed and up to date with the latest trends and technological developments in the modern world.
To celebrate the upcoming release of The Lego Batman Movie, the spin off of The Lego Movie, which will released in NZ cinemas on the 6th of April just in time for the school holidays, the library has in stock for your viewing and reading pleasure, The Batmanmovie : the essential guide. This book will enable you to go behind the scenes and discover everything there is to know about The LEGO Batman Movie with this ultimate guide. Featuring the latest LEGO Batman set and mini-figures.
While you’re at it, why not check out The LEGOmovie : the essential guide. This guide will tell you need to know about the original LEGO Movie, including character profiles and location spreads from the upcoming movie.
Seen the movie? (I haven’t – Naughty me!) Now is the time to read the movie handbook. Join Brickburg, Wyldstyle, Unikitty, Batman and the rest of the gang in reading this book where you will learn everything you need to know about the Lego Movie, including Stories from Bricksburg’s happiest residents, a special message from President Business and a never before seen episode of Where Are My Pants. Overall I enjoyed this book. It was very funny, humorous, gave me the opportunity to revisit and embrace my inner child and has inspired to go and see the movie. Also check out the move trailer.
As a special treat, why not check out the latest The Lego Batman Movie trailer here.
Want to watch the BEST gamers in the world but don’t know where to start? This guide enables you to watch the pros in action as they teach you how to dominate your favourite games! A must have resource for the avid gamer!
The world of Pokémon and mobile games collides with Pokémon GO! The Ultimate Unauthorized Guide. This book is a must-read companion to the hit mobile game that has taken the world by storm. This guide includes everything you need to know about Lures, PokéBalls, Eggsand much more.
The title does justice to the information contained within this book. Read this book and learn all the tricks of the trade of what is essential to becoming a scientist, which includes look, ask questions, wonder and test your ideas. You’ll also do things scientists don’t necessarily do: eat your experiments, levitate paper clips and play a drinking straw like an oboe. There are even portable laboratory pages for you to experiment on, so that by the end, you’ll know how to invent your own fun ways of finding out about the world. Overall, this book is a must have read for the avid scientist enthusiast!
Do you know how many things in your daily life were invented by accident? SANDWICHES came about when an English earl was too busy gambling to eat his meal and needed to keep one hand free. POTATO CHIPS were first cooked by a chef who was furious when a customer complained that his fried potatoes weren’t thin enough. Coca-Cola, Silly Putty, and X rays have fascinating stories behind them too! Their unusual tales, and many more, along with hilarious cartoons and weird, amazing facts, make up this fun-filled book about everyday items that had surprisingly haphazard beginnings.
Discover the mind-blowing high-tech inventions of the future in How Super Cool Stuff Works. Contained in this book are incredible images that reveal the secret to inner workings of everything from drones and supercomputers to underwater hotels and flying cars. In short, this book features a futuristic world I don’t think anyone saw coming.
Did you know that there is an International Asteroid Day?
Wellington City Libraries will be at the 
