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Category: environment and cute animal frens Page 1 of 4

Draconic Tales for ‘Appreciate A Dragon Day’! Looking at Real Life “Dragons”!

Here be Dragons…

Photo 106371248, (c) wild_wind, licensed under CC-BY 4.0 DEED

Everybody loves dragons.

All around the world there are countless iterations on the idea of the dragon, oftentimes created independently of each other. Almost every culture has a dragon. That or translators and folklorists are a bit over eager to stamp the title of dragon on anything vaguely scaley. Regardless, you have to admit they are cool.

Besides the part where they don’t exist, that bit kinda sucks. It’d also be super dangerous if they did. But let’s be honest, if dragons did exist, knowing humans and our treatment of large fauna *cough*moa/mammoths/haast-eagle*cough*, we’d probably have killed them off already. Either way, probably for the best.

It is true that we have some “dragons” which are mostly glorified lizards (still adorable though) and other miscellanea.

Today is Appreciate a Dragon Day. I have thoughtfully provided a list of dragons for you to pick from all au naturale. And because you lot have been such well-behaved little gremlins, I’ll even share some fun facts on each of these fierce beasties.

A Flying Dragon – Genus Draco

 Photo 339511077, (c) Martin Walsh, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND)

Because reality is often disappointing, flying dragons, on top of not being dragons, don’t actually fly. What they do is they glide. That said, those wings of theirs are pretty neat expansions of their ribs and can at least pretend to fly. Do your ribs allow you to pretend to fly? Didn’t think so.

Dehling JM (2017) How lizards fly: A novel type of wing in animals. PLoS ONE 12(12): e0189573. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189573

Central Bearded Dragon

Photo 341430640, (c) Owen Gale, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

The only dragon commonly kept as a pet! Even in New Zealand, the buzzkill that won’t let me have a precious snake as a pet. Some cute behaviour they have is waving their hand to show submission, mostly to show other bearded dragons that they’re chill and not gonna mess with their turf.


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Due to them being pets, you can find plentiful adorable images and videos on the internet, so that’s something you can do to fill an afternoon!

Komodo Dragon

Photo 341814950, (c) robert_thibault, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

So there’s something weird with the Komodo’s bite. When komodos attack big prey, like say a buffalo, if they don’t manage to kill the prey the first time, it’ll stalk the prey which eventually dies of infection. The thing is it’s not clear whether this is a purposeful evolutionary thing, because komodo dragons do have venom, or at least something like venom, but scientists don’t know what it really does. Give the topic some research if you want, it’s super interesting.

Boyd’s Forest Dragon

Photo 188207878, (c) Samuel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Boyd’s Forest Dragons are great, they spend the majority of their lives just hanging out on tree trunks. Unlike most lizards, they don’t sunbathe, instead letting the air heat them, so they can just stay on their tree trunks. If you bug them by coming close, they will just move to the opposite side of the tree and return to their vibing.

What a mood.

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Soft Apocalypse for Beginners: Flower Crowns & Other Cottagecore Niceties

Folks! Friends! Fellow humans living on this nice crispy earth!

The year is 2023. The global is warming, the 1 are %ing and things are looking iffy… Enter the Soft Apocalypse! It’s time for us to give capitalism the finger, and return to our humble roots as a pastoral society that bakes bread and sings Kumbaya way too often. AKA my escapist daydream when the Stresses of Life get a bit too much (my Soft Apocalypse plan includes joining a commune and ✨learning the language of the goats✨).

Welcome to Soft Apocalypse for Beginners, where we will be embarking on a journey of Learning to Look After Ourselves Even if the World is Ending (and saving the bees while we’re at it)!

Any good dystopian revolutionary/post-apocalyptic trudger of the earth can tell you that the most important part of surviving in the apocalypse is the aesthetic. Would Katniss have been able to take down the Capitol if it hadn’t been for the iconic sidebraid? Could Thomas have ever escaped the maze if he hadn’t been wearing that odd little vest? Important questions to which we may never have the answers. However, better safe than sorry, so in order to truly excel in our most aesthetic of all apocalypses (the Soft one) we must embrace the uniform of our experience. THAT’S RIGHT, WE’RE MAKING FLOWER CROWNS (AND OTHER COTTAGECORE NICETIES).

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I’m hoping we all know how to daisy chain here. I’m hoping that – like me – you are now imagining the daisy chain as a complex but romantic dance move, not dissimilar to a grapevine. For the purposes of today though, the daisy chain we will be discussing is that of the tangibly floral variety. The technical base of our floral DNA, daisy chaining is the basic way to link flowers into a useable strand, and it goes something like this:

  1. Gather your daisies, keeping the stems as long as possible.
  2. Using your thumbnail, make a small slit in the stem, about a centimetre down from the flower head.
  3. Poke the stem of another daisy through the slit and pull it gently through.
  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 on the new daisy, and et voilà! Continue until your daisy chain is the desire length.

Now that you can daisy chain, congratulations! Frolic off into the summer sunset making flower crowns, bracelets, and chains for all your loved ones! Or. If you’re hooked on the cottagecore power of it all. You could attempt a Daisy Braid (capitalised because it’s harder).

  1. Gather your flowers (any type can be used, but long stems are essential, preferably longer than 10cm).
  2. Starting with a minimum of three flowers (the more flowers, the thicker the crown), start to braid the stems together.
  3. At intervals of your choosing, introduce new flowers into the braid.
  4. Once the braid has reached the desired length, you can tuck the loose end back into the beginning of the braid OR tie it in place with a piece of thread.
  5. Wear your flower crown like the pretty creature you are and practice rejecting offers of marriage from Oberon and Titania.


Blooming daisies growing in a garden bed at the botanical gardens

It’s springtime baby.


Other Cottagecore Niceties….

While first priority is adorning ourselves in flowers, it’s also pretty neat to add a little floral hint to literally anything you like thanks to the power of STICKERS! We’re going to be using pressed and dried flowers for this – if you have a bona fide flower press sitting around at home then great (did you know you can make your very own flower press at the Tūhura HIVE Makerspace?)! Otherwise test out the handy dandy methods below:

For the pressed flowers: Collect as many flower heads as you like, then lay them flat between two paper towels. Squash these down under something solid, flat and heavy (like that stack of library books you forgot to read), and leave to dry for five days or thereabouts. You can check your flowers at this point, and if they still feel damp then leave them for another few days.

For the flower stickers: You’ll need a roll of wide, clear tape, your pressed flowers, some baking paper, and a pair of scissors. Lay out a sheet of baking paper, and place down a length of tape, sticky side down so it adheres to the baking paper. Arrange your dried flowers on top of the tape, either individually or in clusters (but making sure there is good bit of space between the flowers and the edge of the tape). Lay a second layer of tape over the flowers and first layer of tape, again sticky-side down so the flowers are stuck between the two layers. You can then cut around the flowers, leaving an edge of clear double-layered tape, and there you go! Once you’re ready to stick them to something, simply peel off the layer of baking paper and you’re good to go!


Flowerheart / Bakewell, Catherine
“Sixteen-year-old Clara accidentally curses her father with wild magic, and in order to save him, she makes a dangerous bargain with a local wizard, who happens to be her childhood best friend.” (Catalogue)

Floret Farm’s discovering dahlias : a guide to growing and arranging magnificent blooms / Benzakein, Erin
“Grow and arrange breathtaking dahlias to enhance every occasion. In this luxe compendium, world-renowned flower farmer and floral designer Erin Benzakein reveals all the secrets to cultivating gorgeous dahlias. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Flower fairies of the garden / Barker, Cicely Mary
“The Song of The Narcissus Fairy Brown bulbs were buried deep; Now, from the kind old earth, Out of the winter’s sleep, Comes a new birth! Flowers on stems that sway; Flowers of snowy white; Flowers as sweet as day, After the night. So does Narcissus bring Tidings most glad and plain- “Winter’s gone; here is Spring – Easter again!”” (Catalogue)

Wild beauty / McLemore, Anna-Marie
“For nearly a century the Nomeolvides women have tended the grounds and lush estate gardens of La Pradera. They have a tragic legacy: if they fall in love too deeply, their lovers vanish. When a strange boy appears in the gardens, he is a mystery to Estrella and to her family, but he’s even more a mystery to himself. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Flower : exploring the world in bloom
“Showcasing the diversity of blooms from all over the world, Flower spans a wide range of styles and media – from art, botanical illustrations, and sculptures to floral arrangements, film stills, and textiles – and follows a visually stunning sequence with works, regardless of period, thoughtfully paired to allow interesting and revealing juxtapositions between them.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Weedflower / Kadohata, Cynthia
“After twelve-year-old Sumiko and her Japanese-American family are relocated from their flower farm in southern California to an internment camp on a Mojave Indian reservation in Arizona, she helps her family and neighbors, becomes friends with a local Indian boy, and tries to hold on to her dream of owning a flower shop.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Florapedia : a brief compendium of floral lore / Gracie, Carol
“This book is an engaging and informative compendium of flower facts. Similar in a nature to Lawrence Millman’s Fungipedia, the book brings together a wide range of interesting facts and stories-ranging from the historical to the scientific to the whimsical. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

This poison heart / Bayron, Kalynn
“When Briseis’s aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents leave Brooklyn behind for the summer. Hopefully there, surrounded by plants and flowers, Bri will finally learn to control her gift: the ability to grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms with a single touch. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Flower art : Makoto Azuma / Azuma, Makoto
“The art of Makoto Azuma uses flowers and plants as its starting point, but juxtaposes their timeless yet transient beauty with an incredibly diverse range of striking settings. In a series of sculptures, installations and interactive events, he delights in blurring the boundaries between nature and artifice. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Girls who green the world : thirty-four rebel women out to save our planet / Kapp, Diana
“A guidebook to the modern environmental movement featuring 34 inspiring women working to save our planet”– Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)

Growing wonder : a flower farmer’s guide to roses / Alvarez, Felicia
“Do you dream of possessing a magical rose garden or a thriving flower farm? Whether you long to fill your own acreage with roses or consider yourself more of a weekend gardener, Menagerie Farm & Flower’s Felicia Alvarez can help make your love affair with roses a joyous and rewarding experience. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The price guide to the occult / Walton, Leslye J.
“Sixteen-year-old Nor, who comes from a long line of witches, prefers to hide her ability to communicate with nature and lives in constant fear of the return of her abusive mother.” (Catalogue)

Hope for the flowers / Paulus, Trina
“Two caterpillars plunge into the pile of those who seek the ever elusive top, but, finding nothing there, return to the ground to change into beautiful butterflies.” (Catalogue)

Foolproof flower embroidery : 80 stitches & 400 combinations in a variety of fibers / Clouston, Jennifer
“This comprehensive guide to floral embroidery features instructions for more than 80 embroidery stitches and includes more than 400 stitch combinations to create beautiful flowers, stems, leaves, twigs, and more”– Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)

Soft Apocalypse for Beginners: Comforts for Creatures

Folks! Friends! Fellow humans living on this nice crispy earth! 

The year is 2023. The global is warming, the 1 are %ing and things are looking iffy… Enter the Soft Apocalypse! It’s time for us to give capitalism the finger, and return to our humble roots as a pastoral society that bakes bread and sings Kumbaya way too often. AKA my escapist daydream when the Stresses of Life get a bit too much (my Soft Apocalypse plan includes joining a commune and ✨eating fairy apples then falling asleep in a mushroom circle just to see what happens✨).

Welcome to Soft Apocalypse for Beginners, where we will be embarking on a journey of Learning to Look After Ourselves Even if the World is Ending (and saving the bees while we’re at it)!

It’s all for one and one for all in the Soft Apocalypse, and that includes looking after some of the smaller critters with which we share this lovely world. The best part? You don’t have to wait until the End of Days to do it! You can be nice to animals now – I KNOW, it’s REVOLUTIONARY (all jokes aside, be decent to the critters or I’ll find you and it will not be nice). So today we’re going to be checking out how to make homemade bird-feeders, and a few other easy peasy things you can do to help out the animals in your neighbourhood!

Pinecone Bird-Feeder

  • What you need: A pinecone (it’s in the title really), peanut butter, string, birdseed.
  • What you do: Tie the string to the pinecone, leaving enough of a tail on the string that you’ll be able to attach it to a tree, beam, or hook outside. Smother the pinecone in peanut butter, then roll it in birdseed until it has a good thick coating. Attach the pinecone to a tree (or similar) outside using the string, and perhaps brew yourself some tea to sip while you watch your new birdie besties enjoy their aerial picnic.

Orange Macramé Bird-Feeder

For the bougie birds at home.

  • What you need: A large orange, string, birdseed.
  • What you do: Cut the orange in half and scoop out the insides (eat this. for strength.). Make your little macramé net by knotting together eight strands of twine/string. Make sure the strands are the same length (about the length of the average arm). Knot the eight strands together, then separate into four pairs. Tie another knot in each of these pairs, about an inch away from the bottom knot. Next, separate the pairs of string into new pairs, with each string pairing up with it’s neighbour (not the one it was knotted with). Tie another knot in these new pairs, again about an inch away from the precious knot. You should now have a nice little string cradle (congrats you made something)! Pop your empty half orange into the cradle so it sits like a bowl, fill with bird seed, and hey presto! (You can also use the remaining string to attach your new birdfeeder to a tree branch outside, but pretend I didn’t say that because I wanted to end on “hey presto”.)

If you’re feeling more minimalist, feel free to go feed those bad boys some birdseed all by your lonesome (after all, the real bird-feeder was the hands we made along the way), or for bonus points, complete your Birbie Dreamhouse Ensemble with a DIY bird bath or house!

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Soft Apocalypse for Beginners: Let’s Save the Bees!

Folks! Friends! Fellow humans living on this nice crispy earth!

The year is 2023. The global is warming, the 1 are %ing and things are looking iffy… Enter the Soft Apocalypse! It’s time for us to give capitalism the finger and return to our humble roots as a pastoral society that bakes bread and sings Kumbaya way too often. AKA my escapist daydream when the Stresses of Life get a bit too much (my Soft Apocalypse plan includes joining a commune and ✨embracing a healthy range of human emotions✨).

Welcome to Soft Apocalypse for Beginners, where we will be embarking on a journey of Learning to Look After Ourselves Even if the World is Ending (and saving the bees while we’re at it)!

So, let’s at it and save some bees! We couldn’t get along without bees for an infinite number of reasons, but the top three would be 1) they really do keep the ecosystem chugging along, 2) how would adults explain intimate relations without the metaphor of the birds and the bees, and 3) they’re just so darn lovely. So, what can we do to protect these little honey-sucking critters?

Plant a Bee Garden

Obviously, you’re all experts at gardening after reading Soft Apocalypse for Beginners: Gardening (feat. Worms!), so why not use those green thumbs to set up a cosy floral spot for bees to come and visit? A bee garden is exactly what it sounds like (I take that back, it’s not bees growing on stalks like the vegetable lamb of Tartary. Although that would be neat too.) and consists of flowers, foliage, and shrubbery that bees find Particularly Delectable. You can go as big or small as you like, from a couple of designated bee plants in pots to filling your entire yard with dandelions (if you intend to aggravate your parents and/or landlord then this is the way to go). Some of the best plants to feature in your bee garden include:

  • Catmint
  • Lavender
  • Borage
  • Pōhutukawa

  • Sunflowers
  • Clover
  • Pansies
  • Sage

Open a Bee Hotel

Have you spent your childhood dreaming of a bright future as a hotelier, but the Disney magic hasn’t quite kicked in and you don’t magically have a bajillion dollars to buy said hotel chain? Why not start on a smaller-but-infinitely-sweeter-smelling scale with a bee hotel! Bee hotels are small structures, like bird houses, that offer a spot for bees to rest and – for solitary bees without a hive – lay their eggs in safety. Again, you can go as grand or as minimalist as you like here. Check out some guides and advice here (Sustainability Trust), here (Wildlife Trusts), and here (Natural History Museum UK) if you want to know more about making your own!

Not feeling that hotelier vocation? Try a bee bath – fill a shallow bowl or bird bath with fresh water, and pile pebbles and stones inside so that they emerge above the water’s surface. This will give the bees something to land on as they come for a genteel slurp of the world’s tastiest beverage (stay hydrated out there folks).

Support Local!

By purchasing (and/or convincing your parents to purchase) honey and bee products from local farmers and beekeepers, not only are you supporting your community and benefitting from an impressive range of health benefits (did you know that the presence of local greenery in honey makes it ideal for toughening up your immune system and combatting allergies??), but small-scale beekeepers are likely to be more invested in the wellbeing and quality of their hives, as well as in broader bee conservation practices in the area. Plus, recent honey research has revealed that a scary number of commercial honey producers adulterate their honey with sugar syrup, or similar artificial sweeteners, and that’s not the wholesome bees-knees kind of content we’re looking for (sugar = bad for you. sweet pure floral bee puke = good for you).

Plus, there’s arguably nothing cuter or more soft apocalypse aesthetic than buying honey from your local farmer’s market. Be sure to wear a straw hat.


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Backyard bees : a guide for the beginner beekeeper / Purdie, Doug
“Just about anyone can keep bees. All you need is a bit of space in your backyard (or on your rooftop) and a little love for the creatures that pollinate the vegie patches of your neighbourhood. Once introduced to the charms of beekeeping and the taste of warm honeycomb direct from the hive, you’ll be hooked.” (Catalogue)

How to bee / MacDibble, Bren
“Peony lives with her sister and grandfather on a fruit farm outside the city. In a world where real bees are extinct, the quickest, bravest kids climb the fruit trees and pollinate the flowers by hand […] Life on the farm is a scrabble, but there is enough to eat and a place to sleep, and there is love. Then Peony’s mother arrives to take her away from everything she has ever known.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

Unnatural creatures
“Unnatural Creatures is a collection of short stories about the fantastical things that exist only in our minds–collected and introduced by beloved New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman. The sixteen stories gathered by Gaiman, winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards, range from the whimsical to the terrifying.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The beekeeper’s apprentice, or, On the segregation of the queen / King, Laurie R
“In 1915, long since retired from his crime-fighting days, Sherlock Holmes is engaged in a reclusive study of honeybees on the Sussex Downs. Never did the Victorian detective think to meet an intellect matching his own-until his acquaintance with Miss Mary Russell, a young twentieth-century lady whose mental acuity is equalled only by her penchant for deduction, disguises, and danger.” (Catalogue)

Bees and their keepers : through the seasons and centuries, from waggle-dancing to killer bees, from Aristotle to Winnie-the-Pooh / Möller, Lotte
” In her travels Moller encounters a trigger-happy Californian beekeeper raging against both killer bees and bee politics, warring beekeepers on the Danish island of L so, and Brother Adam of Buckfast Abbey, breeder of the Buckfast queen now popular throughout Europe and beyond, as well a host of others as passionate as she about the complex world of apiculture both past and present.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The music of bees : a novel / Garvin, Eileen
“Following three lonely strangers in a rural Oregon town, each working through grief and life’s curveballs, who are brought together by happenstance on a local honeybee farm where they find surprising friendship, healing–and maybe even a second chance–just when they least expect it”– Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)

Bee movie
“Having just graduated from college, Barry B. Benson finds himself disillusioned with the prospect of having only one career choice – honey. As he ventures outside of the hive for the first time, he breaks one of the cardinal rules of the bee world and talks to a human, a New York City florist named Vanessa. He is shocked to discover that the humans have been stealing and eating the bee’s honey for centuries. He ultimately realizes that his true calling in life is to set the world right by suing the human race. That is until the ensuing chaos upsets the very balance of nature. It is up to Barry to prove that even a little bee can spell big changes in the world.” (Catalogue)

The bees / Paull, Laline
“Born into the lowest class of her society, Flora 717 is a sanitation bee, only fit to clean her orchard hive. Living to accept, obey and serve, she is prepared to sacrifice everything for her beloved holy mother, the Queen. But Flora is not like other bees. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Wild honey bees : an intimate portrait / Arndt, Ingo
“The honey bee, a key pollinator, is now an endangered species, threatened by human activity and loss of biodiversity. Because of this, understanding forest-dwelling wild honey bees – which are more resistant to diseases and parasites than honey bees kept by beekeepers – is more important than ever before.”– Dust jacket.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Zinnia and the bees / Davis, Danielle
“Seventh-grader Zinnia’s last-day-of-school got off to a bad start when she ended up in the vice principal’s office for yarn-bombing a statue of the school mascot, but it is about to get a whole lot worse–because, thanks to the incompetence of Bee 641, a colony of commercial, migratory bees escaping from a truck has settled their colony in her hair.” (Catalogue)

Buzz : the nature and necessity of bees / Hanson, Thor
“From honeybees and bumbles to lesser-known diggers, miners, leafcutters, and masons, bees have long been central to our harvests, our mythologies, and our very existence. They’ve given us sweetness and light, the beauty of flowers, and as much as a third of the foodstuffs we eat. And, alarmingly, they are at risk of disappearing. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Bees in the city : the urban beekeepers’ handbook / Benjamin, Alison
“From the rooftop of Fortnum and Masons in Piccadilly and the grounds of Buckingham Palace to the Square Mile’s skyscrapers, the landscape is now dotted with bee hives. This book paints a vivid portrait of these intimate, sometimes secret, locations, it also introduces you to the beekeepers and their bees through changing seasons.” (Catalogue)

Planting for honeybees : the grower’s guide to creating a buzz / Lewis, Sarah Wyndham
“Our gardens would be unrecognizable without the gentle buzz of the humble honeybee. Yet in recent years bee populations have suffered from the loss of green spaces and need our help. Planting for Honeybees is a charmingly illustrated, practical guide on how to help attract these delightful pollinators – whether you only have a city window ledge or a whole country garden.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Green urban living : simple steps to growing food, keeping chickens, worm farming, beekeeping and much more in New Zealand / Luke, Janet
“As life gets busier and backyards get smaller, it is a challenge to grow food and live more sustainably. Janet Luke shows that it can be done […] This book evokes some of the methods used in traditional Kiwi backyards, with modern concepts like recycling, organics and using water sustainably to grow food and keep chickens and bees in an urban environment.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Kissing the bee / Koja, Kathe
“While working on a bee project for her advanced biology class, quiet high school senior Dana reflects on her relationship with gorgeous best friend Avra and Avra’s boyfriend Emil, whom Dana secretly loves.” (Catalogue)

 

 

Soft Apocalypse for Beginners: Let’s [Make] This Bread!

Folks! Friends! Fellow humans living on this nice crispy earth! 

The year is 2023. The global is warming, the 1 are %ing and things are looking iffy… Enter the Soft Apocalypse! It’s time for us to give capitalism the finger, and return to our humble roots as a pastoral society that bakes bread and sings Kumbaya way too often. AKA my escapist daydream when the Stresses of Life get a bit too much (my Soft Apocalypse plan includes joining a commune and ✨forming an emotional attachment with the local worm population✨).

Welcome to Soft Apocalypse for Beginners, where we will be embarking on a journey of Learning to Look After Ourselves Even if the World is Ending (and saving the bees while we’re at it)!

Baking bread is one of the fundaments of thriving in the pastoral fantasy that is our soft apocalypse (it’s a fact that sunsets are more beautiful with baked goods in hand), so today we’re having a look at a few basic Bread-y recipes!

Pro Tip: Put on a timer when baking stuff. For the love of emergency services, please and thank you.


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The Sweet

Nothing says ‘cottagecore’ like a hearty loaf of banana bread, and it’s ideal if you’re anything like me (aka chief of forgetting to eat my bananas then hoarding them in the freezer when they go brown). This recipe is adapted from Chelsea Sugar’s banana bread recipe. Shout out to Chelsea x

  1. Preheat your oven to 18o°C bake.
  2. Pop 125g Nuttelex Buttery Spread (söftened) in a bowl with 1 cup of brown sugar. Beat it with measured violence in your heart, then add in either 2 flaxseed eggs (or similar substitute) and mix.
  3. Sift and stir in 2 cups of white flour, 1tsp of baking powder, 1tsp of ground cinnamon, and 1tsp of baking soda (tsp = teaspoon, for those Not In The Know). Mix in 1 cup of soy milk.
  4. Mash 3 ripe/overripe bananas and add, then roughly chop up 1/3 cup of walnuts (optional) and add. Mix ’em all together, then pop the mixture into a loaf-shaped tin lined with baking paper.
  5. Bake for an hour (or until a skewer skewered through the middle comes out clean). Leave in the tin for a further ten minutes, and hey presto you have a Loaf!

The Savoury

Continuing on with our slow-burn pizza making journey (check out tips for growing your pizza toppings here)! If you’re feeling brave, you can even do the neat ‘spinning the dough above your head like a pro’ thing – just remember to watch out for ceiling fans. Love and two kisses to Nadia Lim because this recipe is a 100% knock-off of hers xx

  1. Stir 1tsp of sugar in  cups of warm water until the sugar is mostly dissolved. Stir in 4tsps of yeast and set aside for 5-10 minutes until foamy.
  2. Thoroughly mix in 1tsp of salt and 4 cups of flour, then transfer to a clean surface sprinkled with flour and knead the dough for 5-8 minutes (until you can poke the dough with your finger and the indentation springs back quite nicely). Feel free to add a little more flour if your dough is too sticky.
  3. Lightly oil a large bowl (no more than 2tbsp (tbsp = tablespoon, for those Not In The Know) of olive oil should do). Place the dough in the bowl, turning once so it’s lightly covered with oil. Cover the bowl with a damp, clean(!) tea towel, and leave in a warm place for just under an hour.
  4. Remove the freshly puffy dough, and knead for another 2-3 minutes, then cut the dough into four even pieces and shape into pizza bases! Top with your favourite pizza toppings (Pineapple on Pizza for President 2023), and bake in an oven at 200°C for 10-15 minutes.

The Basic

Where would we be without the humble loaf of sliced white bread (slicing not included, terms and conditions may apply)? What would the millennials have their avocados on? What would we make fairybread with? Truly disturbing to consider. Luckily! We don’t have to! And here’s how to make your very own! (Blessings be to Gather for Bread, from whom I stole this recipe x).

  1. Stir 1tbsp of sugar and 1tbsp salt in 2 cups of warm water until mostly dissolved. Stir in 1tbsp of yeast and set aside for 5-10 minutes until foamy.
  2. Mix in 5-6 cups of flour, until the mixture is clumped and doughy, then turn out onto a clean, floured surface.
  3. Knead your dough for five minutes or so, sprinkling flour as needed to prevent sticking, until the mixture springs back slightly when poked. (Avoid adding too much flour or over-kneading as this will toughen the dough.)
  4. Lightly oil a large bowl (no more than 2tbsp of olive oil should do). Knead the dough for another couple of minutes, then place in the bowl, turning once so it’s lightly covered with oil. Cover the bowl with a damp, clean(!) tea towel, and leave in a warm place for 1-2 hours. During this time, the dough should double in size.
  5. Once the dough has risen, briefly knead out any air bubbles, then cut the dough in half and shape into two oval loafs. Place them on baking tray dusted with flour, and lightly slash the tops of the loaves three times on a diagonal, then brush them with cold water.
  6. Bake the loaves in a preheated oven at 200°C for 35-45 minutes, until the loaves are a tasty golden-brown colour, and sound hollow when tapped. Very good with soup, five stars.

 


via GIPHY


Fitwaffle’s baking it easy : all my best 3-ingredient recipes and most-loved cakes and desserts / Head, Eloise
” I’m Eloise, known online as Fitwaffle, and welcome to my first book! […] Find fifty 3-ingredient recipes, including my crowd-pleasing Cookies and Cream Cake and delicious Chocolate Caramel Fudge, plus all of your favourite 4- and 5-ingredient recipes including Speculoos Ice Cream and a cinnamon roll made in a mug!” (Adapted from Catalogue)


A wizard’s guide to defensive baking / Kingfisher, T
“Fourteen-year-old Mona isn’t like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can’t control lightning or speak to water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt’s bakery making gingerbread men dance. But Mona’s life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona’s city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The heartbreak bakery / Capetta, A. R.
“Teenage baker Syd sends ripples of heartbreak through Austin’s queer community when a batch of post-being-dumped brownies turns out to be magical–and makes everyone who eats them break up. ” (Catalogue)

The bread bible / Beranbaum, Rose Levy
“Winner of the Gourmand World Cookbook Award, Best Bread Book” (Catalogue)

How baking works / Morton, James
“Whether you want light cakes, squidgy brownies, perfect pastry, stress-free macarons or mountainous meringues, this book features a mini-masterclass for each one.” (Catalogue)


A taste for love / Yen, Jennifer
“Smart, kind, and pretty, Liza Yang dreams big and never shies away from a challenge. But her mom compares her to older sister Jeannie, and sees Liza as stubborn, rebellious, and determined to push back against all of Mrs. Yang’s traditional values, especially when it comes to dating. The one thing they agree on is their love of baking. Mrs. Yang is the owner of Houston’s popular Yin & Yang Bakery. Liza agrees to help out at the bakery’s annual junior competition, but discovers there’s a catch: all of the contestants are young Asian American men her mother has handpicked for Liza to date. Grudgingly attracted to stoic, annoyingly hot James Wong, Liza begins to realize there’s no tried and true recipe for love.” (Catalogue)

Bread : from ciabatta to rye / Collister, Linda
“A delicious journey around the great breads of the world – required reading for all home bakers, whatever their level of experience.” (Catalogue)

The little book of vegan bakes / Jade, Holly
“Recipes range from the simple (Chocolate Orange Fridge Fudge, Cookies and Cream Cupcakes and Peanut Butter Flapjacks) to the more ambitious (Honeycomb Doughnuts, Cherry Bakewell Tartlets and No-bake Biscoff Cheesecake) making this a book for anyone and any ability.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The great British bake off : how to bake : the perfect Victoria sponge and other baking secrets / Collister, Linda
“Twelve new amateur bakers are ready to rise to the Great British Bake Off challenge. While they don their aprons, adjust to their new ovens, and get used to baking in a tent, this book takes you through the challenges from the series and shows you how to achieve baking perfection.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Breadsong : how baking changed our lives / Tait, Kitty
“‘If you had told me at 14 when I couldn’t even get out of bed with depression and anxiety that three years later I would have written a book I would never have believed you. But here it is – the story of the Orange Bakery. How I went from bed to bread and how my Dad went from being a teacher to a baker. ” — Publisher’s description.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Baking with Kim-Joy : cute and creative bakes to make you smile / Kim-Joy
“If you’ve ever wanted to know how to bring your baking to life, Kim-Joy will show you how in this fun and practical book. […] Recipes include step-by-step photography and adorable illustrations accompanied by little messages of positivity throughout.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Batter royale / Adams, Leisl
“In this fun graphic novel, a talented young chef is selected to participate in a baking reality show and finds herself mixed up in spicy competition, bitter rivalry, and sweet romance.” –author’s website.” (Catalogue)

Bread therapy : the mindful art of baking bread / Beaumont, Pauline
“Therapy is a love letter to the art of making real bread. […] It celebrates bread making as a way of understanding ourselves better, learning important life lessons and making positive changes to our mental and physical wellbeing. It features eight simple bread recipes to get you started on your bread-making journey.” (Adapted from Catalogue)


The vegan cake bible : the definitive guide to baking, building and decorating spectacular vegan cakes / Kidd, Sara
“With step-by-step tutorials for frosting and decorating, mix and match ideas, and recipes for gluten-free cakes that actually work, Sara teaches you the ingredients, tools, and tips to master the art of vegan baking”– Provided by publisher.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Honey and jam : seasonal baking from my kitchen in the montains / Queen, Hannah
“Featuring Queen’s rich photography throughout, Honey and Jam not only showcases a collection of rustic desserts, but also captures the sprawling forests and farmlands of Blue Ridge, anchoring each recipe in the backdrop of the Southern Appalachian Mountains.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Witness Librarian Cats for International Cat Day!

The humble Felis Catus, or the domestic cat, is well renowned for its utter dominion over the human race. They began their conquest in ancient Egypt, around 3100 BCE, where they were worshipped. Such worship continues to this very day across the world, where their absolute adorableness grants them easy access to willing slaves for food and pats. Even the last bastion of sense and reason, the library, has not been able to resist their influence. 

This world is catkind’s, we just live in it.

Our deities demand piety, and so shall we give it! Today, on this hallowed day, is International Cat Day, and to celebrate, we at the library shall show off our beloved kits!

BEHOLD! LOOK UPON OUR CATS YE MIGHTY AND DESPAIR!

A long black cat is lying on its back atop a blue duvet.Firstly, and most importantly, is my cat! Take a gander at Fred! Isn’t he just the cutest! Freddy is a very loving a snuggly cat, who loves being pet and head boops. alFredo sauce is so very fluffy and he meows! Freddles knows what he wants, and if you are doing something he does not want, he will give you a warning chomp. Graciously he shows mercy and only lightly chomps, for a dead servant is not a very useful servant. 10 out of 10 best cat.


A tortoiseshell cat with blue eyes looks wistfully off into the distance.

This beautiful girl is named Pixie, ain’t she cute! She’s very sweet and always wants cuddles. However, she has a dark side, and can be quite cheeky, depending on the person. Pixie loves her owner, protecting her with violence against the foul beast Huuse-B’andd, for the grievous crime of existing.


A cat with mottled brown and white fur lies on its back outdoors.

A cat with mottled black, brown and white fur twists its body to get a good look at the camera.

These contorting cats are Henry Bam Bam (pictured left) and Eevee (pictured right). These cats are well versed in the ancient tradition of being liquid, transfiguring into whatever shape catches their interest, puny human laws of physics notwithstanding. In performing this eldritch geometry they absorb the sun’s rays and relax, biding their time for further world domination.


Five cats are arrayed on and around a cat tree. The largest cat, the mother, is standing at the bottom, with four cats of different sizes and colourings seated above.Mumma Cat, as she was creatively named, was a stray who decided to adopt her family by having four kittens in their house. She is the large calico cat, much bigger than her children.

Mumma Cat’s human decided to keep two of the kittens, Pepper the black kitten and Dahl the ginger kitten. The other two, Pickle the calico and Pepper the tortoiseshell (There is a long tradition of Peppers within their house) were taken in by another librarian (to keep them in the family business, you must understand).

A ginger cat, a black cat, and a tabby sit on a cat tree.Pepper is a magpie, who loves to steal precious treasures (read: random junk) and store them in her dragon’s hoard (under the bed). Further hobbies include scaling her titan servants to rest upon their shoulders.

Dahl, named after the author, though it is apt that his name is the same as a food…because he loves of all things most, food. He enjoys eating food, meowing for food, stealing the other cats food and trying to steal human food.  When he’s got a full belly he likes lots and lots and lots of pats, to play in the empty bathtub, and to cheekily nibble at pot plants for a reaction.


An elderly cat with long white fur is turning to look at the camera.

This old lady is the darling Jessie, captured here enjoying the great wilderness (there’s no fluffy carpet *gasp*). She loves establishing her dominance over micekind by ritualistically attacking her toy mouse in the dark of night, the pitiful desires of humans to “sleep” (whatever that entails) less important than this dire ritual. The children of the house (though they may have grown) are beloved by this empress, however the “owner” (can it really be said that humans are the owners of cats) is unloved, especially when food is not plentiful.


A grey cat lounges atop a black blanket on a bed by the window.Another finely aged gentlelady of refined taste, Shadow enjoys the finer things in life. Such pleasures are that of bathing in the warmth of the firelight and of the LCD screen. She does not deign upon pithy mortals the pleasures of her meow, simply tapping her paw to alert her servants of her dire need for pets.

You might be surprised to learn that I, master of silly and goofy holidays, was not the first librarian to show off genuine article library cats™©☢®. Fellow teen blogger Maiph wrote a blog two years ago for Black Cat Appreciation Day, stealing my gimmick before I even had it, the meanie. So if you need another kitty fix, there you go.

But it just isn’t enough is it? The overwhelming love we feel for kitties can never be truly sated. But worry not, for I have more fuel to add to the burning fire of passion: books on cats!*Please do not literally set library books on fire, I will get in trouble if you do that BEHOLD!

Dewey : a small-town library cat who touched the world / Myron, Vicki
“The story of Dewey Readmore Books, the beloved library cat, starts in the worst possible way. Only a few weeks old, on the coldest night of the year, he was stuffed into the book return slot at the Spencer, Iowa, Public Library. He was found the next morning by library director, Vicki Myron. Dewey won her heart, and the hearts of the staff. For the next nineteen years, he never stopped charming the people of Spencer with his enthusiasm, warmth, humility (for a cat), and, above all, his sixth sense about who needed him most.” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Marvel meow / Fuji, Nao
“The comic misadventures of Chewie, Captain Marvel’s catlike pet flerken. Join Captain Marvel’s pet, Chewie, as she wreaks havoc in the lives of Marvel Comics’ most popular characters. Gain a new persepective on beloved favorites such as Spider-Man and Iron Man, formidable villains including Thanos and Galactus, and antiheroes like Deadpool, as they all become the playthings of this capricious ‘cat’ creature.” — Book jacket flap.” (Catalogue)


Homer’s odyssey : a fearless feline tale, or how I learned about love and life with a blind wonder cat / Cooper, Gwen
“A New York Times Bestseller — Homer’s Odyssey is the once-in-a-lifetime story of an extraordinary cat and his human companion. It celebrates the refusal to accept limits — on love, ability, or hope against overwhelming odds. By turns jubilant and moving, it’s a memoir for anybody who’s ever fallen completely and helplessly in love with a pet.” (Catalogue)


Catwings / Le Guin, Ursula K.
“Four young cats with wings leave the city slums in search of a safe place to live, finally meeting two children with kind hands.” (Catalogue)


Homicidal psycho jungle cat : a Calvin and Hobbes collection / Watterson, Bill
“Calvin and Hobbes are at it again, and this time, our irrepressible friends are taking a walk on the wild side. Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat chronicles another segment of the multifarious adventures of this wild child and his faithful, but skeptical, friend.” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Old Possum’s book of practical cats / Eliot, T. S.
“The inspiration for the iconic musical Cats, T. S. Eliot’s classic and delightful collection of poetry about cats, with whimsical illustrations by Edward Gorey.” (Catalogue)

(Also it inspired the brilliant musical Cats and its… less brilliant movie adaptation Cats)


White cat / Black, Holly
“When Cassel Sharpe discovers that his older brothers have used him to carry out their criminal schemes and then stolen his memories, he figures out a way to turn their evil machinations against them.” (Catalogue)


One cup at a time : a Cat’s Cafe collection / Tarpley, Matt
“Serving up another steaming hot cup of the warm and floofies, this new collection follows your favourite regulars at Cat’s Cafe as well as several all-new characters as they handle the ups and downs of life with the help of their friends. A follow-up collection based on the popular webcomic Cat’s Cafe, One Cup at a Time immerses readers in the gentle, supportive world of cafe owner Cat and his adorable friends. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Soft Apocalypse for Beginners: Eco-Anxiety & Other Fun Things to Think About at 3AM

Folks! Friends! Fellow humans living on this nice crispy earth! 

The year is 2023. The global is warming, the 1 are %ing and things are looking iffy… Enter the Soft Apocalypse! It’s time for us to give capitalism the finger, and return to our humble roots as a pastoral society that bakes bread and sings Kumbaya way too often. AKA my escapist daydream when the Stresses of Life get a bit too much (my Soft Apocalypse plan includes joining a commune and ✨eating the vinyl edition of Taylor Swift’s folklore like it’s a cracker✨).

Welcome to Soft Apocalypse for Beginners, where we will be embarking on a journey of Learning to Look After Ourselves Even if the World is Ending (and saving the bees while we’re at it)!

I’d like to start off with a little Disclaimer: I am not a therapist, but I am a chill vibey woman who sometimes says “it ees what is ees” while doing finger guns. Which feels like basically the same thing.

In all seriousness, these are Troubling Times, and we should all be brushing up on our self-care skills (get enough sleep, go to vegetables, eat your therapy, etc. etc.), as well as learning new ways to look after ourselves, our friends, and this nice blue and green bouncey ball that we call home. Since thriving in the soft apocalypse is all about looking after ourselves physically and emotionally, today we’re going to be chatting about mental health!

Let’s Get Grounding!

I’m sure most of you will have heard of grounding techniques because – let’s be honest – life can be a bit stressful, especially when you’re a Youth. But in case you haven’t, we’re going to go over a couple of the basics.
  • 5-4-3-2-1 Exercise: This is a golden oldie. The sliced bread of grounding techniques. Easy and discreet. You start by identifying 5 things that you can see around you (the light hitting some leaves, the pattern of someone’s shirt, how swish your shoes are looking etc). From there, you identify 4 things you’re touching/feeling, such as the feel of a chair against your legs, your phone in your hand, you get the gist. Then you work your way through 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and finish with thing you can taste (if you’re feeling a bit flavourless then you can use this as an opportunity to take some deep breaths). This is the exact grounding technique that field mice use when baking soufflés, so feel free to add in that visual.
  • Anchoring Phrases: An exercise in description, anchoring phrases are simple phrases you can repeat to yourself that ‘anchor’ you back into the moment. Things like “My name is Mike TV. I am twelve years old. I live in Wellington, in New Zealand. The time is 3.37pm and it is a Thursday.” You know, real riveting stuff like that.
  • Affirmations: That’s right, we’re not getting through this without a little bit of self-compassion. Come up with a few soft little phrases that you can use when you’re feeling stressed, such as:
    • “I’m having a hard time, but it will pass.”
    • “I can do hard things.”
    • “I deserve rest, safety, food, and love, with no conditions attached.”
    • “I’m doing my best, and that is enough.”
    • “I am in pain but I will make it through.”
  • Listing: Lots of freedom here to list whatever you want. Favourite cryptids, Taylor Swift songs that make you Feel Things, types of cheese, books with terrible love triangles in them. The idea is to get your mind focusing on one thing (while you maybe add in some slow breathing) and find your way back from whatever stressy thing got your goat.
  • Breathing Exercises: I specifically researched “calming breathing exercises” before the Taylor Swift Eras tickets went on sale, so you’d better believe I’m an expert. You could try out Box Breathing (breath in for four seconds, hold for four seconds, breathe out for four seconds, hold again for four seconds, and repeat), Bumblebee Breathing (relax face and shoulders, gently block your ears and cover your eyes, take slow deep breaths and let out a low hum on each exhale), or any number of the other exercises out there.

Let’s Talk About Eco-Anxiety

It’s a pretty sticky world out there, so I’m sure most of you have heard of eco-anxiety, or experienced it for yourself. It’s definitely something I’ve been dealing with more lately, but good news folks! There’s a ton of resources out there to help you manage your eco-anxiety, and even help you turn it into a strength (it’s literally a sign of how much you care about our world – pretty badass when you think about it).
Experts generally agree that there are four key tools for dealing with eco-anxiety:
  1.  Accept and explore your feelings. What in particular is prompting this kind of stress? It’s perfectly rational to be feeling this way – don’t beat yourself up over it.
  2. Use your voice, both in terms of finding people you can talk about this with, AND by speaking up to raise awareness among friends, family, or online.
  3. Action. Nothing is more empowering that feeling like you’re addressing your problem. Get involved in a local clean-up, try making your diet more planet-friendly, research local politics and find out who’s prioritizing climate action, organise a climate change awareness event at your school. Go however big or small you need.
  4. Take practical steps to protect your mental health, and don’t be afraid to take a step back from all the doom media out there. Ground yourself, both emotionally and physically in nature (go touch some grass), and look into getting professional help if that’s where you’re at. You can’t look after your planet if you’re not looking after yourself.
Alright, that’s a lot of words from me. Keep breathing out there folks, and keep scrolling to check out more words from our Gorgeous Library Collection.

As librarians, we’re here to help, not judge. Always feel free to ask for more information at your local library. And if you’re worried about yourself or someone in your life, the best thing you can do is talk to somebody about it.

  • Find great mental health resources at The Lowdown, Small Steps, or Piki (for rangatahi aged 18-25)
  • Or contact
    • Youthline by free texting 234, or free calling 0800 376633.
    • Lifeline Helpline by free calling 0800 LIFELINE (0800 543 354) or free texting HELP (4357) for confidential support – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
    • 0800WHATSUP a free nationwide young people’s helpline available 7 days a week, 11am – 11pm. You can also chat with them online from 11am – 10:30pm every day.

Socially-conscious Reads for Ecologically Anxious Teens


Highly illogical behavior / Whaley, John Corey
“Agoraphobic sixteen-year-old Solomon has not left his house in three years, but Lisa is determined to change that– and to write a scholarship-winning essay based on the results.” (Catalogue)
How to change everything : the young human’s guide to protecting the planet and each other / Klein, Naomi
“A movement is already underway to combat not only the environmental effects of climate change but also to fight for climate justice and make a fair and livable future possible for everyone. And young people are not just part of that movement, they are leading the way. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Lumberjanes [1] : beware the kitten holy / Stevenson, Noelle
“Five best friends spending the summer at Lumberjane scout camp… defeating yetis, three-eyed wolves, and giant falcons… what’s not to love?! Friendship to the max! Jo, April, Mal, Molly and Ripley are five best pals determined to have an awesome summer together… and they’re not gonna let any insane quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way!” (Adapted from Catalogue)

(Don’t) call me crazy : 33 voices start the conversation about mental health
“Writers, athletes, and artists offer essays, lists, comics, and illustrations that explore their personal experiences with mental illness, how we do and do not talk about mental health, help for better understanding how every person’s brain is wired differently, and what, exactly, might make someone crazy.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Am I normal yet / Bourne, Holly
“Evie, Amber and Lottie: three girls facing down tough issues with the combined powers of friendship, feminism and cheesy snacks. Both hilarious and heart-rending, this is Evie’s no-holds-barred story of struggling to live a normal teen life in the grip of OCD, from the acclaimed author of The Manifesto on How to be Interesting.” (Catalogue)

The book of knowing : know how you think, change how you feel / Smith, Gwendoline
“Learn to understand the way you think and you will be able to deal with many of life’s difficult moments. Written in an accessible and humorous style, this book teaches you to know what’s going on in your mind and how to get your feelings under control.” (Adapted from Catalogue)
Darius the Great is not okay / Khorram, Adib
“Clinically-depressed Darius Kellner, a high school sophomore, travels to Iran to meet his grandparents, but it is their next-door neighbor, Sohrab, who changes his life.” (Catalogue)

Urgent message from a hot planet : navigating the climate crisis / Eriksson, Ann
“This nonfiction book for teens outlines the science behind global heating and its root causes, provides ways to take action and honors the efforts of the millions of people from around the world working tirelessly to help the planet.”– Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)
Finding Audrey / Kinsella, Sophie
“Fourteen-year-old Audrey is making slow but steady progress dealing with her anxiety disorder when Linus comes into the picture and her recovery gains momentum.” (Catalogue)

The story of more : how we got to climate change and where to go from here : adapted for young adults / Jahren, Hope
“Jahren, a geobiologist, has written an impassioned open letter to humanity as we stand at the crossroads of survival and extinction. Our enterprising spirit has tamed wild crops, cured diseases, and sent us to the moon– but that spirit has created excesses that are quickly warming our planet to dangerous levels. Jahren […] shares the science-based tools that could help us fight back.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Under rose-tainted skies / Gornall, Louise
“Norah has agoraphobia and OCD. When groceries are left on the porch, she can’t step out to get them. Struggling to snag the bags with a stick, she meets Luke. He’s sweet and funny, and he just caught her fishing for groceries. Because of course he did. Norah can’t leave the house, but can she let someone in?” (Adapted from Catalogue)
It’s all in your head / Earl, Rae
“When I was a teenager, I had a nervous breakdown. Battling OCD and an eating disorder tested my sanity to its very limits, but I survived. And then I thrived. And now I’ve written this book, full of the things healthcare professionals can’t tell you. Supported by Dr Radtha (from BBC Radio 1’s The Surgery), this is a book about how to live well with a mixed up mind.”–Back cover.” (Catalogue)

American road trip / Flores-Scott, Patrick
“With a strong family, the best friend a guy could ask for, and a budding romance with the girl of his dreams, life shows promise for Teodoro “T” Avila. But he takes some hard hits the summer before senior year when his nearly perfect brother, Manny, returns from a tour in Iraq with a devastating case of PTSD. In a desperate effort to save Manny from himself and pull their family back together, T’s fiery sister, Xochitl, hoodwinks her brothers into a cathartic road trip.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

In my head : a young person’s guide to understanding mental health / Baty, Louise
“Do you ever find it hard to explain what you’re thinking and feeling? Have you often pretended to be okay when in reality you’re anxious or sad? However you’re feeling, you’re not alone because many people find it difficult to talk about their mental health. This book will help you be kind to your mind. Whether you want to understand your thoughts and emotions a little better, or learn some handy tips to help you to de-stress, it’s filled with information on how to look after your well-being and stay feeling good.” (Catalogue)

Heroine complex / Kuhn, Sarah
“Evie Tanaka is the put-upon personal assistant to Aveda Jupiter, her childhood best friend and San Francisco’s most beloved superheroine. She’s great at her job–blending into the background, handling her boss’s epic diva tantrums, and getting demon blood out of leather pants. […] But everything changes when Evie’s forced to pose as her glamorous boss for one night, and her darkest secret comes out: she has powers, too.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Slithering, Scaley Serpents! Support World Snake Day! Subsume Snake Storiessssss!


via GIPHY

Snakes! Sourcing serotonin, sanguine, straightforwardly selfward. So supremely sweet, simply stunning, sensationally spectacular. Snakes secrete superiority so surely; society simply shall celebrate. (Sadly, ‘s’ sounding substitutions shall suffice, so suspend some scrutiny.) Souls stay sore seeing serpents stay solo, separated so soundly. Serendipitously, solving such struggles, some stories surround serpents; sacred sagas, sagely shared, so souls shall strengthen!  Sorry, sibilance shall stop suddenly because it’s kinda hard to make any sense with.

But yeah, World Snake Day! I love snakes, they’re so cute, despite being not allowed in New Zealand. Ironic considering NZ is one of the only places without snakes-

WRONG!

We do have snakes, technically! To commemorate our favourite slithery serpents, I shall knowledge y’all on Aotearoa’s four species of native snakes!

So, it turns out there’s actually two different types of sea snakes, Laticauda and Hydrophiinae. So, what’s the difference?

Yellow-Lipped Sea Krait

Photo 271419032, (c) craigjhowe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


Laticauda are known as Sea Kraits, which are basically fence sitters who can’t decide whether to be sea snakes or land snakes, so they do a bit of both. Funnily enough, all of New Zealand’s kraits feed on a diet of mainly eels. Because, obviously, kraits have to prove that they are the best aquatic long bois (which of course they are).

Yellow-Bellied Sea Snake


Hydrophiinae meanwhile are also known as “True Sea-Snakes”, because they live mainly in the sea. For example, our Hydrophiinae, the Yellow-Bellied Sea Snake, spends about 87% of its time in water. Unlike most snakes, sea snakes birth live young, rather than laying eggs. The Yellow-Bellied Sea Snake eats mostly fish and cephalopods.

Despite these two subfamilies being similar concepts: snakes that swim, they actually independently evolved from each other. Both species are very poisonous, so if you find one, no touch!

Brown-Lipped Sea Krait

Brown-lipped Sea Krait

Photo 98665882, (c) abujudy, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND)


Now to the technicalities of how they are native to Aotearoa. So, because sea snakes live in the sea, they sometimes end up drifting to New Zealand. Because they managed to get here by themselves, without the machinations of humans, it’s considered that they are native to the area. In fact, there’s only ever been 1 Brown-Lipped Sea Krait and 1 Saint Giron’s Sea Krait to ever be recorded in New Zealand, yet they’re considered native. And if you disagree with that, take it up with the Department of Conservation. Unfortunately, this means that in reality it is unlikely you’ll ever have to meet any snakes in New Zealand, but you’ll know, deep in your heart, that we technically have native snakes.

Saint Giron’s Sea KraitPhoto 278616112, (c) Yoshitaka Tahara, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

To honour our snakey comrades, I have scrounged up some snakey books for all to read… Plus some on eels, and beautiful serpentine Asian dragons. Unfortunately, few of the fiction books with snakes on the cover have anything to do with slithery friends, just metaphors, bleh.

Happy reading!


A snake falls to Earth / Little Badger, Darcie
“Nina is a Lipan girl in our world. She’s always felt there was something more out there. She still believes in the old stories. Oli is a cottonmouth kid, from the land of spirits and monsters. Like all cottonmouths, he’s been cast from home. He’s found a new one on the banks of the bottomless lake. Nina and Oli have no idea the other exists. But a catastrophic event on Earth, and a strange sickness that befalls Oli’s best friend, will drive their worlds together in ways they haven’t been in centuries. And there are some who will kill to keep them apart”–Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)


Shapeshifters : The Kiesha’ra of the den of shadows / Atwater-Rhodes, Amelia
“Five complete novels. One fascinating world. The NEW YORK TIMES-bestselling author’s tales of forbidden love, bound together in one gorgeous volume. SHAPESHIFTERS tracks the lives of five teenagers who live in a land that has long seen war between the avian and serpiente shapeshifters rage. Although a fragile peace has been established, they face many threats in the following years.” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Serpentine / Pon, Cindy
“Although sixteen-year-old Skybright feels lucky to be the handmaid and companion to the daughter of a wealthy family, she is hiding a secret that threatens to destroy her position and her closest relationships.” (Catalogue)


The snakes / Jones, Sadie
“‘I wonder if it hurts them to shed their skins,’ she said. She didn’t feel afraid standing in the darkness, imagining snakes, even with the smell of death in the air. Bea and Dan, recently married, rent out their tiny flat to escape London for a few precious months. Driving through France they visit Bea’s dropout brother Alex at the hotel he runs in Burgundy. Disturbingly, they find him all alone and the ramshackle hotel deserted, apart from the nest of snakes in the attic. When Alex and Bea’s parents make a surprise visit, Dan can’t understand why Bea is so appalled, or why she’s never wanted him to know them; Liv and Griff Adamson are charming, and rich. They are the richest people he has ever met. Maybe Bea’s ashamed of him, or maybe she regrets the secrets she’s been keeping. Tragedy strikes suddenly, brutally, and in its aftermath the family is stripped back to its rotten core, and even Bea with all her strength and goodness can’t escape.” (Catalogue)


Medusa / Burton, Jessie
“Exiled to a far-flung island by the whims of the gods, Medusa has little company except the snakes that adorn her head instead of hair. But when a charmed, beautiful boy called Perseus arrives on the island, her lonely existence is disrupted with the force of a supernova, unleashing desire, love, betrayal … and destiny itself.” (Catalogue)


Tess of the road / Hartman, Rachel
“Tess Dombegh journeys through the kingdom of Goredd in search of the World Serpents and finds herself along the way”– Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)


SilverFin : the graphic novel / Higson, Charles
“Young James Bond, while attending boarding school at Eton in the 1930s, must battle against an insane arms dealer who, by using killer eels, is attempting to create a race of indestructible soldiers on the eve of World War II.” (Catalogue)


Into the river / Dawe, Ted
“When Te Arepa Santos is dragged into the river by a giant eel, something happens that will change the course of his whole life. The boy who struggles to the bank is not the same one who plunged in, moments earlier. He has brushed against the spirit world, and there is a price to be paid; an utu to be exacted. Years later, far from the protection of whanau and ancestral land he finds new enemies. This time, with no-one to save him, there is a decision to be made.. he can wait on the bank, or leap forward into the river”–Back cover. Suggested level: secondary.” (Catalogue)


A magic steeped in poison / Lin, Judy I
“For Ning, the only thing worse than losing her mother is knowing that it’s her own fault. She was the one who unknowingly brewed the poison tea that killed her-the poison tea that now threatens to also take her sister, Shu. When Ning hears of a competition to find the kingdom’s greatest shennong-shi-masters of the ancient and magical art of tea-making-she travels to the imperial city to compete. The winner will receive a favor from the princess, which may be Ning’s only chance to save her sister’s life. But between the backstabbing competitors, bloody court politics, and a mysterious (and handsome) boy with a shocking secret, Ning might actually be the one in more danger.” — Provided by publisher” (Catalogue)


Song of silver, flame like night / Zhao, Amaelie Wen
“Lan’s last remnant of her mother–and the fallen Hin dynasty of her ancestors–is a symbol seared onto her wrist, which, if the mysterious boy she encounters is to be trusted, may be the key to freeing her people by mastering the ancient, forgotten art ofpractitioning.” (Catalogue)



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Sayonara!

Soft Apocalypse for Beginners: Gardening (feat. worms!)

Folks! Friends! Fellow humans living on this nice crispy earth! 

The year is 2023. The global is warming, the 1 are %ing and things are looking iffy… Enter the Soft Apocalypse! It’s time for us to give capitalism the finger, and return to our humble roots as a pastoral society that bakes bread and sings Kumbaya way too often. AKA my escapist daydream when the Stresses of Life get a bit too much (my Soft Apocalypse plan includes joining a commune and ✨building a shrine to Hozier✨).

Welcome to Soft Apocalypse for Beginners, where we will be embarking on a journey of Learning to Look After Ourselves Even if the World is Ending (and saving the bees while we’re at it)!

When I was 6 years old, I went out into my friend’s garden and ate so much grass that I threw up in my friend’s mum’s laundry basket. It was something of a faux pas, but it was the beginning of a new-found appreciation for edible gardening. This is an appreciation that manifests today as a semi-feral strawberry patch in the backyard of my flat, and one rather sad looking lemon tree. So here we are, determined to do better, and keen to know more about gardening for people who only give half a fig, and whose thumbs are distinctly un-green.

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Fun Fact: The Texas Blind Snake looks like a worm, but it has a tiny mouth with which to extol the virtues of container gardening.

When the Texas Blind Snake speaks, we must listen, so let’s have a chat about container gardening! Container gardening can be as big or small, as cheap or expenny, as aesthetic or unaesthetic as you like, which makes it a perfect starting point for our pre-apocalypse DIY smallholdings. A quick google reveals that people can get pretty ambitious with their container-grown goods, but we’re going to be starting off ✨nice ‘n’ easy✨ with some of the basics:

Lettuce: It’s big! It’s leafy! It tastes like crunchy water!

  • Here’s what you need: Lettuce seedlings, a container (between 5-8 inches deep), potting soil, water, and a handful of gravel or pebbles.
  • Here’s what you need to know: Lettuce needs 4-6 hours of sunlight every day, so look for a sunny windowsill or porch. Water every day or so (lettuce is a bit of thirsty boy and likes soil that it constantly damp, but not soggy). Lettuce seedlings take 40-50 days to reach maturity. When harvesting your lettuce, carefully snip off the outer leaves.
  • Here’s what you need to do: Put the gravel/pebbles at the bottom of your container (this will allow water to drain through the soil to avoid root rot). Half-fill the container with potting mix, and make a bit of a well for your little seedling. Separate out your lettuce seedlings, and sit it down gently in the well before adding enough potting soil to cover the roots and reach just past the base of the plant. Lightly pat down the soil, gently water the seedling, and give it a nice little kiss to help it settle in.

Tomato: A very nice addition to our Evil Pasta – see Soft Apocalypse for Beginners: Cooking the Books (but make it literal) – and an excellent fruit/veg for throwing at disreputable politicians.

  • Here’s what you need: Tomato seedlings (Glacier, Tiny Tim, Maglia Rosa, and Italian Roma are great options for potted gardening), a bucket or similarly large container, potting soil, water, mulch (straw, bark, or shredded leaves), and a handful of gravel or pebbles.
  • Here’s what you need to know: Tomato plants need 6-8 hours of sunlight per day, and grow best if kept between 10-32°C. They are also thirsty boys who require daily watering, sometimes twice a day if the weather is particularly hot (watering early in the morning or later in the evening is best for your plant). Most tomato plants should begin producing fruit after 60-100 days.
  • Here’s what you need to do: Spread a layer of gravel or similar at the bottom of the container (for drainage!), then top with a hefty layer of potting soil. Make a well in the soil, remove the bottom few leaves from your tomato seedling, and bury it so that the roots and first inch or two of stem are under the soil (roots will grow along the buried stem). Pat the earth down gently to tuck in your new tomato child, give it a bit of a water to welcome it into it’s new home, and top off the soil with a nice inch of mulch. At this point, you might also like to create a support structure for your tomato, such as a cage or a few sticks/garden stakes tied together in a tripod.

Basil: Another friend to pastas everywhere, basil makes the cut here because it’s so darn nice to have fresh basil leaves on a homemade pizza or spaghetti bolognese. Plus it’s fun to add Flavour Leaves to things. Makes me feel like a witch.

  • Here’s what you need: Basil seedlings or seeds, a container (any ol’ size and type will do), potting soil, water, and a handful of gravel or pebbles.
  • Here’s what you need to know: Basil plants need 6-8 hours of sunlight per day, and are best planted in mid-Spring. Again, basil needs to have regular sippy-sips of water, and prefers soil that is consistently damp but not soggy. Basil leaves are immediately ready for harvest, however be careful not to over-pick your plant. Basil plants are annuals, meaning they may last only a few months, however if you keep a supply of basil seeds handy then you can continue to sow and grow your basil container garden year-round.
  • Here’s what you need to do: If growing your basil from seed, you’ll need to plant your seeds in a small container of potting mix, around 0.6cm under the soil. Keep the soil moist, and ideally at around a temperature of 21°C. The plants should germinate within 5-10 days, and can be carefully transplanted into larger containers when they have 3-4 sets of leaves. When planting your basil seedling into it’s home container, set up your drainage layer and potting soil, then make a little hole and bury your basil plant up to the base of the stem. You can plant multiple basil in one container, just make sure the plants are 6-8cm apart to allow airflow.


Close-up image of strawberry plants in a garden.

My strawberry patch before it went an eldritch kind of feral.


And there you have it! Our thumbs are slightly greener! To make them greener still (or to take a well-earned break from all your gardening), check out some of the Botanical Books from our collection below:


This poison heart / Bayron, Kalynn
“When Briseis’s aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents leave Brooklyn behind for the summer. Hopefully there, surrounded by plants and flowers, Bri will finally learn to control her gift: the ability to grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms with a single touch. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Girls who green the world : thirty-four rebel women out to save our planet / Kapp, Diana
“A guidebook to the modern environmental movement featuring 34 inspiring women working to save our planet”– Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)

The price guide to the occult / Walton, Leslye J.
“Sixteen-year-old Nor, who comes from a long line of witches, prefers to hide her ability to communicate with nature and lives in constant fear of the return of her abusive mother.” (Catalogue)

Small garden style : a design guide for outdoor rooms and containers / Eaton, Isa Hendry
“Petite gardens align with the movement to live smaller and create a life with less stuff and more room for living. But a more eco-friendly and efficient space doesn’t have to sacrifice style. However small your garden, Small Garden Style will transform it into a magical, modern outdoor oasis.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Wild beauty / McLemore, Anna-Marie
“For nearly a century the Nomeolvides women have tended the grounds and lush estate gardens of La Pradera. They have a tragic legacy: if they fall in love too deeply, their lovers vanish. When a strange boy appears in the gardens, he is a mystery to Estrella and to her family, but he’s even more a mystery to himself. He knows nothing more about who he is or where he came from than his first name. As Estrella tries to help Fel piece together his unknown past, they uncover secrets as dangerous as they are magical.” (Catalogue)

Poison Ivy : cycle of life and death / Chu, Amy
“Life. Death. Poison Ivy has power over both. But can she keep her friends and hold down a regular job at the same time? As Dr. Pamela Isley, she joins the prestigious plant sciences department at Gotham Botanical Gardens, but things quickly get complicated when a fellow scientist is murdered and it looks like the work of Ivy. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Indoor edible garden / Allaway, Zia
“Describes methods for growing edible plants indoors, covering how to make the most of available light, instructions for growing specific plants, and productive and pleasing projects to brighten the home.” (Catalogue)

The Raven Boys / Stiefvater, Maggie
“Though she is from a family of clairvoyants, Blue Sargent’s only gift seems to be that she makes other people’s talents stronger, and when she meets Gansey, one of the Raven Boys from the expensive Aglionby Academy, she discovers that he has talents of his own–and that together their talents are a dangerous mix.” (Catalogue)

Wildblood : a novel / Blackwood, Lauren
“Kidnapped at six and sent to work at the Exotic Lands Touring Company as a Wildblood tour guide, eighteen-year-old Victoria takes on a dangerous expedition through the monster-filled Jamaican jungle to secure a better future and find where she truly belongs.” (Catalogue)

The secret garden : a graphic novel / Marsden, Mariah
“Ten-year-old Mary Lennox arrives at her uncle’s secluded estate on the Yorkshire moors with a scowl and a chip on her shoulder. But as she begins to explore her new home alongside ragtag companions – a cocky robin redbreast, a sour-faced gardener, and a boy who can talk to animals – Mary uncovers long-buried family secrets and learns that even the loneliest of hearts can grow roots in rocky soil.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

How to garden when you’re new to gardening
“How To Garden When You’re New To Gardening shows you the basics to get your green space under control and keep it that way. With the expertise of the RHS, this book gives simple step by step instructions, with clear images to help you build your dream garden, no matter the size and scale.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

How to garden
“A no-nonsense beginner’s guide to the must-know aspects of gardening from the RHS Tempted to have a go at gardening? Keen to grow your own veg or tame an out-of-control border? This no-nonsense practical manual, packed with clear advice and photos on the essentials, shows you where to start and how to progress.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The sprite and the gardener / Abrego, Rii
“Long, long ago, sprites were the caretakers of gardens. Every flower was grown by their hand. But when humans appeared and began growing their own gardens, the sprites’ magical talents soon became a thing of the past. When Wisteria, an ambitious, kind-hearted sprite, starts to ask questions about the way things used to be, she’ll begin to unearth her long-lost talent of gardening.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Soft Apocalypse for Beginners: Cooking the Books (but make it literal)

Folks! Friends! Fellow humans living on this nice crispy earth! 

The year is 2023. The global is warming, the 1 are %ing and things are looking iffy… Enter the Soft Apocalypse! It’s time for us to give capitalism the finger, and return to our humble roots as a pastoral society that bakes bread and sings Kumbaya way too often. AKA my escapist daydream when the Stresses of Life get a bit too much (my Soft Apocalypse plan includes joining a commune and keeping chickens).

Welcome to Episode 2 of Soft Apocalypse for Beginners, where we will be embarking on a journey of Learning to Look After Ourselves Even if the World is Ending (and saving the bees while we’re at it)!

And what better skill to start off with than cooking? After all, it’s not a proper Soft Apocalypse unless there’s snacks. In honour of this, today I will be sharing with you my holy trinity of recipes for all possible occasions, along with some books to eat them with (this is a library after all).


Fun Fact: The following recipes cover the three primary food groups (Garlic, Breakfast, and Noodles).

First and foremost: Evil Pasta. Thus named because of the unethical quantity of ✨butter✨ and the nasty little way I cackle when it’s ready to eat. (Also butter should be in quotation marks because the two-headed calf poem made me cry and now ya girl is plant-based.) To make your evil plate of evil pasta, slice up an enormous number of white button mushrooms and fry ’em in a pot/pan/type of thing along with chef’s choice amount of minced garlic and lots of “butter”. Do this until the mushrooms are all lil and crispy. Feel free to add some sliced tomato here, again it’s up to you. This is your evil pasta now. Mix the lil crispy mushrooms into the desired amount of cooked pasta (I would recommend using those tiny little elbow pasta pieces), and top with some nice avocado. Make a nasty little cackle and then it’s ready to eat.

Second and secondmost: Oogy-Boogy It’s Cold Outside Porridge. Don’t be alarmed, but the following recipe includes a fruit. I’m not going to take you through the ins and outs of making porridge because that’s not Hip Teen Blog Vibes, so I’ll say it really fast. Oats + Twice as much milk (let’s go soy – think of the cow poem) + Nice little shake shake of cinnamon + One grated apple + A touch of vanilla essence. Boil in a pot until Good, then eat topped with brown sugar and a splash more milk.

Third and finally: Sticky Lime Noodles. Thus named because it’s stïcky. Slice up some carrots, courgette, and bok choy ✨julienne style✨ then fry it all in a nice little pan. Add a little minced garlic. Add two packets of cooked, unseasoned two-minute noodles (that’s right, we’re classy). Add two tablespoons of both lime juice and soy sauce. Add one teaspoon-ish of honey. Add a nice dusting of chilli powder. Stir it all up. Adjust according to taste. Make sure it’s looking stïcky. Put it in a bowl, find the eating utensil that makes your heart sing and then Eat It.


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There you have it: Cooking 101 for the Soft Apocalypse. Keen to know more or keep reading? Why not head down to your local library branch to get your greedy little (oven) mitts on some of these delicious books from the WCL collection:


Batter royale / Adams, Leisl
“In this fun graphic novel, a talented young chef is selected to participate in a baking reality show and finds herself mixed up in spicy competition, bitter rivalry, and sweet romance.” –author’s website.” (Catalogue)


With the fire on high / Acevedo, Elizabeth
“Ever since she got pregnant during freshman year, Emoni Santiago’s life has been about making the tough decisions, doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. Then an opportunity presents itself to not only enrol in a culinary arts class in her high school, but also to travel abroad to Spain for an immersion program. Emoni knows that her decisions post high school have to be practical ones, but despite the rules she’s made for her life – and everyone else’s rules that she refuses to play by – once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free.” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Breadsong : how baking changed our lives / Tait, Kitty
“‘If you had told me at 14 when I couldn’t even get out of bed with depression and anxiety that three years later I would have written a book I would never have believed you. But here it is – the story of the Orange Bakery. How I went from bed to bread and how my Dad went from being a teacher to a baker. ” — Publisher’s description.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

A Cuban girl’s guide to tea and tomorrow / Namey, Laura Taylor
“After graduation, everything Lila Reyes had planned for her life fell apart. Her worried parents make a new plan for her: Spend three months with family friends in Winchester, England, to relax and reset. But with the lack of sun, a grumpy inn cook, and a small town lacking Miami flavor (both in food and otherwise), what would be a dream trip for some feels more like a nightmare to Lila. Until she meets Orion Maxwell. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Vegan fakeaway : plant-based takeaway classics for the ultimate night in / Beskow, Katy
“We all love a takeaway. It’s one of life’s little pleasures, and a great way to try food from around the world in the comfort of our own homes. From All-in-one biryani or Sesame spring rolls, to Sicilian-style pizza, Falafel flatbreads and Chilli burritos, there’s something for every Friday night feast.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Brave Chef Brianna [1] / Sykes, Sam
“Brianna Jakobsson has big cooking dreams, and when her ailing father, a world-renowned chef, poses a challenge to his only daughter and fifteen sons, she seizes the opportunity.  Thing is, the only place she can afford to set up shop is in Monster City. Her menu is full of weird delicacies, her kitchen is run by a half-bird harpy, and her dining room is filled with skeleton businessmen. Add on the nefarious Madame Cron, some highly competitive siblings and Brianna’s plate is literally… full.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Somewhere between bitter and sweet / Kemp, Laekan Zea
“As an aspiring pastry chef, Penelope Prado has always dreamed of opening her own pastelería next to her father’s restaurant, Nacho’s Tacos. But her traditional Mexican-American mom and dad have different plans. Xander Amaro Is a new hire at Nacho’s. For him, the job is an opportunity for a chance at a normal life, to settle in at his abuelo’s, and to find the father who left him behind. When both the restaurant and Xander’s immigrant status are threatened, he will do whatever it takes to protect his new found family and himself. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)
The complete cookbook for young chefs
“Want to bake the most-awesome-ever cupcakes? Or surprise your family with breakfast tacos on Sunday morning? Looking for a quick snack after school? Or maybe something special for a sleepover? It’s all here. Learn to cook like a pro – it’s easier than you think.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

A phở love story / Le, Loan
“Bảo would describe himself as steady and strong: his grades are average, his social status unremarkable. He works at his parents’ phở restaurant – as his parents’ fifth favorite employee. Linh Mai would describe herself as a firecracker: stable when unlit, but full of potential for joy and fire. She dreams of pursuing a career in art, while working practically full-time at her family’s phở restaurant. Bao and Linh have never even had a class together – but after a chance encounter, sparks fly. Can this relationship survive their families’ feud? — adapted from jacket.” (Catalogue)

Cheeky treats : brilliant bakes and cakes / Charles, Liam
“When you bake you want the results to be mouth-watering and jaw-droppingly good. You want gasps of awe followed by silence as your friends and family munch their way through your genius creations. No one understands this better than Liam Charles, aka Cake Boy, the breakout star from Great British Bake Off 2017. Who else could bring you a Caramel Peanut Millionaires Shortbread, an Oreo Chocolate Brownie Freakshake or a Christmas Dinner Pie?” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Chinese takeaway in 5 : 80 of your favourite dishes using only five ingredients / Wan, Kwoklyn
“Kwoklyn Wan is back with 70 classic Chinese dishes that use only five ingredients. All your favourites are here – from Tom Yum Soup to Prawn Toast, Sweet Chilli Salmon and Lemon Chicken, Sweet and Sour Pork Balls or Beef in Oyster Sauce, Aubergine Fritters and Chilli Ginger Crispy Tofu – and all use only five key ingredients.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Diet for a changing climate : food for thought / Mihaly, Christy
“Explore the vast world of unexpected foods that may help solve the global hunger crisis: weeds, wild plants, invasive and feral species, and bugs! You’ll visit a cricket farm, learn recipes for dandelion pancakes and pickled purslane; and discover facts about climate change, sustainability, green agriculture, indigenous foods, farm-to-table restaurants, and how to be an eco-friendly producer, consumer, and chef. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

It’s Dino Time, Literally: Discover Dinosaurs During Dinosaur Day!

Friends, family, acquaintances, we are all gathered here today, June 1st, to commemorate the passing of our beloved Dinosaurs. Truly they were the best of us, I mean, they were huge awesome bird-lizard things that were like super cool. Dinosaurs have been an inspiration for many of us, from becoming an obsession for us in our younger years, to never leaving that obsession, to those silly suits that people can buy that just make everything better. Unfortunately our beloved Dinosaurs were so cruelly taken away from us by some meteors, though that may have been for the best considering how squishy humans are and how big Dinosaurs were. The Dinosaurs’ legacy is continued by their descendants, birds, who are neat. I mean, have you seen geese? They put the “terrible” in “terrible lizard”.

Now, to say a few words is one of the T-Rex’s fierce relatives:

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Thank you for your wise words, Sir Cluckington.

But let us not be swamped in sadness, Dinosaurs wouldn’t have wanted us to live in sorrow for their loss. I mean, technically Dinosaurs probably wouldn’t have wanted anything besides food, but hey, let’s be poetic. Let us celebrate their lives, their radical coolness, rather than their deaths. For why focus on the fact they are dead and fossilised, but for the brightness they spark in our hearts.

So, in remembrance, this Dinosaur Day, June 1st, let us look at all the cool media about dinosaurs.

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Battlesaurus : rampage at Waterloo / Falkner, Brian
“In this alternate history, Napoleon wins at Waterloo by unleashing a secret battlefield weapon–a legion of giant, carnivorous dinosaurs imported from the wilds of the Americas–and only fifteen-year-old Willem Verheyen stands in the way of the emperor’s plan for world domination.” (Catalogue)


The extinction trials / Wilson, S. M.
“Stormchaser wants to escape her starved, grey life. Lincoln wants to save his dying sister. Their only chance is to join an expedition to a deadly country to steal the eggs of vicious dinosaurs. If they succeed, their reward is a new life filled with riches. But in a land full of monsters – both human and reptilian – only the ruthless will survive. Jurassic Park meets The Hunger Games in this epic new series.” (Catalogue)


Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur [1] : BFF / Montclare, Brandon
“Lunella Lafayette is an inhuman preteen genius who wants to change the world! THAT JOB would be a lot easier if she wasn’t living in mortal fear of her latent inhuman gene. There’s no telling what she’ll turn into — but Luna’s got a plan. All she needs is an Omni-Wave Projector. Easy, right? That is, until a red-scaled beast is teleported from the prehistoric past to a far-flung future we call … today!” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Reptil : brink of extinction / Blas, Terry
“Reptil — the dinosaur-powered graduate of Avengers Academy — is on the brink of extinction! In the wake of his grandfather’s worsening health, Humberto Lopez has taken a step back from crimefighting to focus on his family. Perhaps it’s a sign that he should give up on becoming a hero and finally come to terms with his parents’ mysterious disappearance… or perhaps not! When a mysterious figure ambushes Humberto, what unravels will shake the core of everything that Reptil thought he knew about his past. And it will either change the course of his future – or end it forever!” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Dinotopia : journey to Chandara / Gurney, James
“After many years of searching, artist James Gurney has discovered a never-before-seen journal by the nineteenth-century explorer Arthur Denison in a used bookstore. Denison’s previous travel accounts, published as Dinotopia: A land Apart from Time and Dinotopia: The World Beneath, introduced a lost island where dinosaurs and humans live together in peaceful interdependence. Now Professor Denison and his saurian companion, Bix, set out on a perilous journey to the long-forgotten empire of Chandara.” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Raptor Red / Bakker, Robert T
“A pair of fierce but beautiful eyes look out from the undergrowth of conifers. She is an intelligent killer. So begins one of the most extraordinary novels you will ever read. The time is 120 million years ago, the place is the plains of prehistoric Utah, and the eyes belong to an unforgettable heroine. Her name is Raptor Red, and she is a female Raptor dinosaur. The life of a lady dinosaur in the prehistoric swamps of Utah. When her mate is killed on a hunting expedition she teams up with her sister, a mother of three, and the novels follows their struggle to eat and survive in a dangerous world.” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Jurassic Park / Crichton, Michael
“Before seeing Jurassic World film this June read the original, multimillion copy number 1 bestselling thriller that inspired the first major motion picture Jurassic Park. On a remote jungle island, genetic engineers have created a dinosaur game park. An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now one of mankind’s most thrilling fantasies has come true and the first dinosaurs that the Earth has seen in the time of man emerge. But, as always, there is a dark side to the fantasy and after a catastrophe destroys the park’s defence systems, the scientists and tourists are left fighting for survival…” (Adapted from Catalogue)


The lost world / Doyle, Arthur Conan
“The Lost World is a novel released in 1912 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle concerning an expedition to a plateau in the Amazon basin of South America where prehistoric animals (dinosaurs and other extinct creatures) still survive.” (Catalogue)


Bermuda / Layman, John
“There’s a region in the Atlantic Ocean where planes disappear, ships are lost, and traveling souls go missing… never to be heard from again. And there’s an island within this place, mysterious and uncharted, untouched by time and civilization, where all who are lost end up. Bermuda lives here. She’s a normal, everyday 16-year-old girl, who just so happens to live in an otherworldly dimension swarming with dinosaurs and pirates! It’s made her scrappy, and a survivor, and it’s the only life she’s ever known… until today. Bermuda’s discovered something on her island that will either open a doorway between her world and ours… or destroy them both!” — page 4 of cover” (Catalogue)


Age of reptiles : tribal warfare / Delgado, Ricardo
“More real life’ adventures from the days of the dinosaurs. This series tracks the fortunes – and misfortunes – of a family of Ceratosaurs as they try to survive the rigors of the Jurassic era.'” (Catalogue)


The virtual realities trilogy / Carmichael, Claire
“Andy Tremain has a terrifying ability. Using virtual reality, he can create monsters from his unconscious mind. And he’s obsessed with dinosaurs. A psychiatrist in the United States promises a cure but when Andy and his brother and sister realise they are prisoners rather than guests in Dr Kaplan’s luxurious desert complex, Andy’s dream becomes a nightmare. When his powers change and reality itself begins to shift and tear, Andy is so dangerous that society clearly cannot afford to let him live. So the terror continues…” (Catalogue)

Welcome to Soft Apocalypse for Beginners!

Folks! Friends! Fellow humans living on this nice crispy earth!

It is a high school rite of passage to spend at least one class (I would recommend Maths – who really needs it?) debating with your friends on how best to survive a Zombie Apocalypse. In my mind, your survival plan said a lot about who you were as a person, and I definitely judged my friends based on their plans and how closely they aligned with my own (steal a bus, break into the SPCA and take all the animals, then hole up in the local Pak ‘n’ Save – make of that what you will).

Eight years later, and I am infinitely more preoccupied with my plans for thriving in the Soft Apocalypse: The global is warming, the 1 are %ing and things are looking iffy… Welcome to the Soft Apocalypse! It’s time for us to give capitalism the finger, and return to our humble roots as a pastoral society that bakes bread and sings Kumbaya way too often. AKA my escapist daydream when the Stresses of Life get a bit too much (my Soft Apocalypse plan includes joining a commune and ✨constantly touching grass✨).

If/when the Soft Apocalypse hits, I will be trailing around after my green anarchist forager brother so I expect I will be just fine, but at the same time it would be very nice to have a few handy-dandy skills of my own. Enter: Soft Apocalypse for Beginners! Where we will be embarking on a journey of Learning to Look After Ourselves Even if the World is Ending (and saving the bees while we’re at it), with the support of a certain gorgeous library collection.

Stay tuned for the next episode of Soft Apocalypse for Beginners!
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Lumberjanes [1] : beware the kitten holy / Stevenson, Noelle
“Five best friends spending the summer at Lumberjane scout camp… defeating yetis, three-eyed wolves, and giant falcons… what’s not to love?! Friendship to the max! Jo, April, Mal, Molly and Ripley are five best pals determined to have an awesome summer together…and they’re not gonna let any insane quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way! ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Scattered all over the earth / Tawada, Yōko
“Welcome to the not-too-distant future: Japan, having vanished from the face of the earth, is now remembered as “the land of sushi.” As she searches for anyone who can still speak her mother tongue, Hiruko soon makes new friends. Her troupe travels to France, encountering an umami cooking competition; a dead whale; an ultra-nationalist named Breivik; unrequited love; Kakuzo robots; red herrings; uranium; an Andalusian matador.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The quiet at the end of the world / James, Lauren
“How far would you go to save those you love? Lowrie and Shen are the youngest people on the planet after a virus caused global infertility. Closeted in a pocket of London and doted upon by a small, ageing community, the pair spend their days mudlarking and looking for treasure – until a secret is uncovered that threatens not only their family but humanity’s entire existence.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Girls’ last tour. 1 / Tsukumizu
“Civilization is dead, but not Chito and Yuuri. Time to hop aboard their beloved Kettenkrad motorbike and wander what’s left of the world! Sharing a can of soup or scouting for spare parts might not be the experience they were hoping for, but all in all, life isn’t too bad…”–Back cover.” (Catalogue)

Tea Dragon Society / O’Neill, Katie
“The beloved and charming all-ages book that follows the story of Greta, a blacksmith apprentice, and the people she meets as she becomes entwined in the enchanting world of tea dragons. After discovering a lost tea dragon in the marketplace, Greta learns about the dying art form of tea dragon care-taking from the kind tea shop owners, Hesekiel and Erik. As she befriends them and their shy ward, Minette, Greta sees how the craft enriches their lives–and eventually her own.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The sound of stars / Dow, Alechia
“Music, art and books are illegal, but Ellie breaks the rules by keeping a secret library. When a book goes missing, Ellie is terrified that the Ilori will track it back to her and kill her. Born in a lab, M0Rr1S was raised to be emotionless. When he finds Ellie’s illegal library, he’s duty-bound to deliver her for execution. The trouble is, he finds himself drawn to human music and in desperate need of more. M0Rr1S has a lot of secrets, but also a potential solution–thousands of miles away. The two embark on a wild and dangerous road trip with a bag of books and their favorite albums, all the while creating a story and a song of their own that just might save them both.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Wool / Howey, Hugh
“In a ruined and hostile landscape, in a future few have been unlucky enough to survive, a community exists in a giant underground silo. To live, you must follow the rules. But some don’t.  Their punishment is simple and deadly. They are allowed outside. Jules is one of these people. She may well be the last.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

This poison heart / Bayron, Kalynn
“When Briseis’s aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents leave Brooklyn behind for the summer. Hopefully there, surrounded by plants and flowers, Bri will finally learn to control her gift: the ability to grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms with a single touch. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Iron widow / Zhao, Xiran Jay
“The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall of China. It doesn’t matter that the girls die from the mental strain. When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But when she gets her vengeance, it becomes clear that she is an Iron Widow, a rare kind of female pilot who can sacrifice males to power up Chrysalises instead. Now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will take over instead, then leverage their combined strength to force her society to stop failing its women and girls. Or die trying.”– Provided by publisher.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Live Bats and Dead Bats! Celebrating International Bat Appreciation Day with Vampires!

A very cute picture of a New Zealand Short-Tailed Bat

Image: Lesser short-tailed bat, by Colin O’Donnell, Department of Conservation. Licensed under CC BY 4.0

Look at them! Aren’t they so adorable, with their cute little faces, ferocious teefies, and big goofy ears. If you didn’t know, today, April 17th, is International Bat Appreciation Day, a much beloved and well known holiday! Bats are like, super cool, so that’s why I have decreed that we shall celebrate their existence! That and I wanted to show y’all some cool books about vampires, but first let’s talk real bats.

The Bats of Kiwiland

Bats are Aotearoa’s only indigenous land-based mammals, making them a truly unique part of our nation’s already unique biodiversity. We have three* different species of bats: the New Zealand Lesser Short-Tailed Bat, the New Zealand Greater Short-Tailed Bat, and the New Zealand Long-Tailed Bat.

New Zealand Lesser Short-Tailed Bat on mossy log

Image: Short-tailed bat, by Colin O’Donnell, Department of Conservation. Licensed under CC BY 4.0

Pekapeka – The Short-Tailed Bats: 

Pekapeka are rather unique as bats go, hunting on the ground rather than the air. They are very capable at crawling along the ground and digging with their wings as front limbs. They are omnivores, eating mostly pollen, insects, fruit, and nectar. To attract mates, males will do this little song which is just too cute. Unfortunately the Greater Short-Tailed Bat is likely extinct, as the last time anyone saw one of these bats was 1967, but hopefully they are just being sneaky and are still alive.

New Zealand Long-Tailed Bat on researcher's finger. Aw they are so cute!

Image: Long-tailed bat, by Colin O’Donnell, Department of Conservation. Licensed under CC BY 4.0

Pekapeka-Tou-Roa – The Long-Tailed Bat:

Officially voted as New Zealand’s Bird of the Year in 2021, the long-tailed bat is a much more traditional bat than the short tails. It eats insects which it catches while flying, which in fancy science talk is called hawking (because clearly this mammal is a bird.) If you’ve ever seen a bat in Aotearoa, it was most likely one of these beauties, as they often fly at dusk.

Vampires!

And now for the most popular type of bat, Nosferatu! Real life vampires, vampire bats, are a little less dangerous than the ones in fiction. Vampire bats only occasionally nom on humans, so they’re mostly safe. However we need not restrict our imagination by paying attention to “reality”. If the animal kingdom won’t give us murderbats, the twisted minds of humanity shall.

Lo!

Behold!

Many a strange and horrific tale of the creatures of the night!

via GIPHY

Plague of the undead / Cross, Gary
The boy knew his father was going to kill him. Just like he’d killed everyone else tonight. The boy’s mother, his two older sisters and baby brother, the servants. All of them dead.

When Lucius is ten years old his father returns home one evening as a vampire and destroys his entire family. By luck Lucius is spared. Fifteen years later Lucius has joined the elite group of vampire hunters that saved his life that night. Now it’s his turn to lead the hunt.” (Adapted from Catalogue)


The lost girls : a vampire revenge story / Hartl, Sonia
“Holly Liddell has been stuck with crimped hair since 1987 when she agreed to let her boyfriend, Elton, turn her into a vampire. But when he ditches her at a gas station a few decades into their eternity together, she realizes that being young forever actually means working graveyard shifts at Taco Bell, sleeping in seedy motels, and being supernaturally compelled to follow your ex from town to town, at least until Holly meets Elton’s other exes, who invite Holly to join them in their quest to kill Elton before he can trick another girl into eternal adolescence. Adapted from book jacket.” (Catalogue)


Youngblood / Laurens, Sasha
“Kat Finn and her mother can barely make ends meet living among humans. Like all vampires, they must drink Hema, an expensive synthetic blood substitute, to survive. Kat isn’t looking forward to an immortal life of barely scraping by, but when she learns she’s been accepted to the Harcote School, a prestigious prep school that’s secretly vampires-only, she knows her fortune is about to change. Taylor Sanger has grown up in the wealthy vampire world, but she’s tired of its backward, conservative values—especially when it comes to sexuality, since she’s an out-and-proud lesbian. But when she discovers her new roommate is Kat Finn, she’s horrified. Because she and Kat used to be best friends, a long time ago, and it didn’t end well. When Taylor stumbles upon the dead body of a vampire, and Kat makes a shocking discovery in the school’s archives, the two realize that there are deep secrets at Harcote—secrets that link them to the most powerful figures in Vampirdom and to the synthetic blood they all rely on.” (Catalogue)


Go hunt me / Devos, Kelly
“For Dracula lovers and fans of Diana Urban’s All Your Twisted Secrets , this spine-tingling thriller follows seven horror buffs as their dream trip to a remote Romanian castle turns into a nightmare when they begin to be killed one by one.” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Cruel illusions / Fuston, Margie
“Since a vampire murdered her mother, Ava has survived foster home after foster home, determined to get revenge. It’s been ten years since anyone has seen a vampire– until Ava stumbles across a hidden magic show where she witnesses impossible illusions. Ava sneaks backstage and catches them in acts they can’t explain. But they’ve been waiting for her: they are part of an ancient secret society with true magic, and Ava has the same power in her blood that they do. If she joins them they will help her avenge her mother. But if she wants to keep the power they offer, she must participate in a sinister and dangerous competition where illusion and reality blur– and the stakes are deadly.”– Adapted from jacket.” (Catalogue)


Department 19 / Hill, Will
“After watching his father’s brutal murder, sixteen-year-old Jamie Carpenter joins Department 19, a secret government agency, where he learns of the existence of vampires and the history that ties him to the team destined to stop them.” (Catalogue)


Direwood / Yu, Catherine
“No one ever pays attention to sixteen-year-old Aja until her perfect older sister Fiona goes missing. In the days leading up to Fiona’s disappearance, Aja notices some extraordinary things. Aja’s father, the neighbors, and even her ex-friend Mary all play down this strange string of occurrences, claiming there must be some natural explanation. It seems everyone is willing to keep living in denial until other teens start to go missing too. Aja is horrified when she meets Padraic, the vampire responsible for all the strange occurrences. His hypnotic voice lures her to the window and tells her everything she’s longed to hear–she’s beautiful and special, and he wants nothing more than for Aja to come with him.  Following him into the woods may be the only way to find Fiona, so she agrees on one condition: He must let her leave alive if she is not wooed after one week. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Eighth grade bites / Brewer, Heather
“For thirteen years, Vlad, aided by his aunt and best friend, has kept secret that he is half-vampire, but when his missing teacher is replaced by a sinister substitute, he learns that there is more to being a vampire, and to his parents’ deaths, than he could have guessed.” (Catalogue)


The hunt / Fukuda, Andrew Xia
“Seventeen-year-old Gene has passed as a vampire for years, carefully following every rule, but now, just as he finds a girl worth fighting for, he is chosen to participate in the hunt for the last remaining humans among ruthless vampires who soon suspect his true nature.” (Catalogue)

 


Vampires never get old : tales with fresh bite
“Eleven fresh vampire stories from young adult fiction’s leading voices! In this delicious new collection, you’ll find stories about lurking vampires of social media, rebellious vampires hungry for more than just blood, eager vampires coming out–and going out for their first kill–and other bold, breathtaking, dangerous, dreamy, eerie, iconic, powerful creatures of the night. Welcome to the evolution of the vampire–and a revolution on the page. Vampires Never Get Old includes stories by authors both bestselling and acclaimed.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Christmas Cryptids & Festive Folklore: A Librarian’s Guide

Ah Christmas, that delightful season of pine-scented air fresheners, “why yes I love socks”, and Typo’s controversial range of Christmas ornaments. For most of us, Christmas is a fairly vanilla, tinselly affair. We spend time with our family and friends, we eat a wonderfully large amount of food, we exchange gifts. And don’t get me wrong – I love Christmas, but a good part of that love comes from knowing a few of the more dubious, bizarre, and (dare I say?) ooky spooky stories surrounding the festive season.

via GIPHY


Having recently realized the extent to which Santa Claus has become a symbol for Western consumerism perpetuated by a wealthy white man with a problematic labour-force, I am refusing to make a case for SC as a cryptid. HOWEVER, this just leaves more space to introduce you to a far more intriguing cast of Christmas cryptids…

For those new to the Wellington City Libraries Cryptozoological Society, a cryptid is an animal or entity whose existence hasn’t been conclusively proven (to give you an example, the prom king and queen of cryptids would definitely be Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster).

Krampus

The Anti-Santa himself, Krampus (from the German krampen, meaning ‘claw’) is a popular figure in festive European mythology. Depicted as an anthropomorphic half-goat/half-demon, Krampus decided that coal simply wasn’t enough to discourage misbehaviour, and – according to legend – punishes bad children by either a) beating them with sticks and switches, b) dragging them to hell, or c) eating them. Feel free to tag yourself.

Jólakötturinn

The Jólakötturinn (pronounced ‘yola-ka-turin’), or Yule Cat, originates from Icelandic legend, and is another rather ominous figure in the ranks of supernatural beings judging your behaviour. Unlike Krampus, however, Jólakötturinn has a very specific rhetoric for measuring naughty/nice: Have you been given new clothes this Christmas? If so, you’re safe. If not, then you risk being eaten by the house-sized Yule Cat.

In accordance with Icelandic tradition, children who finish their chores in time for Christmas are given new clothing as a reward. Jólakötturinn, peering through the windows on Christmas night and seeing new clothes, may deduce that the child is good. No new clothes = indisputable immorality of child = get eaten by an enormous supernatural cat.

The Yule Lads

First of all, a moment of appreciation for the name ‘The Yule Lads’. I did not make that up.

Originating from the same mythology as the Jólakötturinn (the Yule Lads’ parents are actually the proud owners of the Yule Cat), the Yule Lads are a group of 13 trolls, each of whom has a distinct name and personality, which refers to their favourite way of causing mischief. Special mention to Pottaskefill (Pot-Scraper) for coming to steal everyone’s left-overs. Over the 13 nights leading up to Christmas, the Yule Lads take turns visiting households, leaving candy in the shoes of good children, and rotting potatoes in the shoes of bad children.

The Fiordland Moose

I’ve discussed the Fiordland Moose previously, but I figured they deserve an honourable mention for being the closest thing Aotearoa has to a mythical reindeer. To summarise, several moose were released into Fiordland in 1910. The sporadic sightings and evidence found in the past 112 years have been enough to keep people wondering if these elusive moose are still out there. With enough public pressure, maybe we can bully the moose out of hiding and convince them to start leaving candy in our shoes at Christmas.

via GIPHY


And because this is not, in fact, just a place for me to rant about cryptids – come down to your local library to check out our collection of Christmas cryptozoology and festive folklore!

Cryptid Club / Andersen, Sarah
” Do you hate social gatherings? Dodge cameras? Enjoy staying up just a little too late at night? You might have more in common with your local cryptid than you think! Enter the world of Cryptid Club, a look inside the adventures of elusive creatures ranging from Mothman to the Loch Ness Monster. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The mystery chronicles : more real-life X-files / Nickell, Joe
“After thirty years of paranormal investigation, acclaimed author and detective Joe Nickell opens his mystery files once again to reveal the truth behind supposedly inexplicable occurrences. Continuing what his popular Real Life X-Files started, Nickell’s new casebook examines the Shroud of Turin, the Mothman enigma, crop circles, alien abductions, and numerous other perplexing mysteries.”  (Adapted from Catalogue)

Monsters : a bestiary of the bizarre / Dell, Christopher
“From myth to manga, an artistic visual history of the human mind through an imaginative collection of fantastical monsters from around the world.” (Catalogue)

On monsters : an unnatural history of our worst fears / Asma, Stephen T
“”A comprehensive modern-day bestiary.”–The New Yorker” (Catalogue)

Mythical monsters : mad, mischievious, mysterious creatures / Smith, Lauren
“Have you ever met a yeti, or seen Nessie hiding below the surface? There’s no proof that these creatures exist, but just in case, we’ve collected the stories of some of the biggest, baddest and oddest monsters in the world.” (Catalogue)

Unnatural creatures
“Unnatural Creatures is a collection of short stories about the fantastical things that exist only in our minds […] Magical creatures from the werewolf, to the sunbird, to beings never before classified will thrill, delight, and quite possibly unnerve you in tales by E. Nesbit, Diana Wynne Jones, Gahan Wilson, and other literary luminaries. (Adapted from Catalogue)

Norse mythology / Gaiman, Neil
“Neil Gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major Norse pantheon: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki, son of a giant, blood brother to Odin, and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Ghosts of Christmas past
“A present contains a monstrous secret. An uninvited guest haunts a Christmas party. A shadow slips across the floor by firelight. A festive entertainment ends in darkness and screams. Who knows what haunts the night at the dark point of the year? ” (Adapted from Catalogue)
The mothman prophecies / Keel, John A
“This true account of the aliens who invaded the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia […] For thirteen months Point Pleasant was plagued by a dark terror that culminated in a major disaster. Unearthly noises and ghostly lights in the sky gave way to mutilated animals, winged monsters, weird flying machines and worst of all, the fearsomely demonic “Bird” – the Mothman. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Chill tidings : dark tales of the Christmas season
“The gifts are unwrapped, the feast has been consumed and the fire is well fed – but the ghosts are still hungry. The ghosts are at the door. Welcome to the second new collection of dark Christmas stories in the Tales of the Weird series, ushering in a fresh host of nightmarish phantoms and otherworldly intruders bent on joining or ruining the most wonderful time of the year. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

 

 

 

World Space Week 2022

This October school holidays, Wellington City Libraries is running events to celebrate World Space Week.

World Space Week Association (WSWA) has themed the October 2022 celebrations around “Space and Sustainability”! The theme is inspired by the ways that humans use space, and acknowledging how the orbital area surrounding Earth-itself is a finite resource. Read more here.

Did you know the Muppets TV show had a Star Wars Crossover? Learn more by clicking!

The World Space Week Association exists to strengthen the links between space and society! WSWA is working to expand and establish the UN-declared World Space Week “globally on the largest possible scale!” Check out their mission statement to learn more.

Holiday youth events

Event image

Experience VR ISS: International Space Station Star Stitching – we will use the library’s Oculus Quest 2s and Oculus Rifts at MiramarKarori, and Te Awe to explore the international space station!
Star Stitching at Johnsonville Library

Embroider a constellation!

To celebrate Space Week 2022, we have premade constellation packs for Matariki & Southern Cross, and general instructions if you want to choose your own! Embroider your constellation and mount it on card!

Recommended for children (10+) accompanied by parents, or young adults (14+), but open to all.

Youth Night image

Youth Nights @ Karori and Johnsonville 

These after-hours events are for teens who are into gaming, books, making music, watching movies, debating the finer points of costume design on RuPaul’s Drag Race, eating pizza, and generally just hanging out.

Our Youth Nights are totally free (pizza included!) but you do need to be 14+ in order to come, so please come prepared to show your student ID. Once you’re in, our spaces are yours!


 

Chicken Soup for the Adventurous Soul

Exams are on the horizon, and some of you may be fighting the urge to run into the woods and never return. But fear not – Spring is in the air, and the world is full of wonderful things to distract you from study! Now is the perfect time to be daydreaming about those Summer roadies and camping trips, and what better way to prepare for the great outdoors than by popping down to your local library for a quick peruse of Bear Grylls’ collected works?

Whether you’re planning a quick day-trip through the bush, a few days camping with friends, or are fully committed to vanishing amongst the undergrowth and resurfacing only often enough that you become a haunting fixture of local folklore, our collection has something for you.

You can find more information about local hiking trails on the Wellington City Council website.

The young adventurer’s guide to (almost) everything : build a fort, camp like a champ, poop in the woods–45 action-packed outdoor activities / Hewitt, Ben
“[…] The Young Adventurer’s Guide will teach kids everything from how to walk like a fox and see like an owl to use the stars as their own personal GPS and even how to build the world’s coolest fort out of foraged sticks. This handbook for curious kids will empower them to explore the natural world and even the comfort of their own backyard through a whole new set of skills. Featuring 65 different skills in sections that include: Secrets of the Woods, The Best Camping Trip, Make Cool Stuff That’s Actually Useful and Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary”– Provided by publisher.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Hiking & tramping in New Zealand / Bennett, Sarah
“Lonely Planet Hiking and Tramping in New Zealand is your passport to all the most relevant and up-to-date advice on what to see, what to skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Admire the dramatic peaks and valleys of Fiordland National Park, stroll past bays and beaches of the Abel Tasman Coast, or scale an active volcano on the North Island.” (Catalogue)

Survival handbook : an essential companion to the great outdoors / Sumerak, Marc
“This book includes crucial tips on exactly what you need to know to survive even the most unexpected circumstances. This illustrated guide shows you how to make a shelter, build a fire, locate clean water, forage for food, avoid deadly animals, protect yourself from bad weather, and find your way back home safely afterward. Whether you’re lost, hungry, burned, or buried, knowing essential emergency survival skills could literally mean the difference between life and death.” (Catalogue)

Day walks of Greater Wellington / Gavalas, Marios
“[…] With overviews of popular walking areas, each walk is given a track grade, approximate travel time, easy access details, notes on the track itself and points of interest to highlight the most memorable features. Illustrated with maps and plenty of photographs, this handy guide is the essential companion for anyone venturing into the region’s outdoors.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Camping / Grylls, Bear
“Ever wanted to be an adventurer like Bear Grylls? If you do, you will need to know all the skills required to survive camping in the wilderness! In this practical field guide readers will learn how to choose the best site, how to build shelters and how to make a solar shower – and much more. With full-colour illustrations throughout, this book will appeal to scout groups, as the topic coincides with scout badges.” (Catalogue)

A forager’s treasury / Knox, Johanna
“Features profiles of many edible plants commonly found in New Zealand, including advice on where to find them, how to harvest them and how best to use them”–Back cover.” (Catalogue)


The beginner’s guide to hunting + fishing in New Zealand / Adamson, Paul
“Includes information on the right equipment for the right species, hunting with dogs, and mountain safety and bushcraft essentials. With diagrams, fun facts, a glossary of hunting terms, helpful tips and even some recipes to try out at home … has an emphasis on safety and provides all budding hunters with the basic skills and knowledge for a lifetime of adventure in the great outdoors”–Back cover.” (Catalogue)

Survival for beginners : a step-by-step guide to camping and outdoor skills / Towell, Colin
“This essential survival guide for intrepid young explorers shows the skills and techniques you need for outdoor adventure, from maps and navigation to camping. Learn the basics – from picking the best campground to knowing how to build a shelter – with clear step-by-step illustrations […] So start packing your rucksack for an outdoor adventure and don’t forget to read Survival for Beginners.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Bushcraft : outdoor skills for the New Zealand bush
“Bushcraft is an excellent resource for outdoor activities. It helps both novices and those with some experience to enjoy the NZ bush in greater safety. Provides up-to-date information on new techniques, new equipment, and new ideas. Chapters include trip planning, managing risk, food, equipment, shelter, tramping skills, weather, navigation, river safety, hazards, emergency procedures, and much more!” (Catalogue)

Curiosities and splendour
“Journey back in time with this collection of classic travel writing from great authors and adventurers. These extraordinary odysseys over land and sea captivated audiences and gave them a glimpse into countries, cities and cultures like never before. Tales include Robert Byron’s ten-month journey through Persia to Afghanistan in the early 30s; Jack London’s 1907 sailing adventure across the south Pacific; and Teddy Roosevelt’s scientific exploration of the Brazilian jungles exotic flora and fauna […] (Adapted from Catalogue)

Lost lore : a celebration of traditional wisdom, from foraging and festivals to seafaring and smoke signals / McGovern, Una
“An engaging introduction to traditional knowledge and forgotten wisdom” (Catalogue)

Te Taiao Needs Our Help: Recycling Week 2021


Did you know that Aotearoa has a week dedicated to recycling? Of course we should be recycling all the time, but it’s good to have a reminder about what we can do to care for the taiao. Recycling Week runs from the 18th-24th of October, with each day being dedicated to challenges to encourage us to re-think our waste minimization and recycling behaviours. To get us inspired, here are some awesome recycling initiatives from around the world!

There are machines in Colombia where you can recycle your tin, glass and plastic bottles in exchange for public transit credits. Imagine paying for the bus with bottles! You could literally collect other people’s littering and profit from it. Then you’d be both a tidy kiwi, and a kiwi with a topped up Snapper card, Incredible!

Barcelona had a issues with cooking oil being poured down the drain and clogging the pipes (sound familiar?). City officials tackled this problem by giving away free “Olipots” for people to collect their used oil in, while also setting up collection spots for people to dispose of their oil around the city. The collected oils are then recycled into a biodiesel.

ReTuna Återbruksgalleria, in Sweden, is the world’s first recycling mall! Here, old items are given new life through repair and upcycling. Everything sold is recycled, reused or has been organically or sustainably produced. Visitors to the mall can also easily drop off donations, which are then sorted into what can be repaired and resold or donated to somewhere the item will be useful.

Scientists in South Korea have invented a t-shirt that could be used to charge your phone! Specifically, the fabric of the t-shirt generates electricity as it bends and flexes and “a person wearing a shirt tailored from the material only has to move around to power a small screen or other electronic devices” .  This process is possible through the utilising of Triboelectricity, electricity generated by friction. If you want to know more, click through to the article because this goes over my head very quickly. It has been a minute/decade since I did NCEA Physics. Most importantly, this invention would be very handy for long Pokémon GO missions (is Pokémon GO still relevant and cool? Please let it still be relevant and cool. I need this). 


Keen to take the next step in your recycling? Here’s a little book list to send you on your way. 🙂


My zero-waste kitchen : easy ways to eat waste free / O’Rourke-Jones, Ruth
“Looking to live sustainably without overhauling your life? My Zero-Waste Kitchen shows you how to put the three R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle – into practice in the kitchen.  (Adapted from Catalogue)


Make & mend : a guide to recycling clothes and fabrics / Peacock, Rebecca
“Welcome to Make & Mend! This book shows how, with a little knowledge and a little creativity, you can make a wide range of fantastic items from those old clothes and fabrics you can’t bear to throw away. Full of projects, from aprons to curtains, bags to jewellery, we show you how to turn a bag of scraps into wearable, beautiful and personalised items.” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Remade vintage jewelry : 35 step-by-step projects inspired by lost, found, and recycled treasures / Bush, *Co-Co Nichole
“Transform vintage finds and broken objects into pieces to treasure with Remade Vintage Jewelry.” (Catalogue)


A little bit crafty
“A little bit crafty is a nifty collection of 39 DIY ideas from creative types across Australia and New Zealand. With an emphasis on recycling, cheap and easy materials, and projects that can be done in an afternoon, it’s chock full of sweet, clever and slightly oddball crafts that’ll make you smile and keep your hands happy, too.” (Catalogue)


ReadyMade : how to make (almost) everything : a do-it-yourself primer / Berger, Shoshana
“For people who like to make stuff, who see the flicker of invention in everyday objects, this quirky ‘how-to’ volume contains design projects ranging from water-bottle lounge chairs and ladder shelving to shopping bag rugs and denim dog beds.” (Catalogue)


The upcycled T-shirt : 28 easy-to-make projects that save the planet – clothing, accessories, home decor & gifts / Montilone, Jenelle
“Did you know the average American throws away more than 68 pounds of clothing each year? Join the revolution to reduce your carbon footprint—one T-shirt at a time! Widely known for her recycling efforts, environmental crafter Jenelle Montilone will show you how to upcycle tees into fun and fanciful quilts, accessories, toys, and gifts for the whole family. (Adapted from Catalogue)


50 fantastic ideas for sustainability / O’Sullivan, June
“Teach children to reduce, reuse, recycle, repair and be respectful with 50 fun activities for encouraging environmental sustainability. From creating butterfly feeders with food scraps, to turning old kitchen equipment into beautiful planters or bringing broken crayons back to life, these original ideas encourage practitioners to see the potential for creativity and fun using and reusing everyday, easy-to-source items, some of which might have otherwise gone to waste. Enhance children’s creativity, cognitive development and motor skills through indoor and outdoor activities that are enjoyable, educational and environmentally friendly. (Adapted from Catalogue)

Lockdown Cryptid-Spotting: A Librarian’s Guide

One of the few big perks of lockdown is getting to see our native fauna thriving and making their way back into our gardens. In fact, this is a great time to keep an eye out for some of the less well-known creatures creeping around our country…. That’s right, I’m talking CRYPTIDS.

For the uninitiated, a cryptid is an animal or entity whose existence hasn’t been conclusively proven. Think Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster (although I saw Nessie when I was 6, and that seems like solid evidence). Everyone has a favourite (or they will after reading this), but most of the biggies are off overseas. So what kind of cryptids can we be keeping an eye out for here in the backyards of Aotearoa?

Waitoreke

Also known as the New Zealand otter or kaurehe, the waitoreke is arguably Aotearoa’s most legitimate cryptid because nobody actually knows what it is (or if it exists at all)! Described as a otter-like creature the size of a cat, sightings of the Waitoreke date back more than 200 years, and some sources suggest that this amphibious good boy was kept as a pet by early Māori. If you’re stuck somewhere in the South Island, keep an eye out around your local waterways for glimpses of Aotearoa’s cutest cryptid.

The Fiordland Moose

In 1910, the Southland Acclimatisation Society introduced a handful of moose into Fiordland. As it turns out, these moose were very good at hiding and were largely forgotten about. The last proven sighting of the elusive moose was in 1952 but evidence has continued to sporadically surface, such as an entire moose antler that was discovered in the early 70s. I’ll admit it’s been a little while since anything conclusive was found, but maybe lockdown will be enough to encourage the Fiordland moose to find their way back into our lives.

The Goatman

Those of you familiar with Buzzfeed Unsolved’s search for the mysterious Goatman may have jumped at the familiar name, but the Goatman which lurks on lonely roads around New Zealand is a local specialty. One of many goat-ish cryptids from around the globe, our Goatman frequently manifests as a blokey hitchhiker, and many of the recorded sightings describe him approaching cars to ask for a lift on dark nights. Despite an ominous (and apparently smelly) demeanor, being approached by the Goatman is a good omen, as he is said to warn travellers of impending accidents and guide them through dangerous stretches of road. The real GOAT.

Mothman

One of the most infamous and beloved cryptids, Mothman technically lives out in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, but what better time for a cryptid to use up those Airpoints than when everyone is cosying up inside their homes? Mothman was first spotted in the 1960’s, and has been cropping up in urban folklore ever since. Described as a 6-8 foot moth-ish humanoid with red eyes and an impressive wingspan, Mothman has reached the highest echelons of cryptid fame by having an annual festival held in his honour, and ‘mothmania’ has inspired a truly magnificent following (including a Mothman anthem set to the tune of YMCA). So, keep your eyes keen and your lamps ready…. 

Mothman IMG_2215“Mothman IMG_2215” by OZinOH is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

So make the most of our quiet streets by keeping an eye out for some of Aotearoa’s more unusual fauna. Even if you’re just spotting some of our beautiful native birds then it’d be worth it. And who knows?

Maybe that tui only looks like a tui when you’re watching……

For more information, check out the WCL trove to prepare for any future cryptozoological adventures.

Cryptid creatures : a field guide / Halls, Kelly Milner
“Cryptozoology is the study of mysterious creatures that fall between the realm of real and imaginary on the scientific spectrum. Cryptid Creatures: A Field Guide offers a closer look at fifty of these amazing creatures, examining the best possible evidence for each, including scientific papers, magazine and newspaper articles, and credible eyewitness accounts. The fifty cryptids are arranged in order alphabetically, and in addition to speculative illustrations, include details like when they were first reported, whether they are terrestrial, aerial, or aquatic, and each have a reality rating of 1 to 6, in which 1 means that the cryptid has been confirmed as a hoax, and 6 means the cryptid has been proven as real. This page-turning guide will inspire curious readers to investigate more on their own, and maybe even help to prove if a cryptid is a hoax or is real.” (Catalogue)

Abominable science! : origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and other famous cryptids / Loxton, Daniel
“Loxton and Prothero complete an entertaining, educational, and definitive text on demonstrably false phenomena, presenting both the arguments for and against their existence and systematically challenging the pseudoscience perpetuating their myths.” (Catalogue)

Monsters : a bestiary of the bizarre / Dell, Christopher
“From myth to manga, an artistic visual history of the human mind through an imaginative collection of fantastical monsters from around the world.” (Catalogue)

Monstrous : the lore, gore, and science behind your favorite monsters / Beccia, Carlyn
“Carlyn Beccia presents werewolves, vampires, zombies and more as you’ve never seen them. Discover the origins of eight scream-worthy monsters, find out how major historical events shaped their creation, and delve into the science behind these fearful beasts. Engrossing (and gross!) timelines, maps, and infographics offer essential information — including the zombie virus life cycle and how to survive Godzilla’s nuclear breath.” (Catalogue)

Black Cat Appreciation Day (feat. some library cats!)

Something you may not have known is that August 17th is Black Cat Appreciation Day. This is a day for us to let our appreciation be known for these demons in feline form, these bringers of bad luck, these companions of witches and evildoers, lest they bring their displeasure down upon us all!

Or not.

A black cat is lying curled around the right side of a large book. his teeth and front claws are wrapped around the top corner. The title of the book is Devastation: the world's worst natural disastersNow, black cats are definitely not harbingers of absolute devastation. In fact, they’re quite nice. Or at least I think so!

Black Cat Appreciation Day is here because apparently some people still believe these awful things about black cats. Or at least cat societies, shelters, and SPCAs have noticed that it often takes longer for black cats to be adopted than their more colourful counterparts.

A black cat curled in a ball on a white cushion. He is a black blob with a tail. All detail has disappeared into a void of black.Part of this could be that people still feel that there is something unlucky or uncanny about black cats. Or it could be that nowadays so many people fall in love with a picture of a cat they see on an adoption website, and black cats don’t always photograph too well. Look at this snoozy gentleman on the right. You can tell there’s a cat there, but all detail has disappeared into THE VOID of DARKNESS.

There are plenty of black cats who are not beings of evil both in the world and in fiction. Surely you all read Slinky Malinki (let’s not mention Scarface Claw) as children? And then there’s the black cat in Coraline, and the excellent Kaspar: Prince of Cats. You must remember Thackery Binks from Hocus Pocus as a black cat who definitely was NOT helping the witches. Or there’s Salem Saberhagen who hangs out with Sabrina Spellman and depending on your interpretation may be slightly evil but is still more loyal than you’d expect.

Anyway, as part of Black Cat Appreciation Day I’m going to highlight some of the black cats who belong to your librarians. There are a few out there, and they’re all excellent cats!

Two cats sitting on each knee of their owner. The left cat is white with black ears and a black splodge on her back. The right cat is black with a white chest and white whiskers. Both have yellow eyes.These two are Princess Holly (left and not as relevant to today’s theme but still an excellent cat) and Le Beau (right). Le Beau can most often be found making nests in the long grass in the garden. Is Le Beau a bird or a cat?

Well… cat, obviously. 

Shot from below, Oz is looking majestically off to the right. He has a bright blue bow around his neck that contrasts brilliantly with his sleek black fur.This is Oz. Oz is “a big ball of need”. If you are Oz’s owner, Oz will sit on you. If you are nearby, Oz will sit on you. If you have a lap, Oz will sit on you.

And doesn’t he look handsome with that blue bow around his neck? Definitely not a minion of devils and demons.

A black cat sitting on the edge of a table with a copy of Two Raw Sisters standing open in front of him to stop him moving any further forward. He has a small white patch under his chin, and a look of complete and utter betrayal in his golden eyes.This is Poot. Poot is obviously the best of the bunch because he is my cat and since I’m writing this I get to say what I like.

Poot is a distinguished gentleman of fourteen and is still super snuggly and, as demonstrated in this picture, may sometimes need a book barricade to stop him sitting uncomfortably close to you while you eat. It’s very hard not to give in to that look of betrayal though!


A black cat being held towards the camera. Her front paws rest on the wrist of the person holding her. Her yellow eyes are open very wide and her pupils are very round.This is Shavana. She’s not a huge fan of being held and prefers to come hang out with you only when she feels like it. She is a very respectable thirteen years old so I’d say she’s allowed to do what she wants.

Look how huge her eyes are! Maybe she’s watching some eldritch spirits pass by…


A dainty black cat lying on a platform. Her front paws are slightly hanging over the edge towards the camera and her pale yellow eyes are slightly downcast.This is Tove. She is eight and was named, of course, after Moomin creator Tove Jansson. As an extremely dainty and literary creature she could never ever be thought to be a bringer of bad luck. Look at those neat wee paws!

Do you ap-purr-eciate Tove?

A large white and grey spotted dog lies with his head cushioned on a large black cat.This is Wolfram, pictured here with Tama. As you can see, cats and dogs can definitely be friends, and Wolfram is a very patient cat and a very excellent pillow.

Also, can you see those kangaroo ears of his?


The last black cat on this list is in fact a black Kat. She is a very good girl so I don’t see why a difference of one letter should stop her being included here. I’m sure none of you will object!


So those are some of our black cats. They are all very excellent, very loved, and always very appreciated and I am very pleased to have been able to share them all with you.

I will leave you with one last picture of Poot snoozing in the sun with toe beans on display because, as I said, I’m the one writing this so I can do what I want.

Poot lies sleeping curled on his side on top of a newspaper in the sun. His head is resting on his front paws and his back paws with their toe beans are extended towards the camera.

Come and do some art at Newtown Library

We’re super stoked to be working with the kind and talented folks at VIVITA to run all kinds of cool events for kids and teens around the city this year. During the last school holidays, they ran a seriously awesome and engaging 5-day workshop on board game creation at Johnsonville Library (check out the video below), and next on the agenda is TRASH ART at Newtown Library.

Yep, you read right. Trash Art. Inspired by the work of phenomenal photographer and environmental activist Mandy Barker, who gained great notoriety in the art world for taking plastic pollution out of the Pacific Ocean and turning it into incredibly intricate photographic sculptures, VIVITA has decided to run a global series of events around turning trash into art, to raise awareness about plastic consumption, its harmful effects on the environment, and how we can fight back. In New Zealand, this is all boiling down to a one-day workshop at Newtown Library on Saturday 5 June, 10am – 1pm, where you’ll go on a journey (literally, like, outside) to capture the good, the bad, and the ugly of consumption and waste in our community, and bring that waste back to the library to turn it into art. What you create will be captured by a professional photographer and included as part of an international exhibition across 8 countries (including New Zealand) in September this year.

The event is totally free, but you do need to be between the ages of 9-15 to attend. If you’re keen, make sure you click here to register, because spots are limited and they are disappearing fast!

Check out Mandy Barker’s incredible work by visiting her website to see what kinds of wondrous things you will learn how to create, using our very own local trash in Newtown.

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