News, what's new & more
The April school holidays are almost here! This year, Wellington City Libraries is inviting you to enter Te Ao Kararehe: The World of Animals with us all the way through the holidays, from the 8th to the 23rd of April. Find out more on our Kids’ Blog below:
Kids’ Blog: April School Holidays
Continue reading “April School Holidays: Te Ao Kararehe | The World of Animals!”
This lunchtime conversation with Liz Mellish (MNZM, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Ruanui) will give you an understanding of the complexities of Māori business and provide an insight into our Ahu Whenua Trusts that take a long term view as Māori to ensure Aotearoa is left in good shape for our mokopuna’s mokopuna.
This event is in association with the Palmerston North Māori Reserve Trust and the Wellington Tenths Trust.
When? Wednesday 26 April
What time? 12-1pm
Where? Te Awe Library
‘Mā Tōu Rourou, Mā Tāku Rourou, Ka ora ai Te Iwi’
With your food basket and mine, the people will thrive.
Come along to a Local Food Week Talk with Liz Mellish (MNZM, Te Atiawa, Chairman, Palmerston North Māori Reserve Trust) on the topic of kai of Te Whanganui-a-Tara:
When? Tuesday 7 March
What time? 12-1pm
Where? Te Awe Library
I came to parenting the way most of us do — knowing nothing and trying to learn everything.
We’re all learning, all of the time. Here are our picks of the latest parenting books to arrive on our shelves – have a browse! First up is the latest from Pōneke parent, Emily Writes.
Needs adult supervision : lessons in growing up / Emily
“Needs Adult Supervision is Emily Writes’ take on growing up and feeling like a real adult. This book looks at the growing pains of kids and their parents and their attempts to navigate a world that’s changing by the minute. Emily paints a vivid picture of all the feelings, fortunes and failures that come with trying to parent when you don’t always feel up for the task. What it feels like to be learning at the same time your kids are. What happens when we get radically honest about the challenges parents are facing. In Emily’s inimitable way it’s incredibly insightful and hilarious, and leads to the odd tear being shed along the way.” (Catalogue)
How to cope when your child can’t : comfort, help and hope for parents / Shafran, Roz
“Parenting and caring for a child who is struggling to cope can be painful and stressful, and can make it very hard to enjoy life yourself. Feelings of blame, guilt, sorrow, despair, fear and frustration may be swirling around alongside a desperate desire to cure their pain. Although parenting a child who is experiencing difficulties is a common problem, we can feel desperately alone when it is happening to us. When someone we love is struggling for whatever reason we may become unhappy too. […] This book is packed with stories from real parents, combined with information from psychological research. It will show you how you can manage to obtain comfort from knowing you are not alone, get help from resources and techniques that really work, and find hope that things can and do change for the better” (Catalogue)
Good inside : a guide to becoming the parent you want to be / Kennedy, Rebecca
“Dr. Becky Kennedy, wildly popular parenting expert and creator of @drbeckyatgoodinside, shares her groundbreaking approach to raising kids and offers practical strategies for parenting in a way that feels good. Over the past several years, Dr. Becky Kennedy — known to her followers as “Dr. Becky” — has been sparking a parenting revolution. Millions of parents, tired of following advice that either doesn’t work or simply doesn’t feel good, have embraced Dr. Becky’s empowering and effective approach, a model that prioritizes connecting with our kids over correcting them. […] In Good Inside, Dr. Becky shares her parenting philosophy, complete with actionable strategies, that will help parents move from uncertainty and self-blame to confidence and sturdy leadership.” (Catalogue)
How to raise an antiracist / Kendi, Ibram X
“How do we talk to our children about racism? How do we teach children to be antiracist? How are kids at different ages experiencing race? How are racist structures impacting children? How can we inspire our children to avoid our mistakes, to be better, to make the world better? These are the questions Ibram X. Kendi found himself avoiding as he anticipated the birth of his first child. Like most parents or parents-to-be, he felt the reflex to not talk to his child about racism, which he feared would stain her innocence and steal away her joy. But research into the scientific literature, his experiences as a father and reflections on his own difficult experiences as a student ultimately changed his mind. In How to Raise an Antiracist he shows that we must all participate in the effort to raise young people as antiracists.” (Catalogue)
‘Mum, what’s wrong with you?’ : 101 things only mothers of teenage girls know / Candy, Lorraine
“One minute you are sniffing the top of your baby’s delicious new born head, lost in a soft velvety world of endless love and the next you are receiving the full force of a self-righteous teenage meltdown. There are 101 things you don’t know about teenage girls until you live them. We are all familiar with the hormones, the illogical rage, the awful time keeping, and the daily dramarama. However, you don’t know that they will steal your stuff (and claim you never had it in the first place), bruise your self-esteem just as you hit your melancholy midlife, and love/hate you all day long with exhausting regularity seconds after turning 13. […] Enter Lorraine Candy […] She lights the way for other mums facing life with teenage girls, other mums caught in the perfect storm of parenting tomorrow’s bright and brilliant women just as they go through their own midlife unravelling.” (Catalogue)
Outdoor kids in an inside world : getting your family out of the house and radically engaged with nature / Rinella, Steven
“Today, kids can spend up to seven hours per day looking at screens. Not only does this phenomenon have consequences for our kids’ physical and mental health, it calls into question their ability to understand and engage with anything beyond the built environment. We can talk about environmental stewardship, but until more people make meaningful contact with nature, the welfare of our planet is in jeopardy. Now, outdoors expert Steven Rinella shares the parenting wisdom he has garnered as a father whose family has lived amid the biggest cities and wildest corners of America. Throughout, he offers practical advice for getting your kids radically engaged with nature in a muddy, thrilling, hands-on way, guided by black-and-white illustrations throughout-with the ultimate goal of helping them see their own place within the natural ecosystem.” (Catalogue)
This month’s recent picks of the new science books feature a ‘biography’ of the Higgs boson particle — tracing the pathway to its discovery across the course of twentieth century physics. Plus, discover the world as it’s perceived by other animals, read Neil deGrasse Tyson’s latest, and follow dauntless explorers through the centuries as they discover and illustrate botanic specimens. Plus, what happens when science and the media collide. Have a browse!
Elusive : how Peter Higgs solved the mystery of mass / Close, F. E
“In the summer of 1964, a reclusive young professor at the University of Edinburgh wrote two scientific papers which have come to change our understanding of the most fundamental building blocks of matter and the nature of the universe. Peter Higgs posited the existence an almost infinitely tiny particle – today known as the Higgs boson. […] This revelatory book is ‘not so much a biography of the man but of the boson named after him’. It brilliantly traces the course of much of twentieth-century physics from the inception of quantum field theory to the completion of the ‘standard model’ of particles and forces, and the pivotal role of Higgs’s idea in this evolution.” (Catalogue)
Starry messenger : cosmic perspectives on civilisation / Tyson, Neil deGrasse
“Bringing his cosmic perspective to civilization on Earth, Neil deGrasse Tyson shines new light on the crucial fault lines of our time: war, politics, religion, truth, beauty, gender, race, and tribalism in a way that stimulates a deeper sense of unity for us all. This book reveals just how human the enterprise of science is. Far from a cold, unfeeling undertaking, scientific methods, tools, and discoveries have shaped modern civilisation and created the landscape we’ve built for ourselves on which to live, work, and play. […] From lessons on resolving global conflict to reminders of how precious it is to be alive, Tyson reveals, with warmth and eloquence, ten surprising, brilliant, and beautiful truths of human society, informed and enlightened by knowledge of our place in the universe.” (Catalogue)
An immense world : how animal senses reveal the hidden realms around us / Yong, Ed
“The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every animal is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving only a tiny sliver of an immense world. This book welcomes us into previously unfathomable dimensions – the world as it is truly perceived by other animals.” (Catalogue)
The plant hunter’s atlas : a world tour of botanical adventures, chance discoveries and strange specimens / Edwards, Ambra
“Circling the globe from Australia’s Botany Bay to the Tibetan Plateau, from the deserts of Southern Africa to the jungles of Brazil, this books presents an incredible cast of characters — dedicated researchers and reckless adventurers, physicians, lovers and thieves. Meet dauntless Scots explorer David Douglas and visionary Prussian thinker Alexander von Humboldt, the ‘Green Samurai’ Mikinori Ogisu and the interpid 17th century entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian — the first woman known to have made a living from science. Beautifully illustrated with over 100 botanical artworks from the archives of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, this absorbing book tells the stories of how plants have travelled across the world — from the missions of the Pharaohs right up to 21st century seed-banks and the many new and endangered species being named every year.” (Catalogue)
Breathless : the scientific race to defeat a deadly virus / Quammen, David
“Here is the story of SARS-CoV-2 and its fierce journey through the human population, as seen by the scientists who study its origin, its ever-changing nature, and its capacity to kill us. David Quammen expertly shows how strange new viruses emerge from animals into humans as we disrupt wild ecosystems, and how those viruses adapt to their human hosts, sometimes causing global catastrophe. […] Breathless takes us inside the frantic international effort to understand and control SARS-CoV-2 as if peering over the shoulders of the brilliant scientists who led the chase.” (Catalogue)
Continue reading “Brilliant discoveries, stray specimens and starry skies: New science books”
Back from holidays and looking to read more New Zealand books this year? If you’re looking to re-orient in 2023, now might be the perfect time to pick up Dr Hinemoa Elder’s latest book, ‘Wawata : moon dreaming’, full of insights to lead you through this (and any) month of reflection. Or, choose to explore New Zealand history through 100 objects in Jock Phillips’ latest — delve into and connect with items of quiet significance and great personal meaning. Plus, ‘The RNZ Cookbook’, Ruby Tui’s autobiography, queer history, poetry, parenting and more. Have a browse!
Straight up / Tui, Ruby
“After a childhood filled with neglect Ruby yearned for another path. Determined not to let her upbringing limit her, she survived abuse, drugs and tragedy to become one of the most successful women’s rugby players in the world. The explosion of women’s rugby on the global stage has matched the rise of Ruby’s stellar career, as she has grown with the game from amateur to professional. In Straight Up Ruby looks herself in the eye, understanding that she can turn pain into purpose. It’s time to be straight up.” (Catalogue)
The RNZ cookbook : a treasury of 180 recipes from New Zealand’s best-known chefs and food writers
“An authoritative and above all useful cookbook from New Zealand’s favourite broadcaster, featuring 180 trusted (and tested) recipes hand-picked from the thousands of delicious recipes that have featured on RNZ shows such as Nine to Noon, Afternoons, and Saturday Morning in recent decades. […] Featuring recipes from key personalities from down the years — from Alison Holst and Julie Biuso to Martin Bosley, Nadia Lim, and Peter Gordon — it’s a terrific way to track our food history. Afternoons host and foodie Jesse Mulligan provides the foreword.” (Catalogue)
Wawata : moon dreaming : daily wisdom guided by Hina, the Māori moon / Elder, Hinemoa
“Hina, the Maori moon goddess, has 30 different faces to help illuminate life’s lessons – a different face and a different energy for each day of the month. And with her changing light, new insights are revealed. This book gives us the chance to connect to the ancient wisdom of the old people, who reach forward into our lives, with each of the moon’s names as their offerings. Their reminders are a source of strength in our strange modern world, where we have been stripped of much of the connection and relationships we need for our wellbeing through successive lockdowns. We now see just how important these things are! This book leads you through a full cycle of the moon, to consider 30 aspects of life.” (Catalogue)
How to be a bad Muslim : and other essays / Hassan, Mohamed
“This is the breakout non-fiction book from award-winning New Zealand writer Mohamed Hassan. From Cairo to Takapuna, Athens to Istanbul, How To Be A Bad Muslim maps the personal and public experience of being Muslim through essays on identity, Islamophobia, surveillance, migration and language. Traversing storytelling, memoir, journalism and humour, Hassan speaks authentically and piercingly on mental health, grief and loss, while weaving memories of an Egyptian immigrant fighting childhood bullies, listening to life-saving ’90s grunge and auditioning for vaguely-ethnic roles in a certain pirate movie franchise. At once funny and chilling, elegiac and eye-opening, this is a must-read book from a powerfully talented writer.” (Catalogue)
Downfall : the destruction of Charles Mackay / Diamond, Paul
“In 1920 New Zealanders were shocked by the news that the brilliant, well-connected mayor of Whanganui had shot a young gay poet, D’Arcy Cresswell, who was blackmailing him. They were then riveted by the trial that followed. Mackay was sentenced to hard labour and later left the country, only to be shot by a police sniper during street unrest in Berlin during the rise of the Nazis. Mackay had married into Whanganui high society, and the story has long been the town’s dark secret. The outcome of years of digging by historian Paul Diamond, ‘Downfall: The destruction of Charles Mackay‘ shines a clear light on the vengeful impulses behind the blackmail and Mackay’s ruination.” (Catalogue)
A history of New Zealand in 100 objects / Phillips, Jock
“The sewing kete of an unknown 18th-century Māori woman; the Endeavour cannons that fired on waka in 1769; the bagpipes of an Irish publican Paddy Galvin; the school uniform of Harold Pond, a Napier Tech pupil in the Hawke’s Bay quake; the Biko shields that tried to protect protestors during the Springbok tour in 1981; Winston Reynolds’ remarkable home-made Hokitika television set, the oldest working TV in the country; the soccer ball that was a tribute to Tariq Omar, a victim of the Christchurch Mosque shootings, and so many more – these are items of quiet significance and great personal meaning, taonga carrying stories that together represent a dramatic, full-of-life history for everyday New Zealanders.” (Catalogue)
Needs adult supervision : lessons in growing up / Emily
“Needs Adult Supervision is Emily Writes’ take on growing up and feeling like a real adult. This book looks at the growing pains of kids and their parents and their attempts to navigate a world that’s changing by the minute. Emily paints a vivid picture of all the feelings, fortunes and failures that come with trying to parent when you don’t always feel up for the task. What it feels like to be learning at the same time your kids are. What happens when we get radically honest about the challenges parents are facing. In Emily’s inimitable way it’s incredibly insightful and hilarious, and leads to the odd tear being shed along the way.” (Catalogue)
Houseplants and design : a New Zealand guide / Carlson, Liz
“Houseplants have never been hotter. They have the power to instantly turn a house into a home and to create a feeling of peace and calm, transforming both your physical space and your headspace. Bringing nature inside is a simple way to maintain a connection to the outdoors. To nurture an indoor garden is to nurture ourselves. Award-winning lifestyle and travel writer Liz Carlson of Young Adventuress and NODE has created the complete guide to growing, propagating and caring for indoor plants. Offering a comprehensive catalogue of our most beloved and rare species, along with unique ways to style houseplants and troubleshoot common issues – and showcasing some of the most stylish indoor spaces in New Zealand – Houseplants and Design is the ultimate modern guide to tending a thriving indoor space.” (Catalogue)