Some great new kids fiction for Term 2!

Term 2 is well under way, so take some time to sit back, relax and enjoy some of these fantastic new kids fiction books available through your local library!

 

 

Stanley will probably be fine by Sally J Pla

After fainting during a school assembly, Stanley uses his time in a safe room to begin drawing a comic book superhero and then enters a treasure hunt so that he can win passes to Comic Fest.

 

 

 

Image courtesy of SyndeticsStonebird  By Mike Revell

When ten-year-old Liam moves house to be closer to his dementia-suffering grandma, he’s thrown into an unfamiliar place, with a family that seems to be falling apart. Liam doesn’t remember what his grandma was like before she became ill. He only knows the witch-like old woman who snaps and snarls and eats her birthday cards. He wants to fix it, but he can’t. Walking his dog one day, Liam discovers an old stone gargoyle in a rundown church, and his life changes in impossible ways. The gargoyle is alive. It moves unseen in the night, acting out Liam’s stories. And stories can be dangerous things…Seeking revenge against the bullies at his new school, Liam tells a story about the gargoyle attacking them. When one of them ends up in hospital, a regretful Liam vows never to go near the gargoyle again. But his grandma’s illness is getting worse, his mum isn’t coping, and his sister is skipping school…What if the gargoyle is the only thing that can save Liam’s family?

 

 

The wishmakers by Tyler Whitesides

Ace unwittingly releases a genie from a peanut butter jar and gets unlimited wishes that he must learn to use with their consequences before all the world’s cats and dogs turn into zombies who will eat mankind.

 

 

Image courtesy of SyndeticsThe short but brilliant career of Lucas Weed by Chrissie Walker

“Lucas Weed hasn’t really made any friends at his new school, so when the ‘cool kids’ suggest he carry out a prank in class, Lucas thinks it might be his path to being accepted. And when the pranks keep getting more and more outrageous – and with videos uploaded to YouTube – Lucas Weed’s popularity soars! But after an embarrassing stunt that doesn’t quite go according to plan – in front of a very important person – Lucas decides it’s time to call it a day. But how?”–Publisher information.

 

 

Nothings fair in fifth grade by Barthe De Clements

A fifth grade class, repelled by the overweight new student who has serious home problems, finally learns to accept her.

 

 

 

 

Image courtesy of SyndeticsCave bear mountain by Jo Sandhu

At Cave Bear Mountain, Tarin is given tragic news about his Clan, and wants to return to them immediately. But Kaija and Luuka have discovered an astonishing truth about their mother. It seems the friends will be divided. But when the wolf cubs are kidnapped to fight in the Bear Festival. Only together will they have a chance of saving them.

 

 

Star friends: Secret spell by Linda Chapman

“Do you believe in magic? Maia and her friends do! And when they meet the Star Animals, a whole world of magical adventure unfolds. Lottie and her star animal, a squirrel called Juniper, must use their special powers to stop the forces of dark magic. Someone in the village is using dark magic and the Star Friends need to work together to figure it out who it is. But things keep going wrong! Sita is convinced a Shade is following her, Lottie is sure she’s going to fail her piano exam and Ionie thinks the others don’t want to be her friends. Only Maia seems her usual self. She needs to find out what is happening and how to stop it! Perfect for fans of My Secret Unicorn and The Rescue Princesses, and for Rainbow Magic readers looking to move on to a more challenging adventure.” –Publisher description.

 

Wings of fire; a winglets collection by Tui T Sutherland

“In Pyrrhia, every dragon has a story … Before the dragonets, beyond the war of the SandWing queens — the dragons of Pyrrhia each have their own story to tell. Like Fierceteeth, stuck in a SandWing prison, obsessed and full of thwarted ambition. Deathbringer, at the very beginning of his journey, desperate to prove himself. And Six-Claws, a loyal SandWing who will soon find out that loyalty comes with a price. Fly further into the dangerous territories of Pyrrhia than ever before to learn the secrets behind Wings of fire”.

Top 10 Recommended Halloween movies for kids.

Hey kids! Halloween is just around the corner (AHHHWWOOOOOO!) Wellington City Libraries has some spooktacular DVDs in the collection for your viewing pleasure and frightful night in. Let the scare fest begin!

Enjoy!… and Happy Halloween.

Casper.

Join Casper the friendly ghost is a kind young ghost who peacefully haunts a mansion in Maine. When specialist James Harvey (Bill Pullman) arrives to communicate with Casper and his fellow spirits, he brings along his teenage daughter, Kat (Christina Ricci). Casper quickly falls in love with Kat, but their budding relationship is complicated not only by his transparent state, but also by his troublemaking apparition uncles and their mischievous antics.

Frankenweenie.

What if you could bring your pets back to life? Young Victor successfully proves that theory when he revives his best friend back to life. However problems emerge when his class mates want follow suit in bringing their pets to life and ensues disastrous consequences. Overall a heart-warming and hilarious tale about how far a boy will go for his best friend. A must see movie for Halloween.

Coraline.

A young girl walks through a secret door that she has found in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life, but much better. When her adventure turns dangerous, and her counterfeit parents, including the Other Mother, try to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to get back home – and save her family.

image courtesy of amazon.com

Shrek’s thrilling tales.

Join Shrek, Donkey, Puss and B.O.B. as they get the fright of their lives in five spooktacular stories the will keep you howling with laughter. It’s a Shrektastic halloween treat that’s ogre-the-top fun for the whole family.

 

Toy story of terror!

What starts out as an exciting road trip for the Toy Story gang takes an unexpected turn for the worse following a detour to a roadside motel. After Mr. Potato Head suddenly disappears, his friends find themselves caught up in a hilarious mystery that must be solved before they suffer the same fate in this thrilling story of TERROR!

image courtesy of amazon.comThe Goonies.

“From the imagination of Steven Spielberg, The Goonies plunges a band of small heroes into a swashbuckling, surprise-around-every-corner quest beyond their wildest dreams! Following a mysterious treasure map into a spectacular underground realm of twisting passages, outrageous booby-traps and a long-lost pirate ship full of golden doubloons, the kids race to stay one step ahead of bumbling bad guys… and a mild-mannered monster with a face only a mother could love. A family adventure classic from start to buccaneering finish, The Goonies is a cinematic treasure trove of breathtaking action, dazzling effects and shiver-yer-timber thrills!” –Container.

Hotel Transylvania 1 and 2.

The Hotel Transylvania, run by Dracula, is a unique, high-end resort catering only to the finest monsters and their families. Dracula is preparing for an extra special weekend – his daughter Mavis’s 118th birthday – when trouble arises: a human has stumbled upon the resort for the first time ever! Even worse: the human has taken a liking to Mavis!  In the sequel, everything seems to be changing for the better at Hotel Transylvania. Dracula’s rigid monster-only hotel policy has finally relaxed, opening up its doors to human guests. But behind closed coffins, Drac is worried that his adorable half-human, half-vampire grandson, Dennis, isn’t showing signs of being a vampire.

 

The Witches.

Nine-year-old Luke finds that saving the world from witches is a tall order for a boy who has been turned into a mouse.

Monster High. Ghouls rule.

Ghouls Rule unearths an old conflict between ‘Normies’ and monsters – and things are about to get scary. For years, students at Monster High were warned that Halloween was a night to stay inside and avoid conflict at all costs. But Frankie and her friends discover that ghouls and ‘Normies’ once loved to spend the holiday together. The ghouls decide to turn back the clock and use the night to celebrate their individuality and show that it’s okay to ‘Be Yourself. Be Unique. Be a Monster’.

Room on the broom.

“The story of a kind witch who invites a surprising collection of animals to join her on her broom, much to the frustration of her cat. When the gang saves the witch from a fearsome dragon she rewards them with a magnificent new broom which has room for everyone!”–Container. Based on the book by Julia Donaldson.

Top 10 Children’s Fiction May 2017

So the Heffley family are taking over the internet! And the movie theatre! And the Library… well they can be found everywhere, you can even make your own Heffley family!

Here’s one I created earlier =)

Do you want to become the expert on Diary of a Wimpy kid? Right here, you can find quizzes, crosswords and activities all based on Greg Heffley! (Find out the answers first and then impress your friends =) It’s not cheating – it’s research!)

So how are the other favourites looking? Fun, dramatic fantasy and clever detecting all play a part in this May list.

 

  1. Tom Gates series, by Liz Pichon
  2. Diary of a wimpy kid series, by Jeff Kinney
  3. Storey treehouse series, by Andy Griffiths
  4. Harry Potter series, by J K Rowling
  5. Where’s Wally? by Martin Handford
  6. The Secret Seven, by Enid Blyton
  7. Fantastic beasts and where to find them, by J K Rowling
  8. Gangsta Granny, by David Walliams
  9. Dirty Bertie series, by Alan MacDonald
  10. Demon dentist, by David Walliams

 

 

How do you think these measure up? Let us know in the comments =)

Top 10 Children’s DVDs March 2017

The library is home to some great rent-able movies. Animation featuring talking animals has taken a bold step with The Secret Life of Pets. There are some bold animals in here that have little respect for humans! Some scary scenes in here for sensitive younger viewers, so watch with a weather eye! And then there are the animals that love humans so much they make sure only the best happens to them.  In the movie Storks, the birds famous for delivering babies make sure that the little human they care for reaches the best possible home.

Is your favourite in the Top 10?

  1. My little pony, friendship is magic.
  2. Zootopia
  3. Pete’s dragon
  4. Finding Dory
  5. The secret life of pets
  6. The BFG
  7. Ice age.
  8. Strawberry Shortcake.
  9. Storks
  10. LEGO Nexo knights

Top 10 Children’s eBooks February 2017

Adventures, supernatural foes and heroes of all shapes and sizes fill the pages of the eBooks available through the library’s Overdrive service.  Harry Potter dominates eBooks!  Other titles creeping up the ranks are also books that are movies. The recent Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children has a great cast featuring Chris O’Dowd, as a moody Dad and Peculiars, Eva Green and Judi Dench get some amazing special effects treatments in their bird transformations.  So book or movie? How do you rate the film versions of these books?  Let us know in the comments?

 

  1. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: The Official Script Book, by J. K.  Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne
  2. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling
  3. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone J. K. Rowling,
  4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J. K. Rowling
  5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J. K. Rowling,
  6. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J. K. Rowling
  7. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs
  8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling
  9. The Hobbit, by  J. R. R. Tolkien
  10. Mockingjay: The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

Top 10 Children’s eBooks November 2016

Overdrive has had a revamp! Are you liking the new layout?

Finding great titles that you can down-load and read remotely is a great way to carry your own personal library around with you.  And it’s not going to squash your sandwiches like a dozen or so books would!  So who did library children love in November? Authors whose first names begin with J.  So if you’re a budding author, tried writing fan fiction maybe? And your name begins with J you could be in the Top 10 before you know it!  If your name doesn’t begin with a J don’t despair – some very good authors who nearly made it into the Top 10, Neil Gaiman  with Coraline and Francis Hodgson Burnett with The Secret Garden wrote popular books with really cool characters without a J anywhere in their names!

Our classic favourites have a new addition with Jaqueline Harvey’s Clemantine Rose, a girl who has a teacup pig! Unusual pets and great characters make this fun series to read through in the holidays.  Have a look at Jaqueline Harvey’s blog for a choclatey recipe to try at home

 

1.  Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne

2.  Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, by J. K. Rowling

3.  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ,by J. K. Rowling

4.  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

5.  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J. K. Rowling

6.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J. K. Rowling

7.  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J. K. Rowling

8.  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J. K. Rowling

9.  Clementine Rose and the Special Promise, by Jaqueline Harvey

10.The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien

Upcoming movie releases for the school holidays

The next round of school holidays are coming up, we thought you’d appreciate watching the latest trailers for movies that are due to be released!

You are in for a treat with this lot!

secret life of pets_The Secret Life of Pets

The secret life of pets takes you into a world of what your pets REALLY get up to when you leave the house. Very hilarious moments in the trailer includes a poodle that is into heavy metal music, a psychotic bunny and a dachshund using a cake mixer as a DIY massager. you’ll laugh yourself silly.

 

 

image courtesy of amazon.comPete’s Dragon

The adventures of an orphaned boy named Pete and his best friend Elliot, who just so happens to be a dragon. A live-action reboot of the beloved 1977 Disney classic with a fantastic cast, shot in New Zealand!

Location spots to keep an out for while watching movie includes:

Redwoods Forest in Rotorua (Where the forest scenes were shot), McLaren Falls Park in Bay of Plenty, Queenstown & Paradise, Tapanui, and Wellington. (Stone Street Studios in Miramar.)

 

image courtesy of amazon.comStorks

Where do babies come from? Surely this a question you have asked Mum and Dad. One possible place is… Storks deliver them or at least they used to! Which is the case in this lovable, upcoming movie where the storks  deliver packages for a global internet retail giant. Trouble brews when the Baby Factory produces an adorable but wholly unauthorized girl.  Now it’s a race against time where a stork, Junior and a human, must make their first unofficial baby drop. Let operation baby drop commence!

 

 

Check out this sneak peek as well!

image courtesy of amazon.comTrolls

Two things came to mind when I watched this trailer:

1) This is a movie that makes me want to get up and dance!

2) This movie is probably the most fun, uplifting film since Shrek.

So here’s a question, in what event would a pink Smurfette look-a-like and a grumpy troll, (who would give Shrek a run for his money), joins forces to save the day? Well, this is the case in Trolls. Join Poppy (Anna Kendrick), the optimistic leader and princess of the trolls, and Branch (Justin Timberlake), her polar opposite on a quest to save Troll Town’s population from the Bergens. TROLLS is a fresh, broad comedy filled with music, heart and hair-raising adventures. Sorry kids, you’ll have to wait until December to see this movie. But something to look forward to before Christmas. Start saving your pocket money! Also check out Cant’ Stop the Feeling by Justin Timberlake from the Original Motion Picture “Trolls”. This song DEFINITELY wants to make you get up and dance your socks off, and a song I dance regularly during my evening dance fitness class.

Top 10 Childrens DVDs March 2016

Never-never land has two film adaptations in this month’s Top 10!  Through Peter Pan and Tinker Bell, author J. M. Barrie has inspired so many authors that you can find references to them in comics, movies and other books all through the library (we even have a Russian language version!).  Even in musical scores Peter Pan magic pervades the library

1.  My little pony, friendship is magic

2. Inside out

3. Legends of Chima

4. Strawberry Shortcake

5. Minions

6. Home

7. Dragons

8. Pan

9. Cinderella

10. Tinker Bell and the legend of the NeverBeast

Top 10 children’s fiction February 2016

Diary of a Wimpy kid is still numero uno! Is it the allure of cartoon/comic content? Check out Jeff Kinney drawing his characters here!

The popular Liz Pichon with Tom Gates and Rachel Renée Russel with Nikki Maxwell (dork diaries) have great drawings as part of their stories too

1. Diary of a wimpy kid series, by Jeff Kinney

2. Tom Gates series, by Liz Pichon

3. Treehouse series, By Andy Griffiths

4. Harry Potter series, by J.K.Rowling

5. Where’s Wally? by Martin Handford

6. Dirty Bertie, by Alan MacDonald

7. Dork Diaries, by Rachel Renee Russel

8. Ruby Redfort series by Lauren Child

9. Big Nate series, by Lincoln Peirce

10. Awful Auntie by David Walliams

Drawings as part of the story are a great way to connect with characters and situations in a book. Has anyone checked out The Marvels? This beautiful book (the cover is smothered in gold leaf) tells the grand tale of shipwreck and adventure. Told in pictures, the first part of the book has expressive drawings that lead you through the story.  The written half pieces together the mysterious and wonderful story of the performing Marvel family.

Top 10 children’s DVDs February 2016

The favourites have jiggled around a bit, but when you folk like something, you really like it!

Animation features strongly in the choices for Feb’s top 10. Developing the animated characters is a totally different story when you have the author on hand.  The Dragon Riders of Berk feature incredibly different dragons, not just their abilities and personalities but also the physical mechanics of how they would fly, walk and fight.  Take a look at how the ideas develop from drawings to the finished dragon. Have you invented your own dragon?  What does it look like? eat? how does it fly and land? Let us know in the comments.

1. My little pony, friendship is magic

2. Minions

3. Inside out

4. Legends of Chima

5. Dragons

6. Home

7. Strawberry Shortcake

8. Cinderella

9. Scooby-Doo! 13 spooky tales

10. Paper planes