Last month’s best loved childrens DVDs showed that oldies are goodies, with My Little Pony and the Legends of Chima claiming top billing. Grab these great DVDs for rainy winter indoor entertainment.
1. My little pony, friendship is magic.
2. Legends of Chima.
3. Dragons
4. Strawberry Shortcake.
5. Dino Dan.
6. SpongeBob SquarePants.
7. The BoxTrolls.
8. Shaun the sheep.
9. Dinosaur train.
10. Despicable me.
This month’s best loved Children’s animation and movies, led by the dueling animal tribes of Chima.
1. Legends of Chima.
2. My little pony, friendship is magic.
3. Strawberry Shortcake.
4. Dino Dan.
5. Planes
6. Lego friends.
7. Frozen
8. The house of magic
9. SpongeBob SquarePants.
10. Dragons
Stone Goblins
By David Melling
“Saggypant and Seepage are Stone Goblins – but they’re not much good at collecting stones! So imagine how they cope with a dragon’s tail”–Back cover
Rain Reign
by Ann .M. Martin
Struggling with Asperger’s, Rose shares a bond with her beloved dog, but when the dog goes missing during a storm, Rose is forced to confront the limits of her comfort levels, even if it means leaving her routines in order to search for her pet.
My Palomino Pony Wins Through 
by Olivia Tuffin
Can Georgia come to terms with Secret, the new foal, moving away from the stables?
Sleuth on Skates
by Clementine Beauvais
Precocious eleven-year-old self-made-supersleuth Sophie “Sesame” Seade investigates the disappearance of Jenna Jenkins, a student at Cambridge University, where Sophie’s father is chaplain and her mother is Head of Christ’s College.
The Ice Dragon 
by George R. R. Martin
Leaving in its wake desolate cold and frozen land, the legendary ice dragon has never been tamed until it meets Adara, a winter child who looks to the creature to help save her world from destruction.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: the Magical Car
by Ian Fleming
Two children persuade their inventor father to purchase and restore an old car which turns out to have magical powers.
Tell Me by Joan Bauer
Feeling scared and powerless when her father’s anger escalates and her parents separate, twelve-year-old Anna spends the summer with her grandmother and decides to make a difference when she sees what seems to be a girl held against her will.
The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud
“In the six months since Anthony, Lucy, and George survived a night in the most haunted house in England, Lockwood & Co. hasn’t made much progress. Quill Kipps and his team of Fittes agents keep swooping in on Lockwood’s investigations. Finally, in a fit of anger, Anthony challenges his rival to a contest: the next time the two agencies compete on a job, the losing side will have to admit defeat in the Times newspaper. Things look up when a new client, Mr. Saunders, hires Lockwood & Co. to be present at the excavation of Edmund Bickerstaff, a Victorian doctor who reportedly tried to communicate with the dead. Saunders needs the coffin sealed with silver to prevent any supernatural trouble. All goes well-until George’s curiosity attracts a horrible phantom. Back home at Portland Row, Lockwood accuses George of making too many careless mistakes. Lucy is distracted by urgent whispers coming from the skull in the ghost jar. Then the team is summoned to DEPRAC headquarters. Kipps is there too, much to Lockwood’s annoyance. Bickerstaff’s coffin was raided and a strange glass object buried with the corpse has vanished. Inspector Barnes believes the relic to be highly dangerous, and he wants it found…”
The incomplete book of dragons; (a guide to dragon species)
by Cressida Cowell
Long ago, the world was full of dragons. But what happened to them? Where are they now? These pages are taken from the notebooks of Viking Hero Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third when he was just a boy. A keen dragonwatcher, Hiccup paints a picture of the brilliance and fire and spirit of that lost dragon world. Featuring dragon profiles, dragon anatomy, dragon riding tips and lots more must know info e.g. how to spot the difference between an arsenic adderwing and a glow worm (you don’t want to mix those two up) and what to do when confronted with a Hellsteether.
Egg & Spoon 
by Gregory Maguire
An impoverished Russian country girl Elena Rudina and the aristocratic Ekaterina meet and set in motion an escapade that includes mistaken identity, a monk locked in a tower, a prince traveling incognito, and the witch Baba Yaga.
Awful Auntie
by David Walliams
Aunt Alberta is on a mission to cheat the young Lady Stella Saxby out of her inheritance – Saxby Hall. But with mischievous and irrepressible Soot, the cockney ghost of a chimney sweep, alongside her Stella is determined to fight back … And sometimes a special friend, however different, is all you need to win through
Want something to distract you from the start of school? Here are some movies that are coming out in the next few months to look forward to. http://www.flicks.co.nz/coming-soon/family-kids/
Saving Mr Banks (releases on 6th February)
This is the story of how Walt Disney convinced the author P. L. Travers to allow him to turn her novel Mary Poppins into a movie.
The Seventh Son 2D and 3D (releases on 20th February)
This movie is based on the first book in the Wardstone Chronicles series written by Joseph Delaney. It is the story of a mystical knight and his 14 year old apprentice as they battle a powerful witch called Mother Malkin
Mr Peabody and Sherman 2D and 3D (releases on 27th March)
Mr Peabody takes his adopted son Sherman back through history in an attempt to fix changes made to history when Sherman and his classmate, Penny, tampered with the WABAC machine.
Muppets: Most Wanted (releases on 10th April)
The Muppets are back! Featuring celebrities like Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey and Christopher Waltz, the muppets are on a world tour and find themselves caught up in a jewelry heist lead by a Kermit look-alike.
Rio 2 2D and 3D (releases on 17th April)
The sequel to Rio – Jewel and Blu and their three children leave their domesticated life in the city and return to the Amazon jungle.
The LEGO movie (releases on 17th April)
LEGO comes to life in this comedy movie about an ordinary LEGO guy who everything believes is the chosen one to fulfill a prophesy and save the LEGO world. Lots of familiar LEGO character make an appearance.
The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet (releases on 24th April)
Based on Reif Larsen’s children’s book. A 12 year old child genius secretly leaves his family’s country home in Montana to receive an award at the Smithsonian Institute, who think that he is an adult.
Tarzan 2D and 3D (releases on 12th June)
An animated movie of the classic story of an boy who survives a plane crash in the jungle and is raised by apes.
Maleficent 2D and 3D (releases on 19th June)
A dark retelling of Disney’s tale of Sleeping Beauty. The story is from the view of the witch Maleficient, and the eevnts that harden her heart and cause her to curse princess Aurora
How to Train your Dragon 2 2D and 3D (releases on 3rd July)
This story starts 5 years after the first movie. Hiccup and Toothless set out to discover new worlds and unmapped lands. They come across a land that’s home to hundreds of new dragons, and find them selves caught in the middle trying to keep the peace.
Have you ever been wandering around an old castle or a crumbling mansion? Did you hear the stories of the past told by its ruins or its demolished walls? Did anything odd happen to you that you felt you were going on an adventure?
If so, here is a bunch of medieval-royal-epic mysteries you might enjoy… !
The water Castle, by Megan Frazer Blakemore
Ephraim Appledore-Smith is an ordinary boy living an ordinary life. But all that changes when his father suffers a stroke, and his family moves to the Water Castle – their ancestral home in the small town of Crystal Springs, Maine.
Mallory Green’s ancestors have always been the caretakers of the Water Castle – and the guardians of its magic. She’s been raised to protect the legend of the Fountain of Youth, rumored to exist on the grounds. But ever since her mom left, she’s stopped believing in magic.
When Ephraim learns of the fountain, he’s sure finding it can cure his dad. With Mallory and Will’s help, Ephraim embarks on a mission that brings them deep into their families’ shared history, through every mysterious room in the Water Castle, and on a quest that will blur the lines between magic and science, creativity and discovery, leaving you to wonder: DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE UNBELIEVABLE???
8 and +
Story’s end, by Marissa Burt
Long ago, a King ruled the land of Story… During his reign, Heroes, Villains and characters of all kinds lived out tales filled with daring quests and epic struggles.
Then the king disappeared, and over the years, nearly everyone forgot that he had ever existed. Now an evil Enemy has emerged, determined to write a new future for Story that he will control. And an ordinary girl named Una Fairchild is inextricably tangles up in his deadly plan…
9 and +
Thrice upon a Marigold, by Jean Ferris
Once… Twice… Thrice the fun!
There’s always trouble on the way to happily-ever-after in Zandelphia-Beaurivage, but don’t tell King Christian and Queen Marigold. They’ve just welcomed little Princess Poppy to the royal family. Life at the palace seems happier than ever- until the princess is kidnapped by the kingdom’s ex-torturer-in-chief and ex-poisoner-in-chief as an act of revenge!
Rescuing the princess from the bad guys won’t be easy- it might take the king, the queen, the royal guards, a librarian, a blacksmith, a retired wizard, a white elephant, and a fire-breathing dragon! Can this royal kidnapping caper finally end in a happily-ever-after for all?
8 and +
New this month – we are now listing the most popular e-books! Here they are…
1. Mr and Mrs Bunny: Detective extraordinaire! by Polly Horvath
2. Girls in love by Jacqueline Wilson
3. Best Friends by Jacqueline Wilson
4. The diamond girls by Jacqueline Wilson
5. Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
6. Eldest by Christopher Paolini
7. Good news, bad news by Jeff Mack
8. Candyfloss by Jacqueline Wilson
9. Lola Rose By Jacqueline Wilson
10. Please take me for a walk by Susan Gal
Looks like ebooks are the place to find those popular Jacqueline Wilson books!
Well another term has ended and the school holidays are here. Luckily for you, Wellington City Libraries has stocked up on precious gems also known as new non fiction books to keep the boredom busters at bay, especially with all the cold and miserable weather we have had lately.
This month’s blog post introduces you to instruction manuals on how to be a superhero (or an evil genius) and how to eat like a dinosaur, books that features some of the cutest animals on the planet, fairy tales around the world and traveling back in time to visit ancient historical lands, monuments and important figures that changed the world forever.
101 Things to do to become a Superhero… or evil genius.
Well kids, there has finally been a book released that many evil geniuses would attempt to destroy. 101 Things to do to become a Superhero… or evil genius. that not only tells you all about the 101 things to do to become a Superhero… or evil genius, but probably what Superman, Batman, Spiderman and every superhero you know and heard of had to go through while they were superheroes in training. And excellent timing with the school holidays coming up and the release of the movie, Man of Steel. 101 Things to Do to become a Superhero has been praised on Amazon as “an absolute gem.” The book includes information on what you need to transform yourself from mere mortal into exciting, dynamic total superhero material. So what you are you waiting for, don’t waste time as a mere mortal, begin your transformation today.
An Illustrated Treasury of Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales.
Ready for another “absolute gem?” If you are bored with Fairy tales, Greek mythology and enjoyed Spellbound: Tales of Enchantment from Ancient Ireland, a collection of Irish Folk Tales a reviewed in a previous post? How about a dose of Scottish Folk Tales? Check out this wonderful treasure filled with stunning illustrations that holds a collection of eleven stories that brings Scottish folk tales and tradition to life. Fantastic themes of magic and enchantment that are that will make you EVEN more spellbound! Great for kids aged 6 to 9 years, who love adventure, romance and talking animals.
Also check out Nessie the Loch Ness Monster.
Brace yourself for cuteness! If you have a weakness for cute, baby animals (like myself), then cozy up with adorable baby sloths in this irresistible photographic picture book during the school holidays! British filmmaker and sloth expert Lucy Cooke has produced this book that takes you behind the scenes of what goes on at Avarios Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica, the world’s largest sloth orphanage. Complete with with hilarious, heart-melting photographs of sloths (Babies and Adults – A couple of charming photos of sloths dressed in oneises!), you will get to know the delightful residents of the at Avarios Sloth Sanctuary and become more knowledgable of the laziest and one of the cutest animals on the planet. A delightful addition to our libraries and a treat for adults and children during the school holidays.
WARNING: Baby sloths can be highly addictive. Prepare yourself for cute overload.
In the mood for some time travel? Travel back in time 5,000 years and more to relive the mysteries and secrets of one of the greatest ancient monuments in the world! You will discover the very first henge, dug out with antler-horn picks and find out about the Amesbury Archer, buried with his archer’s wrist-guard and flint arrowheads. This is a great resource that can help you with your homework and answer every question you ever wanted to know about Stonehenge, for example why was this amazing monument erected? How did our Stone-Age ancestors bring such massive stones to the site from so far away? How did they raise the enormous stones to their upright positions? What was Stonehenge used for, and who lived around the site?
Eat like a Dinosaur: Recipe and guidebook for gluten-free kids.
This is a book that parents should have if they have children that suffer from gluten intolerance and food allergies. In Eat Like a Dinosaur, you will find over a 100 kid-approved recipes and projects that are free of grains, dairy, soy and refined sugar that will steer your child toward meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts and healthy fats. For those with food allergies, the top 8 allergens have been visually marked on each recipe for children to self-identify recipes that may contain eggs, nuts, fish, or shellfish.
The Romans: Gods, Emperors and Dormice.
This book is great resource that gives children a basic introduction to the history of the rise and fall of the Roman empire. Blended with illustration and text in the form of a graphic novel, you will read and find out who Romulus and Remus were, discover what happened to Julius Caesar and experience life what happened during the times of Ancient Rome.
Ever wanted to find out why some animals have funny bums? This is a fantastic picture book for younger children answer this question and gives insight to the rear ends of animals that comes in many shapes and sizes. None of them are boring and maybe some that funny. Great book to use as a learning tool and for a laugh. Great for primary school age.
In Ancient Greek mythology there is a sea dragon called ketea (singular ketos).
They are amphibious and have two flippers instead of legs. They have sleek bodies with hides covered in barnacles, and a long, tapering tail with a sea-weed like end.
Ketea have a long, pointy snout, long ears, sharp horns on their heads, and small sharp teeth. Although they live in the ocean around Greece, they can also survive on land.
Ketea obey Poseidon, Greek god of the sea, and he sends them to punish people who have offended him. They are ravenous and can never get enough to eat!
If you enjoyed this post and want to read more, you can find out more about dragons in The Dragon Companion: An Encyclopedia by Carole Wilkinson. All the facts in this post were taken from this book.
Some new books about dragons that you might like to read are:
The Dreadful Dragon by Kaye Umansky
Dragon Boogie by Erik Craddick
Fangbone!, third-grade barbarian by Michael Rex
How to Seize a Dragon’s Jewel by Cressida Cowell
Iron Hearted Violet by Kelly Regan Barnhill
Secrets of the Dragon World by S. A. Caldwell
Flight to Dragon Isle by Lucinda Hare.
This heart-stopping sequel to amazing the The Dragon Whisperer. Trecherous plots swirl-with even Quenelda’s own beloved dragon in mortal danger. But Quenelda finds a secret solace at the heart of the fabled fortress, Dragon Isle. As war against the united hobgoblin tribes rages, and Quenelda longs to follow her hero Dragon Lord father into the fray. But when the Stealth Dragon Service is betrayed and destroyed, the Seven Sea Kingdoms are thrown into turmoil.
Dragon Games by P.W. Catanese.
Dragon Games, the second book in Catanese’s Books of Umber Trilogy. This book continues the imaginative, page-turning adventures of Umber and Hap. Happenstance would like nothing more than to stay in the comfort of the Aerie, Lord Umber’s spectacular cliff side home, without having to worry about the secrets of his past – or the undetermined role he must play in Umber’s desparate mission.But adventure beckons when a message from an oppressed kingdom ruled by an brutish monarch, telling of a cache of dragon eggs which have began to hatch ? What will become of the infant dragons? Read it and find out!!!
Fire Within by Chris d’Lacey.
The magical power of dragons are awesome. Check out this fantastic series starting with this great book Fire Within. When David arrives in Wayward Crescent he has no idea what lurks inside the Pennykettle house. Only when he’s given his own special dragon does he begin to unlock their mysterious secrets, and to discover the fire within. Check out the whole seven books in this awesome series!!!
Dragon Spear by Jessica Day George.
Action, danger and excitement – this medieval fantasy has it all!! Creel’s adventures continue when she, her brother, and her betrothed travel across the seas to visit their dragon friends and become involved in a battle against an alien group of dragons that has kidnapped Queen Velika, endangering her and her expected litter of hatchlings. A great read!!!
Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke.
A dragon. A boy. A journey. From the internationally best-selling author of The Thief Lord and Inkheart comes this breath-taking story of heroism, friendship and adventure. Firedrake, a brave young dragon, his friend Sorrel and a lonely boy called Ben are united as if by destiny. Together, they embark on a magical journey to find the legendarily place where silver dragons can live in peace forever. With only the curious map and the whispered memories of an old dragon to guide them, they fly across moonlit lands and seas to reach the highest mountains in the world.
The secrets of stonehenge.
Funny Bums.