Holiday activities

Paralympics @ Karori Library

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Paralympics

Paralympics and Olympics 2012 – Free Holiday Activities at your Library 

Karori Library, 4th July 11.15am

Meet a Paralympian and try out their special sporting equipment:*

see photos of the Paralympics

find out how they became a Paralympian

learn about different disabilities and how athletes are classified for competition

see and touch prosthetic limbs and equipment for daily use and the Paralympics

have a go in a wheelchair and play games.

*activities may vary at different libraries

For information phone 499 4444 or visit us online

How many birds are in your garden?

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Every year a group called Landcare Research ask people to do a survey of the types and number of birds found in your garden.

This year the Bird Survey Week is June 30th – July 8th. All you have to do to join in is print off the form and watch your garden for 1 hour only during the week, and note down the birds you see. Fill in the form and pop it into a letter box. You can even print off a bird identification guide so you can find out the names of the birds you spot.

The info found out by this bird survey is really important- scientists will know if the number of birds is going up or daown, and which types of birds are in different places in New Zealand. They can compare the results from this year to last year and see what has changed.

New Zealand’s birds are really amazing and often very unique in the world. We have loads of books in the library about NZ birds. Here’s my favourites:

 

 

Wellington’s own native bird sanctuary, Zealandia, is full of rare and special NZ birds. Go for a visit or check out their bird info online. If you’re lucky you might get to spot a Kiwi – cool!

Creative Writing Workshop for 7-12 year olds

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Don’t miss out on this! Karori Library is hosting a creative writing workshop during the school holidays. Learn how to write stories like a pro. Places are limited so make sure you book soon. Here’s the details:

Where: Karori Library

When: 10th July 1pm – 4pm

Who: 7-12 year olds – no experience required

How much: $30 – all proceeds go to the Wellington SPCA to keep the animals happy

Booking: Limited spaces. Email your details to brainbunny@hotmail.co.nz

BookBusters time!

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BB imageClub meetings are on next week, BookBusters. July is always our mid-year graduation and prizegiving. You won’t want to miss out on this one – there will be prizes, certificates, heaps of books, food and fun fun fun!

Tuesday 3rd July 4-5pm: Island Bay Library and Karori Library

Wednesday 4th July 4-5pm: Tawa Library

Thursday 5th July 4-5pm: Kilbirnie Library and Johnsonville Library

 BookBusters is a free monthly book club for 7-8 year olds. Check out all the details here or here.

Hockey at the Olympics

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Olympics Countdown: 30 days to go!

Love hockey?  We sure do!  Hockey is awesome, and it’s not long now till the New Zealand Black Sticks (men’s and women’s teams) compete at the London Olympic Games.  The first hockey match sees our Black Stick girls taking on the Aussies – exciting stuff!  Make sure you support our teams as they compete against the world’s best!!

You might also like to check out profiles of the 2012 New Zealand Olympic team including our hockey players and other athletes.

Make sure you come along to the library for our free school holiday activities all about Paralympics and Olympics 2012.  Meet a Paralympian and try out their special sporting equipment!  For more information phone 499 4444 or visit us online.

And here’s a selection of some of the hockey books available at the library:

Athletics at the Olympics

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Olympics Countdown: 31 days to go!

Did you know that athletics is the biggest Olympic sport?  A massive 2000 athletes will compete across a range of track, field and road events.  These include sprints, hurdles, relays, shot put, high jump, pole vault and marathons.  It’s an extremely technical sport and athletes have to be very precise with their performance in order to win.  It’s also a lot of fun – many of you may have given these sports a go on your school athletics days.

One of our most well known field athletes is Valerie Adams who has won an amazing three world titles in Shot Put – two Commonwealth Games gold medals and an Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Beijing games.  Check out this Olympic profile on Valerie Adams to find out more information and to see some amazing shot put action shots.

Come along to the library for our free school holiday activities all about Paralympics and Olympics 2012.  Meet a Paralympian and try out their special sporting equipment!  For more information phone 499 4444 or visit us online.

School holidays and time to be creative again!

wcl staff

Bedroom Makeover

This book shows you how to make your bedroom brighter, cosier and comfier. I love bunting and cushions and this book shows you how to make funky cushion covers and bright bunting easily. A very fun book with lots of ideas. Other books in this series to look out for are, Customise Your Clothes, Accessories for All, Cards, and Wrap and Tags.

 

 

 

 

How To Make a Planet

Obviously get your parents’ permission before you start build ing a planet in your bedroom. But once you have their go ahead read this fascinating book to learn all the things you need to know about forming a planet and taking care of it. PS, You may not be finished your project by the end of the school holidays.

 

 

 

 

Space!

If you don’t have time to make your own planet then check this book out and enjoy doing some simple space experiments. Great for all ages for learning the basics of how space works.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun To Draw Funny Characters

With time on your hands you can get this book out and improve your drawing and cartooning skills no matter what your skill level. 16 fun characters, 20 faces and endless funny situations are all awaiting your pen and paper.

 

 

 

 

 

Describing Words  

Try your hand at writing these holidays. Need some coaching with your grammar? Then this new series will be fantastic for you. Other books in this series cover Punctuation, Doing Words and Grouping Words.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stay

If the circus is in town these holidays head along there. You may see dogs performing like the ones in this lovely book. If you are a dog lover then you will really enjoy reading about the ten stray dogs that were given a home in a circus and trained up to be ultimate performers.

 

 

 

 

 

Children’s Chocolate Cookbook

Not only crammed full of scrumptious recipes but containing the history of chocolate and how it is made. YUM!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh Boy!

Kick back and enjoy this unofficial biography of Justin Bieber. Crammed full of photos, of course, read and find out all those little things you always wanted to know about this successful idol.

 

 

 

 

 

Lego Star Wars Character Encyclopedia

Time to get our the lego again these holidays. This encyclopedia will tell you about all the characters you may want to add to your collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click! Click! Click!

Time to get those cameras out these holidays. Have fun fist reading this book and get some great ideas for your magical shots. Also learn how to edit and playaround with your photos.

 

 

 

 

 

The Art Treasure Hunt

Fill in a few spare hours browsing through this inspiring book. Wander through famous artworks from around the world. Full of puzzles, games and large pictures. Learning about art was never so much fun. If you aren’t already an art lover, you will be after reading through this book.

London Olympics – 35 Days to Go!

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The countdown to the London 2012 Olympic Games is on!  The games commence on July 27th with a spectacular opening ceremony opened by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip and will finish with a closing ceremony on 12th August.

The modern Olympic Games are a huuuge international event (the biggest sporting event in the world in fact) held every 4 years in a specially selected city and they are planned years in advance.  It is estimated that the 2012 Summer Olympics will involve 10,500 athletes from 204 countries competing in 26 different sports with millions of spectators world wide.  Wow!!

Did you know this will be New Zealand’s 24th appearance in the modern Olympic Summer Games?  We first participated in 1908 and have been taking part ever since – and we’ve won a total of 86 medals – go kiwis!!!  Our 2012 athletes will be training incredibly hard right now, preparing themselves for the games – most athletes will have been training nearly their whole lives for this amazing opportunity.  We wish them all the best!

Make sure you come along to the library for our free school holiday activities all about Paralympics and Olympics 2012.  Meet a Paralympian and try out their special sporting equipment!  For more information phone 499 4444 or visit us online.

Here’s a selection of some of the awesome books we have about the modern Olympics: ready, set, go!!!

New non-fiction for busy fingers and inquisitive minds

wcl staff

What an eclectic (random and mixed up) selectionof new books we have for you this month! And every one of them a great read.

Get Cooking!

I should not be reviewing this book just before lunch! The recipes are amazing and the photographs make the yummy food look so easy to cook. Lemon and lime cake, pancakes and pizzas. Where to start? My favourite is Fridge cake. In my childhood we used to call it fudge cake. Delicious whatever you name it!

  

 

 

 

 

My First Art Activity Book

I have never made bubble wrap bunting, surf board pendants or printed boot bags  but now I really, really want to. The ideas in this activity book are so cool and most of them seem pretty easy so I am going to try them. Check this book out and you can have fun being creative too.

 

 

 

 

Titanic

This year is 100years since the Titanic sank, so of course we have had lots of new books about  this amazing ship and its demise. This is one of the smaller books great for the intermediate reader. Learn heaps and have fun flicking the pages to get a flipbook animation of the sinking!

 

 

 

 

 

Helicopters

 Discover the cutting-edge technology and innovative designs which feature in the very latest helicopters. Whether it’s the Super Stallion CH-53E that can fly 2,000 kilometres without refuelling and then can even refuel midair,  or the CH-47 Chinook that can carry 46 people, helicopters are amazing machines. If you are interested in machines with huge engines then you will love this series.  Motorbikes, Tanks and Miltary Vehicles, Trucks and Warships are other great books in the Ultimate Machines series.

  

 

 

Skylanders

“The ancient Portal Master Eon has sent out a plea for help. With your Portal of Power, an army of Skylanders, and this guide, you have everything you need to answer his call and take down the dark forces that threaten the world.” (Book cover). Sounds easy doesn’t it! Learn everything you need to know about Skylanders; their Elemental type, their stats and all their powers and save our world now!

Angelina Ballerina visits the North

debbie

A wonderful ballet filled time was enjoyed at the Tawa, Johnsonville and Khandallah Libraries last week as the Dance Explorer Team from the Royal New Zealand ballet came to celebrate Angelina Ballerina.

We had packed libraries as the children enjoyed hearing about Angelina Ballerina and reading some of her stories. We learned lots of ballet steps from plies to arabesques as well as finding out about ballet shoes and beautiful tutu’s.

Check out some of the photos from this great event.