Make sure you come along to our late night storytime at Tawa library on:
Thursday 4th December at 6.30pm.
We are going to be entertained by a Tawa family who will share their fantastic musical gifts by delighting us with a musical accompaniment to our wonderful storytime.
Don’t miss out. It will be awesome!
All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. Well, that was certainly the case during William Shakespeare’s life. And who was William Shakespeare? Well, he was an English poet, playwright and actor who is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. People all over the world have come to recognise the image of William Shakespeare and would heard of his plays, but what do we know about the man himself, or even what went on behind the scenes during the performance of his plays, or even who his plays were being performed for?
Why not check out the following books from the series: Shakespeare Alive
William Shakespeare: A Man For All Times
is an excellent biography. This book will take readers on a journey through William Shakespeare’s extraordinary life, covering everything from who he was, where he came from, his life before and after he became a successful playwright and later life. This biography does more than simply introduce the author; it also endeavours to separate fact from fiction.
Shakespeare Today
discusses the many ways Shakespeare’s plays have been reinterpreted over the decades, as well as the playwright’s sources, translations of his works to other languages, and the influence of the plays on general civilization. Fantastic resource if you are doing a project on William Shakespeare or want ideas if you are putting on a performance of one of Shakespeare’s plays. (Gosh, I wish they had this resource during my school days when I had to do assignments on William Shakespeare and perform his plays)
Shakespeare and the Theatre
explores and discusses the differences between outdoor and indoor theatres, looks at the life of an actor, touring and describes how plays were written, funded and staged. Great resource to use if you are doing a project on the history of stage theatre and/or looking into putting on your own stage production/play.
The Weird World of William Shakespeare.
If you enjoyed You Can Get Sucked Down An Aeroplane Loo! and are a fan of the Horrible Histories series, then you will definitely enjoy this book! The Weird World of William Shakespeare. Like William Shakespeare: A Man For All Times, this is an excellent biography which will take readers on a journey through William Shakespeare’s extraordinary life, but has a similar tone as horrible histories which does contain silly humour, history ,gory bits, (perhaps not as gory as Horrible Histories) and silly quotes.
Also check out the following Buzzing Bios!
There are two new biographies from the “People in History” series that have been introduced into the junior non fiction collection on two members of the Tudor Dynasty, who also happen to be father and daughter, and two of the famous British monarchs in history: Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. Henry VII will tell you anything and everything you need to know about the man himself, his childhood, his reign and even his six wives…, YEP! The man had six wives! (not at the same time) and what became of his six wives. While Elizabeth I tells the story of Queen Elizabeth I, the last of the Tudor Dynasty. Covers everything from her long and exciting reign, (apparently she ruled England for 45 years, WOW!) To her epic victory of defeating the Spanish Armada, which also happened to be Queen Elizabeth’s finest hour. Overall I think these books are an excellent read. especially great for younger children as the books contain a lot of simple text and one-lined sentences. Also serves as a good introduction to the history of the Tudor Dynasty.
Boy: tales of childhood by Roald Dahl.
Boy is the exciting story of Roald’s Dahl’s childhood. Contains tales of exciting and strange things – some funny, some frightening and definitely so true! The tales in this book is bound to make a tremendous impression, that you will never forget them.
One Direction : The official annual 2014.
Roll up One Direction fans, our favourite boys – Harry, Niall, Liam, Louis and Zayn are back! Score this awesome read from your local library and get ready to go behind the scenes and have one on one access to One Direction! A must have read for all One Direction fans! I swear I can hear screaming from outside the library, hee, hee.
A great book to read that tells you everything you want to know about Netball, one of the greatest and most popular sports played in Australia and New Zealand. In reading this book, you will learn everything there is to know about Netball including the history of the sport, the rules, training, clothing and equipment. Great for anyone who is a fan, plays netball and/or wanting to play.
For more information about Netball, you visit the website, Netball New Zealand.
Anyone who is doing a project on the history of buildings and architecture will love this book! This book explains how and why famous buildings in history came to be built. The book also goes into further detail about how did people start making buildings, how did they learn to make them bigger, stronger and more comfortable? And why they decorated them in so many different ways. Great for ages 10 years and over.
As a child of the 80’s and 90’s, pastels were the norm of bringing out children’s inner artist. Thirty/twenty years later using pastels still hasn’t gone out of fashion. So what are you waiting for? Now is the Time to bring out your own inner artist! Have a big art project coming up? Bored with water colors and acrylic paints, Why not give pastels a go? This book will provide you with step-by-step guides show how to create a variety of projects using pastels.
Girls, this is one book you need to read on inspirational women. This book tells the true story of one of the first female navigators, Eleanor Prentiss and her ship, the Flying Cloud who, despite battling raging storms, broken masts, and dangerously slow winds managed to complete its maiden voyage from New York to San Francisco in a period (and world breaking record) of eighty nine days. Also will be thoroughly enjoyed by anyone who is interested in sailing and ships.
Children of all ages will enjoy this beautifully illustrated picture book written by celebrated author and artist Demi. This new picture book biography of Florence Nightingale beautifully portrays the story of Florence’s life and explores the long-lasting effects of her career, including her innovative and revolutionary ideas on medicine, emphasising the need of cleanliness in hospitals, nutritional values of hot food and organization of hospitals. Children will not only learn about Florence Nightingale’s inspirational life, but also the history of hospital and nursing practices that are still used today.
How the Beatles changed the world.
The Beatles are one of the most innovative and revolutionary bands that broke many world records and changed the face of music forever. Fifty years after the British invasion began, Martin Sandler explores The Beatles’ long-lasting impact on the world in this wonderful book. Overall I think you will be overly impressed and astonished by the amount of information held in this book about everything you thought you knew (and didn’t know) about The Beatles and their musical history. A great book for anyone who is a fan of The Beatles’ music and history.
You may also like The Beatles were fab (and they were funny).
FACT: “Hey Jude” was released in August 1968 as the first single from the Beatles’ record label Apple Records. More than seven minutes in length, it was at the time the longest single ever to top the British charts.
Children’s Top 10 CDs for May – Happy New Zealand Music Month everyone!
1. Baby rock & rhyme by Stu Pedley
3. Taking off ! – The Wiggles – Australian Broadcasting Corporation
4. Disney’s greatest – Walt Disney Productions
5. French playground – Putumayo World Music
6. Surfer Jeff – The Wiggles – Mic Conway
7. Fun times : An ABC Music CD.
8. Play school favourites – Australian Broadcasting Corporation
9. Doc McStuffins – Walt Disney Records
10. Furry tales – The Wiggles -Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Christmas carols have a long and surprising history. In the very early days of the Church, songs weren’t sung during the Christmas period. It was believed that Christmas should be celebrated in a very sober way, not like those pagans with their raucous midwinter festivals! The word carol comes from two places: the ancient Greek choros (“dancing in a circle”) and the French carole (“a song to accompany dancing”). So carols were basically any song that was sung at any time of celebration. When people started singing in Church, they’d often get kicked out by an annoyed priest, so they went around to people’s houses instead. That’s why in some countries carol singers go around streets singing songs. It was only during the 15th century that people started writing carols specifically for Christmas, and singing them was allowed in Church.
A lot of the songs we still sing today are very old. “The twelve days of Christmas” and “We wish you a Merry Christmas” are from the 16th century. Then there are some from the 18th century, like “Hark the Herald Angels sing” and “O come all ye faithful.” Most of these very old Carols are English or French, but there are a few from America too: “Jingle Bells” and “Away in a Manger” were written there in the 19th century.
Another carol from that period, “Silent Night” has quite an interesting story behind it. It was written in 1818 in Germany. At its first performance it was supposed to have been accompanied by the organ, but mice had chewed through the bellows so it had to be accompanied by a guitar instead. During the “Christmas Peace” of 1914, during WWI, it was sung by English, French and German troops as they all knew the melody and the words. Although obviously they sang it in their own languages!
We’ve got lots of awesome Christmas music at the library, so come down and check them out.
Most of my information for this post came from The Christmas Almanac and Horrible Christmas.
The World of Angry Birds Official Guide.
You may know (and have played) the game, but do you really know everything about the Angry Birds and why they are so angry? Here’s your chance to find out. Read the official guide and take a journey to Piggy Island, home to the Angry Birds, Bad Piggies… and the mysterious Mighty Eagle, where Mighty Eagle takes you on a tour of the magical island, introducing you to all the heroes, villains and places where you finally get to to hear all the stories behind Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Space games.
The hobbit : the desolation of Smaug : movie storybook.
It’s only days away until the next hobbit movie is released. How about reading ahead to see what you can expect from the movie, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Join Bilbo Baggins and the company of Dwarves in the continuation of battling against evil forces, the dwarves’ quest to recapture the lost Kingdom of Erebor and meeting some new (and old) characters along the way. With this amazing retelling of the movie, you too can visit Middle Earth and [perhaps catch a glimpse of Smaug himself.
Also check out the movie trailer of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
Michael Morpurgo : War child to War horse : a biography.
We all know Michael Morpurgo as the author of War Horse and Private Peaceful. But what don’t you know? Read the latest biography on his life and find out how a boy who dreamed of becoming an army officer became a famous author instead and what true events inspired him to write his most-loved books. This is one biography that can be enjoyed by kids of all ages!
If your looking for movies to watch over the Christmas and New Year Period, Check out War Horse, Based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo and the stage play War Horse by Nick Stafford and Private Peaceful.
Around the world with One Direction.
Fancy a trip around the world with Harry, Niall, Liam, Louis and Zayn?, Then this is the book for you. Author Sarah Oliver has the inside scoop from One Direction’s biggest fans around the world that managed to even have up close and personal encounters with these amazing and talented pop stars! You will get the full low down on what Harry, Niall, Liam, Louis and Zayn are like in real life and hear about tour secrets you are less likely to hear any where else. A must have read for all One Direction fans!
Also check out 1D : One Direction : behind the scenes.
Disney Planes : the essential guide.
Seen the movie? Now read and enjoy this fantastic photo-filled movie book. Relive the story of the lovable characters from Planes. Join Dusty Crophopper and his pals in Propwash Junction, travel the globe to meet all the high-flying heroes of the air-racing circuit and discover the top racing tips and tricks that Dusty needs to learn to become a champ of the air.
Also check out the movie trailer of Planes.
Phew! Another term has ended and we are now entering the second week of the school holidays. Luckily for you, Wellington City Libraries has stocked up on some new non fiction books to keep the boredom busters at bay. This month’s blog post introduces you to instruction manuals on how to use (and buy) technology wisely, a biography on The Beatles, a good old school rock band long before One Direction and the latest editions of Guinness World Records and Ripley’s Believe it or Not Special edition. Impeccable timing considering it is less than twelve weeks until 2013 draws to a close.
Using technology like cellphones can be a blast. However it can also open doors to unsafe situations, like cyber bullying. Have no fear, Cell Phone Safety is here to help. This book will enable you to learn all the tech-savvy ways on how to keep your cellphone a safe zone, what you need to watch out for and how to protect yourself, without taking away all the fun. This book also has a great section on what to do when you fall victim to cyber bullying.
The True Cost of Technology: How to shop to change the world.
Have you ever wondered how your purchase of a cellphone, computer or iPad might effect people around the world, especially if you find out the keypad of your shiny new computer was made by child workers in China? This book will make you think twice about the technology you buy. You will read and find out how the things we buy and use every day are produced, often at a cost to workers’ health or the environment, and discover how you can shop to change things for the better.
You also might be interested in reading The True Cost of Fashion, The True Cost of Food and The True Cost of Toys.
The Beatles were fab (and they were funny).
Move over One Direction and Justin Bieber, it’s time for a biography on a good old school rock band that is enjoyed by all generations. This biography is an introduction to the rock band The Beatles and their rise to fame. This book presents a lively, whimsically illustrated tribute to the Fab Four’s offbeat humor that traces the rise of Beatlemania and the influence of their humor on their musical achievements. This book complemented with the best singles of the Beatles and is an excellent way to teach children about good music.
Ripley’s Believe It or Not Special Edition 2014.
As 2013 is drawing to a close, Ripley’s Believe It or Not has another special edition for 2014! This edition presents a collection of strange facts and coincidences about animals and human beings in the worlds of science, art, and entertainment. Would you believe there is a cat with two faces?, A swimmer who can do the backstroke and juggle three tennis balls at the same time?, and shoes with more than 1,000 teeth on the soles? Check out the book if you don’t believe it.
Also check out Ripley’s Believe It or Not Special Edition 2013.
Want to read a book about where you encounter the largest living cat in the world that eats meat the same weight as a two year old child, go for a ride on the world’s largest pogo stick and meet the largest walking robot? Then the wait is over. If you enjoyed Guinness World Records 2013, then you will absolutely love Guinness World Records 2014. This book contains more than 1,000 photos and fully updated information on amazing facts and world records. Read all about the world’s largest rideable bicycle, deadliest spiders, snakes and scorpions, find out whether Batman, Spider-Man or Iron Man is the highest-grossing superhero ever and celebrate over 20 years of “The Simpsons”, the longest-running animated sitcom. Overall this book is awesome and then some! You can also download the FREE Augmented Reality app to see records come to life in amazing 3D.
Want to read about the freakiest, biggest, smallest, fastest, slowest and deadliest animals know to man? Then check out Animal Record Breakers. From man-eating sharks to snakes that grow longer than buses, read all about these extreme creatures that roam the land, swim in the sea, and fly in the sky, and fascinating facts about each one accompany cool CGI art that really brings each animal to life, such as poisonous fish and frogs, monkeys that break into song (duets) in order to find each other and the world’s largest butterfly.
Here’ s your chance to watch an amazing performance by the Wellington City Community Children’s Choir.
The choir is a group of 5-12 year old wellingtonians who love to sing. The performance involves songs and dancing from different cultures – it’s going to be very fun to watch! Grab a cushion and snuggle up on a rainy day.
Where and when:
Saturday 13th July
10.30am
Wellington Central Library
FREE!
Wellington musician and author Gerry Paul has just released a music video for his award winning song “Hank the Wrestling Shark’
You can borrow his album ‘Tales from the sea & an elephant tree‘ from the library, as well as his book (comes with a CD).
Enjoy!
Celebrate Maori Language week with your family, music and roller skates.
