New Non-Fiction : Big Books of interesting facts and things to do

Star Trek : The Visual Dictionary

Like it says on the cover, this really is the ultimate guide to characters, aliens and technology of Star Trek.  It’s almost been 50 years since Star Trek first appeared on television, so there’s a lot to include! It doesn’t look at the more recent movies, but for all the old school tv series and movies, you can’t beat this book.

 

 

 

 

 

Houses of long ago

This has to be one of the coolest books we have in the library.  It’s got gorgeous pictures of different houses through history; from the Chinese courtyard house to the medieval English manor. Each picture of the house has small flaps you can lift to see inside the houses and learn all sorts of interesting facts about how people lived in the past.

 

 

 

 

Cook it step by step

With over 100 recipes, this is a pretty extensive cook book that could teach you how to make pretty much anything. There are lots of pictures that take you through each recipe, and there’s some great information on basic cooking techniques as well.  It’s a great book for a beginner cook, but there’s plenty healthy, delicious recipes in here that anyone could make.

 

 

 

 

The Great Big Book of Feelings

What do you do when you feel jealous? What things make you sad? What do you do when you feel satisfied? This book doesn’t have all the answers, but it will make you think about the hows and whys of your feelings and what to do when they cause you trouble.

 

 

 

 

 

RHS Garden Projects : loads of fun things to do and make in the garden

If the weather holds up, there’s plenty here to keep you entertained in your backyard. Or you could keep them in mind for the warmer weather. At any rate, this is a fantastic book full of awesome projects.  They’re divided into three sections: “make it”, “cook it”, and “create it.” There’s plenty of instructions on when to make the projects, as well. My favourite project is making a fairy ring for your garden…just ask your Mum or Dad first!

 

 


The Big book of Big machines

If you’re a nut about all sorts of movers, diggers, flyers and cars then this is an excellent choice.  It’s got lots of fold out pages, so you can appreciate just how big these machines are. It doesn’t go into much detail about exactly how these machines work, but there’s enough information to give you a pretty much basic understanding of what the biggest machines are and what they do.

 

 

 

 

 

Animal diaries: Tyrannosaurus Rex

This is an unusual book that’s told from the perspective of a Tyrannosaurus Rex who hatches from an egg shortly before the end of the dinosaurs.  The reader stays with him as he grows up, and learns all about how young t-rex dinosaurs learn to hunt, how they live in their family groups, and all the other creatures they would have interacted with. Which were not necessarily dinosaurs and not necessarily food! It also looks at what survived after the meteorite and why. If you find the mighty meat eater a bit much, there’s also a really cool book from the same series told from the point of view of an elephant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finalists announced for the LIANZA Children’s Book Awards

The LIANZA (Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa) children’s book awards finalists have been announced.

Basically these are New Zealand librarians recognising the best books that have been published for children and teens in the last year.

The awards are separated up into 5 categories: best junior fiction (the top book wins the Esther Glen Medal), best illustration (The winner gets the Russell Clark Award), best non-fiction (the winner gets the Elsie Locke Award), best book written in te reo Maori (Te Kura Pounamu Award), and there is also a prize for the top teen book too.

The finalists for each category have just been announced (check them out below). A winner will be chosen from the finalists in each category, which will be announced at a sparkly awards ceremony on August 5th in Wellington.

Hot fact: The Esther Glen Medal for Junior Fiction is the oldest book award in New Zealand. It was first awarded in 1945 – that’s 68 years ago!

 

LIANZA Junior Fiction Award – Esther Glen Medal

The Queen and the Nobody Boy: A tale of Fontania by Barbara Else

The Drover’s Quest by Susan Brocker

When Empire Calls by Ken Catran

Red Rocks by Rachael King

The ACB with Honora Lee by Kate de Goldi

Lightning Strikes: The Slice by Rose Quilter (We don’t have this in the libraries yet. Check back later)

 

LIANZA Illustration Award – Russell Clark Award

The Dragon Hunters by James Russell, illustrated by Link Choi

Mister Whistler by Margaret Mahy, illustrated by Gavin Bishop

Kiwi: The Real Story by Annemarie Florian, illustrated by Heather Hunt

Blue Gnu by Kyle Mewburn, illustrated by Daron Parton

Melu byKyle Mewburn, illustrated by Ali Teo and John O’Reilly

A Great Cake by Tina Matthews

 

 

LIANZA Non Fiction Award – Elsie Locke Medal

At the Beach: Explore & Discover the New Zealand Seashore by Ned Barraud and Gillian Candler

Eruption! Discovering New Zealand Volcanoes by Maria Gill

100 Amazing Tales from Aotearoa by Simon Morton and Riria Hotere,

 

 

 

 

Te Kura Pounamu (te reo Māori)

Hautipua Rererangi story by Julian Arahanga, illustrated by Andrew Burdan

Ngā Waituhi o Rēhua by Katerina Te Heikoko Mataira

Arohanui by Huia Publishers, illustrated Andrew Burdan (Sorry, we don’t have this one in our libraries yet)

Ko Meru by Kyle Mewburn, translated by Ngaere Roberts, illustrated by Ali Teo and John O’Reilly  (Sorry, we don’t have this one in our libraries yet)

Taea ngā whetū by Dawn McMillan, translated by Ngaere Roberts, illustrated by Keinyo White

 

Top 10 non-fiction for April

Here are your favourite non-fiction books for April. Grab them from your library today.

1. Star Wars by David Reynolds West

2. Frontier of dreams the story of New Zealand by John Parker

3. The horrible history of the world by Terry Deary

4. The LEGO book by Daniel Lipkowi
5. Ripley’s believe it or not by Rosie Alexandertz

6. Cat by Juliet Clutton-Brock

7. World War 1 by Simon Adams

8. Usborne little book of Easter activities by Rebecca Gilpin

9. Pokemon Visual Guide by Cris Silvestri

10. Big book of paper craft by Fiona Watt

 

NZ Post Book Awards: Non-Fiction

Here are the list on Non-Fiction finalists for the New Zealand post Children’s Book Awards:

100 Amazing Tales From Aotearoa by Simon Morton & Riria Hotere

Based on the TVNZ television series “Tales from Te Papa” and contains 2 DVDs including the original TV series. Find out about quirky NZ stories featuring some strange and precious artifacts.

 

 

 

 

Kiwi: the real story by by Annemarie Florian & Heather Hunt

With lots of illustrations a bold rhythmic verse describes the North Island brown kiwi in action in the bush, and a non-fiction narrative provides readers with added insight into kiwi biology and behaviour

 

 

 

 

Taketakerau, The Millennium Tree by Marnie Anstis, Patricia Howitt & Kelly Spencer

The story of a child who listens to Koro and Grandma as they weave a tale about the life and times of the ancient pūriri tree Taketakerau, the settlement and development of New Zealand, and world events that happened over the last 2000 years

 

 

 

 

At the Beach: Explore & discover the New Zealand seashore by Ned Barraud & Gillian Candler

Find out all about the New Zealand seashore in this amazing new book with fantastic illustrations. The book includes a removable, waterproof, quick-reference guide to common seashore animals

 

 

 

 

From these 4 great books a winner will be announced on June 24th. You can vote for a winner too – in the Children’s Choice Award (and you’ll go in the draw to win $500 of book vouchers for you and your school).

 

NZ Post Book Awards

The shortlist for the annual New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards have been announced.

The awards nominate the best NZ children’s books that have been published in the last year in 4 categories – Picture Book, Junior Fiction, Non-Fiction and Teen.

During the NZ Post Book Awards festival week, which is June 17th – June 24th, there will be fun events and the winners of each category will be announced. Watch this space for more info.

The best thing is that you get to vote for one of the winners! Every year children can vote for their favourite book from any of the categories. The Children’s Choice Award is the one that all the authors and illustrators want to win, and you could win too! By voting you could win $500 of book vouchers for yourself and for your school – cool! Get voting!

 

We’ll be profiling the shortlist here on the blog so you can find out about all these super cool books and get your hands on them.

Top 10 Non-Fiction for March

Are you a non-fiction fan? Here are the 10 most popular books for March.

1. Star Wars by David West Reynolds

2. The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary by Jeff Kinney

3. Pokemon Visual Guide by Cris Silvestri

4. Guinness World Records 2013 by Craig Glenday

5. Ripley’s Believe it or Not by Rosie Alexander

6. The LEGO book by Daniel Lipkowitz

7. Pokemon Ultimate Handbook by Cris Silvestri

8. Stitch-by-Stitch by Jane Bull

9. Star Wars series by Jason Fry

10. The Hobbit movie storybook by Paddy Kempshall

 

 

Saint Patrick’s Day – A day of leprechauns, four-leaf clovers and painting the town green!

Saint Patrick’s Day or the Feast of Saint Patrick is a cultural, religious and public holiday celebrated on 17 March, the anniversary of his death. It celebrates the life of  Saint Patrick, the most commonly recognized of the patron saints of Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. On the day, people go to church services, wear green attire, attend public parades, eat Irish food and party the Irish way with music, singing and dancing, leprechauns and four-leaf clovers. On the day, you can also call into the Central Library and take out some amazing books about Saint Patrick’s Day and Ireland.

Check out the following books:

 

Books about St. Patrick’s Day (and the Saint himself):

          

 

Books about Ireland:

      

Irish Folk Tales and Stories:

      

 

FACT: Did you know over half a million New Zealanders have Irish ancestors, whose stories have been passed down the generations. Read more about this history of the Irish in New Zealand on  Te Ara.

Top 10: Non-fiction for February

Love non-fiction? Us too! Here are the top 10 non-fiction books for February. These books have been borrowed heaps of times.

  1. Star Wars: The complete visual dictionary by David West Reynolds
  2. The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary by Jeff Kinney
  3. Guinness World Records 2013 by Craig Glenday
  4. The LEGO book by Daniel Lipkowitz
  5. Pokemon Ultimate Handbook by Cris Silvestri
  6. Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Special Edition by Rosie Alexander
  7. The Usborne book of origami and other paper projects by Eileen O’Brien
  8. The Kingfisher Dinosaur Encyclopedia by Michael Benton
  9. Big Book of Papercraft by Fiona Watt
  10. Space by Rob Lloyd Jones

Exploring new borders: New non-fiction

What is contemporary art?

Read this book and parents dragging you along to an art gallery will never be boring again. In fact, if you read this book, you might end up knowing more than your olds! This book takes you through different types of contemporary artist and what they use, which is everything from crushed cars to rocks to eggshells. Of course, painting is also featured but not in any way you might have seen before. It goes without saying that this book has great pictures of all the art works, and next time you go to an art gallery, you’ll look at things in a whole new way.

 

 

 

Great Britain: everything you ever wanted to know

Despite it’s title, this book doesn’t cover the great battles, powerful monarchs or mighty castles of British history. Instead it covers all the ‘cool’ bits of British culture; tea, James Bond and Nessie. It’s also got great information on mainstays of life and history in Britain, such as the ‘great’ schools such as Eton and Harrow, eccentric aristocrats and the Beatles.  This is not your average history book, but a fun read if you happen to be  interested in what makes Old Blighty so unique. There library also has two other books in this series, on China and on Australia.

 

 

The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia

This book is an excellent reference for those interested in history. It covers human history from 4000 BCE to the present, and at almost 500 pages, you wouldn’t want to read it all at once! Instead, use it as a ‘jumping off’ point for when you’ve got a homework assignment on the Thirty Years War or The Boxer Rebellion. You’ll learn who, what, where, why and how…and then use these references to find more information! Despite being crammed full of facts, this book is hardly dry reading. There are plenty of interesting photographs and illustrations to go along with the text.

 

 

 

My cookbook of Cakes

Want to bake delicious cakes but too scared? This book is perfect. Its recipes are simple but delicious, and there are plenty of cakes to choose from. Whether you prefer rose petal cupcakes, a zesty orange drizzle cake or berry and vanilla cheesecake, you’ll find all your tastes catered for. And don’t worry, chocoholics, there’s plenty of recipes for you, too. Every step is illustrated with cool pictures, so this is a great book for beginner bakers.

 

 

 

 

Ninjago masters of Spinjitzu : character encyclopedia

Lego fan? Check out this cool new character encyclopedia about the heroes and villains of the Lego series Ninjago, which features four young ninjas training hard to defeat various monsters. It will tell you all about each character and the changes they go through as the series progresses. It also goes into great detail about the figures themselves; how they change from series to series, in both appearance and personality. This is a must read for any Ninjago or Lego Fan!

 

 

 

Five minute faces and Wild faces

If you’ve got a Christmas party coming up, and are looking for costume ideas, these books are a great resource. They’ll teach you all the basic skills of face painting, how to run a stall and how to create basic accessories to improve your costume.  The first book, Five Minute Faces, has a whole range of different faces; Miss Muppet, pirate, joker, skull and jester to name a few. The faces in the second book, Wild Faces, focuses more on animal faces and the make up’s more complex.  But if you want to win first place with your tiger costume, this is the book for you!

 

 

 

Make an animation

If you want to be the next Walt Disney, this is the book for you! It talks about the different types of animation, such as traditional hand-drawn animation to stop-motion animation made from ‘found’ objects. It will also show you how to make storyboards and shoot your own masterpieces.

New Non Fiction for October: Animals, History and… Dancing.

Tony Robinson’s Weird World of Wonders: Greeks.

Tony Robinson is back with more from Weird World of Wonders. Why the ancient Greeks were mad about olive oil? Who Pythagoras was? Why Alexander the Great named a city after his horse, Bucephalus? ?How the Greeks invented the first computer, vending machine and death-ray? You will find out all the answers to these questions and more in this action packed read.  If you enjoyed Tony Robinson’s last book on Ancient Egypt and the British, then you will love this one on British history.

 

 

 

My First Sewing Book: 35 easy and fun projects for children aged 7 years old + 
Love sewing? Then this is the book for you.You will find in this book 35 projects that will help you learn how to sew. All the instructions and cute step-by-step artworks are easy to follow; plus, each project has a grade so that you can start with easy sewing and move onto using more advanced stitches as you get better at it.

 

 

 

 
Monkeys by Claire Thorp.
Where do monkeys live? Can Monkeys tell lies? What can you do to help the Monkeys?

Find out the answers and more in this new exciting read. You will find out all you need to know about monkeys, including information on primates’ physical features, social habits, mental capabilities, and lives in their wild habitats.

 

 

 

 

 
Giraffes by Sarah Albee.
Find out all you need to know about giraffes, including answers to the trickiest questions, such as  how a giraffe drinks from the ground?  This book is also filled with valuable information, stunning photographs and little known facts, like a giraffe has seven bones in their neck and they can jump over objects as high as six feet.

 

 

 

 

 
The Book of Dance by Lorrie Mack.
The world of dance is yours to explore! Read all you need to know about dance and its history in this great and exciting book! This book allows you to discover the excitement of dance with all its magical rhythm, steps, costumes, music and dancers. You will also gain information on various types of dance, like ballet and ballroom. Also learn about popular productions from classical favorites, (The Nutcracker), Broadway (Singin’ in the Rain), Bollywood and even fresh dance styles that were inspired from the streets and clubs (Disco and Break dancing) and famous dancers of all time like Michael Jackson.

 

 

 
The Lego Book by Daniel Lipkowitz.
For all you Lego fans out there, this is the book to read. You find all the information you need to know about the history of the LEGO products. This book also  discusses the origins of the company, and the evolution of bricks, figures, play themes, and related products and features a time line that records the introduction of the first plastic bricks to the LEGO products of 2012. In addition this book allows you to explore LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Toy story and much more.