the hobbit

Entertainment Over Christmas and New Year’s: Angry Birds, Movie Mania and Celebrity Madness.

Katie

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.

The Book of New Zealand

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As part of the world premiere of The Hobbit: The desolation of Smaug, a giant pop-up book has been created and installed in a hotel in Beverly Hills. This thing is huge – it’s as big as two tennis courts and 15m tall. It’s so big that you can walk through it. The pop up book shows scenery around NZ where The Hobbit was filmed.

Check it out in this video:

…and here’s how they made it:

The movie is released in New Zealand theaters on Thursday 12th December. That’s next week! I can’t wait!

While you are waiting, check out these Hobbit items in our libraries:

Book:

 

Graphic Novel:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Movie Storybook:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Books about the movie characters:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio Book:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t forget the first Hobbit movie either!

The Hobbit production video #2

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A couple of weeks ago we posted the first in the new series of The Hobbit: The desolation of Smaug production videos on this blog.

It’s time for video number 2! Enjoy.

 

The Hobbit official website is really cool – check it out now! (Best viewed in Chrome) You can find out all about the story behind the movie, the cast and crew, and watch heaps of cool and funny videos. There are also posters and wallpapers you can download.

The movie is released in New Zealand on December 12th.

The Hobbit – Production videos

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The second Hobbit move – The Desolation of Smaug, is due to be released in New Zealand on December 12th.

Peter Jackson, the director, has been posting production diary videos online since he started filming The Hobbit to give us a behind the scenes look at how the movie was made. He’s continued this tradiation with some new video diaries for The Desolation of Smaug. The videos are interesting, fascinating and funny.

Over the next month, leading up the movie’s release, we’ll be posting some of the videos here.

Here’s video #1

While you’re waiting for the movie release you could watch the first Hobbit movie, or read the book.

Top 10 fiction for May

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Here are the most popular fiction books for May:

1. Diary of a wimpy kid series by Jeff Kinney

2. Dirty Bertie series by Alan MacDonald

3. Conspiracy 365 series by Gabrielle Lord

4. Captain Underpants and the big, bad battle of the Bionic Booger Boy by Dav Pilkey

5. Where’s Wally? series by Martin handford

6. Judy Moody & Stink series by Megan McDonald

7. Captain Underpants and the revolting revenge of the radioactive robo-boxers by Dav Pilkey

8. Puzzle pirates by Susannah Leigh

9. Charlie and the chocolate factory by Roald dahl

10. James and the giant peach by Roald Dahl

 

(special mention to The Hobbit, which continues to be in the top 15 most popular books for children!)

 

New Non Fiction: Animals and Heroes

Katie


Albert Einstein and Relativity for Kids: His Life and Ideas with 21 Experiments and Thought Experiments.

Kids of all ages will enjoy reading this book about Albert Einstein, both about his childhood and the important contributions he made to science. Complete with activities and experiments to bring Einstein’s theories and ideas to life, kids will be able to calculate the speed of light with a melted bar of chocolate, model a nuclear chain reaction using dominoes, demonstrate the expanding universe with a marshmallow peep, replicate a solar eclipse and much, much more.

 

 

Can We Save the Tiger?

Can we save the tiger and all other beautiful and extraordinary endangered species described in this new book? It’s not too late! This beautiful picture comes complete with artfully drawn illustrations both in colour and black and white,  introducing a wide range of endangered species that includes tigers, polar bears, American Bison, European crayfish and even New Zealand’s very own native bird, Kakapo, this book portrays the hash reality of  struggles these endangered animals face and points out ways that we may help.  Suitable for Children ages 5 to 8 years old and a excellent guide and resource to our world’s endangered species.

 

 

The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey the Movie Storybook.

Seen the movie? Now read and enjoy the movie book. Relive the story of The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey in this fantastic photo-filled book. Join Bilbo Baggins and the company of Dwarves battling against evil forces and their quest to recapture the lost Kingdom of Erebor. With this amazing retelling of the movie, you too can visit Middle Earth.

 

 

 

 

 

Penguins.

Did you know that penguins have dark feathers to absorb the sun’s heat and  mother penguins can lay one or two eggs at a time? All this information, complete with pictures and other amazing facts about penguins can be found in this new and exciting read from the series, Animals Are Amazing! You will read about all types penguins (noisy penguins, driving penguins, baby penguins and waddling penguins), including why penguins have wings and how they survive in the freezing cold.

 

 

 

So, You Want to be a Comic Book Artist? The Ultimate Guide on how to break into Comics?

So, you want to be a comic book artist? This hip, new guide presents a step by step guide to creating, publishing and marketing comic books, including developing compelling characters, approaching publishers, and adapting storylines for video games and movies. You will also find inspiration through profiles of young comics creators as well as world-famous artists who have worked on comics and cartoons such as X-Men, Superman, Batman, Spiderman and SpongeBob Squarepants.

 

 

 

The Animal Antics Joke Book.

Why are dogs such bad dancers? How to fleas get from one animal to another? Why was the cat scared of the tree? Find out the answers in this new, amazing joke book from the Laugh Out Loud series. This book is packed full of jokes about daffy dogs, kooky cats and peculiar parrots.

 

Top 10 for December

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Here are the ten most wanted and reserved books for December.

1. Diary of a wimpy kid: the third wheel by Jeff Kinney

4th month in a row this book is on the Top 10 list.

2. The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

6 months on the Top 10 list – the most popular book this year maybe?

3. LEGO Ninjago: masters of Spinjitzu: character encyclopedia by Claire Sipi

1st time on the Top 10 and straight to number 3 on the list – wow!

4. Captain Underpants and the revolting revenge of the radioactive robo-boxers by Dav. Pilkey

2nd month on the Top 10 list for the latest book in the popular Capatin Underpants series.

5. Big Nate flips out by Lincoln Peirce

Big Nate has gone up 2 places on the last this month; it was in 7th place last time.

6. Trust no one by Linda Sue Park

The latest book in the 39 Clues series. This was 9th on last month’s list, and 6th this month. Where will it be on the January list…?

7. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

Read the book before seeing the movie- it’s much better that way!

8. Olympic games and world records book by Keir Radnedge

This was on the Top 10 list in October, and now it’s back in December.

9. Vigrash the clawed eagle by Adam Blade

Beast Quest lovers – one of the newest books in the series (the 70th book in the Beast Quest series), and new to the Top 10 list.

10. Mirka the ice horse by Adam Blade

Another Beast Quest book (number 71 in the series) and also new to the Top 10 list.

 

 

More Middle-Earth

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Not sick of The Hobbit yet? Well you’d better pop along to Te Papa then and check out the TROLLS!

3 trolls, created by Weta Workshop, have traveled around the word to promote The Hobbit movie. They were made here in Wellington, went to a big famous event in San Diego called Comic Con, came back to wellington for the Hobbit Premiere last week and are now inside Te Papa. I hope they don’t tear the place down!

They will be at Te Papa until January 22nd, make sure you go and have your photo taken with them before that go back to their cave.

 

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

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Everyone’s excited about the release of the first of Peter Jackson’s films based on The Hobbit, by J. R R. Tolkien. It is a prequel to the Lord of the Rings, and tells the story of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who impulsively goes off on adventure with a group of dwarves and a wizard named Gandalf.  On this journey Bilbo meets elves, orcs and dragons, and finds that he is braver than he ever could have thought. Even today it’s unique among other fantasy books in that its main character is not chosen by destiny to be a hero; rather, he chooses his own path and sticks to his own principles.  It would be unfair to reveal anymore of the plot, but the book itself is well worth reading whether or not you go to the film.

 

 

The Hobbit was published in 1937, although it was not an immediate success. While it was loved by the critics, it was not immediately popular with the reading public. The English edition, published by Allen and Unwin, featured illustrations by J.R.R Tolkien himself.  Indeed, the book cover to the left is a picture by J R.R Tolkien.  Not all editions of the book feature his artwork.  We’ve got many different editions of The Hobbit in the library; there’s a graphic novel, one full-cast dramatisation, one  read by a single actor ,  a copy in Dutch, an annotated version, plus all the books about the movie that will be flooding our shelves! Click on the pictures below to check out the books we’ve got in our collection