Its summer holidays! But we all know Wellington is tricksy when it comes to beaching weather, so having a couple of DVDs up your sleeve for a wet day is a good plan.
Movies and TV programmes with your favourite characters are a great way to fill in a few hours and inspire imaginative play. Do you have dress ups as your favourite characters?
1. Octonauts
2. Fireman Sam
4. My Little Pony, friendship is magic
5. Peter Rabbit
7. Zootopia
8. Chuggington
9. Inside Out
It’s down a matter of days before the latest movie, Trolls from DreamWorks Animation is released. Any believe it or not, there are special screenings of the movie coming up in Wellington on Sunday 13th of November at local theatres. Might pay to check what time they are on and where. But nonetheless, the DreamWorks theme continues with this post that pays tribute to the Madagascar franchise! Check out all the movies!
The movie that started the franchise and the “I like to move it, move it” catch phrase! Spoiled by their upbringing with no idea what wild life is really like, Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe, and Gloria the hippopotamus from New York Central Zoo find themselves on route to Madagascar.
Madagascar. 2, Escape to Africa
Follow Central Park Zoo animals, including, Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo, along with the delusional King Julien, psychotic penguins, the monkeys, and the lemur leaders as they unexpectedly are now stranded in the middle of Africa in Survivor/Castaway style, while having to deal with the locals – some good, some not so good, and human castaways adapting into Survivor mode . While Alex, (Reuniting with Mum and Dad), Marty, (putting his potential to full use) Melman, (finding multiple kindred spirits) and Gloria (finding a potential life mate) are rather happy with their new environment, they quickly realize that it’s not all that it seems. Meanwhile, the penguins attempt to repair the plane that they accidentally destroyed and find themselves having to deal with a few problems all the way, mainly union strikes with the monkeys. Overall a pretty funny movie from start to finish!
Check out the trailer here. Barrel of laughs all the way!
Madagascar. 3, Europe’s most wanted.
“Goodbye cruel world, I’m off to join the circus.” Such as the case with Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria and the whole crew, as they run off to join the circus to escape Captain Dubois of Animal Control also known as “the fickle woman who turned their whole world upside down.” A barrel of laughs all the way!
The penguins of Madagascar. Operation: Antarctica.
The delightful and quirky penguins finally get their own staring role in the delightful spinoff: The penguins of Madagascar. The penguins embark on their own covert missions in the heart of Antarctic and watch as the wacky Penguins discover it takes a lot more than cute and cuddly to pull off their coolest caper yet!
Looking for some new non-fiction reads? Expand your brain with these 5 new titles that are just hitting your library shelves. There’s animals, history and bad guys in the mix – something for everyone!
Ocean: a children’s encyclopaedia.
Descend into the vast, hidden depths of earth’s oceans and discover an amazing world in this stunning visual encyclopaedia.
The Celts were fearsome warriors, but they also developed trade routes across Europe and made beautiful jewellery. Find out about Celtic tribes, how Boudicca rebelled against the Romans, and how the Celts celebrated with feasts and festivals.
Does a Seal Smile? explores the meanings of body and facial expressions in wild animals and people. A funny, kid-like question (“Does a coyote smile?”) is shown with a realistic scenario (coyote howling), and thoughts/facts about how animals express themselves.
Prepare for something… horrible. New to the Horrible Histories series, this book will introduce you to 50 of the most vilest villains imaginable. From gangs of gangsters to maniacs who massacre, come face to face with the biggest baddies in history.
Arts and craft, and the ability to create your own personal zoo. Zoo Animals, makes all this possible. This book shows you how to craft all kinds of zoo creatures and has bucket loads of extraordinary facts about them as well.
Keza the Chimpanzee, who lives at Wellington Zoo, has given birth to a baby Chimpanzee. The zoo keepers aren’t sure of the baby’s gender yet, so it hasn’t been named. Mum Keza will carry her baby around for the next few months until they are able to get around on their own. Chimpanzees grow at around the same rate as humans, so you’ll be able to see the little baby grow and learn over the next few years.
How adorable!
Before you visit the Wellington Zoo to see the baby, you might like to read up all about Chimps:
Even kids need self help books, like these ones:
How Cool are your Parents, (or not).
How cool are your parents, or not? I think the following summary speaks for itself:
“Parents–can’t live with them, can’t collect an allowance without them! One moment they are explaining the importance of being polite, and the next moment they are bossing you around. We’ve all wondered what on Earth goes on in their mysterious minds. and now we finally have an answer! This neon-bright guide, packed full of laugh-out-loud illustrations, will finally give kids a glimpse into the crazy, cluttered minds of the people who raise them.” – WCL catalogue.
Overall, I think this book is a crack up. The title and the information contained in this book is enough to suck you in! If only they had printed this book when I was growing up.
Don’t Worry Be Happy (or not!) (Hah!, great philosophy in life.)
Once again, I will allow the summary of this awesome book, Don’t worry, be happy (or not) to speak for itself:
“Question: Why should you feel so happy? Answer: Because you are 100% human of course! This means you get all the special privileges reserved for humans like pocket money, stuffing yourself full of peanut butter and choosing your future career (lion tamer?) This brilliant bestselling book is packed full of amazing happiness advice! Full of laugh-out-loud and neon-bright illustrations, find out what makes YOU completely awesome.” – – WCL catalogue.
This book is also a crack up and the title and the information contained in this book is enough to suck you in. So next time you feel down the dumps, read this book which will guarantee to make you laugh, especially at the reason why you should be happy, like the fact you are not a fish, because you could end up as sushi, you are not a worm because you will never have a mobile phone and perhaps most important, you are free to be whatever you want… even a lion tamer, haha!
You might also enjoy The short and incredibly happy life of Riley, which chronicles and compares the life of a contented rat Riley with that of humans who always seem disgruntled with their lot.
Check out two new books from the National Geographic Kids / Explore My World series.
Kids will love Snow Leopards and Penguins. I for one sure did! Penguins explains how Emperor penguins manage to live, eat, and raise their young in an extremely cold environment, while Snow Leopards describes the unique physical characteristics, food habits, and parenting behaviour of snow leopards. Contains lots of amazing facts, cool pictures and simple text. These book are great for younger children, especially pre-schoolers because these books are a fun way to get even smarter about their world.
What‘s new? The zoo! : a zippy history of zoos.
The moment I picked up this book, the song ‘Were goin to the zoo, zoo, zoo, How about you, you, you?, You can come too, too, too, Were goin to the zoo, zoo, zoo.’, popped into my head. What’s new?, the zoo., is a millennia-long history of animal keeping and shares wonderful facts about what zookeeping has taught humanity and how individual lives have been profoundly shaped by the wild creatures found in zoos all over the world. This is a treasure that will be enjoyed by kids of all ages.
Perry Angel’s Suitcase by Glenda Millard
It has taken Perry Angel almost seven years to find the place where he belongs. Perry arrives at the Kingdom of Silk one day on the 10.30 express, carrying only a small and shabby suitcase embossed with five golden letters. What do those letters mean? And why won’t Perry let go of his case?
The Great Expanding Guinea Pig & Beware of the Snowblobs (2 books in 1!) by Karen McCombie
Join Ruby, Jackson and Thing on not one but two great adventures in this brilliant bumper book. See what havoc Thing causes when Ruby and Jackson sneak it along on a trip to the petting zoo in The Great Expanding Guinea Pig. And in a seasonal spectacular, Thing helps Ruby and Jackson defeat some nasty bullies in Beware of the Snowblobs.
Odd Weird & Little by Patrick Jennings
Befriending a very strange new student, Toulouse, helps outsider Woodrow stand up to the class bullies who have been picking on them both.
Blue Sea Burning (Chronicles of Egg; #3) by Geoff Rodkey
Egg, Guts and Kira are trapped on board the sinking Grift. And the brutal Ripper Jones will stop at nothing to get revenge. Luckily Egg has a plan; all they’ve got to do is find the Fire King’s treasure, free the Okalu slaves and rescue Millicent from the annoyingly handsome Cyril. But first they have to make it to land – alive…
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.
