Hi there Bookworms!

Every year a lovely bunch of children's books by New Zealand authors are nominated for the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards.  We all get to vote for the one we think is THE BEST and once the votes are counted, the winners are announced.

Well, last week, the Award Finalists were announced, and now you  get the chance to vote for your  favourite (and win prizes yourself - read further).  Here are the finalists... (drum roll, please!)

FINALISTS - PICTURE BOOKS

FINALISTS - YOUNG FICTION

FINALISTS - NON FICTION

Now, if you would like to vote on your favourite NZ children's book, you can do so HERE.  By voting online you could win $1000 worth of book tokens!  Imagine that!  You could buy all of your favourite books and more!

And next term we will be having one of the authors visiting our school.  You will all get the chance to meet Terri Rose Baynton who wrote and illustrated a picture book called Mr Bear Branches and the Cloud Conundrum. It's really delightful!   More on that next term...

Enjoy your holidays, bookworms.  Keep reading, and don't forget to fill out your reading diaries and bring them back next term (more prizes!).

Happy reading! :-)

Hi Bookworms!

A couple of nights ago I was lucky enough to go to Paperplus after it had shut up shop for the night.  It was sooooooo exciting to be locked in a bookshop, with the freedom to look at anything with nobody else around - fun, fun, fun! (A bit of a dream come true!)  A lady from a publishing company (Random House) came to talk to me and another librarian about all the cool books that are coming out, and she even gave our school some of them.  Lucky!

Here are some of the new books from Paperplus - they will be coming next term... (I hope you like a good series, because that's what we've got!)

A new series coming is called Dinosaur Hunter.  These books are written by dinosaur-obsessed Robert Irwin, the son of The Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin from the Australia Zoo.  In the books, Robert finds himself travelling millions of years back in time, to the time of the dinosaurs... Scary stuff!

And another series that might appeal to slightly older children is Survival Squad.  These will appeal to anyone who enjoys Bear Grylls books and other stories about adventurous people.

I have another two books coming in the Nanny Piggins series.  These are gorgeous stories about a nanny, who happens to be a chocolate loving pig!  She's quite naughty - deliciously funny!

Also have a look at this week's new books - I think the most popular book on the 'New Books' shelf will be a new one in the Tom Gates series.  They're great - especially if you are a fan of the Wimpy Kid series.  There are two more Tom Gates books coming too.

Also on the New Books shelf this week is a Spiderman book, a Star Wars Jedi book and a gorgeous story about Shackleton Bear who travels to Antarctica.  He has become a bit of a celebrity so you can find him on Youtube and also on Facebook.

So, lots of adventurous characters in the library this week! 

Take care and enjoy your reading, Bookworms! :-)

Howdy Bookworms!

It's raining!  How fabulous!  You know what that means, don't you?  It means we can curl up with a good book, and not feel bad that we're not out there riding bikes, swimming, or walking in the sunshine!  Yay!

So, what are you reading at the moment?  I love to hear all about your favourite books so don't forget to let me know.  Better yet, you could write a book review for me which I can put up on my blog for all the children to  see. Go on - just do it!  I know you want to!



Don't forget it's New Zealand Book Month, and that means that you can go to a bookshop (or even the Warehouse) and buy a book for your own bookshelf, and you get $5 off! You would have received a voucher from your teacher a couple of weeks ago, but if you've used it (or lost it) you can click here for another one. I hope you have all been able to go and get yourself a new book.  And if you haven't, don't worry because I have got lots and lots of new books coming, and I used the vouchers to get them!  I managed to find some new Spiderman books, some super-cool chapter books and even a new Lego Ninjago book for the Reference section.  Watch out for them soon!

In the meantime, here's a little competition for you... the first five children to come and give me an answer to the following will win a prize:
For Seniors - Please name three NZ authors.
For Middles - Please name two NZ authors.
For Juniors - Please name one NZ author.

Happy reading everyone!

Hello there bookworms!

I hope you are all chilling out with some cool reads on these hot summer nights!  I certainly am. Come and check out what's in the fridge this week...

A new competition is opening this week  for all school children in New Zealand.  It asks you all the question "Who is Your Reading Superhero?"

This competition gives you the chance to tell the world all about a person who has inspired you to become a reader, and to love reading!  It may be your mum or dad, your teacher, grandma, or maybe even a librarian somewhere! ;-)

Get as creative as you can!  Make a video, write a poem, a story or a song, do some animation, draw a picture...

Click here for the entry form.  Entries close on April 5th 2013.  Have a look at some of the fabulous entries from last year's competition.

Now have a look at some other videos produced by TVNZ7 - they're really great!

Wow!  What a Grandpa!

Is your teacher your reading superhero?


Eban's mum sounds wonderful!

I can't wait to see what you come up with in your entries!

SO, WHO IS YOUR READING SUPERHERO?

Hi Bookworms!

Check out the new pages on our library blog.  At the top of the blog there are now tabs which will take you to the new pages.

The first page is called  "What Shall I Read Now?" where you will find advice on how to choose your next book - there are suggestions and links to websites that might help you to find something awesome to read.

The next new page is called "Competitions" and that is where you will find any new competitions to enter and even win cool prizes.  We will have a new competition later in the term.

The third new page is all about "Research" and gives you loads of ideas about how to find out about a subject, along with cool kid-friendly search engines to make your research easier.

I bet the last new page is the one you will love the most!  It is called "Book Fun" and on that page there are loads of links to awesome websites about your favourite authors, books, series and characters.  This is where you will find all the fun and games.  Check it out!

These pages will be updated regularly, so keep checking.  I know there is something there for absolutely everybody!

Enjoy the new pages and happy reading, everyone!

Hello Bookworms!

Well, I hope you are all happy to be back at school and enjoying getting back into your learning.  I sure am happy to be back - I missed our lovely library, and seeing all your smiling faces every day!

Did you read, read, read over the holidays?  There's nothing better than finding a great spot in the shade, and lying on the grass with a really interesting book!

Yesterday I asked all of the Year 6 students who want to be student librarians to come and see me - well, 51 children turned up!  It is so great to know that so many of you love your library and want to be a part of it.  Well done, Year 6 children!

Have a look at this video showing author Oliver Jeffers - it's called "How I make picture books".  He has written and illustrated many books that are favourites in our library including:

• Lost and Found
• The Hueys
• The Great Paper Caper
• Up and Down
• Stuck
• Heart and the Bottle
• How to Catch a Star
• The Incredible Book Eating Boy

What a talented chap!


Oliver Jeffers Author Film 2013 from Oliver Jeffers on Vimeo.

Happy reading Bookworms!

Hello Bookworms!

Well, only one week and one day left of school!  The library is closed and we have counted all the books.  There are still a few out, and some that have just disappeared off the shelves.  If you know where any of these are please, please, please bring them back to the library or drop them into the office.  I'm not worried about where they have been - I just want the books back.  Pleeeeeeease! I'm really hoping and saying some prayers that we get every last one back onto the shelves by the end of the term.

Congratulations to Room 11 for winning the prize for being the first class to get all of its books back to the library.  Well done, Room 11 and Miss Ryan. 

And a HUGE THANK  YOU to our Year 6 Student Librarians for all your hard work this year.  You have made my job a whole lot easier, and have been a great bunch to work with - hardworking, enthusiastic and fun! Thank you!  I wish you all the very, very best as you go on to Year 7.  Keep reading!
Watch out for some new stuff coming on the library blog soon...  This will help you to find the books you'll love, and great reading websites too.  And there will be more competitions and chances to win prizes.

In the meantime, here's a little joke for you all!

A chicken walks into the library.  It goes up to the circulation desk and says: "book, book, book, boook".The librarian hands the chicken a book. It tucks it 
under his wing and runs out. A while later, the chicken runs back in, throws
the first book into the return bin and goes back to the librarian saying: 
"book, book, book, bok, boook". Again the librarian gives it a book, and the 
chicken runs out. The librarian shakes her head.  Within a few minutes,the chicken is back, returns the book and starts all over again: "boook, book, book book boook". 
The librarian gives him yet a third book, but this time as the chicken is running out the door, she follows it. The chicken runs down the street, through the park and down to the riverbank. 

There, sitting on a lily pad is a big, green frog. The chicken holds up the book and shows it to the frog, saying: "Book, bok, bok, boook". 

The frog blinks, and croaks: "read-it, read-it, read-it".

Hee hee!

Happy reading, everyone!