The Tiger Who Came To Tea

Room 9 loved hearing this classic book this morning.  This book has been voted by kids in New Zealand as one of the top 50 books to read.  I remember this book when I was a girl.

After our story we watched this clip about real tigers.

I also found this clip which teaches you an easy way to draw Tigers, give it a go!

Whitcoulls Kids Top 50 books - which ones are in our library?

I LOVE LEMONADE

Remember when Mark Sommerset came to our school last year and read this to us?

ROOM ON THE BROOM

I adore this story!  This book has it all-a witch, adorable animals and a dragon. The illustrations are magical and it's such a cute story.  Written by the author who wrote the Gruffalo

WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT

We have this as an audio book to listen to at lunchtimes, but we also have it as a picture book to take out.

Check out the You Tube clip of Michael Rosen performing this classic story.

THE TIGER WHO CAME TO TEA

The doorbell rings just as Sophie and her mummy are sitting down to tea. Who could it possibly be? What they certainly don't expect to see at the door is a big furry, stripy tiger!

WONDER

My favourite book I have read this year.  Love this story.  August Pullman was born with a facial difference that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. 

MORE TO COME....WATCH THIS SPACE

Paula Green Blog and most importantly vote for her book! :)

After her visit to our school yesterday, Paula wrote about our school on her blog, here is the link.
Manaia View School visit - Paula Green

Here are two poems that were written in the writers workshop that Paula put up on her blog.  Well done Jonson and Miracle!

Frosty Snow

White snow

and winter blows

white frost crusts

on windows and

shining through the

night sky. 

Jonson Y5

  Winter

Heavy rain cold and

clear filled the grass

frost and frozen hot

chocolate long sleeves

long pants warm jerseys. 

Miracle Y4

Don't forget to vote for her book The Letterbox Cat & other poems.  We really want her to win!

Vote for Paula's book

Popular Shelf

When you come to the library, do you think, "I don't know where to find a good book", if so head straight for the popular shelf, this is where lots of favourites are displayed.  It's a good way to find new authors you haven't read before.

Tikki Tikki Tembo

I know many of you really enjoyed this old classic Tikki Tikki Tembo, when you came for your library visit last week.   Here is the You Tube clip of the read aloud.

New Audio Books in the library this week

Camilla Cream loves lima beans, but she never eats them. Why? Because the other kids in her school don't like them. And Camilla is very, very, worried about what other people think of her. In fact, she's so worried that she's about to break out in…a bad case of stripes!  This is a very funny story, find it on our audio books shelf, we also sometimes listen to it on the Storylines website on the data projector.

Who doesn't love The Wonky Donkey?  Find now on the audio books shelf.

One of my favourite books ever.  Hugh Laurie reads this book so well, listening to it as an audio book is wonderful as you hear all of the music for the different dances the animals do. Gerald the giraffe longs to dance, but his legs are too skinny and his neck is too long. At the Jungle Dance, the warthogs waltz, the chimps cha-cha, and the lions tango. "Giraffes can't dance," they all jeer when it's Gerald's turn to prance. But with some sound advice from a wise cricket, Gerald starts swaying to his own sweet tune.

Two more flip up fairy tales have been added to our audio book collection.

More audio books coming soon!

Awesome website with Ngati Wai local stories

Hope you guys all check out this site, fantastic resource with lots of Maori stories on it.  Enjoy!

http://www.ngatiwai.ac.nz/?page_id=119

House of Robots - New Book

Watch the trailer below about a new funny book in our library House of Robots, if it's not on the new book shelf, come and see Whaea Marama to put your name down for it.

It was never easy for Sammy Hayes-Rodriguez to fit in, so he's dreading the day when his genius mom insists he bring her newest invention to school: a walking, talking robot he calls E--for "Error". Sammy's no stranger to robots--his house is full of a colorful cast of them. But this one not only thinks it's Sammy's brother... it's actually even nerdier than Sammy. Will E be Sammy's one-way ticket to Loserville? Or will he prove to the world that it's cool to be square? It's a roller-coaster ride for Sammy to discover the amazing secret E holds that could change family forever... if all goes well on the trial run!

Fabulous story website

http://www.storylineonline.net/

This is one of my favourite websites, it has famous actors and actresses reading picture books.  You get to see all of the pictures and have someone read to you, fabulous!  Many of the books like Library Lion and Enemy Pie are books we also have in our school library.  So you can listen to the story and then come to the library and get the book out.  My kids love this one, we often listen to them all on rainy days at home.

New Book

Monster - Water Dean Myers

I just finished this book and highly recommend it for students in Room 16 & 17.

The character, Steve Harmon, a teenage boy, is on remand, while waiting for his verdict in court.  He is on a charge of First Degree Murder.  The Prosecution says that he was the 'lookout' in a robbery gone wrong.  The Defence say that he wasn't there on the day that happened.  Steve, who loves film, and has been studying it in his spare time (before the robbery), writes in a diary while in court and in jail, but his diary is written like a film script.  As you read the story, you have to decide, is he guilty, did he do it, or is it a set up?

I really enjoyed this book, and the ending was not what I expected...

Reserve to today at the library.

Below is an interview with the author, and a book trailer to get you interested....

 

New Book - MUST READ, SUCH A WONDERFUL BOOK

Wonder - R.J.Palacio

New book in today that looks so good, I may have to read it myself first before putting it on the new book shelf.

Check out the below author interview and book trailer to learn more about this book.

*** This is my favourite book I have read this year.  A must read.  August is such an amazing character, and I loved that throughout the book we get to hear the story through different perspectives as some of the characters are voices for some chapters. Surprisingly, I liked the Julian chapters the best, as I had made up my mind about him throughout the book, but in his chapters you can see him grow and change as a person, for the better.  Have a box of tissues ready when you read Mr Tushman's speech towards the end of the book. 

Courage.  Kindness.  Friendship.  Character.  These are the qualities that define us as human beings, and propel us, on occasion, to greatness.

Supercat Series - New Books

Our new series to the library this week is, Supercat, aimed at ages 7+ Found in the Young Fiction section (opposite the checkout desk)

Book 1 - SuperCat vs the chip thief

Meet Tiger – an ordinary, tubby tabby cat.

But Tiger has a secret! Just one lick of a toxic sock and he transforms into… SUPERCAT!

Now, with his astonishing powers and his best friend James, can Supercat save the world, and all the chips, from the dastardly Count Backwards…?

When the chips are down, there’s only one cat to call!

Book 2 - Supercat vs the party pooper

The evil Count Backwards has kidnapped the Queen from her own birthday party and plans to take over the world! With his superpowers, his best friend James, and a few tricks in his party bag, can Supercat save the day?

It’s party time…

Book 3 - Supercat vs the pesky pirate

When all the grown-ups disappear from the family funfair Supercat and his sidekick James suspect the evil Count Backwards is behind it. The crime-fighting duo track the count to his underwater headquarters – but can they sneak on board a submarine and save the day or will they end up as fish food?

New Picture Book - Journey by Aaron Becker

We just received this beautiful wordless picture book this week in the library.  I found this gorgeous YouTube clip of the book set to music, follow the story along. Remember to follow the picture clues as there are no words, make the story your own!

Click on the link below to show the making of this wonderful picture book.  We have all enjoyed telling this story on our class visits to the library.

The making of Journey

Interesting Library Statistics

Look at how many books we have issued so far this year....1490!  Well done everyone.

Room 16 is the winner for most issues so far this year with 205, with Room 7 following closely with 191 issues.

Our student who has had the most books out this year is Kauri from Room 5.

Top Five most popular books issued this year

#1 The Ugly Truth - Jeff Kinney 

#2 The Brilliant World of Tom Gates - Liz Pichon 

#3 The Giver - Lois Lowry 

#4 Smokey - Bill Peet 

# Cabin Fever - Jeff Kinney 

Have you read any of these?

New series in the Library - The Borrowers

The Borrowers—the Clock family: Homily, Pod, and their fourteen-year-old daughter, Arrietty, —are tiny people who live underneath the kitchen floor of an old English country house. All of their tiny home furnishings, from postage stamp paintings to champagne cork chairs, are “borrowed” from the “human beans” who tromp around loudly above them. All is well until Pod is spotted upstairs by a human boy! Can the Clocks stay nested safely in their beloved hidden home, or will they be forced to flee?

This is a classic fantasy series that I remember reading when I was a girl. We have the whole series in the library.  Although they were written in the 1950's (!), they are such great stories.  If you like fantasy, magical, adventure stories and are a good reader, be sure to check them out.   Below is a youtube link for the audio version of the first book.

Review for The Borrowers from the Goodreads website:  This is a terrific book on many levels. It is a book about friendship, different cultures, greediness and fear. The book is so well written that you really do believe the Borrowers exist. After all, who hasn't lost a pencil, safety pins, needles, etc.? 

There is also a  Disney movie, The Secret World of Arrietty, which is based on The Borrowers books.

New Books

This week, the Timmy Failure series has arrived in our school library. These are funny books similar to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and the Middle School series.

Timmy lives with his mother and his polar bear, Total, and is obsessed with his budding detective agency, Total Failure. (His last name is Failure.) He hopes to grow his business so that it makes a lot of money so that his mother can stop stressing about bills.  Written with lots of cartoon pictures throughout, this is a laugh out loud series.

Check out the Timmy Failure website below, this has information about the books in the series, games under the 'fun stuff tab', information about the author and lots more.

Why not read one and make a book trailer review that we can post on our blog?

http://www.timmyfailure.com/

David Walliams Books

David Walliams (one of the judges on Britain's got Talent), has been called the new Roald Dahl.  We have all of his books in the above picture in our library, Mr Stink and Gangsta Granny are two of my favourites.  If you want a laugh out loud book, check them out.  You can find them in the 'orange' section, where all of the funny books are shelved.  Below is a link to a You Tube clip of David Walliams reading  a few pages out of one of his books Billionaire Boy.  Enjoy!

Don't forget to check out the David Walliams website for lots of fun games and more audio clips of David Walliams reading excerpts from his books.

http://www.worldofdavidwalliams.com/window/

Books that look interesting to read - senior classes

The following books are ones that I found on our fiction shelf in the 'red' section.  This is where all our books about friendship, family life, school are shelved.  I encourage you to check these ones out, they look good!

Sixteen-year-old Ginny’s life is secure. Her mother is dead, but she’s inherited her outstanding artistic talent, and she loves her life with her father in a seaside village in Wales. But the day a social worker arrives and old files are re-opened, Ginny’s world cracks apart. Everything her father has told her about her family is a lie. And Ginny must uncover the hidden secrets of the past on a journey that will ultimately lead her to the mother she’s never known . . .

When Vicky's father is arrested and  accused of stealing over a million pounds from the bank where he works, she is determined to prove his innocence. But how? There's only one way -- to attempt to break into the bank's computer files. Even if Vicky is the best hacker in the world, will she find the real thief before they find her

Thirteen-year-old Hand is in a state of shock and denial. His father has just died of a heart attack, his favorite uncle is acting mysterious, and his mother is back after a three-year absence, ready to take charge. Hand is not about to embrace his mother's return as unconditionally as his older sister does. What guarantee does he have that his mother is back for good?

Rosie Revere Engineer - week 3 Term 2

During class visits to the library this week we read Rosie Revere Engineer, a fabulous picture book with gorgeous illustrations.

Rosie is a quiet shy girl in class, but when she is at home she creates the most amazing contraptions made entirely out of junk.  The story has a wonderful theme about being true to yourself and never quitting, as each failure is one step closer to success.  Whaea Indira's class in particular enjoyed Rosie's helium pants invention, especially when I asked them to imagine their teacher wearing them to school and floating all around the classroom.  We joked about not letting teachers outside wearing them otherwise we would never see them again!  The kids were also fascinated about cheese spray,(which Rosie uses in many of her inventions), the thought of squirting 'cheese' was a source of great amusement.

Then, we set about becoming engineers. Some classes enjoyed making stick bombs out of Popsicle sticks, we made these, which were found on http://frugalfun4boys.com/ They proved to be tricky to make the first time around, but everyone soon got the hang on it.  Whaea Cil's class enjoyed shouting "Fire in the hole" before throwing them!

 

Imaginations were put to good use while building structures out of toothpicks and bluetac, some classes also built structures out of paper triangles as found on http://babbledabbledo.com/science-for-kids-paper-building-blocks/
Looks like we have some up and coming engineers in our school!