Friday Classic: A respectable girl by Fleur Beale

This is a book that charms its way into your heart!

Set largely in Taranaki against a colonial New Zealand backdrop, 15-year-old Hannah Carstairs has a lot of questions about her ancestry. Can she truly call herself a respectable girl? Then there are the growing hostilities between the Maori and the settlers. Perturbed that the impending war will divide her family, Hannah decides to flee to England to seek answers to who she is.

Fleur Beale deals extensively and engagingly with life in colonial New Zealand, and particularly Victorian affectations, parlance and morality.

A great secondary read, that deals directly with identity, relationships and our colonial history.

Need Inspiration for your Library Displays?

When it comes to having a great school library, having great books is only a first step (although a fundamental one). What you have to do next is help the books jump out of the shelves and meet the reader.

One way to do this is to have great library displays. A great library display is not necessary that perfect one that you have slaved over for the whole of the school holidays. What is most important is that displays are eye-catching, fresh and changed often.

One simple, effective idea is to make some eye-catching letters of the alphabet. Use your ICT skills, your creative skills, or those of your students to create these. One letter per large piece of paper or card. Now, at the beginning of each week, gather together some visually appealing books by authors beginning with that letter. Next week, take this display down, and go on to the next letter. Go on, even you can do this!

If you're feeling a bit stale, and lacking in inspiration, there are some wonderful, creative, helpful and energetic people out there who are happy to pass on some of their display ideas to the rest of us. Here are some of them:

• Elaine Pearson, Librarian at Horowhenua College, Levin NZ http://schoollibrarydisplays.blogspot.com/
• Anita Vandeburge at St Kentigern College Library http://www.creativelibrarydisplays.com/
• Ruth Buchanan, an Australian Teacher Librarian about what she's up to in her school library, http://skerricks.blogspot.com/ including display ideas, here http://skerricks.blogspot.com/search/label/display .

Great displays are one important way to make books leap out of your stacks and into your students' hands. But don't spend too much time on these. Focus more of your energy on to active book promotion such as book talks, book clubs, web 2.0 initiatives such as a blog or LibraryThing.

You'll soon have your students saying "There are so many great books in this library, I don't know which one to choose next".

With thanks to Jeannie.

(Halloween Display Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/circulating/276277105/)

Friday Classic: Driving a bargain by Fleur Beale

Thomas’s dream of a classy overseas holiday with his rich friend Hamish is shattered when his mother tells him he cannot go. But after viewing an advertisement in the local dairy window, Thomas hatches the best holiday ever. In exchange for looking after a lively and difficult kid, Thomas and friends are allowed the use an old car on an empty section. During the holidays the boys learn a lot about driving, and fixing cars. But they also learn a lot more, including strategies for coping with difficult people, and there's a daring and difficult rescue.

This book is an entertaining tale of an unusual summer holiday, with some thought-provoking comments on friendship.

Boys, Reading and The Hunger Games

Over on The Book Whisperer, the acclaimed 6th grade English Teacher and book-lover Donalyn Miller has an excellent blog entry about her "Boy Year", with the majority of her students this year being male.
She reckons that her boys love reading!
Here is what the book whisperer says:

We create a crisis when we define readers along gender lines, and I think boy readers get a bad rap. They will read fiction, they will read books that explore emotional issues, and they will read books that are longer than 100 pages. They will read. Instead of blaming our boys for their gender, or lowering our expectations for their literacy development, we should scrutinize any system where boys are hailed for their achievement in science and math class and allowed to define themselves as nonreaders.

Have a look at her ideas, and a list of books that her boys (and many girls) are currently loving. Most of these I have read, and heartily endorse.

And by the way, if you haven't yet read The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, or got hold of its very recent sequel Catching Fire, do so now! Its a must read for intermediate and teen girls, boys, and anyone who enjoys well-written, fast-paced, original edge-of-your-seat books.
The Hunger Games is set in Panem, a future North America, after a series of disasters. The Capitol has won the war against the 12 districts, who are kept poor and hungry while they raise food and mine coal for the victors. And just to remind the districts of who's boss, they are forced to take place in the annual Hunger Games, where 2 children from each district fight to the death in a vast arena. There can only be one winner, and all the exciting action is televised in compulsory viewing. Sounds bloodthirsty? I'm in awe of the author's prodigious talent, and her ability to keep her two protagonists Katniss and Peeta likeable and sympathetic characters right to the bitter end.
This series is hot, and getting hotter. And unlike many sequels, the second book, Catching Fire, is just as excellently written and well-paced as the first.
Anyway, Donalyn Miller and her boys and girls just love this series!

Hard Hat Area. Have you got what it takes to be a contractor?

Written by Lisa Thompson. Published by Compass Point Books, Minnesota, 2008. Series: On the job.

If you think you would like a career in the building industry, you might like to have a look at this book. It shows how building contractor Scott, spends his day, and how he became qualified to do his job. The book covers school subjects that are useful and personal skills needed to do the job, as well as possible career paths.

The layout of the book makes it an interesting read, with lots of colour photographs and text boxes on every page. Different types of building techniques and materials are covered, and there are some facts about the history of building and important buildings today.

Although it is published in the USA, the information in this book is mostly very general and only a little is country specific. Other books in the 'On the Job' series includes animator, firefighter, chef, fashion designer, and auto technician. For career information specific to New Zealand, visit the website Kiwi Careers at http://www.careers.govt.nz/

Reviewed by Heather

Inside the game by Pauline Cartwright.

Uncle Reg has died leaving behind a basement filled with computers and computer games. Chris and Amy are cousins and interested in computer games and when they find and play an old favourite, Seven Missions, they find themselves inside the game. What follows is an adventure to rescue a princess and guide her safely back to her castle through a wild land beset with challenges. Do they make it? More importantly how can they escape the game itself and will their aunt miss them while they are gone? Here’s a very lively and readable adventure fantasy from one of New Zealand's popular children's writers.
Suitable school years 4, - 6.

Friday Classic: Letters from the Coffin Trenches by Ken Catran

“My letters were going to be stirring epistles that you would remember and cherish, but it sounds so stupid now to talk of modern warfare being in any way glorious. To hear some poor devil screaming with pain, or dead bodies, well, you don’t get that from Morte d’Arthur. Knights may fight with chivalry but there is no mention of broken heads and severed limbs or the stench of fresh-spilled blood.” So writes Harry Wainwright to his girl, Jess, about the carnage that was Gallipoli.

This story, told mainly in the letters that pass between Harry and Jess, outlines the slow transformation from the bright-eyed young gallant, eager for glory, to the battle-weary tough soldier who can hardly recognise himself in the mirror.

In this harrowing story Ken Catran manages to convey the horror of the “coffin trenches” without being too graphic. Every Kiwi kid should read this book.


Reviewed by Beth

This book was a finalist in the New Zealand Post Book Awards in 2003

Published by Random House (2002)

“The frangipani is dead: contemporary Pacific art in New Zealand, 1985-2000,” by Karen Stevenson.

This book looks at the work of Pacific Island artists living in New Zealand. As well as being an in-depth examination of individual artists, the book addresses the key issues that underlie this movement and the inspirations for creating this art. It is an overview of the period and places the emergent Pacific art into the broader New Zealand socio-political scene of this time. The illustrations are beautifully reproduced in colour and it is an attractive title overall. The difficulty of the language and concepts however would make this suitable only for senior secondary students, but a very valuable addition to art departments.

Huia Press, ISBN 978 1 86969 325 1

October: New Zealand Book Month and ASB Wordbank Competition

October is New Zealand Book Month with the aim to get more of us reading not just any books but New Zealand books. And for those stuck on suggestions how, well the website www.nzbookmonth.co.nz contains some great ideas for celebrating NZ Book Month, both in your school and library. How about:

• make a display of NZ books and encourage everyone to try one

• ask a NZ writer or illustrator come and speak at your school/library

• encourage kids to write to their favourite author and put the letter in the ASB Wordbank Competition

On the world stage Kiwis rate highly in literacy and reading is a perennial top ten recreational activity. Match that with the great range of recent local titles and there’s more than one fantastic New Zealand book out there for each pupil to enjoy this month.

And, if you do have school pupils who particularity enjoyed a NZ book then the ASB Wordbank Competition will be just their thing.

This exciting initiative encourages Primary and Intermediate school students to write a letter to the author of a New Zealand book they have read demonstrating how the book has made them think, act or feel.

The letters don’t have to be long (in fact they must be under 300 words) and information on prizes (fabulous), guidelines and entry details can be found here.


Flickr image by Carlos Porto

The Singing Cave by Margaret Beames

This gem of an adventure story is set on a Pacific Island that has a high mountain perpetually covered in mist. Nobody ever climbs it but at the bottom is a cave that sometimes has strange, eerie music coming from it. Pero, a local boy, is challenged to go into the cave and when he goes missing his friend Tom (who is on holiday), sets out to find him. What he discovers is a weird world where hooded men rule. But who are they, will Tom find Pero and make it home again and just who is the girl Eleni?

Here's a well written exciting story by one of New Zealand's best novelists for children. Suitable for school years 4,5,6 and older. It's a great read a loud as well.

The Science in a piece of paper

By Camilla de la Bedoyere.
Published by Franklin Watts,London, 2008.

The opening pages of the book has interesting facts about paper, for example, if it could be folded 20 times it would be as big as a tall building, wasps make paper too, and writing systems have been around since 3500 BCE using clay, papyrus and parchment before paper was invented. The manufacturing process from forest to different types of paper is covered in text and photographs, but a flow chart would have been a useful addition. The second half of the book looks at the uses of paper, the effect of papermaking on the environment and includes information on recycling and the future of paper. There is a good glossary and index, but I was disappointed with the websites listed for further information. Of the six, only one, about pop up books, related directly to paper.

The breadth of information in the book makes it useful for an overview of the technology of paper. It would be suitable for years 3-5.

This is one of six books in a series called 'The science of materials and more...' The other books in the series look at science in a bicycle, bread, pair of glasses, a guitar and a glass of water.

Reviewed by Heather

What happens when we recycle water?

by Jillian Powell. Published by Franklin Watts, London, 2009

With growing concern about climate change and water shortages, there has been a rising awareness of effective and efficient use of water. Books on recycling used to concentrate on paper, plastic, metal and glass, but now most series of books also include titles on recycling food and garden waste, and water in their line up.

"What happens when we recycle water?" covers aspects of water use that includes how much we use and waste, rainwater collection, and sewage recycling. The information is simple and brief, in a clear and colourful layout, and could be used as an introduction or starter for further discussion. Most pages also have separate text boxes with an interesting fact related to water. There is a comprehensive glossary and index. The three website suggestions for further information are more suitable for older children, parents and teachers.

This series is aimed at the junior primary level, and is probably best suited for around year 3.

Reviewed by Heather