The ACB with Honora Lee

Book Reviews by Black & White Inc. Book Club

Do you have a gran who is always forgetting things? Meet Honora Lee, the main character of this book. This is a story of Perry, who wants Gran to cooperate and help with the ACB; Gran who is stubborn and always hurrying about and forgets most of what everyone tells her, and all the others at Santa Lucia. Doris with her airy kisses and love for Nina's baking, Dorothy who wears lots of jewellery and is always playing the piano, and Melvyn Broome who Gran steals mints from, who used to play cricket every weekend. 

This is a hilarious book and I recommend to anyone who likes reading. Join Gran and Perry as they write this crazy, mixed-up alphabet book called the ACB. I think this is a great book and I hope you do too.

By Alex, Room 14.

Kate De Goldi is coming to visit!

Yes, I kid you not! Kate De Goldi is coming to visit OUR school on Thursday 5th June. That's next week! As members of the New Zealand Book Council, we are partaking in the Writers in Schools programme and we have managed to secure a visit with Kate De Goldi, a multiple award-winning New Zealand author.

I've recruited a creative team of school librarians who have named themselves "Team Goldi" whose primary aim is to make Kate feel incredibly welcome at Woodlands Park School. They are creating a welcome poster which we will display in the school library and, inspired by the style of the Lolly Leopold series (Billy & Clubs) they have decorated the library windows with liquid chalk. I explained to some of the new entrants (who were staring, aghast) that we aren't usually allowed to draw on windows, but this was a special pen that can be rubbed out, and that these children had special permission because a famous New Zealand author is coming to visit! The windows are drawing fascination from passing students, however many of them can't resist the temptation to rub their fingers through the chalk to see what happens...



Keep an eye out for a couple of book reviews on The ACB with Honora Lee, coming soon. 

Quick facts about Kate De Goldi:

Kate has won countless awards, including: - 

- The ACB with Honora Lee was a finalist in the 2013 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards in the Junior Fiction category.

- New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards 2009 Book of the Year for The 10 PM Question.
- New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards 2005 Book of the Year for Clubs.
- Storylines Notable Books List 2007 Picture Books list for Billy.
- New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards 1997 Young Adult Fiction Winner for Sanctuary.

·                     Kate De Goldi was born in Christchurch, but now lives in Wellington. She used to write as Kate Flannery before winning awards for her first young adult novel, The Sanctuary.

·                     Kate loves visiting schools, getting new ideas for a book, and finishing a book.

·                     Her cat, Sylvie, is "ever-so-slightly wild, very beautiful and quite neurotic" (NZ Book Council website)

·                     Kate started out by writing short stories and has carried on from there. She advises children to Read, Read, Read and to sit down and get started with writing something down.

·                     Kate's favourite colour is yellow, her favourite food is pasta and she likes a range of genres and authors.

Black & White Inc. Book Club Book Reviews

Gangsta Granny

by David Walliams, illustrated by Tony Ross

The book ‘Gangsta Granny’ is about a boy called Ben. Ben didn’t like going to his Grandma’s place every Friday. He didn’t like his Granny because Granny would always spit in her used tissue that she kept up the sleeve of her cardigan and wipe Ben’s face with it! Her TV had been broken since 1992 and now it was covered in dust so thick, it was like fur. Granny also stank of cabbage!

So what do you think of Granny? I suppose you think she is boring, but you don’t know the kind of adventures Ben and his Granny have. If you want to find out more, read this awesome book.

I thought the book was one of the best books ever, if you like funny books. I recommend this book for eight years and up.

By Dan Rm 14