Diversity Day

We celebrated our diversity on Diversity Day - Friday, 7th May. In the library, I displayed books about countries all around the world, and books on how we are the same and different, and all born free.

In the morning our parade was rained on, but the festivities continued throughout the day with class photos, shared meals from different heritage countries, and a parade in the hall.

Visitors to the library at lunchtime enjoyed posing for photographs and reading books about different countries.

After lunch, the school enjoyed a drumming performance.

The children loved talking about the countries they have immigrated from, or where their ancestors come from, or about their favourite Kiwiana.

Vasanti Unka's author visit

The excitement was building a few days before our author visit, organised through the NZ Book Council. Teachers participated in #nzreadaloud by reading picture books written and illustrated by Vasanti Unka.

 

The day of Vasanti Unka's visit arrived! We learnt about her history, her childhood and how Vasanti was inspired to approach a publisher with the idea for The Boring Book. The presentations were sincere and inspirational.

The juniors were fascinated with the story "Who Stole the Rainbow?" and asked Vasanti to replay the video of how rainbows are made. Many hands went up at question time.

Vasanti ran a junior illustrating workshop, where the children made wonky rainbows, clouds and rain, and a middle and senior syndicate workshop where each child created their own wind character and made colourful swirls, leaves and flowers. 

There is never enough time when you're doing something creative!

Thank-you so much for giving so much of yourself and sharing your stories with us Vasanti.

Thank-you for the craft books.

We all feel very inspired by these words:

"Don't leave the planet without

singing the song that is in your heart

painting those colours you love

or writing that story that is inside you"

Vasanti Unka

Dreams - A poem by Anya

A dream does not exist as we go about our daily lives.

Hard to define,

it is not an object,

but a faraway land.

A dream will only come alive when you close your eyes,

when you fall away,

into another world.

A dream is a whirlwind,

a tornado of thoughts and feelings, and hidden realities.

Maybe tonight, I’ll dream of standing under a sunset, filled with secrets, and its mysterious glow.

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll dream of running from shadowed beasts, who only I know are there.

Dreams can be absurd,

they can be frightening,

they can be filled with happiness,

but they will always be there,

lurking in the shadows of your mind,

waiting,

waiting, for you to arrive. 

By Anya

Here is a link to my favourite book in the library about dreams - Kate

Sleep like a Tiger

Kate's Reviews

Raymie Nightingale

Meet the Three Rancheros. Raymie Clarke, nicknamed Raymie "Nightingale", Louisiana Elephante and stroppy Beverly Tapinski. The girls meet at a baton-twirling contest. Raymie wants to win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition so that her father, who ran off with his dental nurse, will read about her in the newspaper and come home. Louisiana wants to win the prize money so she will be able to afford to stay with her eccentric Granny and not be taken to a children's home. Beverly wants to sabotage the competition!

Each girl is struggling with difficult life circumstances. Through interacting with a rich array of characters, deep thoughts about souls, good deeds and focusing on your objective, Raymie tries to navigate through her loss. 

The girls end up in a series of adventures, including trying to retrieve a lost book from an old age home, attempting to rescue a cat from a shelter, adopting a stray dog and setting free a caged canary. They are mischievous and make a number of wrong choices, but they also learn about courage, love and the comfort of friendship. 

Recommended for age 9 +

Coming to our library soon.

Kate's Reviews

I have discovered a way to read more books. Yey! 

Thanks to Libby, our Auckland Library app, I can listen to audiobooks at work, while I shelve books or cover books. I can listen to them at home, while I wash dishes, while I cook dinner, while I fold laundry. I can even listen to audiobooks while I walk the dogs up the road, as long as I have one ear free to listen out for traffic.

I wanted to share some of the books I have read or listened to, with you:

The 1,000 year old boy by Ross Welford.

This book was recommended to me by a student last year. He even lent me his personal copy to read. I thoroughly enjoyed this unusual story. It is the story of Alfie Monk, a teenage boy who is 1,000 years old and can remember the Viking invasion. 

This book offers an intriguing take on the theme of immortality. I wondered if it would be similar to Tuck Everlasting, but while the theme is similar, it is an entirely different story.

I loved the juxtaposition of modern and ancient, and the often hilarious misunderstandings this led to. The characters were lively and interesting. Roxy is a memorable, strong female character who stood out for me.

Welford's use of the first-person point of view for two protagonists was well executed, with different fonts and tone.

Without giving anything away, the plot was a page-turner, and the ending was gripping. A cliffhanger - literally! There are some hilarious scenes which had me laughing out loud.

Overall, it was a rewarding and enjoyable read. Great for Primary school seniors, teens and adults who enjoy teen reads. 

Good news, I purchased a copy for our library and will be covering it soon. Look out for more books by Ross Welford - coming soon to a library near you :)

Genre Feature Shelf, Fantasy, Term 4

Each term we feature a different genre on the Genre Feature Shelf. Our lunchtime librarians help to curate the collection.

Here is our Fantasy Genre Shelf for T4 2018.

Mapping Inquiry

 

A lunchtime team effort, putting together a puzzle of the map of New Zealand, Aotearoa. Our inquiry this term is around Mapping. "Where in the world is New Zealand?"