Thank you Tawhiti School

Thank you to the staff and children of Tawhiti school for donating the wonderful book  " The odd egg" by Emily Gravett.  We were lucky to have some of the staff  visiting us last week from their school  in Taranaki.

Emily Gravett writes and illustrates truly amazing books. Her picture books are both sophisticated and subtle.  Her web site is also amazing. 

The odd egg

Little mouse's big book of fears

Meerkat mail

Wolves

Reading aloud

Mem Fox is a brilliant author and educator. 

 Her website is full of tips and ideas on reading. 

One of her most popular passions is on reading aloud and she provides 10 tips on how to make the most of this time with your child.

Some of her best books are:

Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge

Koala Lou

The magic hat

Wombat devine

Parents and kids reading

Thanks to National Library for this wonderful site parents and kids reading with heaps of links to other sites on reading.

The idea is to keep reading to your children no matter what age they are. Take turns reading to each other. Have fun with reading. 

Don't forget that on the parent's page of this blog is a list of books on reading that you can borrow. 

I am always available to help with the selection of books for your child. Whichever library you visit do make use of the librarians as they are there to help and encourage your child to read. All it takes is the right book for the right child.

Happy birthday to you Hungry Caterpillar

Yes! The hungry caterpillar is 40. 

There can hardly be a child around that has not heard of Eric Carle's hungry caterpillar.

We have loads of his books in the library. His art work is very distinctive with bright, cherry colours.  

Check out the Eric Carle website.

Brian Falkner entertains at National Library

 It was great to spend Friday at National Library celebrating events  as  part of New Zealand Post Book Awards. Winners of the Canterbury competitions spent time with children's book writer Brian Falkner. He had students writing in teams for games of story sports. It was magic to see the students thinking quickly and coming up with great opening lines of stories. 

We wish Brian Falkner luck on his nominated book The tomorrow code.  Check out some of his other books in the library. Have a look at his website as well.

The real thing

Henry and the flea

Super freak

Norton's hut

The snow looked as freezing as the antarctic ocean,

The pitch white snow gliding down as a fluffy jacket,

The Dead still trees all around,

The snow was as cold as a freezer,

An old hut in the middle of nowhere...  

Norton's hut

Norton's Hut

Awoke to peace,
Slipping down Mountains,
Snow as cold as ice from Antarctica,
Still frozen trees as white as a polar bear,
The hut stood there as still as a statue.


By Madi.

Online pronunciation guide for author names.

This link came my way recently and is great for making sure we pronounce author names correctly. 

Aptly named pronunciations, it is handy to bookmark for future reference. 

Beattie's book blog

One of my favourite book blogs.

Definitely worth a look. Mostly adult but regularly adds reviews of children's books.

www.beattiesbookblog.blogspot.com/

Fendalton School Digital Safety page

Here is the link to the FOS digital safety page off our school web site. This page has downloads and links for parents and children:

www.fendalton.school.nz/digitalsafety/

Pop-up books

Have you ever looked at the wonderful pop-up books available now. 

Some are so sophisticated, especially those by Robert Sabuda. 

Well you  can now make your own. Check out his website with easy instructions.

There are plenty to choose from such as animals, ships, and even Star Wars characters.

Have fun!