Farewell Margaret Mahy. A true treasure

What a sad day yesterday to learn of Margaret Mahy’s passing. As a writer she was brilliant and so inspirational. Her loss will be felt world wide but especially here in Christchurch, where she was just so eager and willing to visit schools and attend literary events for children.

I count myself so lucky to have been involved in  many of those events and been given the chance to listen to her talk. To hear her recite word perfect the whole book Bubble Trouble was totally mind blowing. The book is one big tongue twister. Amazing. A true inspiration.

Thank you, Margaret. Your legacy will continue through all the children who will carry on reading your books and find themselves enchanted with stories. 

Take the time to watch these clips of some of her well known children’s picture books.

The great white man-eating shark

 

The three legged cat

http://youtu.be/cYTadZsuG6U

 

 

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Welcome to a very busy term 3

I hope you all had a lovely holiday and are keen to get back in to school. This is going to be a very busy term. We had the Olympic Games, and Arts fortnight, Wearable arts, and Maths Week.

But the best will Book Week in week 5. Lots of competitions and prizes to win. Heaps of new books to buy and lots of special visitors.

One of the competitions will be to make your own book trailer based on one of your favourite books.

Check out these two below.

“The worst thing about my sister”  by Jacqueline Wilson (a great year 5-6 read)


Or you could try this form of book trailer.

Ivy and Bean : Doomed to dance

By Annie Barrows. Super read for the year 3 and 4 girls.

 

 

Perhaps you and your friends could act out your own trailer. You will need to get started soon if you want to impress the judges.

 

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Christopher Paolini and a special fan

Check out Ben Y’s great post for the blog today.

Today I went to Armageddon to meet Christopher Paolini, author of Eragon (and the other Inheritance Cycle books).  He was really cool and I had a good time.  I found out some interesting things.
He is going to write two more books about Alagaesia.  Yahooo!
In his first draft Eragon was called Kevin!!
He works out his stories by asking himself questions which bring up more questions and then he answers them which makes up the book.
The character Angela is exactly like his sister (who is really called Angela) and she invented ‘were-cats’  for him.
He likes lightsabers and x-box and can do cartwheels!
Eragon is called Eragon because it is Dragon with the first letter changed and the book is set in an Era that is Gone.
Christopher Paolini signed my book and my dragon rider’s sword.
From Ben Y

Thanks for this post Ben – awesome outfit and I love your big smile.

    And thanks to my mate Zac at Christchurch City Libraries   kidsblog  for this photo of the author Christopher Paolini. Ps. Thanks Zac for getting my book signed. Check out Zac’s blog as there are plenty of competitions for the holidays. There is even a chance to win Skulduggery books and maybe interview the author when he comes to Christchurch. If you enjoy the Eragon series then I am sure you will also enjoy the Skulduggery books so do pop on over to the kidsblog.

Enjoy the rest of the holidays.

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Some wonderful stories from Room 15

These are the last of the stories we will be sharing online but you will be able to read more in folders next to the tree in the library.

 

The Library Tree

There is an amazing tree in our library…

Up the top it is hollow so the people that live

there have a home.

Down near the bottom there is a toadstool and a

little glass lake  by The Haunted Tree, don’t go round

the other side in case there’s a grumpy old bear

reading in his hut.

Snakes are everywhere to guard it from rival

community trees, and the spiders form an early

warning system. The grumpy old bear in the hut is

also head of army, and is continually looking for

plans to defeat them in defense and attack. The

spider webs are used as jails.

The fairies and frogs are peace keepers, but when

it comes to fighting the frogs use crossbows and

the fairies use longbows. The witch is also a

night guard.

by Corin – Year 3

 

The Haunted Tree

In the library there is an amazing tree! It looks

like it goes out the roof but it doesn’t!

If you open the door there is a big brown bear

hibernating, reading a book. The moon is shining

brightly. The witch is riding on her long

broomstick.

There’s water like glass with frogs on green lily

pads. Green leaves are all around it, and there

is a bear sitting on a piece of wood. There is a

white owl sitting next to his nest.

There are snakes slithering down the rope. On the

swing is an evil looking creature.

by Natalie – Year 3

 

The Tree in the Library

On Wednesday Room 15 went to the library and saw

A TREE GROWING!!!!!

I named it Spooky because it’s spooky, and has 4

snakes, 2 of them holding a tyre with some kind

of monkey in it, and Spooky also holds a witch and

lots of spiders. I freaked out because I thought

it was real, and also I thought the tree went

through the roof, but it didn’t.

But the part that wasn’t Spooky was the Disney

characters. And another scary thing is….THE TREE

HAS A FACE AAAA!!! But it didn’t say anything.

I asked, “What kind of tree are you?” The tree

replied “I’m a… I’m a Face Tree.” He smiled.

“Never heard of that before” I said to myself.

“OK” I smiled back.

And the sweetest sweetest thing about Spooky is

that every single day for 1 hour a bear reads the

fairies a book.

by Oscar – Year 3

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More stories about our amazing tree from year 3 students in Room 18

The Library Tree

There is a colossal tree growing in our library.

It has all the Disney Picstar characters like

smurfs. It was built by Mr Walker, a very good

artist. Fendalton School is grateful to him. It

is made of papier mache! There is a snake holding

the tyre swing. I hope he does not eat the

mouse.

by Conor

 

The Illusion Library Tree

The library tree is fantastic. There are fairies

and smurf houses. I see Harry Potter’s favourite

owl Hedwig. The library tree is like a dream. I

thought the spiderweb was real because the spiderweb

looks real to me. I saw a teddy bear reading a

book. I always see a spooky, haunted, scary witch

saying “Boo!” I see a real plant that Desna needs

to water.

by Maggie

 

 

The Big Tree

There is a humongous tree growing in our library.

There are snakes slithering, there are spiders

spying and seeking. There are smurfs that are

hiding from the witch. The bear has woken up and

is reading a book to the mice. He also reads a

book to the smurfs.

by Ryan

Thank you Room 18. And Maggie I will water the poor plant.

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Insects

 

Thanks to Will H for the latest display in the library.

it is very timely too as many of the juniors have been studying bugs and insects.

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Homework help page updated

If you want some fun maths or literacy activities to do online then check out the Homework page on this blog.

It has just been updated with some new sites aimed at encouraging both maths and literacy skills. Great for all ages.

Do check out Funbrain. You can even read Diary of a Wimpy kid online through Funbrain.

These sites have all been recommended and tried out by teachers, librarians and some students so do have fun.

 

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Year 3 Creative Writing on The Library Tree

Year 3 children have been working on creative writing inspired by the fantastic tree in the library.

Do enjoy reading their stories. There will be more soon. Scroll down to look at the photo in a previous post to see the wonderful tree.

The Legend Tree
Once upon a time there was a little library, it
lived on 168 Clyde Road Fendalton School.
Once, Room 16 went there. I saw a magic tree.
I asked kind old Desna what it was doing. She
said that “Once when she left the library a long
time ago she dropped a seed and during the night
it sprouted a little.”
When she came back the sun was as bright as
Mars…and this time Desna saw it sprout, and a
mushroom had sprouted as well.
The next thing she said was, “The frogs found a
pond next to the tree and started to jump all over
it.” I turned around to see the tree and all of
this was so magical.
Then I turned back to Desna and she kept on
telling the story. “The next day she started to
take care of it herself. She read it stories, and
gave it water and before she knew it was all grown
up.
And now every night she works late in the library
to make sure the tree is safe. The end.”
When Desna was done everybody started to clap.
Sheena and the class said, “Thank you” and left.
by Kaitlyn

 
The Sparkle Glowing Tree
In the sparkle glowing tree at night the animals
come to life, the brown bear reads a book to the
fairies, and the fairies fly around him.
At night the snake slivers down from his tree and
sings a song to the sleepy, snoozing bear.
At night the witch went flying around the sparkle
glowing tree and tried to scare the little baby
spider to sleep.
by Jemma

 
The Library Tree
There is an amazing tree growing in our library. I
love the owl swinging swiftly, soundly upon the
tyre swing. The owl is purple and likes orange
fairies.
The toadstools are lovely colours and spotty. The
fluttery, flying fairies like to sleep in them at
night.
Lots of people like the big, brown, beautiful bear.
It loves to read books upon the tree trunk burrow.
All of the animals like to listen to the stories.
Witches that live in the library tree are grouchy,
and growny and of course they’re mean. I really
do hate the witch.
Some people come along to look at the tree but
when they look above them they scream because there
is a spider above them. That really scares me.
Our snakes always slither, slowly up the brown
trunk.
by Millie

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Itch by Simon Mayo

                   Itch

          By Simon Mayo

         The explosive adventures of an element hunter

 

New out just for the seniors. Itch is 14 and loves science. He is however both an accidental  hero and accident prone.

Itch makes  an unusual discovery and suddenly he is in danger. Great for those seniors who love Alex Rider

 

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Faultine Fiction Fantatics

[dropcap2]W[/dropcap2]e’ve been at it again!  Check out the lastest podcast for New Zealand Book Month from Radio New Zealand and the amazing Fendalton students.

Click HERE to listen to the podcast.

 

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Andy Griffiths

What a great turn out of Fendalton school students at the Andy Griffiths book signing. It was wonderful to see so many of you getting your books signed. His books really are very funny. His website is also very cool. A special thanks to Natalie for getting our school library books signed.

Natalie and Violette with Andy Griffiths

 

Justine and Andy G

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The Library tree

[dropcap2]T[/dropcap2]oday Room 10 went to the library and saw the new installation…a magnificent tree what is bursting out of the ceiling!  Here are our initial impressions:
Alice – I like how the heart is carved into the tree – it says FOS

Fletcher – Some of the tree is real and some isn’t.

Tom – I like how it looks like its bursting through the roof

Caitlin – I like how they did the spider weba dn the twig, with the spide in the middle.

Louis – I like how the owl was at the very top of the tree.

Lomond – I like how the bear is in the holoow of the tree and is reading a book.

Ella – I like how the mirror makes it look like a pond.

Luis – I like how parts of stories are actually on the tree.

Maddison – I like how the snakes join together to hold the tire.

Jamie – It’s really cool how the mirror looks like a pond.

Desna and Paul Walker – thanks for doing such an incredible job on the display 🙂

TOBY STOKES

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Our students on the radio for the NZ Post Book Awards

[dropcap2]T[/dropcap2]he Faultline Fiction Fanatics have been involved in the NZ Post Book awards.  Radio New Zealand called in to the school and recorded several students book reviews – some of which played last Sunday morning on the radio.

Click HERE to listen to the Picture Book Reviews.

Books reviewed include:

The Cat’s Pyjamas by Catherine Foreman, reviewed by Lucy O; Rahui (English and Maori version) by Chris Szekely and illustrated by Malcolm Ross, reviewed by Olivia C and Jason te Kare; Stomp! by Ruth Paul, reviewed by Maddison; and Waiting for Later by Tina Matthews, reviewed by Olivia H.

Click HERE to listen to the Junior Fiction Book Reviews.

Books reviewed include:

The Flytrap Snaps by Johanna Knox and illustrated by Sabrina Malcolm, Ruby-Jak;Just Jack by Adele Broadbent, reviewed by Emily; The Loblolly Boy & the Sorcerer by James Norcliffe, reviewed by Maddy K; Super Finn by Leonie Agnew, reviewed by Caitlin; and The Travelling Restaurant by Barbara Else, reviewed by Lucy.

By Toby Stokes

 

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The enchanted forest

 

A huge, huge thank you to Paul Walker, the assistant caretaker, for making the brilliant tree now installed in the library

He has spent many week nights building this tree and it certainly has the wow factor. I also want to thank a friend, Liz, for making the wonderful toadstool.

We have placed all sorts of spiders and bugs for the children to seek out. Do pop in sometime and see this lovely display. It is wonderful watching the children coming into the library and just going “wow”. Well worth all the time and effort.

 

 

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NZ Post Children’s Book Awards National Radio Reviews

 

 

Once again our Faultline Fiction Fanatics are making the news.

This time the group did book reviews based on the books for the 2012 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards.

They were interviewed and had their book reviews recorded for Radio New Zealand.

If you want hear their reviews, the times are listed below. Warning – you have to get up early!

Sat 5th May                             Reviews on the Picture books

Sun 6th May                           Junior Fiction

Sat 12th May                           Non-fiction

Sun 13th May                         Young adult fiction

Reviews will on the radio between 6 and 7 am. on 101FM    (Radio New Zealand)

Once they have gone to air the reviews will be put up on the radio website

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/storytime-treasure-chest

This is another great achievement for the book club. I hope you enjoy listening.

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Don’t miss your chance to see Andy Griffiths

Australian author Andy Griffiths will be in Christchurch this Sunday for a very short visit.

He is here to promote his latest book Just doomed.


He will be at the Childrens’ Bookshop at 2pm on Sunday 6th May.

I will be there getting books signed for school. I can’t wait!

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Dinosaur rescue

Dinosaur Rescue is a new series by writer Kyle Mewburn and illustrated by Donovan Bixley.

Stone-Age boy Arg  meets Skeet – the talking T-Rex. No-one understands Arg or why he even wants to wear clothes. And whoever heard of a talking dinosaur?

Lots of humour, lots of adventure and lots of yucky stuff too. If you like grotty, disgusting habits then this book is for you.

And just in case you are wondering – it was the library girls who wanted this on the blog. So defintiley not just a book for boys but a book for everyone.

Check out the trailers first.

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Welcome to term 2

I hope you all had a lovely holiday and didn’t eat too many Easter eggs.

This is a short week as tomorrow we commemorate ANZAC day.

The library display is all about the ANZAC’s.  You can find out who they were and what they did and why we remember them.

We have a number of great books  on the First World War which are amazing to read. There are so many stories to read about how brave the soldiers were.

There is one particular book which I want to share with you.

It is Le Quesnoy : The story of the town New Zealand saved. It is written by Glyn Harper.

“This is the story of how a group of New Zealand soldiers saved a small town in northern France”.  It is based on real soldiers and real people.

Pop in to the library and take a look at the books.

 

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Titanic display

Come to the library and check out the latest display. It is all about the sinking of the famous ship the Titanic.

The Titanic hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage on the 14th April 1912. Yes. 100 years ago Spotify promotion and people are still fascinated by the tragedy.

Will G from room 20 has brought in lots of things to share for the display.

There is even a newspaper cutting one up mushroom bar of Will winning a Lego competition for building his very own Titanic.

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