Stanley's Christmas Adventure

Fans of Flat Stanley will enjoy meeting the Lambchop family again in this seasonal adventure. Two days before Christmas, Father Christmas has had enough - children don't care any more, they no longer believe. So he has decided not to go out delivering presents this year. Sarah Christmas is sure that a visit from the boy who wrote Santa's favourite letter would cheer him up. After a midnight visit from Sarah, the whole Lambchop family takes off for Snow City in Santa's borrowed sleigh. All is not well, the Elves are worried and Santa is still being crabby and determined not to go out this year.  It's up to Stanley to save the day - again!

Jeff Brown has written another heartwarming story about Stanley and his family. The message is timeless - to think of others before ourselves, especially at this time of year.


Published by Egmont Books.

My Brother's Christmas Bottom - unwrapped!

A Christmas story about Nicholas and his amazing family - featuring Cheese and Tomato, the famous twins born in the back of a pizza delivery van.

All is not well in Nicholas' house in the run up to Christmas this year.  Dad has just lost his job and things are looking grim - no cake, no presents, in fact a distinct lack of Christmas cheer. The family come up with some amazing money-spinning ideas, which are more or less successful, but nothing really takes the place of Dad's wages. It's time for Cheese and Tomato to come to the rescue again.

The twins are too old to star in a nappy commercial this time round, but how about advertising a new range of children's clothes? Needless to say, things do not go according to plan...

Yet another really funny story by Jeremy Strong, if you haven't read My Brother's Famous Bottom, try reading that one too.

Published by Puffin Books

First Snow

First Snow by Kim Lewis is a lovely gentle story about the morning Daddy was ill, so Mummy and Sara and Teddy had to feed the sheep instead. As they walk up the hill with the dogs towards the sheepfold, the first early winter snow begins to fall. Sara and Teddy are going to have to be quick with the sheep or the snow may get too deep to walk home.

The illustrations are wonderful, giving the reader a real sense of how things look on a high farm at the beginning of winter. The pictures are full of the sort of details which bring the characters and setting to life - particularly the picture of the collie sheepdog close to the end of the story. The greys and pale blue shades on the snow-covered landscape at the end are perfect to give anyone a little shiver and reach for gloves and a woolly hat!

Published by Walker Books

Fairy Tales - from Snow White to Shampoozel!

 

Primary Five have been reading and writing their own fairy tales this month. To begin with, everyone had to read lots of fairy tales to see what a traditional tale was like. Absolute silence descended on the library as everyone chose a picture book or short fiction version of a story and started reading.






After that, we all had a look at more picture books and non-traditional versions of the stories. Even more silence in the library as more fairy tales were read - punctuated by smothered giggles, and outright laughter! We all had a great time, and are looking forward to reading the finished stories.
If you would like to read more twisted tales as well as the original versions have a good look in the picture book section and the first readers section in the library, there are lots to choose from. Why not try the Seriously Silly Stories by Laurence and Catherine Anholt?

If you would like to read something rather more challenging, try books like the Tom Trueheart books by Ian Beck,the Sisters Grimm series by Michael Buckley, or titles by Robin McKinley and Shannon Hale.

Published by Red Fox and Orchard Books

Scottish Children's Book Awards - There's More!

While everyone in Primary 1, 2 and 3 are reading the shortlist for the Bookbug Award, some of the Primary 7 pupils are starting to read their way through another shortlist. This list is for the books aimed at children between 7 and 12.

Soldier's Game by James Killgore starts out as a football story, Ross is fed up always being on the losing team. in an attempt to cheer him up, his Gran gives him a box full of old press cutting, boots and a Hearts Football jersey. Ross is now on a mission to find out more about the man who wore these boots, and what happened to him and his team mates when the Heart of Midlothian lads enlisted for the Great War. A fascinating read for boys and girls, with a strong historical background as well as the football.

Cathy MacPhail has come up with a spooky new book Out of the Depths. Tyler Lawless can see dead people - not something your average teenager can do.  Starting at a new school is hard enough, but when you start seeing ghosts life gets even harder. After all, Tyler had to leave her old school because of her stories, her overactive imagination. Even though it is bound to cause more trouble, she decides she has to solve the mystery so that the ghosts may rest in peace.

 Norm is your average thirteen year old boy, with a family who just don't understand him. Nothing that Norm does ever goes right, and it's not his fault that things get broken, or people get angry, or just that life gets in the way. He never means to cause any trouble - it just happens. Jonathan Meres' World of Norm: May Contain Nuts will appeal to many children with the same sense of humour and the feeling that sometimes it's the world that is wrong, not you.

 

Further information about this year's Scottish Children's Book Awards can be found on the website of the Scottish Book Trust at http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/scottishchildrensbookawards



Scottish Children's Book Awards

 

We are taking part in the Scottish Children's Book Awards again this year. These awards are voted for by the children who read the books - no grown-ups allowed!. There are three short-listed books in each category. All our Primary 1, Primary 2 and Primary 3 children will be taking part over the next few months, reading the Bookbug books.

Jack and the Flumflum Tree is the latest book by Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson. Jack's Granny has the moozles, so Jack and his friends sail off to the land of Blowyernose to find the fruit of the flumflum tree which is the only cure. The illustrations by David Roberts complement the rhyming text.

The Day Louis Got Eaten is written in a very different style by author and illustrator John Fardell.  Louis and his sister Sarah are out for a bike ride in the woods when unfortunately, Louis gets eaten by a gulper. It's up to the resourceful Sarah to rescue him. The cartoon style pictures help move the story along, with lots of hidden detail to look out for.

In Solomon Crocodile by Catherine Rayner, Solomon is having a hard time understanding why no-one wants to play his noisy games, until a friend comes along who enjoys the same things. The illustrations are lovely and the story reads aloud well.



For more information on the Scottish Children's Book Awards, visit the Scottish Book Trust website at http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/learning/teachers/scottish-childrens-book-awards

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

I have been wanting to read this book ever since I first saw it reviewed when it was first published in the USA. Mostly because I thought the title was intriguing.

At first it seems like another American Middle school story, with the usual setting and character set. However the narrator Tommy is not only giving the reader his own view of events, but allowing other children to read it and add comments, drawings and their own views on the action.  All of this is done in a range of different typefaces to help the reader work out who is speaking.

Tommy's friend Dwight is an oddball character who finds it difficult to conform to the expectations of middle school life. Dwight makes an finger puppet, an origami Yoda, who talks and offers advice to the children in the class about how to handle problems and difficult situations. The amazing thing is, the advice actually works! No-one knows for sure if Origami Yoda is real, or whether it's just Dwight making it all up - even his Yoda impression is awful, so how can the advice be so powerful? Tommy sets out to prove once and for all if Origami Yoda is real - or not.

Tom Angleberger has created a believable middle school with it's own set of pupils and teachers, including a truly scary Principal Rabbski. If you enjoyed the Diary of a Wimpy Kid, gives this one a try too. The second and third books in the series are available too Darth Paper Strikes Back and The Secret of the Fortune Wookie. I can't wait to see what happens next in book 4 (if there is one?  Please?)  Each book has instructions on folding your own Yoda, Darth Paper, and other characters. Definitely also worth a look is the website www.origamiyoda.com.


Read it you must.

The Reading Year 2012 - Part 3

A little later in the month than usual, this is the time when I look back over the reading I have been doing over the previous three months.

Maze Running and other Magical Missions is the last in Lari Don's Fabled Beasts quartet and was published earlier this summer.  In this book, all the chickens come home to roost, for everyone. Yann the centaur has been wounded, and is dying, unless Helen and her friends can fulfil a threefold quest. Truth is the ultimate key to saving Yann, and the world of the Fabled Beasts, no matter how much that truth may hurt. If you have been following Helen's adventures, this is a great ending to the series, if you haven't, why not? Time to get going!

It's taken me a while to get round to M. G. Harris, and the first in her series of thrillers Invisible City. As our intrepid hero tries to find out what really happened to his archaeologist father who is believed to have been killed in a plane crash in central America, an ancient Mayan prophecy is unleashed foretelling the end of the world. A secret civilisation hidden underground may hold the key to the mystery, and perhaps stave off the inevitable doom...

Jack Slater, Monster Investigator by John Dougherty is great fun to read. Yes, there really are monsters under the bed, and a good teddy bear will usually see them off. The current crop of monsters are proving a little more difficult to shift. Time for Jack Slater and his team of monster hunters to get on the case - things are getting serious!

Another series comes to and end with Witch Baby and Me on Stage by Debi Gliori. It's the school show, everyone has been rehearsing like mad despite the awful weather. The whole school is devastated when the roof of the school hall falls down due to all the rain and the playground is flooded. A fairy godmother is needed to ensure the show goes on - step forward Witch Baby and friends to save the day.

For some reason, it's been a summer of detective novels and historical whodunnits. Edward Marston's Railway Detective series set in Victorian England; David Ashton's Inspector Levy Mysteries, set in Victorian Edinburgh; and I think my favourite of the bunch the Gil Cunningham novels by Pat McIntosh set in Glasgow in the 1490s and the reign of James IV. Brilliant stuff.

National Poetry Day 2012

Today is National Poetry Day 2012. To celebrate, we have been reading some poems in the library this week. This year's theme is STARS - and we all know at least one star poem.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was first published in 1806 by Jane Taylor, so we have been reading the whole poem - and singing part of it too. Other favourites have been the traditional rhyme Starlight, starbright, and the poem Your Star by James Carter. A topical poem, given the recent lights in the sky over Glasgow is The Shooting Stars by James Carter.

The National Poetry Day website is here www.nationalpoetryday.co.uk/

Happy 75th Birthday!

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

These are  J R R Tolkien's opening lines of his groundbreaking story The Hobbit. Bilbo Baggins' comfortable life is changed forever by the visit of the wandering wizard Gandalf. Gandalf's visit is soon followed by the equally unexpected visit of 13 dwarves looking for a fourteenth member to join their group. After many adventures with trolls, elves and orcs, they reach their destination - and somehow must defeat the fearsome dragon Smaug.

The Hobbit is 75 years old this month. First published in September 1937, The Hobbit and the subsequent Lord of the Rings trilogy could claim to be some of the most influential works of fiction published during the 20th Century. These books have inspired generations of writers in the field of heroic fantasy, and thousands of readers have loved the stories and passed that love on to their children and grandchildren.




I first read The Hobbit aged 11, and it has been a story which has stayed with me all my life, in fact I feel another re-read is in order to celebrate this 75th anniversary - possibly my well-loved hardback copy of the 50th Anniversary edition! And possibly even with a hobbit-style second breakfast at the weekend, just to keep me going.

Happy 75th Birthday Bilbo!

The Music of Zombies

 

The latest in the Five Kingdoms series, The Music of Zombies by Vivian French was published in August this year. In this story, a deadly train  of events are set in motion by the self-centred and not terribly bright Prince Albion of Cockenzie Road. He plans the most magnificent day of celebrations for his kingdom's national day - processions, speeches and competitions including a talent show which Prince Albion predicts he himself will win.  After all, his grateful subjects will have had a Cockenzie Road Day to remember so are bound to vote for him in gratitude.

 

Zombie musician Fiddleduster Squint has other ideas, he thinks the talent show prize is his by rights and a fiendish plot is hatched. Refused entry to the kingdom by the magical barrier which keeps out evil creatures, Fiddleduster Squint and his shadow enlist the unwitting help of some sleepy giants to break the barrier and leave everyone in the Five Kingdoms helpless against the power of the Zombie's music.

 

As usual it is up to Gracie Gillypot, Prince Marcus, Gubble the Troll and Marlon the bat to save the Kingdoms and everyone living there. Helped out by Alf, Marlon's nephew and Marcus' twin brother Ariosto, our heroes manage to defeat the zombies. Then it is a race to reach the giants and persuade them not to cause disastrous earthquakes which will destroy all of the Five Kingdoms.

 

Ross Collins has done his usual superlative job illustrating this story - the Zombies are truly evil, the Giants a bit confused-looking about the world they have been woken into, and Gubble must be one of the cutest trolls in fiction.

Roald Dahl Day

It's September 13th, time to celebrate the birthday of Roald Dahl, one of the most popular children's authors ever!

You could mark the day by reading your favourite Roald Dahl book, or bake an enormous chocolate cake, or pop some whizzpopperingly colourful party streamers. Have a look at the website for more amazing and fun ideas at www.roalddahl.com, and choose the option for Roald Dahl Day 2012.

Puffin publishers are hosting a live webcast by Quentin Blake, who illustrated all the stories, in conversation with Michael Rosen at 2pm on Monday the 24th September 2012. On the Puffin website there is a short trailer to watch, with Michael giving more information about the webcast. You can find the webcast here www.puffinvirtuallylive.co.uk/author/roalddahlday.

Michael Rosen has just written a new biography of Roald Dahl called Fantastic Mr Dahl, which was published in June 2012 - coming to a library near you soon.

Welcome Back to a New Year of Reading

Hello!

Welcome back to a new school year and a new year of utterly brilliant reading. It has been lovely to see you all coming into the library over the past week and talking about all the books you have read over the summer holidays, and giving me lots of suggestions for books to buy for the library.

There are some exciting things happening in the library this year - new books, author visits and a brand new reading challenge for Book Week in March 2013. You will be hearing a lot more about that later on!

Remember to bring back any books you still have at home from last year, we will be delighted to have them back.

The Reading Year 2012 - part two

I've been having another look through my reading diary for this year. This is not a list of newly published books, nor are all of these available in the school library (obviously!), just what I would highlight from the last three months of my own reading. So, we are halfway through the year and these are my favourites from the last three months.


Batpants is a laugh out loud adventure story from Jeremy Strong.  With a father who trains animals for film and TV shows and a mother who is a stuntwoman, life is never dull for these three children.  Just this once, they get to go onto the set for their mother's latest film.  Things are not going well, after a couple of near accidents, it looks like someone is trying to kill Mum!

A Villain's Night Out by Margaret Mahy starts with the notion that since the teachers have spent the library bookfund on coffee (!) it is up to the children to write some new books for the school library. Enter Squidgy Moot, a truly evil character looking for a story - and his little sister, and one of the best game designers in the business.  Very funny story about what happens when characters get away from their authors.

The Voyage of the Arctic Tern by Hugh Montgomery is an unusual novel in verse which I would never have picked up had it not been for the Primary Seven Reading Challenge, and the recommendation by a pupil. Told from several points of view, in three different metrical forms it is an extremely accomplished piece of work. It has everything - pirates, ghosts, mystery, murder, adventure, a tale of revenge and restitution taking place over centuries. Wonderfully atmospheric, spooky tale of the sea. I read the beginning aloud to P6 and they loved it too.

The Mourning Emporium by Michelle Lovric has been on my to-be-read pile for ages, and I have finally got round to it, having first re-read The Undrowned Child. Another atmospheric story based in Venice and at sea, finishing up in the River Thames. English mermaids are nothing like as feisty as their Venetian counterparts, tending towards fainting rather than action in a crisis. Once again it is up to Teodora and Renzo to fulfill the prophecy and save both Venice and London as Queen Victoria lies dying in Osborne House. Thrilling stuff, with a truly evil set of villains attempting to change the course of history.

Oliver Jeffers has been high on our list of favourite picture book authors for a while now. His latest, The Hueys in The New Jumper is a gem. A brilliant read-aloud for all ages, it has been enjoyed by nearly everyone from P1 to P7 this term - pupils and staff! All the Hueys look, think and act the same, until Rupert knits himself a new jumper. What will the other Hueys think?

I regularly turn to Jane Austen when I need a comfort read. This time it has been Mansfield Park to get me through to the end of term.


How has your reading year been so far? I have a large pile of books I have been saving for the summer holidays - bliss.

Summer Reading Challenge 2012

This year the Public Libraries Summer Reading Challenge is called Story Lab. If you register at your local library, you will be able to join the Reading Challenge. Read 6 books over the summer holidays, collect your own record card and add stickers as you read. You can read whatever books you like - some libraries may have special displays of titles to choose from. 

Your local public library will be running events to fit in with this years theme. There is more information on the website here http://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/ The website also has book lists and ideas for crafty things to do on the Story Lab theme. Everyone who completes the challenge will recieve a certificate, and other goodies depending on the library authority.

For the competitive people among you, completed Summer Reading Challenge certificates could well be worth a Bonus Point in a school library near you! Have fun and enjoy your summer reading.

End of Year Book Returns - Update

Well done to everyone who managed to get their books back to the library on time. Thank you all very much - it will make things much easier at the beginning of next term.

We still have 123 books out on loan to pupils. If you find anything when clearing out over the summer, please remember to bring the books back in August.

Congratulations to P1D and P5M, the only classes who have a perfect returns record - well done!

Primary Seven Olympic Reading Challenge 2012 - The Final!

Congratulations to everyone who has finished the Primary Seven Olympic Reading Challenge! The challenge was to read 11 books from 11 different genres within a set time period. All the titles read had to be new to the readers - no re-reads were allowed. An amazing 54 Primary 7 pupils have completed the challenge this year - a brilliant result. Very well done to everyone, we are so proud of you!


I have been reading along with all the Primary Seven children, managing to complete the last bit of genre reading at the beginning of May. To give readers of our blog an idea of what the P7 pupils have been reading, here is my list of titles and genres as an example. This year, I decided not to read a sports fiction title.

Diamonds Are For Evil by Andrew Fusek Peters, Adventure Stories
The Deadly Fire by Cora Harrison, Historical Stories
Jane Austen: a life by Claire Tomalin, Biography
Skellig by David Almond, Classic Stories
The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog by Jeremy Strong, Animal Stories
Switchers by Kate Thompson, Fantasy Stories
Secret of the Shadows by Cathy MacPhail, Horror Stories
Stuck by Oliver Jeffers, Picture Book
The Voyage of the Arctic Tern by Hugh Montgomery, Poetry
A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz, Myths and Legends
Far Rockaway by Charlie Fletcher, My own choice of genre

The certificates look like this one.

End of Year Book Returns

It's that time of year again!

We are trying to tidy up the library and track down all the books that have been borrowed over the course of the year. 

Please could everyone bring back their books to the school library as soon as possible.  Each teacher has a list of people who still have books out on loan.  Everyone with a book out has been given a printed slip to take home with the book title on it. Have a good look at home and bring back everything you find that belongs to school.  If you cannot find a book, please come to the library and tell us, and we will check here again to see if it has been returned.

When we started, there were 313 books out to pupils in P1 to P7.  On Friday 15th June, there were 236 books still out on loan.

Let's try and get everything back by the end of term!

Authors Live - Oliver Jeffers

The next Scottish Book Trust Authors Live webcast is at 11.00am on Thursday 14 June 2012 and features Oliver Jeffers, one of our favourite picture book authors!  Oliver is the author of a number of well-loved books for children including The Incredible Book-Eating Boy, Lost and Found and Up and Down.

The webcast is aimed at P1-P3 children but will be enjoyed by everyone.  Oliver Jeffers was the featured author in the picture book category for this year's Primary Seven Reading Challenge.  In the library, most classes have read Stuck or The Hueys in The New Jumper.

To watch the live webcast, or watch later on-line go to www.bbc.co.uk/authorslive 



The Scottish Book Trust has more information here www.scottishbooktrust.com  

Oliver's own website can be found at www.oliverjeffers.com/picture-books 

More Things to Look Out For

Some more authors we know and love have been busy this year!


Lari Don's new novel Maze Running and other Magical Missions is due to be published really soon - on June 7th.  Everyone who enjoyed the last one, Storm Singing and other Tangled Tasks, will be looking forward to this one too.

Lauren St John has the third Laura Marlin Mystery being published in August, called  Kentucky Thriller. The second in the series, Kidnap in the Caribbean is due out in paperback in July.

Fans of Hugless Douglas will know his latest adventure Hugless Douglas and the Big Sleep will be out in paperback in October. Here is a very early warning of the next Douglas story We Love You, Hugless Douglas, which will be available in January 2013. David Melling has been very busy indeed!

Joan Lennon has the third Slightly Jones Mystery called The Case of the Cambridge Mummy being published in July.  Slightly Jones has solved mysteries in London and Glasgow, now she has to investigate in the city of Cambridge, where a priceless mummy has gone missing.

The Mark of Athena, Rick Riordan's third Heroes of Olympus novel, is out in October. As the quest moves forward, who will be the seventh hero to join Percy, Jason and the other demi-gods?  There are lots of Percy Jackson fans who will be eagerly awaiting this book.


Lots of new books to look forward to, I shall definitely have to save up some book money!

The Pasta Detectives

The discovery of a piece of pasta on the pavement outside the block of flats where he lives, gets Rico involved in some very strange goings-on.  When he tries to find out where the pasta came from, he meets the new neighbour in the 4th floor flat, and discovers more about the other people who live in the block. The Pasta Detectives are born!

As he says himself, Rico thinks a lot, just not very quickly. He is sure that his new friend Oliver will be able to help work out the pasta puzzle, Oliver can always work things out.  Rico and Oliver are no nearer to solving the pasta problem, when Oliver disappears. Has he become the latest victim of a kidnapper who has been holding children for ransom all across the city?

The story is set in Berlin, in the present day, with many details of life in the city, which may be unfamiliar to some readers.  We see the city through Rico's eyes as he tries to solve the mystery of Oliver's disappearance. Rico has a form of ADHD which he describes as like having a head full of lottery balls which get scrambled on a regular basis, so he is not very good about remembering things, or working things out.  But when Oliver goes missing, Rico tries his best to find him, something even the police have failed to do.

Andreas Steinhofel has written great mystery story with an unusual twist at the end. Possibly a book for more thoughtful readers, but mystery addicts will enjoy it too.

Things to look out for

Here are some of the books which have caught our attention and will be published soon (or sometime this year!).


Jeremy Strong has The Ghost in the Bath in June, and the third Cartoon Kid book Emergency! in July.   There are lots of people in Primary 3 who will be interested in these stories.

Horrid Henry is back again in Horrid Henry's Monster Movie by Francesca Simon which is published at the end of May. Henry continues to torment his long suffering parents and friends in this one.

Vivian French has the fifth book in the Five Kingdoms series coming out in August.  It is called The Music of the Zombies, and has the usual brilliant cover by Ross Collins.

Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer arrives in July, for all those who have been following the saga of Artemis Fowl, teenage criminal mastermind, his bodyguard Butler, and Holly Short, late of the LepRecon unit.

Another hotly anticipated title is Kingdom of the Wicked (Skulduggery Pleasant 7) by Derek Landy, due out at the end of August.

Lots of people are waiting impatiently for Love is in the Air by Jeff Kinney, due to be published in November.  Yes, this is the 7th instalment of the diary of Greg Heffley, everyone's favourite Wimpy Kid.


Time to start saving up the pocket money!

My Haunted House

My Haunted House is the first in the series of five stories about Araminta Spook, a little girl who lives with her Aunt and Uncle in a huge old mansion, full of strange and unexpected things. Aunt Tabitha is fed up trying to keep the house going by herself - nothing really works properly any more and she can't get anyone from the local village to come and work at Spook House. She decides to sell the house, and move to a smaller house which is easier to manage. Uncle Drac spends most of his time hanging upside down in the tower, so it is up to Araminta to save her home.

Araminta enlists the help of the other occupants of the house, who are horrified to hear that it may be sold to another family, or even worse, knocked down completely. Aunt Tabitha has no idea that the ghosts are all on Araminta's side, helping her to scare away potential buyers.  Araminta's scheme is successful until the Wizzard family turns up, they are not scared of anything.  Araminta needs a new plan, and fast.

Angie Sage has written a very funny story for middle readers who like a spooky setting without being too scared! Araminta is a resourceful girl who comes up with a practical solution which keeps most people happy. I think Jimmy Pickering's illustrations are a perfect match for the story, full of vampires, spiderwebs and ghosts as well as Araminta and her family.

The other books in the series are The Sword in the Grotto, Frognapped!, Vampire Brat and Ghostsitters.  Angie is also the author of the Septimus Heap books for older children. Her website is at www.angiesage.com

Primary Seven Olympic Reading Challenge - the Last Lap

We are nearly there, only one more week to go before the end of the Reading Challenge!

Many of you (about one third of Primary Seven people) have already finished.  About the same number of people have only one more book to go. We are close to the finish line now, let's see if we can all make it over the line by Friday 11th May. This is a Bank Holiday weekend, we all have an extra day to read.  My reading pile is calling me - how is yours?

Please ask in the library if you are a bit stuck for ideas - we can find you a book to enjoy that will also meet the genre requirements.

Authors Live - David Walliams

The next Authors Live event organised by the Scottish Book Trust takes place on Thursday 10th May 2012 at 11 am. David Walliams is the featured author and it promises to be an excellent session.

David is the author of four best-selling books for children, The Boy in the Dress, Mr Stink, Billionaire Boy and Gangsta Granny. He is a popular author with children who enjoy reading his books very much, as can be seen by the fact that none of them ever seem to be on the library shelves!


The Authors Live event is a live webcast which can be viewed on the day, or watched at your leisure after 17th May 2012 via the Scottish Book Trust and BBC websites. If you would like to ask David Walliams a question, please ask In the library and we will forward your question to the Scottish Book Trust. We can't promise your question will be asked, but we can try!

For the live webcast, look at  www.bbc.co.uk/authorslive

For other information about Authors Live and the recorded version www.scottishbooktrust.com

HarperCollins publish David's books - more information here www.harpercollins.co.uk/Authors/6843/david-walliams

The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour dog

The story of Streaker aka The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog has been a favourite ever since it was published in 1996. As a family pet with a fair bit of greyhound in her background, Streaker is the dog no-one wants to take for a walk.  She cannot walk at a reasonable pace, but takes off at top speed whenever she has the opportunity. So when Trevor is offered thirty pounds by his Mum to walk Streaker every day during the Easter holidays, he knows this is not just a bribe, it's danger money!  To add to Trevor's problems, he takes a bet that he will be able to train Streaker by the end of the holidays, or be prepared to take a bath in a very slimy green pond.

Trevor and his friend Tina try everything from roller-skates to mobile phones in their attempts to train Streaker. The end of the holiday is in sight and Streaker still cannot stay on the lead. The frog spawn filled pond is waiting, Trevor and Tina have one last big idea - this time, will it work? Read on and find out...

Jeremy Strong's story is very funny, all the things Trevor and Tina try to do to train Streaker go wrong. Instead of earning money, it looks like Trevor is going to be losing money this school holiday!

Have a look at Jeremy's website here www.jeremystrong.co.uk and keep a look out for the newest story about Streaker The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog Goes For Gold!

Linda Strachan Book Launch

When Linda Strachan came to visit us during Book Week this year, she told us about the new book she had coming out this month.

Hamish McHaggis and the Great Glasgow Treasure Hunt is available now in the shops.  Linda Strachan and illustrator Sally J. Collins will be doing two events in Glasgow to celebrate the publication of the new Hamish book.

Linda and Sally will be at Kelvingrove and at the Riverside museum during the weekend of 28th and 29th April 2012 with copies of the new book, and lots of activities for everyone to join in. Sally will be doing drawings with children too.


For more information, check here for the Kelvingrove event on Saturday 28th April 2012
http://events.glasgowlife.org.uk/event/1/hamish-mchaggis-book-launch

and here for the Riverside event on Sunday 29th April 2012
http://events.glasgowlife.org.uk/event/2/hamish-mchaggis-book-launch

Entry is free!

Eggs

Mother Duck finds an egg and rolls it home to hatch out  along with her other eggs. In due course, the eggs hatch into three ducklings - Quack, Dabble and Fluff, and Snap a baby crocodile.The duck family are very happy together except for the comments of the other animals who think the green wrinkly duckling is rather strange. Mother Duck's answer is always "Some ducklings are different, but to me, they're all wonderful."  All the ducklings and Snap grow up together quite happily despite the nasty comments from other creatures, until the day when the tiger comes looking for a tasty meal of tender little duckling. Snap with his sharp teeth saves the day sending the tiger howling back into the forest. Everyone agrees that Snap is wonderful.  There is a lovely picture at the end of the story, the Duck family group hug!

With Snap, Damian Harvey and Lucy Richards have created a warm-hearted picture book which doesn't labour the point. This would be a good read one to one, or with a small group, or a whole class depending on circumstances.

Other egg stories you could look at are The Odd Egg by Emily Gravett, Egg Drop by Mini Grey, and of course, The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen. 

The Reading Year 2012 - so far!

Looking through my reading diary for this year, I came across some of the books I have read and really enjoyed for one reason or another. This is not a list of newly published books, nor are all of these available in the school library (obviously!), just what I would highlight from the last three months of my own reading. So, we are a quarter of the way through the year and these are my top picks so far.

The Black House by Peter May. This is an adult crime novel set on the island of Lewis, the policeman hero is an islander who left to go to university and is sent to help with a particularly grisly murder. I found it a very atmospheric, almost claustrophobic read, with a shocking ending which I didn't see coming.

Longitude by Dana Sobel.  This has been around for many years and I finally got round to it. The book gives the story behind the discovery of longitude and the importance of this discovery for navigation, the measurement of time and the making of clocks and watches. Fascinating stuff.

Far Rockaway by Charlie Fletcher. I had read and enjoyed the StoneHeart Trilogy so I was interested to see how Charlie Fletcher would move on to something new.  This book is about the power of story to help come to terms with what life throws at us, the power of stories to help us grow up, to help us understand each other, and to heal. The main character is a teenage girl in a coma after being hit by a truck, most of the novel gives her point of view but there are also a lot of other viewpoints to keep track of, which makes it a bit complicated to read. A passing knowledge of The Last of the Mohicans, Treasure Island and The Three Musketeers is helpful too.

Dead Boy Talking by Linda Strachan. Not a comfortable read this one, cleverly structured round the 25 minutes it takes the average person to bleed to death.  Teenage Josh has been stabbed and left to die, the book shows how he got to be where he is. All the reasons and decisions by Josh, and others, that led up to this moment.  Thought-provoking, but not for the squeamish. 

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. This was an incredibly moving story about how a teenage boy begins to come to terms with the illness and death of his mother from cancer.  Grief and fear of the unknown are the main themes of this book, the fear of abandonment - what will happen to me, the one left behind.  The illustrations are dark and scary, adding to the atmosphere of the story. This is totally different from Patrick Ness' other work, came from an idea by Siobhan Dowds, and I'm not sure how much is whose, but I thought it was brilliant, and yes, I cried at several points in the story.

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick. Another illustrated novel, this time by the author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret (the film Hugo). The story is told from two points of view, in words by the boy, in pictures by the girl, and eventually the two stories come together as the two people meet. This book repays an almost immediate second reading as you go back to see how closely the stories are intertwined.  Gorgeous illustrations and well worth a very detailed read and look.

The Robodog by Frank Rodgers. A classic for younger children from Frank Rodgers, author of The Witch's Dog series. The robodog desperately wants to be a real dog, with hair and everything, so that his family will love him more. What he doesn't realise, is that Dad is allergic to dog hair!  However, Robodog learns that you can be a real dog without having hair - as long as your nose works properly!

Animal Antics: The Singing Sheep by Lucy Courtenay. When a new sheep comes to live on the farm, she finds it difficult to fit in, especially when her idea of music is not the same as everyone else. I loved the idea of a secret competition to find the best flock of singing sheep at the local show.  At the same time, the sheepdog is trying not to be last in his competition.   Very silly and great fun.

Measle and the Wrathmonk

Poor Measle Stubbs is one of the most miserable ten year olds you could ever meet. He lives in a dark, dirty, dingy house at the end of a street full of dirty, dreary  empty houses. Strangest of all, his house has a small black cloud hanging over it ALL the time, drizzling constantly.  He has no parents and lives with his Legal Guardian Basil Tramplebone, a tall thin miserable man who hates everyone, especially Measle. The only good thing about the house is the enormous train set in the attic. 

Measle gets caught playing with the train set and is zapped by one of Basil's evil spells.  Now he is only a few centimetres tall, trapped in the train set itself with no way to escape back to his own life. Even the cockroaches and other insects are huge dangerous creatures, Measle has to literally run for his life.  How will he ever get home again?  But there are other people here too - who are they and how did they get there? 

This is the first in the series of Measle stories by Ian Ogilvy.  The books follow Measle through a series of amazing magical adventures. The books are illustrated by Chris Mould. If you enjoyed A Series of Unfortunate Events or the Something Wickedly Weird series, this could be a good choice to try next.

Diamonds are for Evil

From skateboarding to free-running, circus star to computer genius, the four children in Andrew Fusek Peters story Diamonds are for Evil have the most amazing talents.  Ben is a free-runner who seems to be able to get out of the tightest situations by literally running up the wall - or jumping off one! Charlie is a talented athlete with a sideline in circus skills - everything from juggling to fire eating.  Break and his skateboard are nearly inseparable, and San can hack into any system CCTV, computer or mobile phone.

The gang get themselves into trouble trying to do a favour for a friend.  Soon they are on the trail of some ruthless jewel thieves who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a fabulously expensive pink diamond.  The friends find out that doing favours can be a dangerous activity because someone has been lying to them all along, but who?

This is a fast-moving, exciting adventure story for older children, literally death defying in places!  The second in the Skateboard Detectives series and recommended if you enjoyed

Priceless.

Science Week 2012

12th to 16th March is Science Week in school.  There are lots of experiments going on in various classrooms as everyone is focusing on science topics this week. We will be having visitors this week to several classes as parents who have science-based careers come in to talk about what they do.

In the library, we have been looking at information books this week, particularly those on science subjects.  P5 are evaluating books on the human body as part of the Body Business topic work.  P3 and P4 are looking at the features which make a good information book. P1 and P2 are learning about information books and may be choosing one to go home this week.

There are a number of stories with a strong science background too.  You could look at George's Secret Key to the Universe by Lucy Hawking, or The Time and Space of Uncle Albert by Russell Stannard.  A Wrinkle in Time  by Madeleine L'Engle has some central characters who are scientists. If gadgets are more interesting to you, try the Alex Rider series by Antony Horowitz, Young Bond series by Charlie Higson, or the HIVE series by Mark Walden. Robots are always popular too, and there is a robot story to suit you from Frank Rodgers Robodog series to the Eager stories by Helen Fox. There are biographies of famous scientists in the Biography section at 920.

Cathy MacPhail Book Week 2012

Everyone in Primary 6 and Primary 7, including the teachers!, were absolutely captivated by Cathy MacPhail on Friday 2nd March. She showed us the winning book trailer made by some S2 pupils for her book Out of the Depths, and read part of the story, a really creepy way to begin the session. It was fascinating to hear how she had come up with the idea to begin with, and then as she thought more about it and started writing, that it was not just a single book but a whole series about her main character Tyler Lawless, heroine to the unlawfully dead.Tyler can see dead people, and makes the mistake of telling people about what she sees until all her friends desert her, and she has to change schools as her crazy stories are causing so much trouble for everyone. The new school seems fine to start with, and then Tyler starts seeing people who aren't there, who cannot be seen by anyone else......

Tyler reappears in Secret of the Shadows.  This time the story is not set at school but during the summer as Tyler and her Great Aunt Bella are clearing out her Gran's house to sell it after her death.  Tyler's bedroom is incredibly cold, and the door keeps closing even when it has been propped open, and there is a feeling of being unwelcome here.  Aunt Bella falls ill, and Tyler is suspected of causing her illness, after all, no one believes a word she says about the evil presence lurking in the house.  This book has only just been published and it was very exciting to get our hands on a book which had not quite reached the shops yet!

Cathy encouraged everyone to come up with their own "what if?" moments.  The ideas for the haunted library and its disappearing pupils were great fun, but I will think twice about getting in a lift again.....

We all had a fantastic time and thank you to Cathy for giving us such a spine tingling author visit - with not a vampire or zombie in sight.

For more information, look  at www.cathymacphail.com

John Fardell Book Week 2012

John Fardell visited P5 and P3 on World Book Day, Thursday 1st March. John talked about how he builds his stories. Sometimes, it's a good idea for an adventure story like the Seven Professors of the Far North series. Sometimes, he builds up a story from pictures and doodles, then adds words to make a picture book story.  He read The Day Louis Got Eaten, and showed how the story developed from the first sketches and ideas.

In both sessions, John and the children created a story from pictures  - with different children drawing pictures, choosing names for characters and working out what could happen next.  There were some scary-looking monsters by the end of the story!

John talked about how he uses models to help get the pictures to look absolutely right. Everyone loved the model of the plane he used to draw the Silver Turtle aeroplane, photographs at different angles made drawing much easier.  Equally fascinating was the model of the rock-climbing machine invented by Louis' sister Sarah - lots of people wanted to know how that worked too.

Everyone enjoyed the day and many people went off with new ideas for story writing - brilliant!