Happy New Year!

A Happy New Year to you all and let's make 2010 the best year yet for reading.

Many of you have already made a good start by reading lots of different things over the school holidays, everything from Twilight and Beast Quest, to annuals like the Beano, to the instructions on your new computer game.

There is a display of Scottish writing in the library at the moment. We are looking at books written about Scotland, in Scots and in English, by writers who are Scottish or are living and working in Scotland. Some of the titles might surprise you, others will be well known. Have a look and borrow anything that you would like to read.

Remember the Scots Verse competition will be happening soon - why not get a head start?

Lots of us have been borrowing books for reading over the school holidays. If you would like to borrow some extra books, remember the library will be open on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday lunchtimes next week.


If you have books sitting at home that you haven't got round to reading yet, bring them in and exchange them for something new.

Mark Walden's visit to Primary Seven

Primary Seven had a fantastic morning with Mark Walden, author of the H.I.V.E. series of books. Mark talked about his ideas and inspirations and his own way of looking at the world. Why are there lots of Evil Geniuses, for example? Why no Heroic Genius? Are villains naturally more intelligent? - Otto Malpense would definitely agree with that notion!

Mark has an encyclopaedic knowledge of film and storybook villains, there didn't seem to be a single one he hadn't come across at some time.

The H.I.V.E. stories themselves are exciting, funny and a very very good read. We hope you all enjoy reading them. The fifth book in the series Rogue is due out in 2010. We are all very grateful to Mark's publishers Bloomsbury who made this visit possible.

And I'm going to be reading Dreadnought over the holidays....

Mark Walden visit

Ever wondered where young supervillains go to school?

Mark Walden, creator of the HIVE series of books, is to visit Primary 7 classes on Wednesday 2nd December 2009.

HIVE is the Higher Institute of Villainous Education, training school for the supervillains of the future, home to Otto Malpense and his friends Wing, Laura and Shelby. Follow their adventures as they learn how to outwit every instructor and security guard in the school, not to mention the much easier job of evading the official forces of law and order. With explosions and excitement galore, and the occasional man-eating plant to contend with, life at HIVE is never quite what it seems!

Check out Marks's blog at www.markwalden.net and also www.hivehub.co.uk - which HIVE stream will you belong to?

Royal Mail Book Awards

The Royal Mail Book Awards were announced this week by the Scottish Book Trust. These awards are given to the best book published in Scotland each year. Children all over the country can take part and vote for their favourite book in each category.

The Early Years winner (0 -7) is John Fardell Manfred the Baddie.

The winner for Younger Years (8 -11) is Lari Don First Aid for Fairies and other Fabled Beasts.

You can find out more about the Royal Mail Book Awards at www.scottishbooktrust.com.

Theresa Breslin visit

Primary Five had a wonderful afternoon with award-winning author Theresa Breslin on 3rd November.

Theresa talked about her DreamMaster series of novels and how she built the characters in the stories. The session had lots of audience participation, with dressing up, helping to act out different feelings and looking at book covers in lots of different languages. Book posters were available as highly sought-after prizes.

You can look at Theresa's website at www.theresabreslin.co.uk

The school website has information about theresa's visit to the Senior school and some photographs too at www.hutchesons.org

Welcome back!

We hope you all had a good summer and that everyone is settling back into school for the new academic year.

Everyone is welcome in the library at lunchtimes on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 12.30pm and we look forward to seeing you all.