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!