Roald Dahl Day Competition

To celebrate Roald Dahl Day and the 50th anniversary of the publication of James and the Giant Peach, why not enter our library competition?

All you have to do is listen carefully to the five recordings.
Next, write down the book character you think is being described.
Then work out who is the teacher doing the reading.
Remember to put your name and class on your entry form.

Good luck and listen very carefully - it's not as easy as you think!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to a new school year. It is lovely to see you all and hear your news.

Library discussion times have been full of talk about all the marvellous books you have been reading over the summer. I will have a huge list of recommendations by the end of this week, thank you to every one who has given me ideas for my reading pile.

There are a lot of library events planned for this year, look out for visits from authors and illustrators, Book Week next term, and a book fair where you can buy new books to keep.

Run Rabbit Run

This is a family story set during the Second World War. The story of Lizzie and her younger brother Freddie is quite different from many of the stories we are all familiar with. Lizzie's mother has been killed when a bomb landed on the shop where she worked. Her father is refusing to fight in the war because he doesn't believe in fighting, nor does he want to leave his children. Eventually, the call-up papers arrive, his appeal is turned down, and the choice is to fight or go to jail. Mr Butterworth takes the third option - to go on the run, and he takes his children with him. The family move to an alternative community in Gloucestershire where they are made welcome, but they are unable to stay after local police become suspicious and have to move on again.

This is an exciting story as the family have several narrow escapes, they meet some amazing people. The book also gives a different picture of how life was for many people during World War Two, but also has much in common with books about evacuees and the constant anxiety suffered by families left behind when the men go to fight.

If you liked Carrie's War, or Goodnight Mr Tom, try this too.

The Sisters Grimm

Sabrina and Daphne Grimm have run away from countless foster homes since their parents disappeared eighteen months ago. When Granny Relda turns up to claim them as her grand-daughters, the girls are amazed and suspicious. How come they didn't know they had a grandmother? Who is she really? And why on earth does she lock up her house with 12 different keys?

Life really is different in the small town of Ferryport Landing. With a cast of characters ranging from Prince Charming to the Three Little Pigs, many fairy tale characters you will have met before - and hundreds you won't know, there is plenty for the Fairytale Detectives to get their teeth into.

This is great fun to read, and if you like it you could spend hours following a reading trail finding the original stories. If you would like to read more like this, you could try Ian Beck's books about Tom Trueheart, Lyn Gardner's Into the Woods, or just watch Shrek!

Book Week 2011 Keith Charters

Primary 6 pupils were the hosts when Keith Charters came to chat about books, writing, publishing and anything else interesting. A great time was had by all, as we were royally entertained, informed, and read to - all just perfect for a Friday afternoon.

Keith has a new book of his own out this year, Lee on the Dark Side of the Moon. This is the fourth story about the irrepressible Lee and his daft adventures. This time Lee is on a trip to the moon because he won a competition on the back of a cereal packet. Lee obviously eats more exciting cereal than I do! After an uneventful flight, Lee and his fellow astronauts find that all is not well on the surface of the moon - someone (or something!) else is also on a lunar trip....

As usual, the book is exciting, funny, silly and great fun to read, and includes a lot of fascinating facts of interest to every budding space traveller - well ,what is the food like? and how do you go to the toilet in zero gravity? All this and more is explained as Lee gets to grips with life on board the rocket.

Keith also told us about some of the new books his publishing company has recently brought out and we will be looking out for these soon too. There may also be another Lee book, but no date on that one yet!

Book Week 2011 Katie Grant

We were delighted to welcome Katie Grant back to school this year to speak to Primary 7 pupils about writing, and story, and ideas, and the power of words. We had a very entertaining morning, with plenty of information about stories and how Katie goes about writing and working out plots, and all the research that goes along with making a book historically accurate - or as accurate as possible.

The de Granville trilogy, Blood Red Horse, Green Jasper and Blaze of Silver are regularly borrowed from the library, although after Katie's talk the hangman Ned Skinslicer had by far the longest waiting list!

Belle's Song is Katie's newest book and has only just been published. This one is set in the time of Geoffrey Chaucer and looks at his life from a rather different point of view, as the heroine Belle joins a pilgrimage to Canterbury....

Book Week 2011 Alan Burnett

For a wee change from authors of fiction, we invited Alan Burnett along to school to talk about his information books, in particular, his biographies of famous Scots. Primary 4 and Primary 5 children are studying the Scottish Wars of Independence and Mary Queen of Scots, so Alan's visit was perfectly timed to give us all an insight into some of the important people involved.

Alan did two tremendous sessions, full of fascinating facts about people in Scottish history and the times they lived in. Everyone loved his version of a timeline - with year 0 at the library window, Ancient Egypt across the playground, and the dinosaurs miles and miles down the road! All the children were fascinated by his talk, and Alan kept them all awake and involved by firing out questions - and there were some brilliant answers! He was very impressed.

Alan has two new books coming out in the summer. Both deal with true stories from Scotland during the First and Second World Wars. We are looking forward to seeing these books soon.