I have created a new website for Queenspark School Library.
Please click here to view or go to the Library link on the Queenspark School webpage.
Ms. Hill 
29 May
New Website!!!!
18 Mar
NZ Book Month in March 2011!
[via Christchurch City Libraries' Kids' Blog]
… Here in Christchurch, we are not letting Mother Nature ruin our fun. Several events that we had planned for New Zealand Book Month are still going ahead and some of our fantastic New Zealand authors are blogging about their favourite New Zealand children’s books.
So tell Christchurch what your favourite New Zealand books are. Just click on the link below and add a comment at the bottom of that post. Any Christchurch kids (aged 8-12 years) who comment on the blog during March will go in the draw to win a selection of great New Zealand books.
Click the picture above for more information and terms and conditions.
Ms. Hill
18 Mar
Welcome back :)
A huge welcome back to our lovely Queenspark staff and students after a rather difficult few weeks. It is great to see so many of you back and smiling.
A big welcome to our visitors from neighbouring schools too – we hope that the Learning Hub in the old school hall is keeping you all going until your schools are back to safe state.
To the many wonderful children who were in the Library at lunchtime on February 22nd for the earthquake – well done! You did your job of ’drop-cover-hold’ beautifully. Our library is back up and running now and we are looking positively towards our future.
On that note, we have some great new books coming into the QSLibrary for all ages. Look out for the display of NZ Post Book Award Finalists and vote for your favourite book – yours could be the one that wins the Children’s Choice Award! Click this picture below to find a list of the finalists …
Stay safe
Ms. Hill
20 Feb
The VERY bad book by Andy Griffiths
Ha ha ha ha! Ooooh, it is bad. A VERY bad book!
Andy Griffiths delights in twisting humour and taking it as far as he can! If he can go that one step further … he will.
If you liked The Bad Book, it is more of the same. More funny cartoons, baaaaad jokes(!), rhymes, stories and pictures – this book has it all.
Put a reserve on it using Oliver and I’ll let you know when it is ready for you to collect.
Ms. Hill
20 Feb
The Peco incident by Des Hunt
The Peco incident is set on the Otago Peninsula around the small settlements of Harwood and Portobello, about 40 minutes from the centre of Dunedin. Having lived on the Peninsula during my high school years, I immediately felt at home with all the places Des Hunt describes – and boy does he describe them well!
This story is about two boys: Danny, who lives with his family in Harwood, and Danny’s cousin Nick who is visiting from the North Island. Danny is unsure about the visit, especially once he finds out that Nick has ‘forgotten’ his calming medication, Ritalin.
On their first day together the boys visit the Portobello Cafe and discover a disturbingly large amount of dead birds, mainly swallows, on the ground. The boys become curious and start to investigate more and soon the horror of the Peco egg farm is exposed and a strain of the bird flu is spreading like wildfire amongst the local bird population. Is it deadly for humans too? And what do Scottish tourists Brio and Roost have to do with it all?
The strengths of this gripping story are in the relationship between Danny and Nick, and in the suspense cleverly created against the stunning backdrop of the Peninsula and Tairoa Heads. Des Hunt is onto a winner here – by chapter 2 I was completely hooked!
As there are a couple of slightly ‘colourful’ words sprinkled through the book, I’d recommend it for ‘Senior Fiction’ and age 11+.
Ms. Hill
11 Feb
Hiding Edith by Kathy Kacer
Hiding Edith: A true story by Kathy Kacer
Hiding Edith is a true story about a young Jewish girl, aged around ten, who is trying to survive and make sense of World War II and the hatred that surrounds her. In order to survive the holocaust, young Edith Schwalb must move house (both with and without her family) and try to work out how to be Jewish while pretending to be someone else.
After moving from Austria to France, she ends up in a special boarding house for Jewish children in a town call Moissac. This town is unique because the non-Jewish people who live there keep the boarding house a secret from the Nazis. The Mayor of this town warns the children when a Nazi raid is coming and they pack up and go camping for a few days until it is safe to return.
Edith goes through many distressing times in her journey and she carries the reader with her every step of the way. I really enjoyed the way the photographs are sprinkled throughout the book as it made the people very real to me - I felt their fear, their pain and an overwhelming sense of injustice at what they were being put through. This is a well written book that gives a very real look at the life of a small girl caught in a horrible and terrifying situation.
This is a new addition to our QSLibrary bookshelves so check out the New Book shelves or have a look under KAC on the Older Fiction shelves. You can also reserve this book using OLIVER in our school library or in your classroom.
Ms. Hill
11 Feb
Farewell to Brian Jacques and Redwall [via Christchurch City Libraries Kids' Blog]
I was sad to learn today that the author of the Redwall series, Brian Jacques, died on 5 February 2011. Brian has written many books in the Redwall series, including Rakkety Tam, The Legend of Luke, Marlfox, and The Pearls of Lutra, as well as the fantastic Flying Dutchman series. Here are some interesting facts about Brian Jacques:
- He was caned by a teacher, who could not believe a 10-year-old could write so well, when he wrote a short story about a bird who cleaned a crocodile’s teeth.
- He left school at 15 and traveled the world as a merchant seaman.
- He wrote his first story, Redwall, for children at Royal Wavertree School for the Blind in Liverpool. Because the children were blind, he made his writing as descriptive as possible, painting pictures with words so that they could see them in their imaginations.
- He has worked as a railway fireman, a longshoreman, a long-distance truck driver, a bus driver, a boxer, a bobby (Police Constable), a postmaster, and a stand-up comic.
- He has sold over 20 million books worldwide and they have been translated into 29 languages.
We have lots of Brian’s books in the library for you to enjoy so come and borrow some to see why they are so popular.
Posted by zackids at Christchurch City Libraries – reposted with kind permission.
5 Feb
New Picture Books added this week:
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These books will be on the New Books shelves soon … Ms. Hill
3 Feb
Billionaire Boy by David Walliams
- Billionaire Boy by David Walliams
Funny funnyman David Walliams is at it again! He has written his third book (after The boy in the dress and Mr. Stink) and it is just as, well, David Walliams-ish! (In case you watch Little Britain on the TV, he is the tall one).
Billionaire Boy is about a boy, Joe Spud, whose father has gone from rags to riches by earning squillions of dollars making a fabulous new toilet paper. This has made Joe both one of the richest kids ever and the most bullied. Joe has no friends and is known as ‘Bum Boy’ and the ‘Bog Roll Kid’ at his frightfully expensive private school.
When Joe receives a £2,000,000 cheque for his birthday from his dad he confesses that in fact what he would prefer is a friend to share his life with. He moves to the local school posing as a ‘normal’ kid and meets Bob, a fellow ‘fatty’, with whom he forms a friendship. But nothing ever runs that smoothly …
David Walliams writes a very funny book. I loved his description of the curriculum at St. Cuthbert’s School for Boys: how to be beastly to servants, how to play Stately Homes Top Trumps, and how to step over the homeless person as you leave the opera!
So grab a copy from the QSLibrary (coming soon), OR if you want the free billion pound banknote inside the back cover all for yourself, you’ll have to buy a copy! It is an easy read – lots of pages but larger print so it won’t take you forever to read. Anyone 9+ should love this story.
Ms. Hill
3 Feb
Before and after!
Check out our NEW LOOK Library … Out with the blue, in with the new.
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30 Jan
EXTRAORDINARY! … Term One at QPS for 2011
How was your Christmas break?
Fun or boring?
Filled with excitement or just chillin’?
Leave a comment below telling me about anything EXTRAORDINARY that happened to you in the holidays and be in to win a prize to start your year. Leave your name and room number so I can contact you if you win.
If blogging is new to you, come and tell me instead. I’ve heard some great stories so far.
Ms. Hill
20 Jan
My quote for the day …
“Libraries remind us that truth isn’t about who yells the loudest but who has the right information”
(then Senator) Barak Obama at the American Library Association Conference June 27, 2005
19 Dec
School’s out for summer … Happy Holidays everyone :)
Don’t forget, summer is a fabulous time for reading and Christchurch City Libraries have a great summer reading programme. Click here to enrol in the Summertime Reading Club and be in to win an iPod Touch™. The first 500 entries win a prize pack.
Happy reading …
Ms. Hill
12 Dec
Merry Christmas to everyone from Ms. Hill
Click here to see Ms. Hill in her ‘other’ life as one of Santa’s elves.
Happy Holidays and I hope you all have a fabulous break.
To all our lovely students who are leaving (especially my Lead Librarians) I wish you all the best for your future.
Please keep in touch – I love seeing you going on and doing well!
To all returning students, have a great break and see you in 2011.
Ms. Hill
11 Dec
12 days of Christmas at Queenspark School (Junior)
As part of the 12 days of Christmas being celebrated in the junior school this year, the teachers needed a visiting storyteller. What an opportunity for Ms. Hill to grab her trusty horse, crowns, sword and magic potion and ride off to the rescue!!
A huge thanks to all my lovely Room 6, 7 and 8 helpers who put on their costumes and AHAAA! rode off on the adventure with me. Special thanks to Ryan, Tyrell and Evelyn for their fabulous roles as:
a Young and Handsome Prince, a Wily and Wicked Wizard, and the Snow Queen with the cold, cold heart!
You can see a photo of us in action up on the Library window and here …
Ms. Hill
7 Dec
Christchurch City Libraries
Join the Summertime Reading Club in 2010.
This very popular summer activity starts again on 17 December 2010 and runs to 21 January 2011.
Simply read six books of your choice — fiction or non-fiction — get an adult to register your reading online. The first 500 entries get a prize pack. You also go in the draw for more prizes and an iPod Touch.
Get in the reading habit and you will be ready for the Reading Crusade — coming your way in April/May 2011.
Continue reading
6 Dec
Picture Book of the Week: Mirror by Jeannie Baker
We have an amazing new book in our Library called Mirror. As borrowing is closing for the year on Wednesday 8th December, have a look at it on the New Books shelf and reserve it for next year. It is a wordless picture book exploring Australian and Morroccan life.
Click here for a link to Bob’s review of this book and two other picture books.
Ms. Hill
