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The Wonkey Donkey - my choice for Junior Picture Book & my prediction for Children’s Choice - it’s the most talked about and sung about book I’ve ever encountered while working as a children’s librarian!!

Cry of the Taniwha - for Junior Fiction - as well as great characters and plot the metal detector had me fascinated throughout (and I want one) and I just loved recognising the local Rotorua landmarks in the setting (which is a one hour drive from my home)

Willie Apiata, VC: the Reluctant Hero - for Non-Fiction - both the NZ & overseas content were so incredibly interesting that I just had to keep reading - down to earth, inspirational, very moving and it made my Kiwi pride soar

Hello blog - it’s been a while - I’ve been sidetracked lately with exciting happenings at Greenpark Library.  We’ve recently upgraded our Softlink library program from Alice to Oliver and it is superb - especially Ollie for the students.  I’ve run a “Don’t Bug Me I’m Reading” enrichment group for 12 senior “keen as” readers who I’m certain devour books for breakfast, lunch and tea.  And we’ve also just hosted a Scholastic Book Fair which saw our library transform into a buzzing bookstore for a week.  Our families shopped with great enthusiasm and the fund-raising benefits proved very worthwhile to our library and students  - plus I quite enjoyed a stint in the world of retail.  We finished our book week off on a high note with a Fancy Dress Book Character Parade - we had over 800 students & staff parading fabulous costumes.  For almost an hour our stage was a moving sea of colour and laughter celebrating the wonderful world of children’s literature - that has to be as good as it gets!!

Boot Camp - by Todd Strasser - a novel set in an American boot camp where parents send their wayward teenagers to be well and truly sorted out - definitely for teenage students who like to read something gritty, gory, gutsy.  This book makes compulsive reading and at the end actually gives horrific facts, figures and casualty info on real-life American & Canadian boot camps.  Scary stuff!!

Bang, bang, you’re dead!  by Narinder Dhami - a teenage psychological thriller again more suited to older teenage students who like a chilling read - sort of a who dunnit with a twist.  This one made me think of Ken Catran’s Talking to Blue - both books took me slightly out of my comfort zone but that isn’t a bad thing.  Unusual and well written.

After reading six of the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz ages ago I decided it was time to read one of the Cherub series - Robert Muchamore  and one of the Alpha Force series - Chris Ryan and yes I enjoyed them very very much and can understand why they are hot picks for so many students.  They are just so action packed, full of gadgets and gripping!!

I also returned to John Marsden and read Circle of Flight - the Ellie Chronicles .  I enjoyed wrapping up the story after reading the Tomorrow series years ago.  I was lucky enough to see John Marsden speak about his work a couple of years ago at the Tauranga Arts Festival.  I was just so impressed with his “very pro-young people - you go for it - you can make it happen” attitude.  The teenagers in the audience appeared to hook in immediately - they asked him a great range of fascinating questions - and he responded from the same headspace!!  No wonder his books are so well read.

Take time out this month to enjoy the magic of Christmas stories.

On 11 November I was very privileged to attend the conferral of an Honorary Doctorate on Dame Lynley Dodd by the University of Waikato.  It was held at Mills Reef Winery, Tauranga and was a very elegant evening.  It opened with an academic procession (which included Dr Tessa Duder) followed by Rt. Hon. Jim Bolger ONZ, Chancellor and Professor Roy Crawford, Vice-Chancellor conducting the formalities.  Some quotes from the listed speakers really appealed to me so I will share those with you.

Doctor Lynley Dodd’s address to her guests was a delight to listen to.  She described her thirty-six years of work as “indulging myself in dog-eral and cat-eral”.    Professor Margaret Carr spoke on the Literary Impact of Hairy Maclary and stated “her books increase the likelihood that parents will read to their children”.  Professor Alexandra Barratt  described Dr Lynley Dodd’s writing as a collection of “delicious rhymes and fascinating curious words”.

During an informal part of the evening Dr Lynley Dodd read aloud a mysterious letter (which she had received?) written in a very familiar rhyme and style and the sender suggested that perhaps the honour would be more rightfully bestowed on himself!! - we were then introduced to Dr Hairy Maclary (a soft cuddly toy standin) complete with red/black academic gown and black cap - he was so so cute and the guests very tickled!!

My favourite words of the evening describing the work of Dr Lynley Dodd, DNZM came from Professor Roy Crawford, Vice-Chancellor -

“Children’s literature across the world is richer because of her”.

Posted by Wendy Ballard

“WOW” - Fleur Beale’ s 2008 novel transported me late into the night two evenings running.  A teenager put it under my nose and said “you should read this” - the highest recommendation going.  After a few pages I decided that I would have to read it quickly if I was going to be able to resist the urge to read the ending before finishing the body - always a sign for me that I’m into an exceptional book.

Setting - the 21st century world is in self destruct mode and in response to this a select group of 500 people are sent to a remote island with a biodome.  They are the Taris Project.  In theory this community will be self-sufficient, self-perpetuating, self-preserving.  But in reality …….

There are many themes within this book such as sustainability, freedom of choice, power, deception, genetic engineering, going against the tide and more.  For me the wordsmith fan the intrigue lies in ‘what will happen to this community who have had everything containing the written word confiscated from their everyday lives?’  There are no books, noone is taught to read, oral history gets dodgier by the day …..  it appears that people denied knowledge become people with no identity and no concept of choice.  Thank goodness for Juno and the other rebels in Taris society.  Best not say anymore - read it - you won’t be disappointed.

It’s right up there with some of my other favourites -The Giver / Lois Lowry,  City of Ember series / Jeanne Duprau, Inkheart / Cornelia Funke,  Ender’s Game /  Orson Scott Card

Attending the SLANZA (School Library Association NZ Aotearoa) Turning Heads Conference in Christchurch Sept 28-30 was a brilliant experience.  The keynote speakers were exceptional and inspiring - the workshops which I had selected gave me practical & relevant ideas to bring home to my own school library – particularly on blogging, displays, running book clubs, electronic resources and library homepages -  the mystery dinner was an absolute hoot! - the on-site accommodation at Rangiruru Girls just great - and meeting many of the 220 delegates along the way the highlight.  I can now put friendly faces to many names in the NZ School Library Profession.  Plus the Christchurch spring flowers were spectacular.

I highly recommend the SLANZA Conference Experience for the great professional development and networking opportunities - and most importantly for the students using our libraries who benefit greatly from the new ideas, skills, resource knowledge and inspiration which we bring back and pass on through our work.  

Speakers and workshops which I attended  (and a comment from me in just a word or two!!)

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Fantastic work with your website etc - we love it here at Tauranga Primary !!!!!! and will put up a link from our school website

Fantastic!! This will save hours and hours of surfing. I’m bookmarking this for all teachers and pupils in my school.

Thanks Wendy, this looks a great site for us at Starship, as our students are often in need of quick links to get information about a topic.  Thanks so much.

I had a test-run of your site this afternoon and was impressed with how it went. I have a keyword sheet I am going to do with a group and had checked out the encyclopaedias for all the answers, but decided I’d do a similar exercise using your website. I managed to find all but one of the answers and that one I also couldn’t find in the encyclopaedias! Obviously, I have only scratched the surface, but thought I’d drop you an email before I forgot. It’s always nice to get feedback

WOOOOOWWWWW!!!!! What a fantabulous site, such an amazing job- well done. You are an inspiration

Jessie from the Royal Society of New Zealand here! Congratulations on your website. Cool!!!! OK if I put the word out for you? I send out a regular newsletter called  “HeadsUp”

Congratulations on a SUPERB site, Wendy. It has been hard to drag myself away from it!

I am the Principal at Victoria Avenue Primary in Auckland. I just wanted to thank you for your email and say congratulations on a job well done!

… I am the D.P. at Keith Street Primary School, in Wanganui. We are a decile 2 school and have Mimio Boards (interactive)  in all our senior classes. We have forwarded your email to all our staff and will discuss this at our next catch up meeting. Good Luck with your wonderful idea.

What a fabulous resource you’ve created with Infoblitz!  I’ve bookmarked it, so that I can draw school librarians’ attention to it. You’ve managed to keep it simple, but by using good web design, lots of graphics, and plenty of white space, it has a lovely fresh clean look and I’m sure will be very appealing to all the levels of user you’ve set it up for. Well done!  I guess the next bit will be keeping it current. (more…)