THE EMERALD ATLAS book review by Bryney Blair, Rm 19

This book has a total of 417 pages and was published by Random House in 2010. This book is a sequel, the other two books are yet to be written.

The reason I decided to read this book, is that the book really grabbed me in the library. The title interested me, as well as a reviewer (Bob Docherty) came in to review a couple of books to interest all the students in the school.

The main characters are Kate, Michael and Emma. Kate is a headstrong girl looking after Michael and Emma. She is the oldest and trying to keep the family together, which is a hard job for someone who has no parents. Michael is 13 (Kate 14 and Emma 11) he has his head screwed on and is a wiz at taking notes in his notebook. Emma always thinks she knows best, but when Kate steps in, she backs down. They lost their parent when the kids were taken away at Christmas, ten years ago.

The book is an adventure/fantasy, which is set in the present time, however, this book doesn't state any locations that are in the real world. This book stated every detail of every inch of the setting, characters and it always speaks in the past tense, like it has just happened.

They were snatched from their beds in the dead of night, when the world was covered in snow. Ten years on, Kate, Michael and Emma have grown up in a string of miserable orphanages and all memories of their parents have faded.

Arriving at Cambridge Falls, the children quickly discover that there is something very strange going on......... With the discovery of an old leather book, an ancient magical prophecy is set in motion, which will take them on the adventure of several lifetimes to worlds outside their own. Only they have the power to save the town..... and their own future!

The outcome of the book ends with the children finally understanding a bit about their past and who their family is and where!

The book gripped me in many different ways. With its laughs and it's real life feelings and how the kids lost their parents, was a great way to start the book! However, my final thoughts on The Emerald Atlas is, in some points in the book, I wanted something extra to make me want to read on and in others, made me want to read the book forever! I give the book 5/5. It gripped me and fascinated me. In the end, all the good points out ruled all the bad! From reading this book, I learnt not to stop believing in something, because if you fight for it, you might win it back!

I would recommend this book to people who love fairytales coming into the real world, otherwise, this book is really not for you.

Bryney Blair

Thank you to Bryney for this wonderful review of the Emerald Atlas. I certainly want to read it now - I will just have to wait until it comes back into the library (it has been very popular)!

RIA THE RECKLESS WRYBILL written by Jane Buxton, illustrated by Jenny Cooper

We were lucky enough to have Jane Buxton, Author, visit us earlier in the year to talk about herself and read some of her books.

This is a lovely book, which is brought to life by the wonderful watercolour illustrations of Jenny Cooper.

According to Ria's parents, the most important a young wrybill must learn is how to stay still and silent whenever a predator is near. But Ria is a reckless wrybill, and she doesn't want to stay hidden in the river stones. The wrybill or ngatuparore is an endangered native bird that breeds on riverbeds in Canterbury and Otago. It is the only bird in the world with a bill that is bent sideways. Children will love this lively story about a feisty native bird.

THE BEAR AND THE WILDCAT

One morning, Bear was crying. his best friend, a little bird, was dead.

A beautiful picture book about loneliness, loss - and new beginnings.

One morning the bear was crying. His friend, the little bird, was dead. When the little bird dies, the bear is inconsolable. Full of grief, he locks himself in his house and ventures out again only when the smell of young spring grass blows through his window. He meets a wildcat and finally feels understood. As the cat plays on her violin, the bear remembers all the beauty that he has experienced with the little bird. Now he can bury his friend, because he knows he'll always have his memories.

This is a lovely story written by Kazumi Yumoto and beautifully illustrated by Komako Sakai both from Tokyo, Japan.

Reserve it now.

STUDENT LIBRARIAN - Emily, Room 19

My favourite book is: The Princess Diary

Written by: Meg Cabbot

I really like this book because: This book is my favourite book because I like romance books and this is a real romantic book!. It is interesting and doesn't have any pictures.

I would recommend this book to: The senior girls of KNS and to older readers that like romantic books.

THE BIPPOLO SEED AND OTHER LOST STORIES written by Dr Seuss

New to the library this week...
It's the literary equivalent of buried treasure -- seven newly-discovered stories by Dr. Seuss! The first new Seuss stories to emerge since 1990! The amazing stories are full of typical Seuss humour, rhyme and rhythm and are all beautifully illustrated. They include 'The Bippolo Seed,' in which a scheming cat leads an innocent duck to make a bad decision; 'The Rabbit, the Bear, and the Zinniga-Zanniga,' about a rabbit who is saved from a bear via a single eyelash; 'Gustav the Goldfish,' about a fish that grew and grew; 'Tadd and Todd,' a tale about twins; 'Steak for Supper,' about fantastic creatures who follow a boy home in anticipation of a steak dinner; 'The Strange Shirt Spot,' about a spot of dirt that gets everywhere; and 'The Great Henry McBride,' about a boy whose far-flung career fantasies were bested only by those of Dr. Seuss himself. The perfect book for any Seuss fan, young or old!

ALL BLACKS - WORLD CHAMPIONS OF THE RUGBY WORLD CUP 2011

They did it! The All Blacks beat France 8-7. I am sure that I am not the only one who has no fingernails left. It certainly was a nail-biter!

http://tvnz.co.nz/rugby-world-cup/video-richie-mccaw-lifts-webb-ellis-4481116

Richie McCaw (Captain of the AB's) with the Webb Ellis cup

Have you ever wondered who 'Webb Ellis' is? Watch the following link....

http://tvnz.co.nz/rugby-world-cup/legend-william-webb-ellis-video-4480402

RUGBY WORLD CUP 2011

Australia have just beat Wales 21 - 18 in the semi final, which means Australia finishes 3rd and Wales 4th, in the Rugby World Cup.

Sunday night is the Final game when New Zealand play France to decide who will win the cup.

GO THE ALL BLACKS - ALL THE WAY!

VIEWERS TO THE BLOG THIS WEEK

Pageviews by Countries
United States - 43
Australia - 15
New Zealand - 13
France -10
United Kingdom - 10
Malaysia - 7
Canada - 6
Russia - 5
Hong Kong - 3
Germany - 2

MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS written by Robert McCloskey

This is a lovely book purchased for our library which was first published in 1941. Many parents and grandparents may remember this book when they were your age.

Make Way for Ducklings is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey. First published in 1941, the book tells the story of a pair of mallard ducks who decide to raise their family on an island in the lagoon in Boston Public Garden, a park in the center of Boston, Massachusetts.

The book's popularity led to the construction of a statue by Nancy Schön in the Public Garden of the mother duck and her eight ducklings, which is a popular destination for children and adults alike. In 1991, Barbara Bush gave a duplicate of this sculpture to Raisa Gorbachev as part of the START Treaty, and the work is displayed in Moscow's Novodevichy Park.

FLOOD written by Jackie French and illustrated by Bruce Whatley

This is a lovely picture book that I am personally donating to our library. Whilst we have had our own natural disaster here in Christchurch, Queensland, Australia experienced a devastating flood in December 2010. This book has been written about the flood and has been donated to every primary school in Australia, with all profits going to the Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal.

This is a story that shows how strong and devastating flood water can be to homes and livelihoods. It is inspired by the 2011 Queensland floods but it could be about any of the disasters that strike our land, and the events that turn everyday Australians into heroes. Flood depicts water mercilessly ripping through Queensland towns and then receding, leaving destruction and devastation in its wake. Told from the perspective of a cattle dog who is separated from his family, Flood helps children to understand the affects of a traumatic natural disaster without being too confronting, while the story of the little tugboat that pushes a boardwalk out to sea, staving off further disaster, gives smaller children a hero they can relate to. Flood is a beautiful and timely expression of the strength of the Australian spirit during times of adversity.

ALL BLACKS THROUGH TO THE FINALS OF THE RUGBY WORLD CUP 2011

WOW! what a fantastic game to watch last night. The All Blacks were certainly the best team on the night, beating Australia by 20 - 6. Next Sunday night the country will be watching the All Blacks play France in the finals. Thank goodness it is Canterbury Show Day the next day, so we can all have a sleep-in the next morning!

THE BIG PUSH-OFF: All Blacks hooker Keven Mealamu fends off Wallabies No 6 Rocky Elsom.

GO THE ALL BLACKS - THE WHOLE COUNTRY IS BEHIND YOU!

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS MY TWO FRONT TEETH written by Don Gardner, illustrated by Katz Cowley, CD sung by Craig Smith

"All I want for Christmas, Is my two front teeth, My two front teeth; See my two front teeth, Gee if I could only have, My two front teeth, Then I could wish you, 'Merry Christmas'." Poor Monkey's two front teeth are missing! The Tooth Detective is on the case, but maybe Santa can help. All Monkey wants for Christmas are his two front teeth! Sing along with sensational performer Craig Smith with the CD recording plus bonus original track 'Toothless'!

THERE'S A HOLE IN MY BUCKET including CD sung by The Top Twins, Illustrated by Jenny Cooper

New to the library -

There's A Hole In My Bucket

The Topp Twins have opened a new chapter with their latest venture, a children’s book with CD of the classic song There’s a Hole in my Bucket

The Topp Twins’ toe‐tapping country take on the traditional song has a unique twist, with Jools singing the part of Henry, a hapless goat, and Lynda taking on the role of Liza, an exasperated duck. When Henry discovers a hole in his bucket, Liza offers a series of solutions to fix it, eventually looping the song back to the original problem. The characters have been brought to uproarious life with Jenny Cooper's hysterical illustrations.

WHITEBAIT - WHAT IS IT?

I thought that our overseas viewers may read our 'what will you be doing these holidays?' poll and wonder what 'whitebaiting' is.

New Zealand Whitebait - taken from Wikipedia

New Zealand whitebait are the juvenile of certain galaxiids which mature and live as adults in rivers with native forest surrounds. The larvae of these galaxiids are swept down to the ocean where they hatch and the sprats then move back up their home rivers as whitebait.
The most common whitebait species in New Zealand is the common galaxias or inanga, which lays its eggs during spring tides in Autumn on the banks of a river amongst grasses that are flooded by the tide. The next spring tide causes the eggs to hatch into larvae which are then flushed down to the sea with the outgoing tide where they form part of the ocean's plankton mass. After six months the developed juveniles return to rivers and move upstream to live in freshwater.
New Zealand whitebait are caught in the lower reaches of the rivers using small open-mouthed hand-held nets although in some parts of the country where whitebait are more plentiful, larger (but not very large) set nets may be used adjacent to river banks. Whitebaiters constantly attend the nets in order to lift them as soon as a shoal enters the net. Otherwise the whitebait quickly swim back out of the net. Typically, the small nets have a long pole attached so that the whitebaiter can stand on the river bank and scoop the net forward and out of the water when whitebait are seen to enter it. The larger nets may be set into a platform extending into the river from the bank and various forms of apparatus used to lift the net.

New Zealand Whitebait Fritters
Whitebaiting in New Zealand is a seasonal activity with a fixed and limited period enforced during the period that the whitebait normally migrate up-river. The strict control over net sizes and rules against blocking the river to channel the fish into the net permit sufficient quantity of whitebait to reach the adult habitat and maintain stock levels. The whitebait themselves are very sensitive to objects in the river and are adept at dodging the nets.
The New Zealand whitebait is small, sweet and tender with a delicate taste that is easily over-powered if mixed with stronger ingredients when cooked. The most popular way of cooking whitebait in New Zealand is the whitebait fritter, which is essentially an omelette containing whitebait. Purists use only the egg white in order to minimise interfering with the taste of the bait. Foreigners frequently react with revulsion when shown uncooked whitebait, which resembles slimy, translucent worms.
The combination of the fishing controls, a limited season and the depletion of habitat as a result of forest felling during the era of colonisation results in limited quantities being available on the market. Whitebait is very much a delicacy and commands high prices to the extent that it is the most costly fish on the market, if available. It is normally sold fresh in small quantities, although some is frozen to extend the sale period. Nevertheless, whitebait can normally only be purchased during or close to the netting season.

ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAY BREAK!

Well, we have all finished term three and now have two weeks off (hopefully in the sunshine!)

The Rugby World Cup has been fantastic to watch and the teams are playing off in the quarter finals.

Wales beat Ireland 22-10 and France beat England 19-12. So the Irish and English teams will be heading home.

Wales will play France in the Semi Finals on the 15th October (the two teams from the Northern Hemisphere).

Later today the Australian team will play South Africa and New Zealand will play against Argentina.

The winners of these two games will also play in the Semi Final (the two teams from the Southern Hemisphere).

Unfortunately, Dan Carter is out for the remainder of the Rugby World Cup but will be cheering on the All Blacks along with the rest of the country.

GO THE ALL BLACKS!

Have a great break and I will see you all again, rested and ready for our short 8 week term!

UPDATE: The All Blacks won their game against Argentina 33-10 and the Australians just beat the South Africans 11-9, which now means New Zealand plays Australia in the semi finals on the 16th October.

MARMADUKE DUCK AND BERNADETTE BEAR written by Juliette MacIver and illustrated by Sarah Davis

Fantastic news! a follow-on from Marmaduke Duck and the Marmalade Jam has just been published and due to be released soon. It has been pre-ordered and on it's way to us at KNS.

On Hollyhock Hill, at the very tip top,
Marmaduke Duck had a marmalade shop.
Marmalade jam, from the roof to the floor!
A matchless, marvellous marmalade store!

THIS WEEK AT KNS WE ARE CELEBRATING 'KAIAPOI HERITAGE WEEK'

We will have a colouring competition of Kaiapoi's 'TUHOE'. Colour yours for a chance to win a prize.





The History of the MV Tuhoe
The MV Tuhoe was built in Auckland in 1919 by George Nicol and was launched on April 7. It was a 97-foot, double-masted auxiliary schooner, constructed of triple skin kauri for the Northern Steamship Company, intended for navigating the harbours and rivers of Northland and the Coromandel. The ship was originally fitted with two 60-horsepower engines from Glasgow that had been salvaged from the ship, Eunice, which was lost the year before. The Tuhoe’s maiden voyage took place on May 1 1919, from Auckland to Whakatane and carried on to Tauranga.
It is named after the Maori tribe, Tuhoe, ‘the children of the mist’. According to Maori folklore, the Tuhoe tribe were the offspring of the mist-maiden Hine- Pokuhu and the mountain Maungapotahu who people the steep forested Urewera country, west of Gisborne.
During the Second World War, the ship was taken over by the New Zealand Navy before being sold to the small ships section of the United States Army. It sailed off the northeast coast of Australia and New Guinea, carrying supplies to assist the allies against Japan. It was designated USATS 132 by the US Army. Ships logs were not kept during the war due to security reasons, but some of the ship’s orders for the Tuhoe have survived. The war also meant it was fitted with two quick firing 50-calibre Browning heavy machine guns. In August 1944, she turned up at Townsville, marked ‘surplus, for return to New Zealand’ but someone changed their mind and she was returned to the operational area in October that year. During the war, her original engines needed replacing but marine engines were scarce and so for a number of months, she ploughed through the seas with two Chrysler truck motors attached before near-new diesel engines were found in 1944.
Following the war, she returned to New Zealand and continued trading from Auckland. Between 1956 and 1960, the Tuhoe was laid up three times then in August 1961, she was sold to T Eckford and Co, of Blenheim. She was towed from Auckland and then laid up in the Opawa River where it was found to be unsuitable for the Wairau river trade. She was then sold to the Kaiapoi Shipping Company in early 1962 and made her first visit to Kaiapoi in April of that year. In June 1963 she became stranded on the Waimakariri Bar but was refloated on 1 July. She sailed between Kaiapoi and Wellington trading until November 1963 when the roll-on, roll off ferries killed the trade from Kaiapoi. Initially she was converted to a line fishing vessel but a serious leak led to her being declared unseaworthy and she was laid up in Kaiapoi. For a time she was used as floating art gallery by owner Charles Williams but largely the Tuhoe remained stationary until October 1980, when the Cure Boating Club, Inc bought her for use as a clubrooms and restoration began by a group of eight dedicated people.
In 1982, the MV Tuhoe Preservation Society was formed and membership swelled to over 100. They leased the Tuhoe from the Cure Boating Club and began even more intensive restoration. The restoration of the ship for weekend river cruises recaptured its past, when it travelled fully laden with 100 tonnes of cargo, up the river and across the Waimakariri bar and out to sea and destinations far afield. The former cargo-hold became a place for purchasing refreshments and also housed a small museum of Tuhoe memorabilia.
In 2000, the hull was replaced during a two-month stay in Lyttelton following a Community Trust grant allowing the work to go ahead.
In late 2001, a dispute arose between the Tuhoe Preservation Society and the Cure Boating Club over money, which mediation failed to resolve. The result was that the Tuhoe Preservation Society was wound up and the lease returned to the Cure Boating Club after about two years of debate.
In late 2003, the Tuhoe was put up for tender and there were fears that it would be taken away from Kaiapoi. However, the Cure Boating Club accepted a joint amount submitted by Mainpower New Zealand and Kaiapoi Electricity, the lowest it was offered because it meant that the ship would stay in local hands. They then set up a trust, the MV Tuhoe Kaiapoi Rivertown Trust, and the ownership was transferred to them. Six trustees were appointed to manage the direction and future of the Tuhoe. Regular sailings of it resumed in June 2005.