Christmas Poster Competition

This week in the library we are having a competition to design a Christmas poster to go up in the library. Create a Christmas themed poster, give it to Mr McCallum and we'll draw the winners on Friday at the end of 2nd lunch. 

Thanks to Scarlett and Jessica in T22 for this awesome idea!

Winners of the Timmy Failure prize packs

Thanks to everyone who entered the Timmy Failure competition, especially Miss Harney and T25.  The two winners of the prize packs (drawn at random) are:

• Nathan - T23
• Tasmyn - T25

Congratulations! 

Keep your eyes peeled for more competitions coming soon.

Te Reo Singalong at the library

Today Huritini were treated to a special performance of te reo songs by Sharon and Alan Holt. Everyone loved their action-packed, fun show! Sharon is the author of the Te Reo Singalong books, a great series of stories in te reo maori that come with a CD of the song.  They are perfect for anyone learning te reo as you can listen to the CD to help with your pronunciation.

Here are a couple of photos from their performance:

We have each of Sharon Holt's Te Reo Singalong books in the library to borrow now.

Book Fair next week

Our Book Fair starts next Monday 21 November and runs through to Friday 25 November.  Make sure you come in and have a look at all the fantastic books that you can buy.

Geronimo Stilton will be visiting your classes on Monday morning to remind you about the Book Fair

Here are the times that the Book Fair will be open:

Monday                                  1:30-2:00      3:00-3:30      6:30-7:30
Tuesday        8:30-9:00          1:30-2:00      3:00-3:30
Wednesday   8:30-9:00          1:30-2:00      3:00-3:30
Thursday      8:30-9:00          1:30-2:00      3:00-3:30
Friday           8:30-9:00          1:30-2:00

On Monday night we have a special family event, called Books and Baking, when you can come along to school with your family, check out the books to buy and enjoy some yummy baking.  This runs from 6:30-7:30.

Remember that each purchase you make at the Book Fair helps us to get some great new books for the library.

Win a Timmy Failure prize pack

The Timmy Failure series by Stephan Pastis is one of my favourite series.  It has great characters, lots of comic illustrations and is absolutely hilarious.  I've got a really exciting prize to give away that fans of Timmy Failure will want to get their hands on.

 

I have two Timmy Failure prize packs to give away which include a copy of the new Timmy Failure book called The Book You're Not Supposed to Have, a bookmark, a Timmy Failure lanyard and a pair of Timmy Failure sunglasses.

To get your name in the draw you need to email me (zac.mccallum@halswell.school.nz) with your name, room number and the name of Timmy's polar bear sidekick. Teachers can enter too. You have until Friday 18 November to enter.

New Diary of a Wimpy Kid book

The new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, Double Down, is in the library now. We have 3 copies (which flew out the doors yesterday) so if you would like to reserve it please see Mr McCallum.  

Mr McCallum has a couple of free sample chapters of Double Down so if you would like one please ask him.

Soraya Nicholas visits the library

On Tuesday we had New Zealand author Soraya Nicholas visiting us at Halswell School.  Lots of you enjoyed meeting Soraya and are eager to read her books.  We have all of her Starlight Stables books in the library so if you want to reserve them please see Mr McCallum.

Here are some of the great things that Soraya Nicholas told us:

• She has been writing since she was 9.  She carried a notebook everywhere with her.
• Girls can do anything!  Soraya knew that if she set her mind to it she could get her books published.
• She wanted to see her name on a book but was told that she was more likely to get struck by lightning 3 times on the same day.
• Her dad told her that if she worked hard at riding school for a whole year that he would get her a horse.  She had to get up early every Sunday and be at the riding school at 7am.
• The best thing to remember when you are writing is make sure you have some conflict.  You need to have something going wrong for the characters.

Here are some photos of Soraya's visit:

Middle School series by James Patterson

Do you like Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Tom Gates? You should try James Patterson's Middle School series.  We have some of the books in the library, including the first book. 

Here is a book trailer that introduces you to the series:

The first book in the series, Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life, has been made into a movie that comes out here in NZ in January.  Keep your eyes peeled for a special giveaway of the movie tie-in book here on the blog soon.  In the mean time, check out the movie trailer.  Leave a comment and tell us what you think.