Fun Palaces 3 and 4 October
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We are super excited to report that Fun Palaces are in Christchurch this year! Free, pop-up 'Fun Palaces' will be hosting exciting arts, science and culture activities for people of all ages and abilities. In the weekend of Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October (2nd weekend of the school holidays), we will be the first place in the world to get our Fun Palace on! You can win too - snap a selfie at any of the Fun Palaces and upload to your social media accounts with the hashtag #funpalaceschch and you are in the draw to WIN a bicycle worth up to $2,000!
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"Aunt Hortense says I try hard to be peculiar. But she’s wrong; I come by it quite naturally." ~ from Gennifer Choldenko's Chasing Secrets
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| Chasing secrets by Gennifer CholdenkoDespite the lack of science classes at her fancy finishing school, 13-year-old Lizzie Kennedy hopes to become a doctor. It's an unusual ambition for a girl in 1900, but Lizzie is smart and curious. That curiosity leads her to question the rumors of a bubonic plague outbreak in Chinatown, especially after Chinatown is quarantined and Jing (the Kennedys' cook and father to Lizzie's friend Noah) is trapped inside. Blending strange-but-true history with politics and mystery, Chasing Secrets will captivate readers of all kinds. For another visit to San Francisco with author Gennifer Choldenko, check out the Al Capone at Alcatraz series, beginning with Al Capone Does My Shirts. |
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| Sunny side up by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew HolmAn unexpected trip to her grandpa's Florida retirement community isn't the vacation she'd have picked, but for the summer of 1976, ten-year-old Sunny isn't given a choice. At least she manages to find a friend besides Gramps: Buzz, the superhero-obsessed neighbor kid, encourages Sunny's newfound love of comic books. Funny scenes of Buzz and Sunny's antics balance out more serious moments when Sunny flashes back to the troubling incidents with her brother that led to the last-minute change in her family's summer plans. Whether you're already a fan of the Holm siblings (creators of Babymouse) or you just appreciate upbeat, honest family stories, you don't want to miss Sunny Side Up. |
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The official Rugby World Cup 2015 fact file
by Clive Gifford
This official guide for younger readers contains everything they need to become true RWC2015 experts. There are easy-to-follow team and star player profiles. Illustrated with over 100 amazing images, all 20 finalists are featured together with profiles of star players including Chris Robshaw, Richie McCaw, Thierry Dusautoir and many more. You can read special features on the stadiums, complete the fill-in progress chart and solve the many fun puzzles, quizzes and games, all based around Rugby World Cup.
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| Shadows of Sherwood: a Robyn Hoodlum adventure by Kekla MagoonMischievous Robyn Loxley likes to explore Nott City at night, but one evening she returns home to find that she wasn't the only one sneaking around: her parents (along with other members of Parliament) have been kidnapped and the power-hungry Governor Crown has taken over the government. Clutching the handful of confusing clues her father left behind, Robyn flees to nearby Sherwood, where she meets several other parentless misfits, and together they begin to fight back against the Governor's control. Inspired by the tale of legendary hero Robin Hood, this action-packed near-future adventure is the 1st in the Robyn Hoodlum series. |
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| Firefly Hollow by Alison McGhee; illustrated by Christopher DeniseThey might be small, but the animals of Firefly Hollow dream big. Baseball superfan Cricket wants to become a famous catcher. Daring Firefly hopes to fly all the way to the moon. And Vole, the last of his kind, longs to sail away in search of his long-missing family. Along with Peter, a "miniature giant" (human kid) who recently lost his best friend, these three brave creatures follow their dreams, allowing readers to follow along both through the story and through the warm, colorful illustrations. Readers who love the human-animal friendships and bittersweet feeling of books like Kate DiCamillo's The Tale of Despereaux should be sure to pick up Firefly Hollow. |
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| The accidental afterlife of Thomas Marsden by Emma TrevayneThe note on the body ends with a warning: "Tell no one!" As grave robbers in Victorian England, 11-year-old Thomas and his father have dug up a lot of bodies, but this one is unusual - not only because of the note, but because it looks just like Thomas, right down to his birthmark. Determined to find the truth about the identical boy, Thomas is soon tangled up in a bizarre mystery involving faeries, spirits, séances, and secrets. Like Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, this creepy yet whimsical fantasy oozes with atmosphere and suspense. |
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Focus on: Looking at Nature and Animals |
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Watership Down
by Richard Adams
A phenomenal worldwide bestseller for over forty years, Richard Adams' spellbinding classic Watership Down is one of the best-loved novels of all time. Set in the beautiful English countryside of the Berkshire Downs, a once idyllic rural landscape, this stirring tale of adventure, courage, and survival follows a band of very special rabbits fleeing the destruction of their home by a developer. Led by a stout-hearted pair of brothers, they leave the safety of Sandleford Warren in search of a safe haven and a mysterious promised land, skirting danger at every turn. A book that resonates as vividly today as it did nearly half a century ago, this keepsake Oneworld Classic edition showcases more than twenty sumptuous, evocative paintings from Aldo Galli, an illustrator chosen by Richard Adams himself.
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Wild ideas: let nature inspire your thinking
by Elin Kelsey
Encourages readers to be creative about solving problems by looking at the ways that different types of animals find solutions to their dilemmas, and drawing ideas and inspiration from their innovative behaviour.
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Mission, tiger rescue: all about tigers and how to save them
by Kitson Jazynka
Saving our planet's most endangered and threatened creatures is the mission of this new, dynamic series from National Geographic that features an amazing narrative for each animal, plus an exciting layered design highlighting beautiful photography and amazing true stories of adventure with animals. A portion of the proceeds goes to support activities or research that will help save that animal.
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The evolution of Calpurnia Tate
by Jacqueline Kelly
Curious about the grasshoppers in her backyard in rural Texas, 11-year-old Calpurnia turns to her grandfather and avid naturalist for information and ends up with a newfound respect for the natural world, the way it operates, and the similarities it shares with her own life as the only daughter in a family with six brothers, in this coming-of-age tale set in 1899.
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White fur flying
by Patricia MacLachlan
A sad and silent 9-year-old boy finds his voice when he moves into a house across the street from a family that rescues dogs. By the Newbery Award-winning author of Sarah, Plain and Tall.
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Exploring nature's pattern magic
by Dee Pignéguy
Nature displays an endless variety of eye-catching patterns in a variety of form, colour and texture. Patterns help us understand how energy flows through nature's network of complex systems. Patterns show us how nature's organisms survive, how they make things and how life is organized and connected on our planet - Earth. Nature's patterns give us an introduction and understanding of mathematics. She packs efficiently, ties knots, builds columns, makes hexagons, uses spirals and nets and bubbles. But thinking about and seeing the mathematics of nature requires practice. So open your eyes and discover a new way of looking at the world around you.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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