As some of you might have discovered, the library server ate my website and the library database.
Here's a lesson for you all — SAVE — SAVE — SAVE!
Fortunately, I am an obsessive saver so the library was back within the hour and my website was moved onto the school web server and given a new address.
Unfortunately, I cannot post images yet so you will have to be satisfied with plain text messages.
National Library for books and other resources. You can borrow some these through your school library.
Matapihi for pictures, sound recordings, movies and texts held by a number of museums, art galleris and libraries around New Zealand.
the Ranfurly Collection collection of drawings, photographs, diaries and reports of Lord Ranfurly, Governor of New Zealand 1897 – 1904.
the recently rebuilt church at Rangiatea, which was the oldest Anglican Māori Church in New Zealand until it was tragically destroyed by fire in 1995. This website celebrates the unique history of Rangiātea.
The Māori magazine Te Ao Hou (The New World) which was published from 1952 to 1975. All 76 issues are available free online and are fully searchable.
Timeframes which is an online database of more than 69,000 images from the Alexander Turnbull Library collections.
The Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand (1868 - 1961) which is one of New Zealand’s most important research publications, particularly for science.
National Library digitised photographs on Flickr in June 2007 organised in themes.
Papers Past which contains digitised pages from New Zealand newspapers and periodicals published between 1839 and 1932. It covers 52 titles from throughout New Zealand.
Sir Donald McLean's papers have been digitised and can be searched on the Manuscripts & Pictorial website.
by Rebecca Promitzer. Chicken House, 2009. The Pickle King stars a gang of unlikely friends thrown together one wet summer in the small town of Elbow, famous for only two things: chilli pickle and rain. Already bored, they hope something will turn up, but what none of them expect is a real-life dead body with a missing eyeball!
Fever Crumb
by Philip Reeve. Mortal engines series Scholastic, 2009. Set a generation before the events of Mortal engines, when cities are just beginning to devour each other. Foundling Fever Crumb has been raised as an engineer even though females in the future London are not believed capable of rational thought, but at fourteen she leaves her sheltered world and begins to learn startling truthsabout her past. Is the mystery of Fever the key to the secret that lies at the heart of London?
Blood ties
by Kevin Emerson. Oliver Nocturne series Scholastic Australia, 2009. The Nocturnes are visiting their family in Morosia, but Oliver Dean and Emalie have their own plans to discover the truth about Emilie's mum's disappearance.
The sunlight slayings
by Kevin Emerson. Oliver Nocturne series Scholastic, 2009. Oliver thinks he has lost the only real friends he ever had, but when Dean turns up as a zombie and Emalie my have vampire slaying powers they must solve the puzzle before they are turned to dust.
The dread pirate Fleur & the ruby heart
by Sara Starbuck ; illustrated by Adam Relf. Red Fox, 2009. Fleur’s father tells her a terrible secret and after she is orphaned she has little choice but to join her estranged uncle, William Hart. William is a ruthless pirate and Fleur is thrust into life on board the pirate ship.
The singing cave
by Margaret Beames. Scholastic, 2009. Tom's parents have taken a research job on an idyllic Pacific Island. It sounds great, but Tom's not enjoying it very much until he makes friends with Pero, who tells him of a strange tale regarding the singing caves. It seems that those who venture in don't ever come back. Tom dares Pero to go in and when he disappears, Tom holds himself responsible. Tom decides he must go into the cave either to find Pero or face whatever the caves might bring.
We want to help create motivated and engaged young readers. This blog is about children's and YA literature (especially New Zealand), literacy research, and ways to get, and keep, kids reading.
By Nette Hilton and Vincent Agostino. Published by Hachette, 2009.
This sophisticated picture book is filled with colourful images that compliment the larger than usual text; your eyes are immediately attracted to the layout, positioning and size of the words on each page. You, the reader, are drawn into a child's world" a young girl, and from the first page you are consciously aware that the child is describing what she can see in the garden.
On the second page, the reader becomes more aware that the girl is looking outside a window but while she is interested in what is happening in the garden - the reader - is given another thought the girl is thinking - "What are we doing here?"
The book continues with what the girl can see, and what she knows of music, and as the reader progresses through the pages we are as aware as the girl...she is deaf and is learning to hear sound through a cochlear implant in her ear.
I hope I haven't spoilt disclosing the ending to readers but I thought this book sensitive to the way in which hearing sound for the first time would be to anyone who has been hearing impaired.
The contrast between observing a silent world and experiencing sound combined with the fabulous images could be the start of some interesting discussions in the classroom.
