Zayphoir, Cleo and Javan of Room 29 get their poems published!

Zayphoir, Cleo and Javan have had their ANZAC Day poems published in the June/July 2012 issue of the Upstart magazine!

What fantastic work. They received prizes in the post too.

You can give your school work, stories, poems , letters, jokes to Mrs Atkinson and she can e-mail them into Upstart. Upstart is a NZ children's magazine with contributions from children just like you all around NZ. It comes out every 2 months (so bi-monthly). It has competitions, games, book reviews, articles, recipes, the latest toys and movies - all sorts of fun things. We have 3 copies of every issue in the library. Come and haev a read today!

Book Review - Disgusting Dave and the Bucketful of Vomit

Book Review by Nawaz, Shaeez, Tayla, Minna and Frankie of Room 2

Title - Disgusting Dave and the Bucketful of Vomit
Author - Jim Eldridge

Dave went to school. Banger Batts is a bully who annoys Dave. On this day, Banger Batts tried to play a prank which involved the whole school. He vomits and blames the school dinner (lunch) for it. His dad is a lawyer who then decides to sue the school. Detective Kevin (a cousin of Dave) comes to investigate. The mystery is solved with the  help of  Dave's farting dog and Kevin.

Read this book! Room 2 loved it and they laughed and laughed! They are now reading "Disgusting Dave and the Farting Dog."

Goosebumps Horrorland - Welcome to Horrorland : A Survival Guide - Review by Daniel, year 7, Room 24

Reviewed by Daniel, Year 7, Room 24

Author = R.L Stine

Goosebumps Horrorland tells you how to survive in Horrorland. There are questions you can answer in the book. Horrorland includes places like Stagger Inn (see if you can stay a night here!), Black Lagoon Water Park (caution! Species lurking in the water!), Zombie Plaza (bring your mummy - I mean your money!),Vampire Village (try not to make a sound!)\ and Rides and Entertainment (try to stay OFF these rides!).
If you want to find out what the scary rides are, then read this book! We have lots of R.L Stine books in the library.

Kensuke's Kingdom - Reviewed by Rhonda, Year 7, Room 24

The book is interesting and it was a sad story. It is about a boy named Michael who floated to an island after falling from his parent's boat. And he went to sleep with his dog and when he woke up there was food there for him. He wanted to thank whoever gave him the food, so he wrote a message on the rocks to thank that person.
When he lit a fire, he saw an orangatan throwing sand on his fire and when the orangatan came close, it was actually an old man. And the old man told him to not light a fire anymore. Michael was afraid of the old man.  Michael liked the red bananas from the old man. Afterwards they became friends and the old man taught him how to paint and how to fish and one day the old man told him he he got onto the island. He told Michael he is Japanese and when he got to the island he learned how to survive by copying the orangatan and at the end the old man promised the boy that he'd go with him when a rescue ship comes. And when Michael's parents found him, the old man didn't want to go anywhere. He wanted to stay with the orangatans.
By Rhonda of Room 24 .

Rhonda's dad has also read the book! He took the book from Rhonda, so he could read it himself!!

**** Mrs Atkinson has read this too and LOVED it! And cried!!!*****

We LOVE books!

It is Valentine's Day tomororow. While I don't celebrate it (and think it is a waste of money personally!), I LOVE books. Books and reading  should be celebrated every day of our lives!
I thought I would show you some of my favourite books ever!

 Allen and Unwin is one of my favourite publishers ever! Every month I received a FREE book from them and all I have to do is read it and review it. This review then goes up onto their website - http://www.allenandunwin.com/ .

Look up these titles and you will find my review...

Trouble Twisters
A Song for Lorkie
Grumpy Little King
Darius Bell and the Crystal bees
The Road To Goonong
Paradise Trap
Vinnie's War
That's Not a Daffodil
The Girl Savage
Odd and the Frost Giants
Shake a leg


Some of my favourite EVER books :

"The Playground" Compiled by Nadia Wheatley is one of my favourite books at the moment. This is a collection about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia combined from memoirs and oral histories. Oral histories are when you talk about your own life. "We use the bush as our school and as our playground" says one of the authors. The warmth of home and family and the strength of the community shines through in the stories by both adults and students.
I think it is very important to know about all minorities and the Aboriginal community has a wealth of knowledge. A fantastic insight into a culture close to NZ.

"Are We There Yet? " is an Australian classic picture books that I think should be read by everyone! My 8 year old received a copy when he was 4 and can nearly recite it off by heart now. It is a journey around Australia and you learn so much about the geography, famous landmarks etc - a fantastic introduction to an amazing country!

"Two Summers" is a book about the great cycles of nature  - it is set on a farm and relays the story about the same farm, same friend coming to visit but to a totally different landscape. The ravages of drought can be so terrible.

"Baa Baa Smart Sheep" is hilarious when read to classes. A New Zealand book written by Mark Sommerset, it tells the story of a smart sheep and apile of poo....

Roland Harvey is also an Australian author and he writes about the beach, in the city, in the bush etc. All of his titles are beautifully illustrated and a bit like the "Where's Wally" books, in that there is a lot to look at and find in the pictures. They always teach you about Australia and the land, animals etc - I love all of the series.
- "In the City" , "At the Beach", "In the Bush."

I think picture books are totally under -rated and we ALL need to read more of them - yes even year 7/8!!!
There are "Sophisticated Picture Books" written for older children too - but that is another post! (and a whole library lessons session!)

 "Are We There Yet?"

 Roland Harvey books

 "Two Summers"

Mark and Alex's Book Review

Mark (Year 4 ) and Alex (Year 3)  read this Gagana Samoa book in the holidays. They then wrote me this in the library - well done!

Mrs Atkinson's Summer Reading

What did you read these summer holidays? Come and show me the book and tell me about it and I can put a little book review on this blog!

What did I read? Lots and lots!!

My very very favourite author at the moment is Michael Morpurgo. He is English and has written many, many books! I am trying to buy everyone of his at home! I was lucky and got a small pile of his books for Christmas too.

You might know "War Horse" that is currently on at the movies? Have you seen it? Well it was book before it was a movie and it is written by Michael Morpurgo!!

 "War Horse" is written from the horse's point of view. His lovingly looked after by a young lad called Albert. Albert trains the horse Joey to be a working farmhorse and has a very close relationship with it. One day Albert's Dad sells the horse, leaving Albert totally distraught. Joey is sold to the army and goes off to fight in a horrible war. Albert meanwhile joins the army as soon as he is old enough and becomes a vet assistant. he never gives up on trying to find Joey, It is a powerful story of friendship and highly recommended

 A much quicker read of Michael Morpurgo's is "Not bad for a Bad Lad." This is written as a recount about a young boy remembering his life. He is seen as a bad lad, a trouble maker at school. He does discover that he is good at playing the drums. He leaves school and 14 and has a troubled life of stealing and is eventually sent to borstal ( a home for naughty children!). here he discovers the stable and starts looking after a horse called Dombey. This helps keep him out of trouble but the horse is sold to the army. The lad is let out of borstal for good behaviour and one day joins up to the army. he finds Dumbey again and the story end beautifully!

 Want to know all about bee pollination and how a class of students help re-pollinate plants for the dying bees? read about a horrilbe teacher who thinks she can blackmail her students to win a big competition and an even more nastier mayor? "Darius Bell and the Crystal Bees" is the book for you! Odo Hirsch was born in Australia and now lives in England. He is a master story teller and we have several of his books in the library as pictured below!

 All the "Wild West Gang" stories by Joy Cowley have been published into one book! Great for reading a shortish story all at once! One of my favourite New Zealand authors! Joy also writes picture books - we have many in the library too!

Another of Michael Morpurgo's books - we have a class set for years 7-8. This made me cry!! it is a MUST read!!! About a young boy who is swept overboard from his parent's yacht and how he is marooned on a desert island.

So that is just a few that I read. The teachers all read books over the holidays too, so hoepfull we will ahve some reviews from them on here soon too!

Charlie and Kiwi - a new picture book

  We have a lovely new picture book "Charlie and Kiwi", written by Eileen Campbell. Charlie has to write a report for school on a bird. He wanted something different and a little surprising. His parents bought him back a stuffed kiwi from a holiday in New Zealand.Charlie wanted to know why a kiwi was so different to other birds, so he asks his stuffed kiwi. Suddenly they are zooming through space, back in time to discover all about kiwis.

 Way back in time. They go on a journey through evolution to discover how the first birds evolve into thousands of kinds of birds.

 We find out birds evolved from dinosaurs! And learn all about kiwis along the way. It is full of great information.

The book is written in conjunction with the New York Hall of Science - New York City's hands-on science centre. They help to promote science and technology as important tools that help us understand ourselves and the world in which we live!

Come and have a look at this new book! It is fantastic that a book about kiwis has been published by a USA publisher!


Mrs. Atkinson

Native Flora and Fauna (Plants and Animals)

This term we will be studying native flora and fauna (plants and animals). These are plants and animals that are native to New Zealand and occur naturally - they havenot been bought into New Zealand.

In the library we have lots of non-fiction books on plants and animals of NZ.
We also have lots of amazing picture books on plants and animals of NZ that you can read. When you learn about a new topic, you can read both non-fiction and fiction books on the topic.
The photos below show just a few picture books that showcase NZ flora and fauna. These can be read by everyone all the way up to year 8.

Welcome to Robertson Road School Library Blog!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you found some good books to read over summer. I most certainly did!
We opened the library from January 16-25 and had a few fantastic readers visit us!

Moeata ; Maria H ; Peter-Ray ; Raymond ; Siu ; Patrick ; Reece ; Logan ; Kisione and Vincent.

Well done to you all - Mr Nicholls is very proud of you all for visiting the library in the holidays.

I have been busy sorting out and covering many, many, many new books! We have SO MANY new books, it is hard to find places to put them all! Everywhere you look, there are new books! YAY!

I haev also been making up new fiction series boxes. Each box is face out, so it is very visual for you all and has one or more series in the box. This makes it a lot easier for you to find your favourite series faster!

Happy reading!  See you all on January 31st.

Mrs. Atkinson