Check out these great book reviews by student librarians Ann Gifford and Evie Bremner

Every few weeks we have a new display of books in the library to engage tamariki with a range of books across our library. Last month was Books That Are Movies, and this month we have Autumn Celebrations with books about Easter and Ramadan and autumn. These books are all available to take home.

Due to COVID restrictions we are needing to be creative with our library space. Last week we started outside library with books and bean bags and sunshine. These library sessions will run on Rāhina, Rātu and Rāpare at lunchtimes (unless it's rainy) right outside the library doors. Day one was a huge success!

Introducing the wonderful student librarians for 2022 - wearing St Patrick's Day green. (absent - Eliza Rewi).
Student librarians help run the library at lunch time - returning and issuing books, writing book reviews and helping with our regular library displays, reading to younger students and being great role models for the library. 
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Summertime Reading Challenge Winner
Congrats to Anna Gifford who won the St Albans School prize pack for her entry in the Summertime Reading Challenge, run by Christchurch City Libraries. It was great to see so many entries from across the school this year.

We are ending the school year on a high in the library! Check out our new bilingual labelling (big thanks to the admin and TTRR team) and our new furniture, a low table and comfy cushions, which are proving to be very popular at lunchtimes.

And lastly a huge thank you to the student librarians who have been an amazing help in the library this year.

This week in the library we celebrate the wonderful research and publication skills of our senior students in Kāhu 16 who have produced a selection of resources about rivers across the world. 
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Thank you to Kāhu and to Wayne Matthews for sharing your books with us. They are on display and ready to issue this week you can find them anytime in our non-fiction section under Geography.

​THEN by Morris Gleitzman
REVIEWED BY AUDREY W
 
This book is set around the time of World War One and is the second in a series called Felix and Zelda.
Here is a quick summary:
 
A 10-year-old boy called Felix and a 6-year-old girl called Zelda are on a train bound for a Polish concentration camp! They manage to escape with their friend, who passed away from bullet wounds.

They find a woman called Genia who provides a home and new identity’s that will help them evade the NAZI’s. So they become Willum and Violetta, the Polish versions of their favourite book characters. Then disaster strikes and Felix finds himself alone among the company of Genia’s veteran husband. Does Felix have what it takes to survive the NAZI’s? Read this book to find out!
 
I recommend this book for ages 10 and over! This is only because it is a tragic book and will almost certainly make you cry, but also because I don’t think it would be a good idea to make younger children preadjust against Germans! And the fact that this story is truer than you’d think!
 
I give it a 5 star rating       

This term we have been buying lots of new books to represent everyone in the St Albans School whānau.

​We have some wonderful picture books for juniors and seniors, and non-fiction, and we are slowly building our bi-lingual book collection.

Any suggestions are welcome as we continue to bring the diversity of the world into our school library. Come and check out the new titles on display this week.

Author Belinda O'Keefe came to visit us this week, bringing with her a table full of vegetables, some fantastic green slime and wonderful readings for the whole school from her books.

Belinda is the author of  The Day the Plants Fought Back,  finalist for the Best First Book Award at the 2020 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, and the newly released chapter book, Partners in Slime,  which won the 2020 Tom Fitzgibbon Award. 

Belinda lives in Ōtautahi with her husband, two sons, two cats and four chickens, taking inspiration for her writing from her family's adventures.

Ngā mihi nui Belinda for sharing your love of storytelling with us.