Posts tagged history

Lest we forget: Remember the fallen on ANZAC Day

April 17, 2012 · Filed under Celebrating New Zealand, Children, History, New Zealand, War · Tagged , , , , , ,

ANZAC Day is celebrated in Australia and New Zealand on 25 April.  It is a time when we remember New Zealanders and Australians who fought in wars around the world. We might attend a dawn service and parade, talk to older relatives about their memories, buy and wear a red poppy, make ANZAC biscuits, and remember our family members who fought in wars.

We have a great kids webpage that you can check out for anything you would like to know about ANZAC Day and Gallipoli.  You’ll find fast facts, links to books and resources that the library has on ANZAC Day, and links to some great websites with extra information.

On Friday I’ll be talking about some of my favourite ANZAC books, including A Rose for the ANZAC Boys, The Ghosts of Iron Bottom Sound, When Empire Calls and The Red Poppy.

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If you could time travel where would you go?

April 10, 2012 · Filed under Children, History, War · Tagged , , ,

Books can make you wonder what it would be like to live in a different time and place.  Some stories are set in a particular time in history or are about a historical event.  The My Story books are great because they take you back to a specific time in history and let you know what it was like to live in that time, through the diary of a boy or girl who lived then.  They show you the sights, sounds, and smells of that time period, which is quite different from ours.

If you could time travel, what time would you like to visit or what event would you like witness?

 

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My Story: Below the Mountains by Jean Bennett.

September 7, 2011 · Filed under Books, Children, History, New Zealand · Tagged , , , , ,

Below the Mountains is about fourteen-year-old Amy McDonald, who lives in Lumsden with her mother and her seven-year-old brother, Bruce. Amy’s father is a mechanic in the Milford Road Camps, and she knows that her mother wants to join him there.
One day the McDonalds get a letter from Milford Sound, saying that they have permission to join their father in the camp. They drive to Cascade Creek camp, leaving their home and friends behind. When they arrive Amy immediately realises how dangerous the camp is. It’s freezing cold, and a very fast river rushes past the camp.
They soon move again, setting up camp near Falls Creek. “The camp looks like a scene from a war film,” Amy writes in her diary, a gift from her best friend Mary, now far far away back at Lumsden. “There’s tents and gear spread all along the strip of bush edging the noisy river. Cascade Creek was a holiday camp compared to Falls Creek.” Wind tears through their tents day and night, ash coating everything. Falls Creek is a living hell, and those living there endure fires, snow, wind, rain, avalanches, and earthquakes. Although these harsh conditions threaten to tear families apart, friends are made, and Amy gets a baby sister. But who will survive the horrors of the camp, and who will die trying? Will Amy, despite the odds, ever fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher? You’ll have to read this gripping book yourself to find out.
Below the Mountains is one of my favourite My Storys, because there’s not a single dull or dry moment. Kids who enjoy action-packed books will love it. My favourite character is Tom, because he’s always cheerful, and tries to see the bright side of things. Below the Mountains is set in the Great Depression, and I learnt so much about how desperate a time it really was. I give this book a 10 out of 10, and I think that children aged from 9 to 14 will love it.

By Tierney, 12.

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Not Bad for a Bad Lad by Michael Morpurgo

July 21, 2011 · Filed under Animals, Books, Children, History · Tagged , , , , , ,

Michael Morpurgo’s latest book is about a boy who is always getting into trouble.  Everyone is always telling him he’s a bad lad.  He gets caught playing on bomb sites, banging rubbish bin lids and stealing tomatoes and even a car.  He gets arrested and sentenced to a year in Borstal, which was a prison for young offenders where they could learn a trade like carpentry, painting or bricklaying.  The judge sends him there to think things over and learn his lesson.  The first few months are tough and the boys are worked hard, ‘laying bricks for hours on end in all weathers, making bread in the kitchens, weeding in the vegetable garden.’  Every morning the boys have to go on a two-mile run and the bad lad likes running past the stables.  One morning, as he goes past the stables the old man who looks after the horses calls him over and offers him an amazing opportunity to help out in the stables. This opportunity helps him to turn his life around and make his family proud of him.

Not Bad for a Bad Lad is another amazing story from Michael Morpurgo and Michael Foreman, the author and illustrator of War Horse, Kaspar: Prince of Cats and Billy the Kid.  Michael Morpurgo often writes stories about an older person telling a child about their interesting life, and this is one of those stories.  The story is inspirational and Michael Foreman’s illustrations add perfectly to the story.  Don’t get put off by the picture of the horse on the front cover because this isn’t just a story about a horse.  This is a must-read for all Michael Morpurgo fans, but a great book to delve into if you haven’t read any of his books yet.  

Recommended for 9+    10 out of 10

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Star Guest: Kelly Gardiner talks about Act of Faith

July 15, 2011 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, History, New Zealand · Tagged , , , , ,

Hi and thanks for having me as a guest on your blog.

I thought I’d tell you a bit about my new book, Act of Faith.

It’s an adventure story set in Europe in the 17th century, when everyone seemed to be at war with one another, lots of books banned, and people were put on trial and even killed for their ideas.

It’s the story of a girl, Isabella Hawkins, who lives in England as the Civil War breaks out – she and her father are forced to flee the country and she ends up in Europe working in a printing house run by Master de Aquila and his apprentice Willem.  In those days, girls often weren’t educated, and printing was a relatively new technology that people used to spread ideas and question authority.

Act of Faith is about Master de Aquila’s campaign to change the world, one book at a time, and how that gets him into terrible trouble – and what Isabella and Willem do to try to save him.

It’s a bit different from my other novels, which were about pirates (the Swashbuckler trilogy, which you can also borrow from your wonderful library).  But they have a lot in common too, because they are adventure tales about freedom, and friendship, and they are set in very turbulent times in history.

The other thing they have in common is that they all take a long time to write, because I have to do an awful lot of research before I even start to write.  I have to know everything about people’s lives, in different countries, hundreds of years ago. I need to know, for example, what they ate, what clothes and shoes they wore, what kinds of houses they lived in. Did they ride horses or travel in carriages or boats? What did they learn at school? What did they read, sing, smell like? What would they see around them – which trees and flowers, what kinds of people or shops?

It’s like the world’s biggest school project. So I spend many months looking things up in books and on the web, visiting museums and libraries, looking at maps and paintings, and sometimes even doing the things that my characters do.  When I wrote the Swashbuckler books, for example, I went sailing on lots of ships, learned how to tie sailors’ knots, and visited Malta so I could walk in the footsteps of all my fictional characters.

Sometimes I think it would be much easier if I could just make everything up.

But doing all the research is fun in its own way, even if much of what I learn doesn’t even end up in a book. I just have to know what’s right, so that I don’t write anything wrong – if you know what I mean.

So I hope you enjoy reading about Isabella and her adventures in Act of Faith, or about my pirate crews in the Swashbuckler books.

In fact, I hope you enjoy reading almost anything.

My websites:

www.kellygardiner.com

www.swashbuckler.co.nz (all about pirates)

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My Story: Sabotage by Sharon Holt.

July 11, 2011 · Filed under Books, Children, History, New Zealand · Tagged , , , , ,

Rowan lives with her mother, and her best friend Alex is really into Greenpeace. She begins to write to her new pen friend Lisette, who lives in France, and finds out that her brother, Rene, is coming to Auckland! When he arrives, he seems to the world a charming young man, but Rowan and Alex become suspicious when he is seen with a French lady in the street, who hands him a parcel. Soon, the Greenpeace ship, the Rainbow Warrior, is bombed, and a man dies. Rowan begins to wonder- did Rene do this? Was it my fault? And, if it was Rene, how am I going to stop him?
Sabotage is one of my favourite My Story books, because it sounds like a real girl, in a real background. I thought that lots of it was very sad, but that just makes it more real. I love how My Story books are always based on a certain historical event. Sabotage is about the Rainbow Warrior bombing, and No Survivors, another excellent book by Sharon Holt, is based on the Erebus crash. Knowing that it really happened makes it more interesting, and the more realistic something is, the better a picture I get in my head. That’s why I love historical fiction. Sabotage is best for both boys and girls, and I think that children aged from 9 to 14 would love it.

By Tierney, 11.

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5 Japanese demons you may know from books and movies – Cristy Burne

July 8, 2011 · Filed under Adventure, Books, Cultures and People, Fantasy, Ghosts, History, Mystery, Star Author, writers, Writing Tip of the Week · Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

cristy burne and headsHi!  Cristy Burne here, author of the Takeshita Demons books and Star Author for July.

I hope you like scary stories, because that’s exactly what I like to write. And believe it or not, the Takeshita Demons books are based on truth.

That’s right! All the Japanese monsters I write about are real…I didn’t make them up! In fact, I was only inspired to write Takeshita Demons after I started studying the history and mythology of Japanese monsters (or yokai in Japanese).

The Filth Licker and more…

Monsters in Takeshita Demons (like the Filth Licker (aka-name), the Snow Woman (yuki-onna) and the  Cut-throat Demon (nuke-kubi)) have been part of Japanese mythology and stories for hundreds of years.  They’re much the same as vampires, werewolves and fairies in Western culture.

Many of Japan’s demons are very unusual, but here are some you may recognise…How many do you know?
Don’t forget to enter our Make-a-monster Competition: invent a demon and win a prize!

5 Japanese demons you may know from books and movies

Hanako of the toilet1) Toire no Hanako-san

‘Toire no Hanako-san’ means Hanako-of-the-toilet. Hanako is the ghost of a young girl and she haunts particular toilet cubicles, usually at school. Remind you of anyone you might remember from a certain school for wizards?

In Japanese legend, Hanako is usually shy…

BUT…if someone is mean to her or teases her, then…watch out!

If you want to meet Hanako, you need to knock three times on the door of her haunted toilet and call out: “Are you there, Hanako?”.

Why don’t you give it a try next time you’re in the school toilets?

2) BentenThe goddess benten

Aha! I bet you thought Benten was a boy with a really cool wrist watch! You did, didn’t you?

Well, think again. Benten is actually a woman with eight arms and a whole bunch of dragons as friends. In Japanese mythology, Benten is one of the 7 lucky gods, and she’s around 1500 years older than the Benten you might know.

Still, the goddess Benten is a good person to befriend: she can help make you rich and give you good grades at school (she’s also the goddess of wisdom and prosperity).

yagyo-san3)  The headless horse

You’ve heard of the headless horseman, right? He’s a famous legend that grew from a character in a story published in America nearly 100 years ago.

But…have you heard of the headless horse?

The headless horse is the favourite method of transport for a Japanese ogre called Mr Yagyo, or Yagyo-san.

Yagyo-san has been around for hundreds of years, coming out only once a year to wreak havoc on the human population. On this one day — the day before Japan celebrates Setsubun, the beginning of spring — Yagyo-san roams the streets tossing spiked soybeans at people.

According to Japanese stories, the only way to escape is to lie face-down on the ground with a pair of sandals on your head.

ningyo_japanese_mermaid4) Mermaids

When I say ‘mermaids’, do you think of beautiful half-fish, half-woman creatures with long golden hair and perfect skin?

Well…that’s not the only kind of mermaid in the sea!

Japanese mermaids are called ningyo and although they are half-fish, half-woman, they’re not exactly what I would call beautiful.

I’m researching ningyo now as part of the next Takeshita Demons book… Apparently, eating the flesh of a Japanese mermaid can make you immortal, and even just seeing one can add three years to your life. Pretty cool, huh.

(Japanese mermaids also have some unfriendly friends, like the sazae-oni, a poisonous demon formed when a very old sea snail mutates into an ogre.)

tengu5) Tengu (or the tengu’s invisibility cloak, at least)

Tengu are a half-bird, half-humanoid Japanese demon that live in the mountains. You often see tengu masks in Japan and they feature in traditional Japanese stories and theatre.

But, you probably know the tengu’s cloak more than the tengu.

Tengu have many special powers and own many magical objects, not least of which is the invisibility cloak.  This is a cloak that makes you totally invisible when you wear it. Ring any bells?

There is another story of a tengu who owns a magical fan that can make your nose grow. In the story, the tengu accidentally fans himself… Maybe that’s why he looks how he looks!

So what’s my point?

My point is that you don’t always have to invent everything when you’re writing a fantasy or horror story.

Some of the craziest things you can imagine happen in real life (just read the newspaper sometime!). Some of the most unbelieveable things ever are actually true (700 million people around the world have blood-sucking hookworms in their guts). And some of the best writers and books use little bits of history and science and real-life-fact to inspire their incredible stories.

So, when you’re writing your own stories and books, take some time to research some real-life topics that might be relevant. The Christchurch library has a huge non-fiction section filled with heaps of fascinating facts and stories…. Check it out and you will be amazed!

How many of the demons did you know?
Any fascinating facts you’d like to share?
Drop us a comment!

And don’t forget to enter our Make-a-monster Competition: invent a demon and win a prize!

Happy writing and reading!

Cristy

–
Cristy Burne
Author of the Takeshita Demons series

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Sabotage By Sharon Holt

June 20, 2011 · Filed under Books, Children, History, New Zealand · Tagged , , , , ,

When Rene, Lisette’s brother visits Rowan in Auckland, things get a bit complicated. Rowan’s friend Alex and his family are in to Greenpeace big time! One day Rowan and Alex find out that a crew member from the Greenpeace ship was killed and with the sad news was the remaining ruins of the dearly beloved ship, Rainbow Warrior. When Rowan and Alex see Rene again with an odd looking French woman, Rene pretends that he didn’t know them and just walked away with a parcel from the lady. Things get even worse than it already was, when the bombed ship was blamed on the French Secret Service. By now Rowan and Alex were feeling very suspicious. Why did Rene completely ignore them? Is Rene really everything he claims to be? Why can’t I tell you the whole story? Because you need to race off to your nearest library and get the book NOW!!!!!!!

By Anne

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Abandon Ship By Shirley Corlett

June 20, 2011 · Filed under Books, Children, History, New Zealand · Tagged , , , , ,

Debbie always names her diaries and her diary for 1968  was called Julie. Debbie loves reading and when her grandma gave her Debbie’s great great great great grandfather’s diary she was inspired by his life story. while she was reading his diary she found out that he worked in a ship and he looked after the sick children. He also drowned and died on that ship which Debbie as very sad to know. Debbie often had dreams during the night but as much as she tried she could never remember them! Suddenly she had vivid dreams of her great great great great grandfather and they even kept glued to her mind when she woke up in the morning. It was such a coincidence when she was booked to sail on the wahine and her dreams became clearer than ever. Debbie soon figured that her great great great great grandfather was definitely trying to tell her something but what was it and plus what could possibly go wrong?

By Anne

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My Story – Poor Man’s Gold The Diary of Reuben Radcliffe, Northland,1899-1900

June 18, 2011 · Filed under Books, Children, History, New Zealand · Tagged , , , , ,

This is a Diary of Reuben Radcliffe. His dad owns a store in a small town of  Waipapa. Reuben’s Family is poor, they don’t have any money and only a little bit of  food. When the bank forecloses on a loan, Reuben and his family are forced to leave their home and live in a tent. Reuben has 2 siblings, 1 sister called Olivia and 1 brother called Walter. Reuben has to leave his School and find work.

I think this book  is great and interesting.  You guys should read it if you want to figure out what’s going to happen next. There are more in the series and I would love to read them all.

From Rhoda

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Aquarius My Ohu Year

June 17, 2011 · Filed under Books, Children, History, New Zealand · Tagged , , , , , ,

Estelle’s Mum and dad fights a lot. One day Estelle’s mum got sick of their rows and left the house to go camping with Estelle and some of her hippie friends. Estelle’s mum told her that it was just for a short holiday but little did Estelle know just how long the ” little holiday,” was planned to be. Estelle had to get up early in the morning to travel for long hours but finally they arrived. They all gathered up to have a meeting and decided to call the place Aquarius. They started to build Aquarius and soon enough Estelle and the others had to use an open toilet hole where flies would sit. Estelle had to just do with many things like that and it might take a while to get used to. The big question is, Will Estelle’s mum turn her into a hippy as well or will she just refuse? Run down to the library and get the book to find out!

By Anne

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Chinatown girl by Eva Wong Ng

June 16, 2011 · Filed under Books, Children, History, New Zealand · Tagged , , , ,

This book is about Silvey who lives in New Zealand.  Silvey has 2 brothers and 2 sisters. She hears that Japan is invading lots of counties like Hawaii, China and America.  Will New Zealand be next?  What do you think?

If you what to know more go get the book because I think it’s great.

By Nina

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Street Child by Berlie Doherty

June 15, 2011 · Filed under Books, Children, History · Tagged , , ,

Do you know how you can tell a book is good just by looking at its cover? By looking for the ones that have Essential Modern Classics at the top! Well, this is one of those …

Street Child is based on a true story about Jim Jarvis and his battle for survival out on the streets of London in the 1800s. But this is no place for a boy. Jim must use all his courage to escape from the dreaded workhouse and find somewhere safe, which will be exceptionally difficult.

My favourite character was Jim, because he was very kind and he was caring and compassionate towards other people.

I would recommend this book to 8+ because this type of audience would appreciate what a marvel the story really is. I would give this a 9/10.

Saoirse, 10

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What’s your favourite history series?

May 5, 2011 · Filed under Books, Children, History, Polls, Reading Crusade 2011, Reading Crusade Challenge · Tagged , , ,

Vote for your favourite history series.

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History Challenge and NZ authors

May 4, 2011 · Filed under Authors, History, New Zealand, Reading Crusade Challenge, Star Author, writers · Tagged , , , , ,

Hello again

How are you going with the history reading challenge this week? Sometimes history can sound dry and boring but it doesn’t have to be. It’s a matter of choosing the right book for you. That’s why I love the books in the My Story series – they’re a mixture of history and adventure. Another great one in that series is by David Hill, an excellent NZ author. It’s called Journey to Tangiwai and I can thoroughly recommend it. I heard David Hill speak at a writers’ conference a few weeks ago. He’s very funny and has lots of interesting tales to tell about his life as an author.

I love meeting other authors and hearing about their lives. One of my favourites is another NZ author, Brian Falkner. If you ever get the chance to hear him speak, you won’t regret it. He is fascinating and very funny. There are so many talented NZ authors out there. I wonder how many of them you have met and listened to. Margaret Mahy? Joy Cowley? Lynley Dodd? Kate De Goldi? Fleur Beale? I’d love to hear about the authors you’ve met. You can put a comment on the blog just below this post and let me know.

Bye for now.

Sharon

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Hello from the Waikato

May 2, 2011 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, History, Star Author · Tagged , , ,

It’s great to be your Star Author this month. I’m writing this blog from Hamilton where I live with my family (husband and two kids aged 13 and 14). I have lots of things planned for the blog - including competitions, writing tips and some of my “secrets of a published author”.

First – a bit about my books. When you were 5 or 6 you might have read my books about a dog called Skipper. The books are called “No Skipper” and “Skipper’s Happy Tail”. Children always ask me if we really have a dog called Skipper and the answer has always been “no”. But now I can answer a big waggy-tail ”yes” to that question. We now have an 8 month old kelpie-labrador cross called Kelsey. She’s just as playful as Skipper and has a very happy tail. We also have two cats – Moose and Dora. The Skipper books were originally about our cat called Moose. But the editor at Learning Media wanted a book about a dog instead. So Moose the cat became Skipper the dog and the rest is history.

Speaking of history, it’s great that you’re reading some historical books this week. Perhaps you have read some of the books in Scholastic’s My Story series. They are really interesting, easy to read and all about stuff that has actually happened in New Zealand. I wrote one about the Rainbow Warrior bombing called Sabotage! It’s a mystery story. Then a couple of years later I wrote another one called No Survivors about the Erebus tragedy. They were both really hard work and involved heaps of research – but the challenge was worth it. My daughter Sophie is the cover model on No Survivors.

I’d love to hear from anyone who has read and enjoyed any of the books in the My Story series. I loved the one about the Wahine sinking called Abandon Ship. If you want to read an awesome historical book, choose any book in the My Story series. I recommend them.

That’s all for now.

Bye, Sharon

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The Ghosts of Iron Bottom Sound by Sandy Nelson.

April 12, 2011 · Filed under Adventure, Authors, Books, Children, Family, Ghosts, History, New Zealand · Tagged , , , , ,

Paddy, a boy living in New Zealand, is intrigued by a library book about the sunken warships of the World War Two battles at Guadalcanal, and horrified that he can hear voices in his head.  He is so absorbed in the book that he is lucky not to have been hit by a car whilst crossing the road.  His parents take the book off him.  Still, he can hear the ghostly men…talking to him… He comes to realise that the voices are Australian, like his grandfather, who served in HMAS Canberra, an Australian ship that sunk in the war. Could they have died on that ship, while his grandfather survived? How can he, Paddy, help them rest?

My favourite character was probably the grandfather, because of his tale in the book.  Part of the book is his story, and I think that he was very brave.  The grandfather is only a fictional character, of course, but the war and sunken ships are only too real. I loved the description- it made me feel as if I was there, hearing the ghosts of Iron Bottom Sound, too.  I thought that this book was best for both boys and girls, but others might think that it’s just for boys. I liked how the book didn’t go on for ages, nor get to the point too quickly.  I think that Sandy Nelson is one of my favourite New Zealand authors.  This book is best for children from about 9 to 13, and I give it an 8 out of 10.

Tierney.

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Explore Christchurch at your library and win

April 4, 2011 · Filed under Celebrating New Zealand, Children, Christchurch, Competitions, History, New Zealand · Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Last week's winning photo, found by Saoirse

We want you to hunt through our photo collection and find the most interesting photos.  Each fortnight we will pick a category of photos from the website for you to explore.  All you have to do is find your favourite photo in the category, copy the address and post it in a comment on the blog telling us why you like it.  We’ll post the winner’s photo each time and they’ll receive a book prize.

 

This week’s category – Christchurch City Scenes

Terms and conditions

  • To enter this competition you must be between 8 and 12 years old and live in Canterbury. We may ask for proof of your address and your age.
  • If you are a winner, you consent to your name, photograph, entry and/or interview being used for reasonable publicity purposes by Christchurch City Libraries.
  • Staff of Christchurch City Libraries and their immediate families are not able to enter.
  • The competition ends on Friday 15 April at 5pm.
  • We will announce the winners on the Christchurch Kids Blog on Monday 18 April 2011.
  • We will notify the winners by telephone and/or email.
  • The Christchurch Kids Blog judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
  • Prizes are as stated and are not transferable.

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Check out our May Star Author – Sharon Holt

April 1, 2011 · Filed under Authors, Books, History, Humour, New Zealand, Star Author, writers · Tagged , , , , , , ,

Our Star Author for May is New Zealand author, Sharon Holt.  Sharon has been writing for 10 years and has had stories, poems, plays and articles published in the School Journal.  Her latest novels, Sabotage and No Survivors, are  in the New Zealand My Story series and tell the stories of two girls growing up in New Zealand at the time of the Rainbow Warrior bombing and the Erebus crash.  Sharon has also written her own joke book called It’s True! You can make your own jokes, because her son kept trying to make up terrible jokes.

Whether you’re interested in history or love to tell jokes, make sure you read Sharon Holt’s Star Author posts.

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Earthquake! The Diary of Katie Bourke, Napier, 1930-31 by Janine McVeagh

February 7, 2011 · Filed under Authors, Books, Celebrating New Zealand, Children, History, New Zealand · Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Earthquake by Janine McVeagh is one of the fascinating books in the My New Zealand Story series by Scholastic.  Each of the books in the series is written in diary form and looks at a particular event or period of time in the history of New Zealand.  Earthquake tells the story of 11-year-old Katie Bourke who is growing up in Napier during the Great Depression, when money and basic necessities are hard to find.

Katie writes about how she wants to escape the boredom of school and try to do something to help her struggling family.  You find out what life was like in New Zealand during the depression and how ordinary New Zealanders were coping.  Then the Napier earthquake strikes and turns everything upside down.

Janine McVeagh kindly told us a little about how she came to write Earthquake:

I grew up in Napier and went to the same school that Katie in the book does. We all knew about the earthquake because our parents had been children when it happened. When I wanted to write an historical story for Scholastic, the Napier earthquake seemed a natural one to do.

I did most of the research in Napier, which has a whole section of its library and its museum devoted to the earthquake and people’s accounts of what it was like. One book contained an account by the nun who was teaching at St Joseph’s; she described the way the windows exploded and the desks slid across the room and jammed against the door. There were also some recorded interviews in the Turnbull Library and many great photos.

Getting a feel for what it was like in Napier before the earthquake happened was important too. I  interviewed my father and his older brother who were little boys at the time, but remembered it very vividly. Their father (my grandfather) used to deliver milk to the town and my uncle sometimes went with him and scooped it out for the women who were waiting at their gates.

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