Posts tagged Sandy Nelson

Tena Koe again from Sandy Nelson

August 4, 2011 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, History, New Zealand, Star Author · Tagged , , , , ,

HI AGAIN CHRISTCHURCH AND OTHER KIDS:  I do so hope Shaky Town is having a quiet week.

Today I have been thinking about what started me writing. That’s because some of you might be thinking about being writers. I know a girl who lives near Shaky-Town in a little town called Rolleston who loves writing and is thinking about keeping on writing when she grows up. Her name is Fable. I think Fable is a great name for someone who loves reading and writing. If you don’t know what I mean, then you need to find out what a fable is.  If you find out the meaning of fable, please blog it for everyone else – Thanks heaps.

In my next post, I’ll tell you how I ended up writing a book about a boy and a warship. It was a bit of a surprise to me and to people who know me, because I didn’t know much about warships and I love the sea but I love mountains much more.

FOR NOW, I AM GOING TO TELL YOU ABOUT ONE OF MY MOST FAVOURITE BOOKS – This book was my very favourite book for many years, from when I was about 8 or 9 years old and a teacher named Mrs Scott read it to my class when I was a skinny girl with long blonde hair at Pleasant Point Primary School.

This book got me interested in history, an interest I have kept for my whole life, an interest that helped lead me into teaching and writing. Books are powerful!

The Silver Sword – by Ian Serraillier

ISBN 0-14-030146-1

The Silver Sword is about four children in Poland in World War Two. Three of the children belong to one family. The fourth child, an orphan boy named Jan, becomes their friend. The story is about what happens to Jan and his treasures (including a chicken and a silver sword) and to the family. It is an adventure story and a war story and a story about love and bravery. It’s a great book. You should read it but I’ll give you a warning.

HERE’S THE WARNING: The first chapter is not about the children. It’s about the Dad having a scary time. I remember that when Mrs Scott was reading to us I didn’t like the start of the book all that much, but I grew to really, really love it.

The Silver Sword has been published lots of times. Here are two of the covers it has had.  I’m sure you’ll find this book in your library. Remember to ask for help if you can’t find a book you want. Librarians love helping keen readers.

Ka kite ano   From Sandy Nelson

Writer of THE GHOSTS OF IRON BOTTOM SOUND

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About My Book

August 3, 2011 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, Family, Ghosts, History, New Zealand, School, Star Author, War · Tagged , , , ,

Hi again Christchurch and other kids.

We’re back at school in Twizel and I’m sure you are too! My class is busy preparing Science Fair projects. Wow we have been busy! What have you been doing?

Anyway, today I thought I’d tell you a bit about my book. Please blog and tell me if you have read it, or if you think you might like to read it …

ABOUT MY BOOK:

The Ghosts of Iron Bottom Sound took me about one year part-time to write and a lot longer to edit and make good enough for readers. It was published by the wonderful team at Harper Collins in 2010.

It’s a ghost story and a war story and a story about the importance of peace and friends and family all mixed into one. I wrote it for boys who are about 10-14 years old but girls like it just as much and older kids and adults do too. It’s one of those books that’s okay for lots of people.

The Ghosts of Iron Bottom Sound is a fictional story about an 11-year-old New Zealand boy named Paddy, but part of it is about a terrible night in World War Two at a place that was named Savo Sound but is now called Iron Bottom Sound (can you guess why?). That battle happened in August, so Harper Collins released my book in August, and now it’s August again when I am Star Author, so I think that’s kind-of cool.  The night of 8-9 August will be the anniversary of the 1942 battle, which was named ‘The Battle of Savo Island.’  I will post that day and it will be a sad post. Can you work out how many years ago the battle was?  2011 – 1942 = ?  or you could turn it around: 1942 + ? = 2011  – Hey, you can tell I am a school teacher can’t you?

Anyway, the ship central to my story was the largest ship Australia lost in the war, H.M.A.S. Canberra.  Three American ships were sunk that night too. The Japanese were the clever ones on that wet dark night.

So … my story has:

1. A New Zealand boy with N.Z. friends and family

2. A stretch of deep water in the Pacific Ocean

3. Australian and American sailors fighting for peace and for their lives

4. A convoy of clever Japanese who sneak up and attack in the dead of night.

It’s quite an international story!

All of the history parts in my story are true – even the bit about someone getting shot in the bum (oops – I mean bottom) and about survivors being given frozen oranges (have you ever tried to eat a frozen orange?)

Ka kite ano – see you soon

From Sandy Nelson – your Star Author who lives in the land of tussocks and snowy mountains

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10 / 10 from Zac for my book!

August 1, 2011 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, Ghosts, History, Star Author, War · Tagged , , ,

Hi there Christchurch kids and other kids who also read this blog!
You kids who live in Shaky Town are very brave. I hope reading this blog and reading lots of wonderful books helps you escape to nice places in your minds.
My name is Sandy Nelson. As I wrote in my first post, I am honoured to be invited to be the Star Author for August, particularly because I have only had one book published and it didn’t win any awards (boo-hoo) and it seems as if all the other Star Authors have great long lists of published titles and awards. So I feel very humbled.

So, thanks Zac for choosing me. It must be because you liked my book so much. I was very excited when you gave it 10 out of 10 (I had a very big smile for days!)
And even though my book didn’t get any awards, it was nominated for the N.Z. Post Awards, and lots of reviewers and other writers, and most importantly young people, have said they really liked it. My editor, Kate Stone, at Harper Collins, says that’s what is the most important.

THIS IS MY BOOK:

As a new writer, I just love those words ‘My Book.’ I think they sound fantastic!

For those who haven’t read THE GHOSTS OF IRON BOTTOM SOUND yet, I’ll tell you a bit about it in my next post.

Ka kite ano – and hey, I hope you have had a good start to Term Three.
From your newest Star Author, Sandy Nelson

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Check out our August Star Author – Sandy Nelson

August 1, 2011 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, New Zealand, Star Author · Tagged , , , ,

We are delighted to have New Zealand author, Sandy Nelson as our August Star Author.  Welcome Sandy!  Here’s Sandy to tell us a little about herself:

My name is Sandy Nelson. I am honoured to be invited to be the Star Author for August.  Writing is my hobby. I am not a full-time writer. In fact I find it hard to find any time to write at all. That’s because I have two other jobs. They are:

  1. Being a mother to 3 boys. I am married to Dean. We have 3 boys. Josh is 15 and is doing N.C.E.A. Level One this year and working really hard. One of his favourite subjects is history! Kyle and Ryan are 7-year-old twins who love reading, rugby, skiing and being noisy. Ask your Mum or just watch her for a while – being a Mum is a busy job!
  2. I am also a school teacher at Twizel Area School. Twizel is the nearest town to Mount Cook. My school is the only school in Twizel. We have students from Year 1 all the way to Year 13 at the same school (about 180 students altogether). I teach the wonderful Year 4-5 class and also sometimes I help other teachers and kids with their work, especially in reading and writing. I used to teach in Dunedin at Corstorphine and Portobello Schools but my name was Sandy Holland then.

I write when I get some spare time. That’s when my boys are in bed and my school work is done and the dishwasher is humming (I love machines that do jobs for me!)

Here are some things I want to write about on this blog, in no particular order:

  • Why I started writing
  • How I got the idea for my book
  • Some of my favourite kids books
  • Why I think it is important to learn about history
  • Why Robert Ballard calls the sea the world’s biggest museum
  • Whether ghosts are real
  • Some poems I have written
  • My next book (sitting on my editor’s overcrowded desk, waiting for her to find time to read it!)
  • The story I am working on now (did you know that stories live in people’s heads a long time before they are written down?)
  • Some things I have learned about sailors
  • My very special Australian email friend, a veteran of the battle I wrote about
  • My favourite mountain hut (which is supposed to be haunted!)
  • Why I love being a teacher
  • What it is like to live in Twizel in the cold winter
  • My favourite ski-field
  • More about why Iron Bottom Sound was given that name

And other things that I haven’t thought about yet!

Please post your questions and comments. I’d love to hear from you.

Ka Kite Ano (see you soon).  Kia Kaha Shaky Town Kids (be strong).

From your newest Star Author,
Sandy Nelson

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August Star Author Competition – win The Ghosts of Iron Bottom Sound

August 1, 2011 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, Competitions, History, New Zealand, Star Author · Tagged , , , , ,

Our fantastic August Star Author, Sandy Nelson has been telling us lots of interesting information about her research for her book, The Ghosts of Iron Bottom Sound.  Hopefully finding out more about the book has made you want to rush to your library to get a copy (it’s definitely made me want to read it again).

We have 5 copies of The Ghosts of Iron Bottom Sound to give away, thanks to the wonderful people at HarperCollins NZ.  All you have to do to get in the draw to win a copy is tell us: What is your favourite war story?  Leave a comment on this post telling us your answer and make sure you also put your name and email address (so that we can contact you if you win).  Entries close Friday 26 August.

See below for terms and conditions   Read the rest of this entry »

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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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My favourite NZ books – Sandy Nelson

March 22, 2011 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, New Zealand · Tagged , , , , ,

Hi there Christchurch Kids!

My name is Sandy Nelson. I am the writer of ‘The Ghosts of Iron Bottom Sound,’ a story about a New Zealand boy who is haunted by some ghosts of sailors who died in World War Two – 1023 of them.

I am also a school teacher at Twizel Area School. Twizel is the nearest town to Mount Cook. This year I am teaching 26 wonderful Year 4 and 5 kids. My school is a bit unusual because it has students from ages 5 to 18 all at the same school.

In my family I have my husband Dean, 3 boys, a cat and a puppy. Keep reading and you will learn something about my puppy.

Zac has asked me to write about my favourite N.Z. children’s book. It has been really hard to decide on just one book. I have spent a lot of time gazing at the hundreds of books on my bookshelves.  I am going to tell you about 3 of my favourite New Zealand books.

The Halfmen of O is one of my favourite books for older kids. The writer is Maurice Gee. I have read this book to lots of classes. Sometimes kids get a bit scared so don’t read this story unless you are brave! The Halfmen of O is a fantasy book about two kids, Susan and Nick, who travel into a world called O. There are lots of fantasy / adventure books a bit like this, but this still my favourite. It is the first book in an excellent series. One of the reasons I like this book is that the setting of the real life parts of
the story is in one of my favourite places, Golden Bay, which is over a great big hill from Nelson.

The next book I am going to tell you about is another one that I like reading to classes. It is called Shipwreck and it is not about the Titanic or the Wahine. It is about a ship named Mikhail Lermontov. This ship came from Russia to New Zealand with lots of tourists and sunk in the Marlborough Sounds. Lots of New Zealanders went to help in little boats. The history parts of the story are true. The writer is Jules Older. This is a great story for 8-10 year olds. It was published in 1991. Hopefully you will still
find it on library shelves as it is a great story.

My last favourite story is a picture book for younger kids and for anyone who likes dogs and happy endings.  Herbert the Brave Sea Dog by Robyn Belton is another Marlborough Sounds story.  My family all loves this book, especially my 7 year old twin boys. That’s partly because it is about a dog that is the same kind of dog as our puppy (a border terrier) and because we
had a great family holiday at one of the places in the story, Duncan Bay. In this story Herbert falls off a boat and no one notices. He is found still swimming in the sea more than 30 hours later. This is a true New Zealand
story. The pictures are beautiful too.

Happy reading! And happy learning at school this term!

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The Ghosts of Iron Bottom Sound by Sandy Nelson

August 9, 2010 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, History, New Zealand · Tagged , , , , , , ,

Cover imageWhat would you do if the ghosts of World War Two were stuck inside your head and wouldn’t leave you alone?  Paddy is an ordinary New Zealand kid who becomes obsessed with a book that he gets from the library about the wrecks of warships sunk in World War Two at Guadalcanal.  This book is special – the ghosts of men who were killed in these battles are trapped inside and they want everyone to remember why they died.  The ghosts call out to Paddy but only he can hear their voices.  Whose voices are they and why are they reaching out to him?  The ghosts tell him he has to ask his grandfather about the battle at Guadalcanal, but his grandfather has never talked about the war so how will Paddy get him to tell him his story?

The Ghosts of Iron Bottom Sound is a fantastic and unique book about the horrors of war and how it affects people.  The ghosts of the war talking to Paddy is a really interesting way to tell the story and Sandy Nelson makes you really care about what happens to the characters.  This is now one of my favourite war stories.    10 out of 10

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