Watch Out, Snail!

 
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Watch Out, Snail!

Kia Mataara, e Ngata!

Written by Gay Hay, illustrated by Margaret Tolland

Maori translation by Piripi Walker

NZ Post Book Awards – Picture Book

Reviewed by Bella, 10 years old, interested in reading fiction, dance and animals.

This book is about a snail being part of the foodchain.  The snail in the book is a Powelliphanta Snail, which is native to New Zealand.  It shows that those who hunt are hunted.  I think that the best features of  Watch Out, Snail are the detailed pictures which have different textures and that it is also printed in Maori.

I think this book is best suited to 4 to 6 year olds who like bugs, insects and NZ animals.  My 5 year old brother really liked it!

It could win the Picture Book category because young children will love it, it is written in 2 languages, and it is about a New Zealand topic.

The Boring Book - NZ Post Book Awards

 

The Boring Book

By Vasanti Unka

NZ Post Book Awards – Picture Book

Reviewed by Bea, 10 years old, who is interested in sports.

The Boring Book is a really exciting book with lots of colourful pictures and it is lots of fun to read.  In the story the words in the very Boring Book come to life.  The words hide all over town, but the people were getting annoyed by all the words and told them to go away. 

I think that this book would be most enjoyed by 8 to 10 year olds boys and girls who like fun ideas.

NZ Post Picture Books - Boats and Toucan Can

 

Boats

By Catherine Foreman

NZ Post Book Awards – Picture Book

Reviewed by Soowon , 10 years old

Interested in basketball and music. I like being a leader, and being helpful.

Boats is a picture book about all different kinds of boats ( but it also says that if you just want to float, just be a starfish).  The illustrations are great because they are set out beautifully.

I think that this book would be most enjoyed by 2 to 5 year olds, boys and girls, because it has a short text with great pictures that are well set out for talking about.

Toucan Can

By Juliette McIver, illustrated by Sarah Davis

NZ Post Book Awards – Picture Book

Toucan Can is a tongue-twister of a story.  It is about a bird that can do almost everything, even kung-fu!  He’s a great dancer and his friends are too (except for Ewan’s Aunts).

I think Toucan Can is a really great book for 3 to 7 year old boys and girls.  It rhymes, it is funny and interesting, and has great pictures.

This book is perfect for kids.

Wearable Wonders - reviewed by Soobin

Wearable Wonders by Fifi Colston
   Non-fiction Category: NZ Post Book Awards 2014

This book is about using recycled materials and changing them into wearable things such as masks and hats.  It also tells you about the materials you can use and how suitable they are!
The best thing is it not only it tells you how to make things, it also tells you how to use your tools and materials.
Towards the beginning of the book, it tells you how to make a mini doll template, so you can play with the doll and dress her with some of your awesome creations. (You can print the template out).
I think the book could be better if  there were instructions of how to make some of the projects step by step.

This book should appeal most to girls because it is about fashion and crafts but boys can try it too.
I think you can be 7 and up to create things and there are some parts you will need to ask your parents for help (using a craft knife and  using needles.)

I think it is a fantastic book because it gives you tips for crafts and uses for recycled materials and I think it should be a category winner.
I’m going to try and print out a mini doll template!!!

The Fly Papers - Book Two - The Sundew Stalks

The author of the Fly Papers series, Johanna Knox, contacted me to see if we would like to see her second story in the series, the Fly papers..  Because her first story, the Flytrap Snaps, has been very popular in our library, we were very keen to get our hands on it.
I asked Callum, a very capable and eager reader in Year 4, to review the Sundew Stalks for our blog.
Belinda Sutherland - Librarian, Sunnybrae Normal School.
I am Callum.  I am 8 years old and my main hobbies are rock climbing and reading.  My brother is 10 years old, and he is in Year 6.  I belong to the Glenfield Library and the Sunnybrae School Library, and I always have a book to read, incase I get bored.  I prefer fiction books but I am also interested in Astronomy, Reptiles and Deserts.
I read Flytrap Snaps first so I could get the storyline and that made me want to find out more about Spencer, Jimmy Jangle and Dion Horrible, so I went straight onto reading the Sundew Stalks.
This second story is really Tora's story.  She loves training for wrestling but she also has a secret third life, free running.  Tora and her friend Spencer, suspect Jimmy Jangle of doing evil experiments on plants and they want to stop him.
I loved that the story was full of action, longer than the first book, and it is really interesting.  When I reached Chapter 4, I was hooked and kept going until I finished the book.  I liked it that Tora was a lot like a boy and didn't agree with much girly stuff.
I think that boy and girl readers, 8 years and older, who love to read thrillers would really like this book.

New Zealand Post Book Awards - Ihiraia reviews

Taketakerau - The Millennium Tree, by Marnie Anstis

This book begins with a child sitting with his Grandma, listening to the radio.  Grandma shares a history book with the boy.  World history of the past 2000 years is covered in the book.  There is a timeline along the bottom of each page.  New Zealand's natural history is told as well, through the growing of a Puriri tree, which actually exists in the North Island's Bay of Plenty.

I found this an interesting book, telling the history of Aotearoa, through the perspective of the tree, Taketakerau.  The illustrations are more suggestive than realistic but they match the words very well, and bring the story to life.

New Zealand Post Book Review - Bella

At the Beach, Ned Barraud and Gillian Candler

In this book you will find out all about New Zealand's beaches - what animals and plants live there.  
It looks at the Mudflats, Rocky Shores and the Sandy beach.  My favourite pages are the ones which show the crabs, with the Camouflage crabs being the most interesting to me.
(Did you know that their claws look like seaweed?)
The illustrations of the birds, seaweeds, sea stars, shellfish, shells, crabs and habitats are fantastic because of the colours and details.
A wide range of ages would enjoy this book, and you could read it yourself if you are 8 years old and older.