"The Mine's Afire"
The Journal of Tommy Carter, Brunnerton 1896
by Susan Battye & Thelma Eakin
"The Mine's Afire" is an historical journal about an 11 year old boy living in Brunnerton, a South Island mining town.
It is one of the "My Story" books which tell of the lives of New Zealanders living in past generations.
Disaster strikes when there is a mine explosion.
This story starts quite slowly and I found it hard to get into. Although I have not finished the book yet, I am interested enough to get to the end to see what happens.
I recommend this book for very confident Year 6 readers and older.
I think it has a good chance of winning the Junior Fiction category.

Cry of the Taniwha by Des Hunt
Junior Fiction
Cry of the Taniwha is a really exciting mystery featuring Matt and Eve, both 13 years old, and Jackson, who wants to be a gang member.
The adventure is set is Whakarewarewa, the thermal area in Rotorua. The book also refers to the Tarawera Eruption in 1886 because something that happened then effects the story.

I thought that this book is a great story which kept me so interested that I wanted to read the whole book in one night.
I recommend this book for very mature Year 6 readers and those at Intermediate School.
I predict and hope that Cry of the Taniwha will win the Junior Fiction category because it is so good!

The Word Witch by Margaret Mahy

Picture Book

This book is a poetry book. All the poems are written by Margaret Mahy, the famous New Zealand Childrens' author.

The illustrator is David Elliot (writer of Sydney stories).

There are poems about witches, trees, magic, stars, dreams, animals, camping...

Some of them we already have in our library in other books.

My Favourite poem is Harry the Hawk because it is all about flying and it makes me dream of flying.

This would be a great for class poem sharing, especially for years 3 and 4.

It is entered in the picture book category but it is kept in the Poetry section DD #821.

I think it will do well.

Loblolly Boy by James Norcliffe
Junior Fiction

A boy named Michael was tricked into exchanging his life for that of a Loblolly Boy.

Wings outstretched, ready to fly, the new Loblolly Boy eased through the air, meeting people, watching conversations and moving things while invisible.

How great is that but ... when you find out the consequences of being a Loblolly Boy, your mindset changes and what would you do?

Read on to find out!

I recommend this to capable Year 6 readers with good vocabulary knowledge. It is a rich fantasy novel which would be great for Year 6 teachers to read to their class and discuss the vocabulary.

I highly recommend this book because it is really interesting with its different twists and surprises. A boy named Michael was tricked into exchanging his life for that of a Loblolly Boy.

Rangitoto - NZ Post Non-fiction 2010

The book Rangitoto tells the history of our volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf, how the volcano was created, and the Maori lore of the island. It also explains the flora and fauna on the island.

I liked Rangitoto because it uses descriptive language, and is also easy to understand for 9 year olds and over. If a parent read the book to a 7 year old, they would understand it too.
The facts just blow my mind and I have learnt heaps of new things by reading all of them.
The book also has great illustrations, very realistic.
It is like you are on Rangitoto.

Good luck with the competition. I think this is a great non-fiction book.

E3 Call Home by Janet Hunt - Non-fiction

E3 Call Home has become a favourite non-fiction book for Cheralyn and her Oupa.
The book tells the true story of two godwits, E3 and E7 and their migration and how the birds were tracked.
The book is full of detailed information, including weblinks, flightplans and bird identification. There a separate areas in the book to tell of E3 and E7, and another area which explains in more detail all about bird tracking, predators and bird habits.

This is such an interesting book, and the story of E3 has a sad part to it.
I think that this book should win the non-fiction award.

New Zealand Post Picture Books 2010

Piggity-Wiggity Jiggity Jig goes to Dad's Cafe by Diana Neild
reviewed by Yewon Jung
Piggity-Wiggity Jiggity Jig goes with his mum for lunch at his Dad's cafe, "The Ravenous Snout".
This story is told in perfect rhyme and illustrated with wonderful and colourful pictures of the different characters that come into the cafe.
I think that this book is fabulous and that everyone over 4 years old will love it.
Piggity-Wiggity Jiggity Jig Goes to Dad's cafe is good enough to win the picture book and childrens' choice awards.

The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith.
Reviewed by Selwyn Mitchell
The Wonky Donkey is a picture book which is also a rhyming song book.
I believe it should be in a joke book.
Here is why...
What do you call a donkey that has only one eye, 3 legs,likes to listen to country music, is quite tall and slim, and smells really, really bad?
A stinky-dinky-lanky-honky- tonky -winky -wonky donkey.
The song is meant to be funny. My brother Zac loves it, but I didn't think it was funny.
The book comes with a CD of the very catchy song.
I think this book will win the picture book award because the catchy song, the colourful illustrations and rhyme all go together well.