The Extraordinary Mr Qwerty, Karla Strambini

This is the book that I read to the Years 4/5's this week.Mr Qwerty is an extraordinary character, with fantastical ideas. This book combines minimal text with mainly black and white illustrations, the text includes a few idioms and is well-paced. The illustrations are extraordinary they are made to be pored over, they add an extra layer of meaning to the story. The children really enjoyed the story, and got the idea that imagination and believing in yourself is vital as well as the point that no-one knows what is going on in anyone else's mind. A wonderful book.
Rating 8/10

Mrs Silver-Hessey

The Executioner's Daughter, Jane Hardstaff

This book is historical fiction with fantasy intertwined as superstition. The time and place is Tudor England, with Anne Boleyn making an appearance. Moss is the 12 year old daughter of the executioner in the Tower of London, she has the job of catching the heads in a basket, a job she detests. Moss wants out of the job and the Tower, but her father tells her she cannot leave. Then she learns that her father has lied to her. Her search for the truth and freedom begins when she finds a tunnel that leads to the banks of the river Thames. As she travels along the Thames she meets some very interesting characters and finds out about what is important about her past and makes decisions about her future. This is a great finding oneself/coming of age story with a great look into what it was like for people in the time of the tudors.
Rating 6.5/10

Mrs Silver-Hessey

Bedtime is Cancelled, Cece Meng

'Bedtime is Cancelled' is the picture book that I read to the junior classes this week. It was very well received with lots of positive comments. The story follows the exploits of a brother and sister as they write a note to their parents to cancel bedtime, the wind carries off the note and the message is published and believed by people all over the world, the consequences of having no bedtime are funny as depicted by both the ideas in the text and the illustrations. The power of the press and of the impact social media can have are perhaps a little over the heads of the children but as an adult I appreciate the point made. Of course the new note penned on the last page gets all the children laughing. 

Excellent as a read-a-loud. Rating 7/10.

Mrs Silver-Hessey

eBooks and Ereaders

Queenspark School now has an ePlatform through which students and their families and staff can borrow eBooks. To access this service go our eBooks page and follow the instructions to register. We have a limited selection of books available at present but that will increase soon as I choose some more for this collection. Send me a comment with any recommendations. To go with this way to borrow eBooks we also have 10 eReaders available for students to borrow from the library - written parental permission to borrow these will be required.
It is great to be working with a new way to access reading materials.
Happy reading.
Mrs Silver-Hessey

Red Rocks, Rachel King

This book was recommended by Miss Boyle. It is Red Rocks by Rachel King and is a finalist in this years NZ Post Children's Book Awards, voting closes today. It is set in Wellington, and is based on the Legends of the Selkie, seals that shed their skins and transform into people to come onto land. One of the Selkie's skin was found by a boy and taken away without him realising what it was. The story tells of his friendship with Jessie and Ted, the difficulties that having the Selkie skin cause for him and his father and how he deals with the consequences. 
A really good read 4/5.

Mrs Silver-Hessey

Big Nate, Lincoln Pierce

Big Nate - The boy with the biggest head in the world which was recommended by Callum, very funny, kind of wished you could just grab him to stop him from doing the things that you knew would turn out bad for him. Although American translates OK to the Kiwi school environment. A good laugh 5/10.

Mrs Silver-Hessey