"It’s terrific to have skin. It keeps the outsides out and your insides in." ~ from Fran Manushkin's Happy In Our Skin
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Fun Palaces 3 and 4 October We are super excited to report that Fun Palaces are in Christchurch this year! Free, pop-up 'Fun Palaces' will be hosting exciting arts, science and culture activities for people of all ages and abilities. In the weekend of Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October (2nd weekend of the school holidays), we will be the first place in the world to get our Fun Palace on! You can win too - snap a selfie at any of the Fun Palaces and upload to your social media accounts with the hashtag #funpalaceschch and you are in the draw to WIN a bicycle worth up to $2,000!
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As Big as You by Acton, SaraClaude is a large elephant. Finlay is a small one. Claude can trumpet so loudly, the earth shakes! Finlay can only squeak and spurt tiny fountains with his trunk. Will he ever be as big as Claude?
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The Man With Messy Hair by Allen, PamelaThere was a man with messy hair. He liked the mess. He didn't care. But his messy hair soon got him into all sorts of trouble! Part cautionary tale, part wry observation of the quirks in us all, this is (as always) a delightful story that will make you laugh; and what child doesn't like to read about messiness?
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| Leo: A Ghost Story by Mac Barnett; illustrated by Christian RobinsonMeet Leo -- look, that's him disappearing into the wall! Since Leo is a ghost, not many people can see him (you're one of the special few), so Leo spends a lot time alone. After a disastrous attempt to welcome the new family that moves into his house, Leo wanders around until he meets Jane, a bright, playful girl who mistakes him for an imaginary friend. Can Leo tell Jane the truth without scaring her away? You'll have to read to find out! Beautifully illustrated with Christian Robinson's vintage-style artwork, Leo is a wistful, whimsical, and heartwarming ghost story. |
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The find it book by Margaret Wise BrownInvites readers to find characters and objects from familiar nursery rhymes.
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| 8: An Animal Alphabet by Elisha CooperWhat's so special about the number eight? Why, eight is author/illustrator Elisha Cooper's favorite number, and he shares his admiration through this interactive book. On the first page, readers find a menagerie of watercolour-illustrated animals beginning with the letter A -- alpaca, aardvark, anteater, etc. -- including eight little ants to find and count. Every letter of the alphabet gets the same treatment, with eight matching animals in every mix. (In case you've never heard of critters such as quolls or xeruses, there are quirky factoids about every animal at the end). Combining counting, matching, animal info, and the alphabet, 8 is hard to define…and hard to put down. |
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Kōrero mai by Holt, SharonA song about introducing yourself. Includes guitar chords.
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| I Will Chomp You! by Jory John; illustrated by Bob SheaYou might want to think twice before picking up this exuberant new picture book -- after all, that snaggled-toothed monster on the cover seems awfully serious about his threats to chomp anyone who reads it! Sure, his bites might not be too precise (he'll probably miss most of the time), but he's bound to get more frustrated and frantic as you turn the pages and get closer to his delicious, sugary secret. Of course, if you enjoy dangerously silly metafiction like John Perry's The Book That Eats People, it might be safe for you to try I Will Chomp You!...but don't say we didn't warn you! |
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| Waiting by Kevin HenkesSince patience can be a challenge at any age, all kinds of readers may take heart from this understated tale. Looking out from a windowsill, a small group of toys -- an owl, a puppy, a pig, a bear, and a rabbit -- quietly abide in anticipation. Some are waiting for a change in the weather, or for their human companion, while others are content and sustained by their friendship despite the changes happening around them. Similar to Julie Fogliano's If You Want to See a Whale, this sweetly contemplative slice of life depicts a truth that even the most active children can recognize: sometimes, you just have to slow down, look around, and wait. |
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| Happy in Our Skin by Fran Manushkin; illustrated by Lauren Tobia"This is how we all begin: small and happy in our skin." Starting with a close-up of a baby being tickled by doting parents, this joyful celebration of human skin zooms out to show a lively urban neighbourhood filled with people of various ages, genders, abilities, religions, and (of course) skin colours. Young readers are treated to a rhyming run-down of all the things skin can do (such as itching, healing, and growing) before being refocused on the family from the beginning, now all tuckered out from a boisterous block party. For another upbeat look at human diversity, pick up George Shannon's One Family or Shelley Rotner's photo-illustrated Shades of People. |
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My First Maze Book by Robson, KirsteenA collection of simple but innovative mazes to solve, for very young children. It lets you help the squirrel find his way up the tree, along the branches and up to the nuts; the jellyfish to find its way out of a tangle of seaweed; a rocket to navigate a suitable route through the galaxy, and more.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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