Dunedin Public Libraries News & Reviews Blog

The New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults reward and recognise authors and illustrators contributing to New Zealand literature for children and young adults.

Twenty great books were short listed in February this year, with the announcement of the overall winners for this annual event happening on Wednesday 21 May at 6pm.

Many celebrations are held throughout New Zealand to observe these awards and Dunedin Public Libraries are proud to be associated, partnering with the University Bookshop, to bring you a programme to be proud of - we hope to see you there!

Opening Event:

Come celebrate the opening of New Zealand Post Book Awards and meet our special guest award winning author Kyle Mewburn, Author of Kiss! Kiss! Yuck! Yuck!. Kyle will be launching his latest children’s picture book, Duck’s Stuck.

Suitable for children under 8 years. Limited numbers. Collect your tickets from the University Bookshop or the Dunedin City Library.

• Monday 12 May 6.00pm
• 4th Floor
• Dunedin City Library
• FREE EVENT

Happy Birthday Hairy Maclary:

Come along and celebrate Hairy Maclary’s 25th birthday! Lynley Dodd will be reading and signing books.

• Friday 16th May 1.30p.m.
• Storypit
• Dunedin City Library
• FREE EVENT

Limited numbers - telephone 474 3670 or collect tickets from Dunedin City Library.

Character Hunt:

Join us in having lots of fun finding some of your favourite book characters hiding around the Library.

• Sunday 18 May 2.00pm - 3.30pm
• Dunedin City Library

Bubbles Storytimes:

Join us for a special bubbly New Zealand Post Book Awards storytime reading of “The King’s Bubbles” by Ruth Paul.

• Friday 16 May 10.30am Port Chalmers Library and Blueskin Bay Library
• Tuesday 20 May 11.00am Waikouaiti Library and Mosgiel Library
• Wednesday 21 May 10.30am City Library

The twenty finalists have been announced in this years NZ Post Book Awards.

The winners will be announced on Wednesday May 21st.

The categories and finalists are:

Picture Books

• The Kings Bubbles - Ruth Paul
• Out of the egg - Tina Matthews
• Rats! - Gavin Bishop
• Tahi: one lucky kiwi - Melanie Drewery
• To the harbour - Stanley Palmer

Junior Fiction

• Dead Dan’s Dee - Phyllis Johnston
• The dumpster saga - Craig Harrison
• The mad tapdpole adventure - Melanie Drewery
• Sitting on the fence: the diary of Martin Daly - Bill Nagelkerke
• Snake and Lizard - Joy Cowley

Non Fiction

• A mini guide to the identification of New Zealand’s land birds - Andrew Crowe
• Reaching the summit: Sir Edmund Hillary’s story - Alexa Johnston
• Weather watch New Zealand - Sandra Carrod
• What is a fish? - Fena Tu’akoi
• Which New Zealand spider? - Andrew Crowe

Young Adult Fiction

• Salt - Maurice Gee
• The sea-wreck stranger - Anna Mackenzie
• Tomorrow all will be beautiful - Brigid Lowry
• The transformation of Minna Hargreaves - Fleur Beale
• Zilla - Penelope Todd

Waitati’s own Mandy Mayhem read us all stories for Turn Off TV Week at the Blueskin Nursery Cafe. A great group of young and old turned up for hot chocolates, coffees and free fluffies for the kids.

Mandy read

‘The Princess and the White Bear King’ by Tanya Batts

and ‘Bad Jelly the Witch’ by Spike Milligan.

We then got to see and feel lots of different kinds of modern cloth nappies.

Michelle came along from the Nappy Network to show us these and answer any questions. She’ll be at the Mosgiel library on Thursday too!

Michelle highlighted the DCC $20 off nappy starter pack and all the reasons why these nappies are great to use!

Yet another great read from Ms Walters. This treat follows an army officer who is lucky to be alive after experiencing an horrific tour of duty in Iraq. Although severely disfigured facially, it are his personal conflicts and traumas that are at the heart of this book. An interesting array of characters with demons of their own all make for a thoroughly interesting read. Forget black and white; this is all shades of grey; just the way I like it. Enjoy

Recommended by Debbie

The Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction celebrates the achievements of female authors. The winner will be announced on the 4th June, 2008 at the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction Ceremony

The shortlist for this literary competition has been released:

• Nancy Huston - Fault Lines
• Sadie Jones - The Outcast
• Charlotte Mendelson - When We Were Bad
• Heather O’Neill - Lullabies for Little Criminals
• Rose Tremain - The Road Home
• Patricia Wood - Lottery

The new writers shortlist is:

• Lauren Groff - The monsters of Templeton Heinemann
• Joanna Kavenna - Inglorious Faber
• Lauren Liebenberg - The voluptuous delights of peanut butter and jam

One for the children would be Ripley’s believe it or not! Special edition 2008.

This is the latest edition in the Ripley’s believe it or not series. It has lots of amazing photos and it is incredible what people think up in an attempt to get into the book.

It is arranged by categories , of which some are…Zany zones, Way Cool!, Creature features and Spooky tales.

Check it out at the Library. It sits right next to the Guinness Book of World Records and makes up part of our non-fiction area in the Children’s area.

There are lots of cool books to help fill in the school holidays. Come in and check out them

Don’t Judge a book by it’s cover!! This is so true about Last Resort.  The cover is appalling. 

A Missing child: Carissa Cooper, twelve, vanishes near her home - abducted, possibly by someone close to her.

A woman in crisis: Noelle Cooper comes back home to help search for her cousin and steps into a web of secrets. A man of faith: Nathan Trask, Noelles childhood friend, will do anything to protect Noelle from danger.

A lot happens in this book, but it keeps you on your toes.  A great read, I really loved reading it and can’t wait to read another by this author. 

reviewed by Dianne

For the men who enjoy Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum, there is a new writer of that genre, James Phelan. Patriot act is a fast-paced action-filled story.

September 11 changed how the world reacts to acts of terrorism. The U.S. Patriot Act gives greater authority to surveillance of individuals suspected of acts of violence.

Ex-navy operative and investigative journalist Lachlan Fox uncovers a trail of lies and corruption and cover-ups at top level government. It is a race against time.

This is a book which would translate onto the big screen, and is well worth a read.

“I was conceived in a bath in Norfolk in September 1946. How do I know? Well, my  mother told me. As she put it, they were all rather exhausted after the war and there weren’t many opportune occasions”
This is the opening paragraph of Spilling the beans by Clarissa Dickson Wright

When Two fat ladies hit the television screens they revolutionized cooking and travelling the English countryside by motorbike and sidecar.

We were all sorry when Jennifer Paterson passed away and with it the demise of the popular programme.

Here is the story of the “other” Fat Lady – Clarissa Dickson Wright.

This is a wonderfully funny and sad biography of a woman who  has battled her demons throughout her life -  a fractured childhood, successful barrister, drunk and then a household name and with it the pressures of stardom.

A truly honest and harrowing account of her early life gives you an insight into the person she has become. She is a woman who lives life to the fullest.

This story is chock-full of famous names and events.

 It was finally the cooking which has brought her success, sobriety and peace.

 This book makes up one of a tremendous range of biographies and autobiographies found in the Mosgiel Library.

A prisoner of birth  by Jeffrey Archer. This is Archer at his best. It was in the “Kane and Abel” and “Sons of fortune” vein.

Danny Cartwright is wrongfully convicted of the death of his best friend on the day he celebrates his engagement to Beth Wilson.

Facing 22 years of prison, he despairs for his future. He is befriended by his cellmate and learn to read and write and this opens up a new world to him.

The novel is split into the five stages of Danny’s life. From incarceration to release, to revenge and then finally redemption.

This 500-page novel was a real page-turner and I thoroughly recommend it.

Reviewed by Fiona