Do you enjoy reading and exploring new genres and different authors? Would you like to meet interesting people, talk about books, and discover some of your library’s hidden treasures? The Library Book Group offers all that and more!
There’s a different theme each month, rather than a set text. Group members can choose their own reading material, share old favourites with the group, or introduce us to new discoveries. Some examples of themes include:
books set in a small village or town
Lucky Dip – anything that jumps out at you as you’re browsing your shelves or the library’s collections.
All welcome! Come and indulge your love of books in a convivial and relaxed atmosphere.
Great children’s books, be they novels, picture books or graphic novels, are some of the most complex works to write and I am in awe of anyone who attempts such a mighty task. As a Content Development Librarian selecting books for our tamariki is both a huge responsibility and a great honour and one I love. So it is with much excitement that I share with you some of the new and not so new books that have crossed my desk lately.
These two beautiful picture books simply wrap themselves around you. They are full of warmth, friendship, adventure, playfulness and belonging. The author’s play with language – the rhyming, alliteration, humour and word creation – gives a musicality to the text as it skips and dances along. The illustrations and text work in perfect harmony. Cecil’s images enhance the mood and tone of the story, further illuminating the “evermore” nature of the friendship between a young girl and a dragon. These are exceptional books in the picture book genre.
Mine!written by Alison Green and illustrated by Sharon Rentta
Mine! Is a hilarious and slightly wicked story of a wolf who settles a dispute between a pesky little bird and itself in a rather wolfish way. Rentta’s mostly black and white illustrations bring a rich texture to this very spirited story, enhancing both expression and action. The bright orange colouring of the pinecone – the object of the dispute – highlights both the focus and determination of the two characters to claim “Mine!” A wonderfully subversive tale.
There have been several exceptional picture books published over the past couple of years exploring feelings and this one sits right up there with the best. This stunning picture book joyously celebrates positive feelings but equally acknowledges that we can all feel down, afraid, and sad at times. In just a few words it helps us to see that such feelings can make us “stronger,” are passing and/or remind us of humbleness. Maycock’s ink illustrations extend the text and enrich the reading experience and are so expressive it is as if they have voice. A beautifully rendered picture book to read aloud and share or to read quietly to yourself, either way you will smile with quiet contemplation with each page turn.
Children’s Fiction – Horror stories
The children’s horror genre has continued to mature and expand over the past 10 years or so. Humour still features strongly in many such tales to mitigate the scary stuff, giving the young reader a bit of comic relief. However, these two stories I have chosen to write about today give no such respite, they are so good but are not for the faint hearted.
Gena Blaxill employs the fairy tale ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ to frame her story with its dark, threatening forest, an old relative that lives apart from the village, a young girl in a red cloak and a wolf. But Blaxill diverts from the traditional pathway here creating a highly compelling, wonderfully scary tale steeped in tension, impending danger and subterfuge. It is one of the best children’s horror stories I have read in a long time. Read it if you dare…Highly recommended – great read-aloud, love the cover!
Irrėelle lives with the constant threat of being turned to dust by her “creator”, Miss Vesper who seeks eternal life. Irrėelle, and her unlikely ally, Guy, must find a way to rid themselves of the tenacious grip of Miss Vesper if they are ever going to be free and even more critical, if they are ever going to be truly alive. Kassner has penned a highly inventive, creative read that will have young readers riveted to every page. Again, a brilliant book and read-aloud.
I’m currently reading Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, a new book by A. F. Steadman that is attracting much attention. It’s a captivating tale with rich world building and an unconventional portrayal of unicorns. It promises to be a great read for young fantasy readers.
Don’t forget to check out the finalists in this year’s New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults – you can find all the information about the awards, finalists, and past winners here.
Also, congratulations to Katya Balen, the 2022 Yoto Carnegie Medal Winner for her book October, October. Click here to read Katya’s speech and for more information on the award.
I was so excited to see last week that Ruth Ozeki won The Women’s Prize for Fiction 2022 for her novel The book of form and emptiness. If you are passionate about books and libraries and what really matters, this is for you.
I fell in love with Ruth’s writing when I read A tale for the time being, one of her previous novels and now one of my favourites. Her writing is thoughtful, quirky and compassionate – highly recommended. And Ruth is a fascinating person, not only a writer but a film maker and Zen Buddhist priest.
Ozeki is the 27th winner of this prize which was established in 1996 to offset the tendency of major literary prizes to ‘overlook accomplished, challenging, important fiction by female authors’. Check out these previous winners below (clicking on the cover takes you to our catalogue entry for that title).
Palmerston North City Library has several locations around town (and in Ashhurst too!) Do you know where they all are? Grab a copy of the Read Your Way Around Town brochure, or print it out from the file below, and get a stamp for each location you visit!
Palmerston North City Library has several ebook apps (see the list here). BorrowBox sent us these lists of top titles across Aotearoa in May. Let us know if there’s a title you’d like to see in ebook or e-audio format and we’ll do our best to get it!
We’re testing out a new app that creates promotional images – here’s a list of LGBT-themed Young Adult books, and if you click on a cover in the image below it will take you straight to that title on our library catalogue!
I always tell people that the most stressful part of my job as a Content Development Librarian is never having enough time to read all the amazing books I see and handle every day on the job.
My TBR pile is huge, scattered across several Living Rooms in the Fiction area. Here’s a smattering of my recommendations.
Charity Norman’s latest title, Remember me sounds very appealing with an unsolved cold case and fraught familial relationships in a New Zealand setting. I’ve read several others of Charity’s books and thoroughly enjoyed them.
I don’t think Patrick Gale could ever surpass his sublime 2007 novel Notes from an exhibition but I’ll read anything he writes regardless. Mother’s boy, his 17th novel apparently, is based around the known facts of the boyhood and youth of the great Cornish poet, Charles Causley and the life of the mother who raised him singlehandedly.
For Lucinda Riley fans, The murders at Fleat House has just been released in New Zealand. As the title implies this one is a murder mystery and according to very reliable sources – it is a page-turner from beginning to end! Originally written in 2004/2005 and now published posthumously. Reserve it now.
Reviews for Unsheltered by Wellington based novelist Clare Moleta have consistently been very positive so this one has found a place on my list as well – a dystopian novel where Li is searching for her eight-year-old daughter Matti, who she’s been separated from in a fire which broke out during the clearance of an unsanctioned Makecamp – a refugee settlement. Described by Elizabeth Knox as ‘extraordinarily suspenseful’.
It’s so cool to see Kate Bush’s gender-swapping anthem Running up that hill back in the charts after almost forty years! Since being featured on the show Stranger Things, the song has raced back into the limelight. A well-deserved success for a singular artist.
Join us in celebrating Samoa Language Week at the Palmerston North City Library. We have an amazing array of Samoan Language books for children, Samoan movies, Samoan music, travel guides for Samoa and more to offer!
Samoan Language Books for children
Fale Sāmoa Come join Tomasi and his friends as they take a magical ride to learn more about Fale Sāmoa, and why they are so important in Samoan culture.
Kuaka visits Samoa A story about a small Godwit that travels to Samoa to experience the culture and explore the beautiful island.
Samoan Films available from Kanopy, stream for free with your library card
Born in Apia, Samoa, Albert Wendt has been an influential figure in the developments that have shaped New Zealand and Pacific literature since the 1970s. His books include the powerful Sons for the Return Home (1973). Sons for the Return Home describes the life of a young man from a migrant Samoan family and his love affair with a fellow (Pakeha) student. Wendt drew on his own life experiences to write Sons for the Return Home and the book was later turned into a movie. Wendt’s stories are told with insight, wisdom, humour and compassion. The Palmerston North City Library has a collection of poetry, short stories and novels by Wendt, please do seek out one of the South Pacific’s treasured and best-known writers.
Born in Christchurch, Niu Sila (New Zealand), Tusiata Avia writes (sometimes with painful results) the influences of New Zealand and Samoan cultures in her life. Wild Dogs Under My Skirt was one of Avia’s first collection of poetry, a deeply personal journey exploring themes of power, politics, racism, love, sex and living between cultures.
Samoan Music Artists in the Palmerston North City Library
Poetik is the stage name of Ventry Parker, an independent artist from Apia, Western Samoa. His style of rap, combines both confronting and honest lyricism about subjects such as systemic racism and Polynesian culture lined with a background West Coast-inspired g-funk beats. Listen out for the Conch Shell Horn as well as name drops of Samoa’s most famous beer, Vailima.
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