Welcome to all students from Southland Campus

Our blog is used to update our students on important information regarding the library.  We add new resources for you to borrow, have fantastic links to help you with your studies  and keep you informed.  We are excited to have you join our blog and also connect with us via facebook.  All updates can be sent to your inbox automatically, by just joining up.

Merry Christmas

Last post for the year, thanks for all your support and company here in the Library.  We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy Safe New Year.  See you all in 2012.

Christmas Crafts

 

Come on, get creative! 

No excuses, there is no need for a sewing machine in this book.  All hand sewn and  easily made  by yourself and the kids.

Great ideas, all made with fabric and card, little bags, fabric angels, and great goodies for your tree.  Great ideas to fill in the hours once the kids finish school and to keep yourself busy over the holidays.

 

 

 

Another great book to keep you busy over the holidays.

A range of ideas for Christmas, from cooking  sweet goodies to making decorations and decorating your parcels….

Have Fun!

Homemade Crafts for the Holidays

Click here to visit Etsy, an awesome craft site

With the holidays approaching, how about challenging yourself to get crafty.  As you know in the library, craft and homemade are our middle names, so we are hoping it may rub off…..

How about jazzing up old t-shirts with the kids (no sewing machine needed) , homemade felt cupcakes, dolls, bags and can you remember making rats tails with leftover balls of wool from mums cupboard, 4 nails and a wooden cotton reel?

Your kids will love you for it.  Give it a go!

 

Check out how to knit on this you tube tutorial

A simple step-by-step introduction to knitting, with over 25 easy ideas and instructions. 

A modern twist on knitting, there is even knitted mobile phone and iPod covers!  I loved the awesome instructions for the felted bag, and I am going to give the good ole never fail scarf a go, ready for next winter.

Get stitched up, by knitting over the holidays!

Great Books for Girls

Click here to be taken to the super cool Jacqueline Wilson site

 

When I was a young girl, my favourite thing to do was to read, which I am proud to say has  rubbed off onto my two boys.  I loved Judy Blume, and Jacqueline Wilsons books are a modern day equivalent.  ‘

Kiss” is aimed at 12+.  It is a story about friendship and the reality of growing up and the challenges of sexuality, first love and heartbreak.  Sylvie and Carl have been best friends since they were small, and have done everything together, Sylvie always believed they would get married but…Carl has a new special friend called Paul. 

Things in Sylvie's life are about to change.

 

Visit Lauren Childs awesome website here

Being a worrier when I was young (and not so young)  I wish I had found a friend like Clarice Bean to help me through my worries when I was a kid!   What a delightful book.

‘Always remember: its the worry you haven't even thought to worry about that should worry you the most!  That's what Ruby Redfort would say.  I have got her SURVIVAL HANDBOOK’…. says Clarice Bean. 

Clarice writes all her worries down in her notebook but one of her biggest worries is about to become reality, change.

GREAT BOOKS FOR BOYS

Click here to visit ultimate survivor - Bear Grylls

Hatchet – Gary Paulsen

The best selling classic survival story

Thirteen year old Brian Robeson is on his way to visit his father when the plane he is in crashes.  Suddenly Brian finds himself alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but a tattered jacket and a hatchet…and a dreadful secret he has kept to himself since his parents divorce.  It will take all Brians know-how and determination, and more courage than he knew possessed, to survive.

There are five books in this series, and will surely get boys hooked into reading over the holidays.

 

 

 

Just Stupid – Andy Griffiths

Visit Andy Griffiths awesome site here

What boy wouldn't love a book that starts with you having to fill out a ‘stupid test’ on the back cover?

Andy Griffiths appeals to boys humour and imagination.  It is written as though a 10 year old boy is talking himself and the scribble illustrations around the pages will make you laugh out loud!

Andy Griffiths collections of books including, ‘The day my bum went psycho’, ‘Just disgusting’ and ‘The Bad Book’ all belong on a boys bedside table and in their school backpack. 

Great reading for the holidays.

The Kiwi Kids – ABC

Great news site especially designed for kiwi kids

A great little book for kiwi kids, specifically kiwiana….G for Gumboots, P for Pohutakawa, W for Waka, J for Jandals – A cool book to have in any classroom or a kiwi kids bookshelf

 

 

 

 

In my Fathers House – A memoir of Polygamy

By Dorothy Allred Solomon

This book is a groundbreaking memoir exploring polygamy, not with outrage but with honesty and grace.  Dorothy Allred Solomon is the 28th of 48 children, descended from five generations of Mormon polygamy, Solomon evokes the intensity and dedication that bound her family ‘living the principle’.  She also traces the events that led up to her fathers assassination in 1977, that rocked Utah.  An interesting book to open our eyes to people who are often looked upon as outlaws and struggle for our understanding.