Book Swap - Tuesday 30 September

Next week there will be a Book Swap in the Library all day Tuesday from 10.30 a.m. until 5 p.m.
How does it work?
- Bring in a book in reasonably good condition that you no longer want, which is suitable for your age group
- Receive a token in exchange
- Exchange that token for another book.
No money changes hands.
All day there will be different books, depending on what people bring, so it's worth coming at morning break, lunch time and after school. You can also keep your token for the next term's Book Swap (or I can keep it for you).

The richest children's book prize

Seven UK authors have been shortlisted for the £400,000 Astrid Lindgren Memorial award: Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, the creators of the Gruffalo, illustrators Quentin Blake and Anthony Browne, as well as novelists David Almond, Michael Morpurgo and Eva Ibbotson.
The award was established by the Swedish government following the death of Pippi Longstocking author Astrid Lindgren in 2002, aged 94. Last year's winner was Australian writer Sonya Hartnett, and other recipients include Philip Pullman and Maurice Sendak.
This year nominations were received from 60 countries, and also include book projects as well as writers. The winner, picked by a panel of judges, will be announced in March 2009.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/sep/19/astrid.lindgren.award.childrens.books

Booked Up

This autumn every 11-year-old in England will be able to choose a free book from a list of specially selected titles. This is a national programme called Booked Up, supported by the Department for Children, Schools and Families. All Year 7 pupils have received a magazine with details of all the books, and the Library has a set of the books to help students make their choice by browsing through them and chatting about them to their friends. In addition we have been watching a short DVD where all the Booked Up authors talk about their book, which is then reviewed by a reader. I will be asking Year 7s to make their choice later this week so I can place the order.
Last year over 637,000 children received a free Booked Up book with 5,400 secondary schools taking part in the programme. If the timing is similar then we might expect the books to arrive in early December. There is more information at http://www.bookedup.org.uk.

Can you 'spot' a good read?

101 Reasons to Read a Book!

101 books in the Junior Fiction Library have been secretly chosen. If a reader borrows one of the mystery books they will find a slip with a picture of a Dalmatian puppy. Once the book is read, the slip is completed, and handed in with the book.

The slips are being pinned around the Dalmatians display in the Library. Once all 101 Dalmatians have been found, the slips will be been entered in to a draw for a prize - a book, of course, plus loan of the toy puppies for the classroom for 2 weeks.

Younger readers in the Library have been excitedly hunting the 101 mystery books. It's been so successful we may end up with another 101! My thanks to my Library helpers and holders of the Gold Reading Olympics, who helped select the mystery books.

You Are What You Read

The National Year of Reading’s monthly theme for September is You Are What You Read. It's a great opportunity to explore a whole range of books. As well as factual books about origins and identities, families and communities, the genre of historical fiction can be an introduction to the past, and a way to gain an understanding and develop empathy for people who came before. Suggestions for the month can be seen at: http://www.sla.org.uk/nyr-booklist-september08.php.
Some suggestions:
Websites
For researching family history:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/
Annotated list of historical fiction:
http://www.marysmoffat.co.uk/bibliography/cont.htm
Books in the Library
All about Malorie Blackman by Shaun McCarthy
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
Coming to England by Floella Benjamin
How the World came to Oxford: Refugee Stories Past and Present by Nikki van der Gaag
Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo
Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah.

The ‘Jamie Oliver for reading’ launches Campaign for the Book

Alan Gibbons, the children's writer, has launched a nationwide campaign to promote the central place in society of reading for pleasure, a recognition of school libraries as key engines of learning, and the defence of public libraries and librarians from attempts to cut spending.

Launched only last weekend Campaign for the Book, has over 300 writers and professionals pledging their support, among them Michael Rosen, Philip Pullman, Anne Fine, David Almond, Anthony Browne, Malorie Blackman and Beverley Naidoo.

Libraries Charter
We, the signatories of this charter commit ourselves to campaigning for the following:
1. The central place of reading for pleasure in society
2. A proper balance of book provision and information technology in public and school libraries
3. The defence of public libraries and librarians from attempts to cut spending in a "soft" area
4. An extension of the role of the school librarian and a recognition of the school library as a key engine of learning
5. The recruitment of more school librarians. It is a national scandal that less than a third of secondary schools has a trained librarian
6. The defence of the professional status of the public and school librarian. Opposition to downgrading. In some places this has reduced librarians' salaries by up to half
7. The promotion of reading whole books in school, rather than excerpts
8. A higher profile for reading for pleasure in schools, including shadowing book awards, inviting authors and illustrators to visit, and developing school creative writing magazines

http://alangibbons.net/
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/66369-author-launches-libraries-campaign.html
http://www.thebookseller.com/blogs/66479-page.html

The Man Booker Prize Shortlist

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2008 shortlist has been announced:

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
The Clothes on Their Backs by Linda Grant
The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz

The winner will be announced on 14 October 2008
More information

What did you read over summer?

Welcome back! What have you read during the last two or three months? OLA needs your family summer reading recommendations to make into a booklet and share with other families in this National Year of Reading.

Over the holiday I hope many of you will have taken part in the OLA Family Summer Reading Group, by sharing books with one another, and then listing what you read, with a brief comment, on the form sent to you in the July mailing. Now is the time to return it, but if it's lost then please write your family's favourite summer reads on a piece of paper and ask your daughter to bring it to the Library.

Later in the term we plan to hold a special book-themed social evening, with surprises, in the Library and reveal the favourites of each year group.

This term in the school library will also feature the start of the Reading Olympics and reading buddies, book chains, a book swap, 'poetree', Kids' Lit Quiz heats, and 101 dalmatians....

Read the Game

The National Year of Reading’s monthly theme for August, Read the Game, produced a list of suggestions covering the real and the virtual, from football to mountaineering, cycling to swimming. Why not borrow one of these from the library?

MacB by Neil Arksey
Football can be deadly... In this highly original reworking of the Macbeth story, MacB is driven to do whatever is necessary to fulfil his ambition to captain the school team.
Divided City by Theresa Breslin
In Glasgow, with its religious, sporting and political divisions, football unites people as nothing else. Joe and Graham, from opposite religious camps, are a brilliant team on the pitch - and as they work together to get a place in the Glasgow team, and to help the young asylum seeker Kyoul, a new tolerance and understanding is forged.
Fat Boy Swim by Catherine Forde
Jimmy is obese, useless at football, and the constant target of the school’s most unpleasant bullies. However he's a talented cook, and at night he is haunted by dreams of being a powerful and graceful swimmer. A hugely satisfying read in which dreams come true, wrongs are righted and family secrets uncovered.
A Little Piece of Ground by Elizabeth Laird
Living in the occupied Palestinian city of Ramallah, 12 year Karim wants more than anything to be 'champion footballer of the entire world'. Despite the curfews and the dangers of living under Israeli occupation he and his friends make a football pitch out of a patch of waste ground. The preoccupations of an ordinary boy sit movingly alongside a tragic and terrifying modern conflict.
The Penalty by Mal Peet
Sports journalist Paul Faustino is unwillingly drawn into a hunt for a missing young football prodigy. A story of corruption, murder, slavery and the power of the occult, and a thrilling read.
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson (on the non-fiction shelves at 796.52 SIM)
A mountaineering classic, this is the true story of two men's near fatal ascent of the 21,000 foot Siula Grande peak in the Peruvian Andes. An extraordinary and controversial tale of survival, and a page-turning read.
Tennis Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
A 1937 classic about four children who set out to follow in the footsteps of their father, once a top class tennis player. Competition between them appears gentle and good-natured by today's standards, and the emphasis is on making the most of the talents you have.
See the full list at http://www.sla.org.uk/nyr-booklist-august08.php.