Advent Calendar

BookTrust have highlighted 24 of their favourite children's books. 

Look behind the windows to see if you agree.

Christmas party time

Happy Christmas everyone!

Shami Chakrabarti lecture: On Liberty, Reading and Dissent

On 30 November 2015, Shami Chakrabarti, Director of human rights campaign group Liberty, gave the fourth Reading Agency annual lecture at the British Library. 

Read what she had to say here.

Christmas is coming...

Mrs Morris's Christmas tree!

Kids' Lit Quiz National Final

The Kimquestors visited Oxford on Friday to take part in the National Final of the Kids Lit Quiz. We managed to fit in a tour of some of the places of literary significance including Christ Church College's dining hall (Harry Potter) and the Bodleian Library before quizzing began. More photos and details available here.

With Mary Hoffman

The power of reading

Frank Cottrell Boyce, the celebrity author at the National Kids' Lit Quiz Final on Friday, gave a truly inspirational speech before the teams did battle. The analogy of reading being like the effect of sunshine whose energy was released during the Industrial Revolution was very powerful. Read an abridged version of his David Fickling lecture in this Guardian article.

David Almond wins Guardian Children's Fiction Prize

'A Song for Ella Grey', David Almond's magical tale of first love, has won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. This reworking of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth has won universal acclaim, beating novels by Frances Hardinge, Sally Nicholls and Kate Saunders to win the only children's book award that is judged by authors.

Last year's winner, Piers Torday, commented: "He takes one of the oldest stories there is...and brings it to compelling contemporary life on Tyneside and the Bamburgh coast, without sacrificing any of the mystery, poetry and mythical resonance of the original."

Read the full Guardian article here.

SLA Information Award

The School Library Association announced their annual Information Book Award this week. The overall winner was the amazing 'Shackleton's Journey' by William Grill (we loved the illustrations) whilst Nicola Morgan's 'The Teenage Guide to Stress' won the 12-16 Category. Both books are available in the library.

Children in Need Day

We love Pokemon!

Kimquestors win the 'Sport of Reading'

The Kimquestors with Wayne, the quizmaster

Members of Kimbolton School’s reading group have been practising hard for the Central England heat of the Kids’ Lit Quiz to excellent effect! The Kimquestors won the heat by a tight margin whilst the Kimbookworms came a creditable 4^th, just 2.5 marks behind the leaders.

The Kids’ Lit Quiz is a hugely popular annual literature competition that spans 5 continents. Teams have to answer 100 questions on children’s literature divided into 10 weird and wonderful categories such as Anatomy (What body part was the Pobble missing?) and Sea Monsters (What kind of whale was Moby Dick?). Teams work collaboratively to answer each question put to them by the New Zealand Quizmaster Wayne Mills.

Having beaten 22 teams from schools all around the region, the Kimquestors now go on to the National Final to be held in Oxford in December. There is a real determination to do well, not least because the grand final will be in Auckland, New Zealand!

The two teams

Geraldine McCaughrean's visit

Geraldine McCaughrean, prize-winning author of over 170 books, shared her passion for books and writing with the Kimbookworms. Her visit was a real treat for all those who had enjoyed 'The Middle of Nowhere', this year's school Summer Read. Read more about Geraldine and her writing on her blog.

Guardian Young Critics competition

Enter the Guardian Young Critic's competition before the end of October to be in with a chance to win lots of books and book tokens. All you have to do is submit a review of one of the books longlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. Some of our favourites are on the list including Sally Nicholls' 'An Island of our Own' and 'The Lie Tree' by Frances Hardinge.
http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/jul/10/guardian-young-critics-competition-2015-enter

Happy National Poetry Day!

We're all looking forward to seeing Luke Wright performing his poetry here this morning! In the meantime, check out the Guardian's collection of National Poetry Day activities here or watch Lydia Wild, a fire performer, read a 'Light' poem.

The great wand-o-graphic

How many times are wands used in Harry Potter? An amazing infographic from Pottermore!

Pottermore - The great wand-o-graphic

The rest of us just live here

'Suspend your disbelief and enjoy the ride' Patrick Ness has done it again! His latest character, Mikey,    is a worrier, struggling with OCD but also having to contend with 'immortals'. The Guardian review sums up what Ness has achieved here; another smart and affecting novel from one of our favourite authors.

Laureate Log

I'm loving Chris Riddell's daily postings - see pages from our Children's Laureate's sketchbook here:
http://www.childrenslaureate.org.uk/chris-riddell/laureate-log 

The winner is revealed!

Today a group of Kimbookworms travelled to Comberton Village College to take part in the Carnegie Medal Shadowing Day. Discussion, quizzing, and cake helped to prepare the atmosphere for the awards ceremony which was streamed live from 12.30. A ripple of surprise ran through the audience as the winner was announced (More than this and Tinder had been particular favourites).

Congratulations go to Tanya Landman for her outstanding novel about Charlie, a freed slave girl who joins the American army at the end of the Civil War. Buffalo Soldier is an amazing story, based on the true story of the life of a former slave, Cathy Williams.

As the Chair of the Judging panel said, "This beautifully written, heart breaking and often brutal, novel engages the reader from the very beginning." Read the opening lines here on the Guardian Children's Book site and you too are sure to be hooked.

YALC! Patrick Ness meets Judy Blume and so much more...

Want to see your favourite authors all in the same weekend? Sixty YA authors are going to be at The Young Adult Literary Convention which kicks off at the London Film and Comic Con on 17th July. There are loads of activities and workshops for teenagers and YA Lit fans with talks and discussions about YA themes from horror to mental health.

Patrick Ness will be chatting about everything
Judy Blume-esque to the lady herself on Sat 18 July

Full details are available at http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/jun/16/whats-happening-at-yalc-2015-schedule and for more information on how to book tickets go to http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/adults/young-adults/yalc/faqs/

Kindness Day: June 12th

Today is Kindness Day!

Join in with #kindnessday inspired by Wonder. Log on to Movellas for more information.

Library Challenge fun

The 2nd Form have been taking part in a Library Challenge competition over the last 2 weeks and today was the grand final. It was a very close competition but overall winners were 2L whose teamwork and knowledge of the library was superb!

Chris Riddell named as Children's Laureate

Illustrator and author Chris Riddell has been named as the new Children's Laureate, taking over from Malorie Blackman for the next 2 years. Chris says he will post an illustration a day during his time as Children's Laureate. Have a look at some of his best illustrations here or try out the quiz and see how much you know about Chris and his amazing work:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/09/illustrator-chris-riddell-named-uk-childrens-laureate

How well do you know Malorie Blackman?

Malorie Blackman's time as the Children's Laureate is coming to an end. Try out this quiz from The Guardian to see how well you know her books and to celebrate her writing.

World of Norm comic strip challenge

Create a fun comic strip beginning with the line "Norm knew it was going to be one of those days when he woke up and found himself...", and finishing with "Abso-Flipping-Lutely!". The winner will receive a complete set of World of Norm books for themselves and their school as well as a school visit from Jonathan Meres! More details here:

http://www.renlearn.co.uk/take-the-quiz/out-of-norm/

New Shakespearean Dictionary

We love this new dictionary! It contains over 4000 Shakespearean words with sentences taken from the 12 most popular plays. As well as explaining and defining, the vocabulary of Shakespeare is put into context and provides plenty of information about Elizabethan society. The colours and illustrations are beautiful too. Highly recommended.     

Exam Week Cometh

Obsessed with Books?

Branford Boase Award 2015 shortlist

The shortlist for the 2015 Branford Boase Award has been announced today. Seven books feature including Half Bad by Sally Green and Bone Jack by Sara Crowe. The award is given for an outstanding debut novel for children; past winners include My Sister lives on the Mantelpiece and How I Live Now. Read about the award and shortlist here or read the first chapters and reviews in this Guardian article.

UKYA Teen Fiction Award

Norwich Millennium Library is hosting a new Book Group for 11-16s to Shadow Read this year’s UKLA (UK Literacy Association) Teen shortlist. Keep an eye on their blog to see what the shadowers make of the shortlist.

Carnegie 2015 Shortlist

The Carnegie and Kate Greenaway shortlists have just been announced! Discover all the shortlisted authors and illustrators in this Guardian article or find out what the Shadowers are thinking on the CKG site.

Will Patrick Ness or Chris Riddell win for a third time? Will 'Tinder' win both awards? Explore the shortlists and share your ideas on the Shadowing site.

UKYA Blogger Awards

Saturday 7th March sees the announcement of the 2015 UKYA Blogger Awards. Check here for the shortlist and to find out the ultimate winner.

Happy World Book Day!

World Book Day was celebrated here today in lots of different ways. A crime scene appeared in the library: Dumbledore's murderer wasn't Snape after all, it was a member of Kimbolton School staff! Forensic clues had to be investigated and culprits interviewed with chocolate prizes for solving the crime and coming up with the best motive. A video quiz featuring Lyra the Lego Librarian engaged pupils during tutor time whilst cakes were sold at break to support Book Aid International. A great way to celebrate reading!

Half Wild competition

Half Wild, the second novel in the superb Half World trilogy, is due to be published in March. The Reading Agency are inviting you to create your own parallel world using words and pictures. The winner, selected by Sally Green, will win £50 worth of books, signed copies of the author's books and the chance of an interview with Sally herself. Check out the details here.

World Book Day is coming...

On 4th and 5th March from 6-8pm WBD Teen Fest will bring amazing authors including Holly Smale, Marcus Sedgwick, Malorie Blackman and Derek Landy straight to your screen! With Hangouts and interviews, how-tos, blogposts, prizes and much more, each night will be packed with brilliant booky stuff as well as the chance to chat to other readers and writers. And it’s all free!

Sign up here to get exclusive updates.

We have a winner!

After weeks of heated debate and voting, the winner of the Kimbookworms inaugural Battle Royale has been announced. In a fight to the literary death between sixteen of the toughest characters in children’s literature Katniss Everdeen reigns supreme! She fought off strong competition from contenders such as Hermione Granger, August Pullman and Percy Jackson to be crowned Queen of the Library. Do you agree with this result? Or do you think that Sophie from Rooftoppers, or Alex Rider should have won? Let your voices be heard at our first Kimbookworms session after half term in the library on Thursday, or leave us a comment on EduBlogs.

Free read - The Wolf Wilder

Be one of the first to read the stunning opening chapter of Katherine Rundell's 'The Wolf Wilder'. You'll have to wait until Sept.2015 for it to be published but who can resist dipping into a new book by the author of the fabulous 'Rooftoppers'.

Terror and Wonder

The deadline is fast approaching for submitting entries to the latest Young Poets Network competition. Open to young people aged 25 or under, poems on a Gothic theme can be written or performed and entries should arrive by Sunday 15th February. More details available at http://www.youngpoetsnetwork.org.uk/2014/12/19/terror-and-wonder-the-gothic-challenge/

A Golden Snitch Evening

What a brilliant way to celebrate the first ever Harry Potter Book Night here at Kimbolton School! Lots of fun and games with Marauders' Map making, Owl post, Diagon Alley treasure hunt and a game of Quidditch to finish off!!

Owl post!

Happy Harry Potter Book Night!

There are over 10,000 Harry Potter events going on across the world today and we'll be joining them here at Kimbolton School! The Kimbookworms will be looking forward to sampling these yummy owl cakes later (thankyou Mrs Morris!).

An extra treat released today is the brand new Harry Potter Trivia Challenge where you can put your knowledge of the books to the test. Find the quiz here

Harper Lee publishes new novel

55 years after publishing 'To Kill a Mockingbird', Harper Lee is to publish her second novel, 'Go Set a Watchman', this summer. Set 20 years on we'll see Scout return to Maycomb from New York to visit her father. What a treat for the summer holidays!

Guardian article



Eight creative ways to hack 2015

The Reading Agency has come up with 8 new creative ways to enjoy your reading and writing this year. Check out their ideas, look out for competitions or sign up for the monthly newsletter for 13-24 year olds.

Costa Book of the Year 2014

Winner of the Samuel Johnson prize, the Costa Biography prize and now the overall Costa Book of the Year, 'H is for Hawk' by Helen Macdonald explores grief, love and nature as well as being a manual on how to train a goshawk. It tells how the Cambridge historian, illustrator and naturalist, overwhelmed by grief following the death of her father, decided to train the most difficult of all birds of prey. Interwoven is a shadow biography of T.H.White along with nature writing, a true mixing of genres.

Read Helen Macdonald's interview with the Guardian here.

The door that led to where

Sally Gardner's eagerly awaited 'The door that led to where' has just arrived in the library and promises to be just as original and imaginative as her previous bestsellers. Read this review from the Daily Telegraph and/or reserve your copy via email.

John Green quotes

It’s 10 years since John Green published his first book, ‘Looking for Alaska’. To celebrate, The Guardian has put together the best quotes from his books. A favourite of mine is “Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.” (Fault in our Stars)
Do you have any favourites? Email them to the Guardian at children.books@theguardian.com and have them added to their blog.

Harry Potter Book Night

Are you celebrating Harry Potter Book Night on 5th February?

The Kimbookworms are counting down the days!

 

In the meantime, why not enter the national schools competition to win a masterclass with Jonny Duddle, the new official Harry Potter jacket illustrator. There are lots of other prizes too. All you have to do is design your own Witch or Wizard card (like the ones Ron shows Harry in the packs of Chocolate Frogs). Find out more here.