Christmas has arrived in the library!

Do you want to read a Snowman?

Thank you Mrs Morris!!

A Monster Calls

It's coming...

Bridge Book Award Shortlist

Here are the shortlisted books as voted for by students across Cambridgeshire.

Read, discuss, review and vote for your favourite before 9th December.

Add your vote to the library post box and pop your review on the library catalogue to be in with a chance of winning a book token. Have a look at some of the reviews on the Bridge Award web site:

https://librarycamvc.wordpress.com/

Middles' Scary Reading for Halloween

The Middles Reading Group enjoyed some very scary tales over Halloween. Mister Creecher by Chris Priestley is a superb Gothic story of Billy, the street urchin, and Creecher, Frankenstein's creation with plenty of references to Dickens and Shelley as well as nods to various other historical characters. We loved the ending - a real surprise!  The Killing Sound was an alternative, more gory offering. A thriller which mixes fringe science with the supernatural to produce a chilling tale for those who like their Horror stories. This was definitely a 'marmite' book for the group.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Fourteen members of the Kimbookworms enjoyed a cinema outing to the first showing of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them on Friday. We all loved the weird and wonderful creatures, especially Niffler and the emotionally needy Bowtruckle, And Mrs Morris provided plenty of Gilly Water and HoneyDuke's Treat Mix to nibble during the show!

Celebrating Shichi-go-san

Members of the Japan Society making layered desserts to celebrate

Shichi-go-san Day (15th November).

Kids' Lit Quiz

Well done to the Kimbookworms and Kimquestors who took part in the Central England heat of the Kids' Lit Quiz yesterday. There were some very difficult questions such as 'Which author, born in China, won the Newbery Medal for 'Bridge to Terabithia?' (Katherine Paterson) and much easier ones such as 'What colour is Marge Simpson's hair?' (blue of course). Congratulations to Aylesbury Grammar School who go on to represent Central England at the National Final. More details of this superb international 'sport of reading' at www.kidslitquiz.com/home

Birdy

Members of the Middles Reading group loved Jess Vallance's addictive novel about Birdy and Bert. The claustrophobic nature of their friendship grew increasingly sinister and we were all taken aback by the twist at the end. A superb read and a great first novel for the group to kick-start their year of reading.

Japan Society; 'cooking' in the library

Younger members of the Japan Society had great fun today making Onigiri (rice balls) filled with meat, fish, Umeboshi (pickled plums) and seaweed. Mrs Morris has plans for creating Bento boxes with the whole group after half term!

The Bridge Book Award

Pupils from schools across Cambridgeshire are getting involved in a new book initiative. The Bridge Book Award is for young people to celebrate and discover books recommended by their peers. The only criteria for nomination is 'What was your favourite book of last year (2014-2015)? '. The longlist has now been published and pupils are being encouraged to vote for the book(s) they would like to see on the shortlist.

Longlist:

Title	Author	Year pub
Awful Auntie	Walliams, D	2014
The Emperor’s Blades	Staveley, Brian	2014
Grandpa’s Great Escape	Walliams, D	2015
Murder Most Unladylike	Stevens, Robin	2014
13 Hours	Dhami, N	2015
Itch Craft	Mayo, S	2014
Tom gates: top of the class	Pichon, L	2015
Buffalo Soldier	Landman, T	2014
Lone Wolf	Muchamore, R	2014
Girl Online	Sugg, Z	2014
All the Bright Places	Niven, J	2015
Demon road	Landy, D	2015
Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods	Riordan, R	2014
One	Crossan, S	2015
Ghosts of Shanghai	Sedgwick, J	2015
Middle School, Save Rafe!	Patterson, J	2014
Boot Camp	Muchamore, R	2015

Email library@kimbolton.cambs.sch.uk  to comment, vote or review (all comments are entered into a prize draw for the chance to win a Heffers book token)

Reading Well

A new national reading scheme to support young people's mental health has been launched in public libraries. Follow the link here or call into Vanbrugh Library to see some of the 35 books selected by mental health experts including self-help material, information books and novels.

Kimbookworms' Recommendations

Ingrams' Reading Group created an autumnal display of their favourite reads for Open Day. Each mini book had keywords written on the pages to help describe the book to other readers.

Beck by Mal Peet and Meg Rosoff

Read what Meg Rosoff has to say about the challenges and joys of finishing Mal Peet's superb last novel, Beck.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2016/aug/12/mal-peet-meg-rosoff-final-novel-beck

Mysterious New Agatha Christie Stamps

Mysterious New Agatha Christie Stamps:

These will make you want to send letters

Don't panic!

The Kimbookworms celebrated the end of the summer term with a zany Film Night. Hot dogs, goodie bags, bubbles and 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe' made for a fun evening. Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect and Marvin the Paranoid Android all featured on the cake of course!

We love Chris Riddell!

See how Chris Riddell illustrated Sarah Crossan's 'One' whilst he was at the Carnegie/Greenaway ceremony.

Carnegie Winner 2016

Pupils from schools across Cambridgeshire came together today at Impington Village College to debate the Carnegie Medal shortlist as they awaited the results of the medal winner. A huge intake of breath followed by cheers greeted the announcement that Sarah Crossan had won this prestigious award for her poignant story about conjoined twins, told entirely in verse.
Read more about the award and about the Kate Greenaway Medal awarded this year to Chris Riddell on the BBC News site.

Gemma Malley

Author Gemma Malley visited the First Form today after 1B wrote to her about her superb Dystopian story, ‘The Declaration’. Gemma talked about her career as a journalist, an excellent preparation for life as an author (meeting deadlines, self-discipline, writing imaginatively on boring topics!). 

Her books tackle some big questions and stem from Gemma’s interest in Philosophy, for instance, “Would you take a drug that stopped you from growing old?” Her talk sparked lots of interesting questions from the First Form and from the Reading Group and Gemma responded with further ideas and wonderful analogies to explain her answers in a very entertaining way.

More information about Gemma Malley and her books is available at http://www.gemmamalley.com/

500 Words 2016 winners

Read and listen to the top 50 stories in this year's 500 Words competition.

2nd Form Library Challenge

2L were champions of the Information Jungle today! Well done to all the teams who took part - a superb effort from everyone.

Best YA of 2016

Daily Telegraph list compiled from reviews 

Whisper to me

Told in flashbacks, as a letter from heartbreaker to heartbroken, this powerful novel explores inner demons, first love and forgiveness. Nick Lake is the much acclaimed author of In Darkness, Hostage Three and There will be lies. Read an extract of his dark new work, Whisper to me, on the World Book Day site.

Top 10 dragons in fiction

Top 10 dragon stories

Branford Boase shortlist

This year's Branford Boase shortlist celebrates the best debut novels for children. Check out the titles above - from time-travelling hamsters to trans teens. More details on the Guardian's site.

My Brother is a Superhero

David Solomons has been awarded the Children's Book of the Year prize at the British Book Industry Awards for his debut novel 'My brother is a superhero'. He's already won the Waterstones' Childrens Book Prize earlier this year!  Read a review of this hilarious story by one of the Guardian's young reviewers. 

Nicola Morgan's exam advice

Nicola Morgan, an author of books about the teenage brain, has some great advice for everyone entering the exam season.

https://www.nicolamorgan.com/heartsong-blog/exam-students-this-is-for-you/

Mind-boosting books

Mind-boosting books recommended by the Reading Agency.

YA Book Prize 2016 shortlist

The YA Book Prize shortlist features lots of our current favourites:

Find out more from The Bookseller.

The winner will be announced on 2nd June.

Chris Priestley's visit

A very creepy Chris Priestley came to visit Kimbolton School today! We love his dark, unsettling tales and his creative writing workshops sparked lots of ideas for sinister stories.

www.chrispriestleybooks.com/

Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2016

The winner of the Waterstones Childrens' Book Prize is the hilarious 'My Brother is a Superhero'!

Further details are available on the Waterstones web site including information on the winner of the Best Older Fiction category: Lisa Williamson's 'The Art of Being Normal', a superb story centred on the issues of gender and identity (see earlier post).

Carnegie Shortlist announced

How many of the shortlisted books have you read? See the full list of superb reads in this Guardian article.

Katniss wins the vote

Results of the Kimbolton School World Book Day online survey have revealed that female characters have the upper hand in novels with Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games voted the greatest fictional hero! The ultimate villain was, of course, Harry’s nemesis, Lord Voldemort, with ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ voted the 21^st century book destined to be a future classic. Interestingly, three of Kimbolton School’s Summer Reads featured in the top six (‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’, ‘The Book Thief’ and ‘Wonder’ each received over 10% of the vote).

Happy World Book Day!

Lots of wonderful booky experiences here today at Kimbolton School. Staff in costume, the Mad Hatter's Tea party, cake sale in aid of BookAid International AND an online survey! Results later...

The Art of Being Normal

Two boys. Two secrets. 

Read the first chapter of this superb debut novel via the Guardian's Teen Book Club. 

You'll fall for both characters and their stories. A thoughtful, feel-good book on transgender issues that deserves to be widely read.

Blind Date with a Book

Don't judge a book by its cover! Borrow a mystery book wrapped in brown paper in the lead up to Valentine's Day or try one of the 'undateables' - books with unfortunate covers but superb stories within!

Harry Potter celebration

Receiving the WOMBAT certificates

The Kimbookworms celebrated all things Harry Potter at lunchtime. Owl cakes, tasty wands, WOMBAT quizzes and 'Have you seen this Wizard?' photos were enjoyed by the 25 members of the reading group. And the world's favourite spell, as voted for in the lead-up to this year's event, was Expecto Patronum of course!
See the top ten spells, as voted by fans, at:
 http://www.harrypotter.bloomsbury.com/uk/harry-potter-book-night/vote-for-your-favourite-harry-potter-spell/

Allegiant trailer

Costa winner!

Congratulations to Frances Hardinge for winning the overall Costa prize!

It's only the second time in the Costa's 30 year history that the Costa has been won by a children's author (Philip Pullman won the first time). If you haven't read any of her stories yet, see what her beguiling writing style is like at http://www.franceshardinge.com/ You'll be hooked!

Betjeman Poetry Prize

Another competition! This time for budding poets, aged 10-13. Write a poem on the theme of 'place' and enter before the end of July to be in with a chance of winning £500.

Tips for young poets and details of the competition can be found here:
www.betjemanpoetryprize.co.uk/

500 words competition

Do you have what it takes to write a unique, interesting and engaging piece of creative writing to enter in the national competition, 500 words?

Do you want your story to be read by a superstar celebrity live on the radio to nearly 10 million people?

If so, the 500 words competition is for you!

There are lots of resources to help you on the 500 words website and, who knows, you may win Chris Evans' height in books!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00rfvk1

The Jungle Book

The trailer for Disney's remake of The Jungle Book gives a flavour of this CGI adventure story and the lush Indian flora and fauna. There's still time to read the book before the film arrives in April.

Peters Book of the Year

The shortlists for Peters Book of the Year have been published. Peters' team of librarians read and review all the books they stock and compile the shortlists across 3 categories. Voting is now open (closes on 11th March 2016) so it's time for all keen readers to get involved. Find more details, including reviews and how to vote, on the Peters website: http://www.petersbooks.co.uk/pboty/

Reading Hack

Share and celebrate your love of reading via Reading Hack, a new website from the Reading Agency.

Create your own hacks, meet new people, build your skills and inspire others to read.

http://readinghack.org.uk/ 

Congratulations to Frances Hardinge who has recently won the Costa Children's Book Award for The Lie Tree. This gothic fantasy brings us another of Hardinge's unforgettable heroines and is woven around the idea of lies giving you the power to discover other people's secrets. A brilliant murder mystery with a difference!
http://www.franceshardinge.com/index.html