Monday, 29 June 2015

Answer a Question and Win

The theme for this year's library poetry competition is 'Laughing Out Loud'.  Click on a link on the home page of Kapiti District Libraries If you are interested in more information about the competition.

This month's prize draw also has a humorous poetry theme.  Read the three poems below, choose your favourite and submit your entry (open to Kapiti District residents only). The winner will be drawn at the next Wrappers meeting on Friday 3 July.

1)  Bert's Will     by Merv Webster

"A cappuccino would be nice
And thank you Anne dear friend.
Since Bert has died I've felt quite lost,
But time has helped things mend."

"I guess what hurt the most dear Anne
Was finding in Bert's will;
To me he never left a thing;
A truly bitter pill."

"He never left you anything!
I thought Bert more sincere,
But is that diamond ring not new
You're wearing sister dear?"

"Well let me put it this way Anne.
Bert's will did leave a bit;
Five grand for a memorial stone
And this dear Anne ... is it."

 2) On the Ning Nang Nong     by Spike Milligan

On the Ning Nang Nong
Where the Cows go Bong!
and the monkeys all say BOO!
There's a Nong Nang Ning
Where the trees go Ping!
And the tea pots jibber jabber joo.
On the Nong Ning Nang
All the mice go Clang
And you just can't catch 'em when they do!
So its Ning Nang Nong
Cows go Bong!
Nong Nang Ning
Trees go ping
Nong Ning Nang
The mice go Clang
What a noisy place to belong
is the Ning Nang Ning Nang Nong!!

3)  Headphone Harold      by Nick Toczek

Headphone Harold wore his headphones
Through the night and through the day.
He said, ‘I’d rather hear my music
Than the dumb things people say.

In the city’s honkin’ traffic,
He heard trumpets ‘stead of trucks.
Down the quiet country back roads
He heard drums instead of ducks.

Through the patterin’ springtime showers
He heard guitars instead of rain.
Down the track at the railroad crossin’
He heard the trombones – not the train.


Monday, 22 June 2015

Diego, Run! by Deborah Ellis



Diego’s parents were wrongly convicted of drug smuggling and he lives in a women’s prison in Bolivia with his mother and baby sister. Diego himself is not a prisoner so he is free to come and go. He uses this freedom to become a ‘taxi’, running errands and selling produce in the city for the prisoners

His friend Mando, another prison child, comes up with a get rich quick scheme, convincing Diego that they can make easier money by going off to work for two men for just two weeks. Despite his misgivings Diego follows Mando, and the two boys find themselves trapped stomping coca leaves in cocaine pits in the jungle.

Although this book is a work of fiction it rings true as it set in a realistic context and deals with issues of corruption, the treatment of young people and the cocaine trade in Bolivia. It is an easy book to read, quick paced with a riveting plot. Diego is a likeable character with strong principles which guide him through some very challenging and at times harrowing experiences. 

Tuesday, 9 June 2015

The Wrappers Recommend

Books discussed, likde and recommended at the June Wrappers meeting:

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff

The Scorch Trials  by James Dashner  (#2 in the The Maze Runner series)

Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudson

Son of Death by Andrew McDonald

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Have you read any of them?  What do you think?


Tuesday, 2 June 2015

Wrappers Meeting

Hello Wrappers!  The blog has been neglected for several weeks as I was exploring Central America and having all kinds of wonderful adventures.  I even visited a couple of libraries - the photo below is of the public library in San Ignacio, Belize. Library services are very limited in many places and I now appreciate even more the library services we have in New Zealand. 

Our next Wrappers meeting is this Friday, 5th June, at Paraparaumu Library from 5:30 to 7 pm.  Please bring along a book you have read in the past couple of month to share, or at least be ready to talk about it if it's an ebook.  I found it really handy to be able to borrow books from Kapiti Libraries when I was away. Even though I was in Central America I could log in to my library account and download an ebook to my phone.

It will be great to catch up with you all, or if you have never been to a Wrappers Meeting and wonder what it's all about please come along.  





Wednesday, 15 April 2015

Blood Family by Anne Fine


Edward is four years old when he is locked away with his mother by her abusive, alcoholic partner, Harris. By the time an elderly neighbour spots his pale face peering through a crack in the boarded-up window and raises the alarm, he is seven.

Rescue comes, but lasting damage has been done.

Sent to live with a kindly foster family, and then adopted, Edward struggles to adapt to normal life. Even as a teenager it's still clear to his new family and schoolmates there's something odd about him.

Then one fateful day, Edward catches a glimpse of himself in a photograph. What he sees shocks him to the core - a vision of Harris. Was this monster his father all along? And does that mean that, deep down, another Harris is waiting to break out?

Every step of progress Edward has made swiftly begins to unravel, and he has to decide whether his blood will determine his future. 


Despite Edward’s appalling experiences as a young child he seems to adjust quite well to life with his adoptive parents.  However the past haunts him and by the time he starts to unravel you just want him to be well, especially as by that point you, as the reader, have built up a relationship with him and his family.  The other characters are not perfect either and that makes the story seem more real.  The nature vs nurture theme is interesting – Edward’s genes (blood family) and early life experiences cast a great shadow over the stable, caring environment he grows up in after the age of seven.

Blood Family is an engrossing read.  Edward’s personal journey is a roller coaster of ups and downs as he figures out who he is and how much influence his early life will have on his future.

Reviewed by Carolyn 


Wednesday, 1 April 2015

Answer a Question and Win

One hundred years ago this month the disastrous Gallipoli campaign began during World War One. Commemorative events will be held in many places - from the Kapiti Libraries poppy display to official events at Gallipoli. World War 1 was also the called The Great War, the war that was supposed to end all wars.  As we know that didn't happen and there are wars still happening around the world in 2015. 

There have been many books written about war, both fiction and non-fiction. Have you read a really good war story, one that moved you or made an impact on you in some way?  Tell us what is was by completing the form below.

Complete the form to enter the prize draw (open to Kapiti District residents only). The winner will be drawn at the next Wrappers meeting on Friday 10 April. We have a great prize this month - choose from a selection of brand new teen books.