Spring into the school holidays

School holidays start next week, and the library has a program ready and raring to go.

Join us at Curlewis Hall on Monday 28 September at 2pm, for a kaleidoscope of stories, rhymes and craft for children aged 0–12. The program will run for one hour and is set to be lots of fun.

Our usual Singalong & Storytime/Book Buddies sessions will be running at 10.30am on Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 September, and Thursday 1 October. Over the school holiday period, children over five years are welcome to attend the free story and craft programs where they will make cardboard caterpillars, busy bees and woolly sheep.

Older children (seven years and up) can enjoy craft sessions at 3.30pm across the same dates, making paper squishies, spring dioramas and yarn animals. A charge of $3 per participant applies. Bookings are required and can be made by calling the library on (02) 6740 2190.

Spotlight: COMIC BOOK HEROES

Do you have a comic book fanatic in your life?

Why not introduce them to the range of comics, graphic novels and manga available at the library. We have a whole shelf dedicated to these small examples of artistic genius. Choose from old favourites like TinTin and Asterix, or go nouveau with Avatar, Amulet or Lightfall.

Or if you prefer your reading digital, download the Comics Plus app. Select the full collection or a curated children’s collection, and sign in using your library card number. There are graphic novel adaptations of classic books like Treasure Island, The Secret Garden or Sherlock Holmes, or dive into a visual version of Game of Thrones, James Bond or The Lone Ranger, or browse through the hundreds of titles on offer.

Remember: there is no such thing as good or bad reading for kids. Any book that they enjoy and prompts them to read more is beneficial.

Spotlight: NEW BOOKS

Family truths will be revealed in The Children (AF ALB) by Melissa Albert. Guinevere had a blissful childhood living in a Vermont farmhouse, surrounded by artistic types and a legendary children’s author for a mother. But as she prepares to go on tour promoting her new memoir about this idyllic upbringing, her long-estranged brother is opening his new art installation – titled Mother – and she can’t help worrying that the truth is about to explode.

Stephanie Garber returns with Alchemy of Secrets (FSF GAR). Most people think the professor’s stories are just fiction, dreamt up for the folk legends and urban myths class. But Holland St James is keen to discover the truth, leading to a dazzling new world hidden in the heart of Los Angeles where everyone will lie to her – and a Hollywood dream can turn into a nightmare.

Explore the extraordinary stories of Greek and Roman heroes, gods, and monsters in Encyclopedia of Mythology (930 BER) by E.M. Berens. Read the stories from Zeus/Jupiter through to Jason, Helen and Odysseus/Ulysses, with fantastic illustrations and photographs.

“If a book is well written, I always find it too short.” – Jane Austen

FIONA SILLS,

GUNNEDAH SHIRE LIBRARY