Wharenui School

6,891 pages read and 2,984 team points

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AES

7,098 pts

(5,857 pages read)

Let It Go

By Rebekah Lipp

3 stars

A book for middle-senior primary students, as it involves labelling your emotions and then looking for ways to manage and release these emotions. Another book with beautiful New Zealand illustrations, all the books also have fantastic supporting resources for teachers or parents.
Aroha Knows

By Rebekah Lipp

4 stars

This is a lovely book about connecting to nature and things you can do to help the environment, which in turn will help you to regulate your emotions. Beautiful illustrations which show the New Zealand landscape, a lovely book to read to connect to Aotearoa.
Aroha's Choice

By Rebekah Lipp

3 stars

Would recommend this book for slightly older students, as involves making choices to change your pathways. Definitely a more complex concept but very powerful for middle-senior primary students.
Finding My Calm

By Rebekah Lipp

4 stars

This is a perfect book for starting school - talks about the emotions of a child on his first day of school. The book offers up another strategy for students to use to self-regulate, five-four-three-two-one rhyme. Also hopefully empowers children with the knowledge that they can change their mindset and have a positive outcome.
Let it Flow

By Rebekah Lipp

4 stars

This book, which complements the story books about emotional regulation, has some fantastic practical ideas for use in the classroom. Looking forward to trialing some of these ideas next year!
Ravi's Roar

By Tom Percival

4 stars

This is part of a set of beautiful picture books with amazing illustrations about how to manage different emotions. This story about anger is very relevant for many children, the fact that he turns into a tiger makes a serious topic more light hearted but the message is still powerful.
Milo's Monster

By Tom Percival

4 stars

This is part of a set of beautiful picture books with amazing illustrations about how to manage different emotions. Really enjoyed this one about an actual green monster that appears and tries to ruin Milo's friendships - showing that you need to be strong sometimes and not let jealousy get the better of you.
Finn's Little Fibs

By Tom Percival

4 stars

This is part of a set of beautiful picture books with amazing illustrations about how to manage different emotions. Finn learns that it is best to tell the truth even if it is a little scary.
Perfectly Norman

By Tom Percival

4 stars

This is part of a set of beautiful picture books with amazing illustrations about how to manage different emotions. Here a boy grows wings and has to learn to accept being different - a great message for those children who feel like they are different and alone - at the end he finds he is not the only one with wings!
Bea's Bad Day

By Tom Percival

4 stars

This is part of a set of beautiful picture books with amazing illustrations about how to manage different emotions. In this book Bea is having a bad day but manages to get through it with the support of her family.
Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief

By Benjamin Stevenson

4 stars

A slight twist on the 'normal' detective fiction, as Ernest (the narrator) likes to talk to the reader, inviting you to solve the crime alongside him. He offers up all the clues he receives himself and then has the 'big reveal' - you have to see if you can get there first! The storyline is fairly convoluted but fun with lots of twists and turns, with everyone having committed a crime of some sort - however the question is - have they committed the murder?
The Lonely Little Tree

By Moya Kirby

4 stars

A beautiful picture book about a Christmas tree in New Zealand that becomes a friend to all our native birds. A great story to read that is a Christmas message but without being overly Christmassy for those who do not celebrate Christmas. Also a lovely story about our native birds and looking after our environment.
In the Time of Five Pumpkins

By Alexander McCall Smith

4 stars

This is book 26 in the series and it is like having a catch up with old friends when reading this book! The book is well written and there are always interesting observations of life, mixed with comments from Mme Makutsi's shoes! I would recommend reading this book if you enjoy mystery novels without the trauma of dead bodies and if you enjoy learning about life in Botswana.
At the Same Moment, Around the World

By Clotilde Perrin

4 stars

She writes the most beautiful illustrated picture books. This one is all about people at the exact same time doing different things in different places. A fantastic book to enjoy about time zones and journeying around the world.
The Girl at the Front of the Class

By Onjali Q. Raúf

4 stars

An amazing picture book to help students understand how it might feel to be a refugee in a foreign country. This book tells what is a very sad story in a way that makes it accessible rather than overwhelming, helping children to see how they can show kindness and help others.
Paper Chase

By Julia Donaldson

4 stars

A very clever book, with Donaldson's usual rhyming style but with a more mature storyline. Love books where things link back together to enhance the story and this is a great example. Also another great way to raise children's awareness of looking after our planet calmly but effectively.
The Night Gardener

By The Fan Brothers

4 stars

Another stunning picture book where the illustrations tell as much of a story as the words. About how something unexpected can change many peoples' lives for the better. Also how nature can impact on our well-being.
Rain before Rainbows

By Smriti Halls

4 stars

This is a beautiful picture book with some lovely ideas which make you think of the state between sleeping and waking - what ideas might we think of and what places may we go? Also what things do we need to create other things?
The Book of Beginnings

By Sally Page

3 stars

Some great parts to this book- especially about the ideas around the cemetery and how the ghosts of the past may choose to spend time together. Liked how the stationery shop was the centre of her new life and introduced her to lots of new people and friends. However, the ending was a bit too contrived which I think distracted from some of the book's better ideas.
The Last Garden

By Rachel Ip

5 stars

This is a beautiful picture book about war, but told in a way that is not distressing for children. Focusing on the importance of the garden and with beautiful illustrations that also convey messages in the story.
The Watervale Ladies' Writing and Firefighting Society

By Mette Menzies

2 stars

Really liked reading about an Australian small town and references to other places in Australia. Some nice parts about rebuilding your life when things have not gone according to plan, but the book was far too cliched.
DallerGut Dream Department Store : the dream you ordered is sold out

By Mi-Ye Yi

4 stars

This was a very enjoyable escapist novel, interestingly read as a 'normal' insight into a person's daily life but contrastingly the story is set in a world where not only can you buy dreams but animals, leprechauns and Santa Claus are all real, talking characters. I was not sure if it would work but it did!
Katabasis

By R F Kuang

5 stars

This book is about Alice making the journey to Hell with lots of references to classic literature to guide her knowledge of what to expect. It is interesting that she manages to make the novel both dark and light with a final twist at the end that gives a surprisingly happy ending for a novel about Hell!
The magician of Tiger Castle

By Louis Sachar

3 stars

This was a fantastic book with lots of adventure and some interesting moral dilemmas, with some magic thrown in!
Dinner at the Night Library

By Hika Harada

4 stars

Another perfect mix of learning about the lives of others, books and a mystery. Love the idea of a mysterious library only open at night, and especially the restaurant where food is made to match the books. I would love to work here!
The second chance convenience store

By Ho-yŏn Kim

4 stars

A fantastic Korean book, where you are immersed in the lives of people looking for a second chance in life. The book looks at the lives of several different people all linked together by the Store. You feel like you do not want the book to end as you want to know what happens next to the characters.
We'll prescribe you another cat

By Syou Ishida

4 stars

Another short but in depth look at the lives of ordinary people, looking for help and support in their lives. This has a fantasy/magical mystery background of the doctors clinic, where the staff are not who they seem and the medicine prescribed is of an unusual nature.
The mysterious case of the missing crime writer

By Ragnar Jónasson

4 stars

This is the second in a series of books, really enjoyed the first book and this one is just as good. Lots of intrigue and suspense and parallel stories running throughout the book that linked at the end. The only major downside was that the story ended on a cliffhanger - it was very frustrating not to even know when the next book is out. Also one of the parallel stories was also left unresolved. I would wait until the next book is written until you read this one!
When the Deep, Dark Bush Swallows You Whole

By Geoff Parkes

3 stars

An interesting NZ based mystery. The story builds great suspense and exposes lots of dark secrets in a small town. However, the ending felt unconvincing and was a bit of an anti-climax.
Three Dogs Two Murders and a Cat

By Rodney Strong

2 stars

An animal detective may be a stretch too far! Had classic cozy mystery characteristics but left feeling like it lacked any depth.
The Bookshop Detectives #2: Tea and Cake and Death

By Gareth and Louise Ward

4 stars

A great follow up to the first book. A great New Zealand read with lots of references to local places and events. Linking two very popular concepts, books and murder!
The passengers on the Hankyu Line

By Hiro Arikawa

5 stars

I loved this book - the concept of having snapshots of the lives of people who regularly travel on the same train. Seeing how their lives interact and change according to who they meet. You also meet the characters again with them moving from first to third person.
The healing hippo of Hinode Park

By Michiko Aoyama

4 stars

A Japanese book about the slightly unbelievable but quirky premise that a statue of a hippo in a playground could grant your wishes. The books looks at 'normal' peoples' lives and how we all have problems but we can find solutions, with perhaps a bit of magic! The stories with the book interlink so you meet characters again and see them from a different perspective.
We'll prescribe you a cat

By Syou Ishida

4 stars

I am really enjoying slightly quirky Japanese novels, often featuring cats - like this one, and a mysterious, magical backstory. Predominantly the stories are about 'ordinary' people finding contentment in their lives via slightly unorthodox methods, in this case having a prescription of a cat!

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Wharenui School

6,891 pages read and 2,984 team points

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