Library News

It’s been a relatively ‘normal’ week here in the library, which has been lovely after such a busy few weeks. We’re getting close to the end of term, so classes are busy completing various activities. I can’t wait to share with you some book covers that primary students have created using the AI generator Magic Media in Canva. 

This Week's Reads

Kindergarten 

This week, we're reading the beautiful CBCA-shortlisted Picture Book ‘Every Night at Midnight’ by Peter Cheong. Students loved predicting why a boy had a wolf shadow on the cover and wondering what could happen. They looked for clues about who the new wolf was and were able to explain the meaning behind the story: the importance of friendship.

While KS was here, there was a blackout, so I took some photos of students with their books to enter into the computer system later. What great readers!

Year 1 and 2 are completing their story spinners from last week and will now be cutting and gluing. Last week, students drew themselves on their circles, which will be cut and glued onto a straw they spin around. We will also read a new story from Julia Donaldson, ‘The Smartest Giant in Town’.

Stage 2 is spending the next couple of weeks exploring some of the smaller collections in the library. This week, we’re looking at Choose Your Own Adventure books and reading one of the original stories, ‘Journey Under the Sea’ by R.A. Montgomery. Students love determining how a story ends, and now there are new Scooby Do, Wonder Woman and even graphic novel versions of this book style. Did you know you can read them online, too? You can access the CYOA website here.

Finally, this week, Stage 3 is reading a story from the CBCA New Illustrator category with an important message for all students. ‘When You’re a Boy’ by Blake Nuto is a great introduction to the concept of gender stereotypes. 

As Good Reading states, “When you’re a boy, you might be told how to be like the sure-standing mountains, the cruel-clawing wilds or the white-roaring ocean. This book shows us there is another side to being. There is the falsehood of fighting, the strong shield of slowly, or the strength of contentment, the courage of patience”. Students will brainstorm what they believe being a boy and a girl is like. We will also watch a girls’ toys v boys’ toys experiment video from the BBC, which challenges how we interact with young children. If you’re interested, you can watch it here too.

HTS are Super Readers!

Have you ever wondered how many books classes borrow each month? 

In August, students from K to Year 10 borrowed 1,279 books. Kindergartens are the record readers in Infants with 302 books, and Year 1 is closely behind with 239 books.  Year 6 just pipped Year 4 by two books as the highest primary borrowers, with 121 books. Year 8 topped the borrowing rank in the secondary school, too. Congratulations!

The most borrowed book in August was 'I Survived the Battle of D-Day 1944', followed by 'Karen's Witch' and 'Guts' from Raina Telgemeier. Unsurprisingly, these are all graphic novels; students of all ages love them.

New Books Alert

Some of our final new books for the term have arrived and are about to hit the shelves. There truly is something for everyone, including the first new Christmas story. It can’t be that time of the year already!

Overdue Books 

It’s time to start having a good look for those overdue books. If you could please assist your child to return them in the next couple of weeks, that would be appreciated. If you cannot find your child’s library books, they can be replaced or paid for at the front office. Any queries about this, please contact me on invlibrary@arm.catholic.edu.au .Thank you.

SORA eBooks of the Week - RUOK Day

In recognition of RUOK Day on September 12th, SORA has previewed some beautiful books that support this theme.

Quick Bits

Another day, another lost tooth in the library. I hope the tooth made it home, Zac!

Congratulations, Ashton, on completing another Premier’s Reading Challenge.

Some of 6D's Magic Media digital book covers. Students wrote a descriptive prompt of a setting and character, and then AI generated an image of what they had described. Students then gave their books a title, too. 

Happy reading,

Mrs Toni Fraser