LBGTQ+ History Month

 In recognition and support of LBGTQ+ History Month there is a display of both fiction and non-fiction books in the Library.

Remember to wear something purple on Friday 24th of February to show support for the LGBTQ+ community.

British Summer Time

 Hope you remembered to put your clocks forward by an hour! Need a book to read that is about time and is a thrilling ghost story? Then try 'Daylight saving' by Edward Hogan. 

From the blurb: "When Daniel Lever accompanies his dad to the Leisure World Holiday Complex, his expectations are low. But then he sees a mysterious girl by the fake lake and everything changes. Lexi is funny and smart, but why does she have wounds that get worse each time they meet? And is her watch really going backwards? As the end of British Summer Time approaches, Daniel has to act quickly. Their souls depend on it."

Available in the Library (Room F27)

First Line Friday

 "Sean had grown accustomed to the violence, but he didn't yet enjoy it the way his Viking ancestor did." 'Last descendants: Fate of the gods.' by Matthew J. Kirby.

World Book Day

 

National Book Tokens have a special competition for World Book Day where you can win :

 a set of 12 World Book Day books and a 12-month Bookily card loaded with £7.99 per month, giving the choice of a new book every month. 

To enter click here

Quick Reading Challenge

Another art challenge today. Look for a description of your all time favourite character in the book(s) they appear in. From THAT description draw a picture of the character. Or look for an image of the actor who you link would be able to play that character.
 If you have been following these challenges you may have worked out that King Arthur is one of my favourite characters. Unfortunately I cannot draw to save myself. However my ideal image of King Arthur does exist in the form of the actor Bradley James who played Arthur in the BBC TV series 'Merlin'. I have MANY issues with their interpretation of some of the myths however I cannot fault their imagining of the once and future king!

I

Daily Reading Challenge

It's Friday, so let's do another craft challenge. This time reuse old books to create a book sculpture. The picture below shows some amazing examples of book sculptures. If you would like to make something slightly simpler (to begin with anyway) then watch this video It is just one of many available on You Tube. Watch this to see a book sculptor at work - incredible! For further inspiration simply search 'book sculptures' on You Tube, Pinterest or Google.

Quick reading challenge

This afternoon or this evening why not  'Drop everything and read' (DEAR) for twenty minutes with everyone in your family? Organise it however best suits your family. You could all read individually, or someone could read a story while everyone else listens. How and when you do it is up to you, just make sure everyone can be together for 20 minutes. Then make it a weekly occasion. Enjoy!

Daily Reading Challenge

Read something that was one of my favourites when I was younger and which inspired my lifelong love of Arthurian legend. Read 'The once and future king' by T.H. White. You will find it free to read at Project Gutenburg  and Google Books

And, a cute still from my favourite Disney movie based on the books by T.H. White: 'The sword in the stone', just because!

Quick Reading Challenge

Read a book for twenty minutes before you go to sleep. Try to switch off all your devices - phone, tablet, computer. Get comfortable and relax in your. Then simply read for twenty minutes!

Did you know that reading for just twenty minutes a day for a year is the same as reading non-stop for five whole days!!!

Quick Reading Challenge

An art and craft challenge today. Do you have any old books that you no longer read but which are not in a good enough condition to pass on? Then why not use a page or two and do some blackout poetry. You could use a newspaper or magazine instead, anything with text.Your result can be as artistic as you want or as pathetic as my own (the one in the middle of the pic below!) Read through the page you have selected and pick out words which form a poem or story on their own. Then use a marker pen to blackout the words you don't want.
 Have fun.
Be inspired.

Quick Reading Challenge

Find your favourite book. Settle somewhere warm and comfortable. Skim through the book and find your favourite scene or chapter. Then phone a friend and read them your chosen section. Or record yourself reading from the book and share it with your friends. Ask them to return the favour and share their favourite book with you.

#ReadForEmpathy

Tuesday 9th of June is Empathy Day.  For information

Empathy is the ability to understand and share someone else's feelings. It is an essential life skill, especially in these difficult times. Empathy is a skill which can be taught and which we can improve.

Reading enables us to identify with the characters in the story and helps us see the world through the eyes of different fictional characters. From this we can learn about the way others view the world and begin to empathize with their point of view.

The books listed below are just a few examples:

The goldfish boy by Lisa Thomson

Running on empty by S.E.Durrant

Auggie and me by R.J. Palacio

Mars Evacuees by Sophia McDougall

Boy 87 by Ele Fountain

Charlotte's web by E.B. White

Turtles all the way down by John Green

Noughts and crosses by Malorie Blackman

The curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon

#Black lives matter

Read books by authors of colour:
Children of Blood and bone by Toni Adeyemi
All American boys by Jason Reynolds
Buffalo soldier by Tanya Landman
Noughts and crosses by Malorie Blackman
The poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Rebound by Kwame Alexander
The sun is also a star by Nicola Yoon
The hate u give by Angie Thomas

Daily Reading Challenge

It is a lovely sunny day so grab a book and head out into the garden. Make sure you are wearing a hat/sunglasses/suncream and settle down to read. To help keep cool why not read with your feet in a paddling pool/basin/or similar. Enjoy reading for fifteen minutes.

Daily reading challenge

Too hot to read outside? Find your book - print or e-book and find somewhere cool and unusual to relax and read. What about in the bath? Without the water though - books and 'phones etc. do not like water!  Relax and read undisturbed for ten minutes. Or more!

Daily Reading Challenge

Today, practice reading out loud. Find your favourite book and your best loved soft toy and read to them for ten minutes! Remember to read with feeling and give each character a different/funny voice. Bring the pages to life for your toy.

Daily Reading Challenge

A simple challenge for today. Find a book to read. Then depending on the weather where you are either: a) read the book outside whilst wearing a hat or
            b) read the book inside in a blanket fort.
Why not take a photo and send it to your English teacher? Let them know it is from the ICHS Library Blog Reading Challenge posts.

Daily Reading Challenge

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme for this year is 'kindness'. For today's challenge read the quote by Roald Dahl then do something kind for someone or for yourself. These are challenging times we are living through and an act of kindness however small can make a huge difference to someone's mood. Read a few pages of a book to a member of your family either in person or across a video link. Or simply tidy away your books: less mess =less stress.

Daily Reading Challenge

For today's challenge try and read something from a genre that you do not usually pick up. If you love fantasy why not try a realistic novel. Or if you normally read horror try a romance. Maybe someone in your family has the opposite taste from you and will let you borrow one of their books. Find a book study the cover, read the blurb and then try the first five pages. It may confirm that you absolutely do not like detective fiction or you might find discover you really would like to read an adventure story.
I am not a big fan of real life stories but the book below belongs to my son and from what I've read on the blurb it might be quite funny. I'll give it a go.

World Book Day

Hope you are enjoying World Book Day and if you got one of the WBD tokens you will use it wisely!
If you were in the Dining Hall at lunchtime you may have seen the amazing World Book Day flash mob. Big thanks to all the S6 students and staff who took part in this. Hope that we might be able to find some footage of this...!

The £1 books that you can buy with your token