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Showing posts from April, 2024

The Library Book Recommendation - Planet Earth III by Matt Brandon (author), Michael Gunton (author), Jonny Keeling (author)

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  The iconic series that started it all returns- accompanying an 8-part programme narrated by David Attenborough,  Planet Earth III  takes you closer than ever to the world's most fascinating animals and landscapes - and humanity's irrevocable impact upon them. The official tie-in to the final instalment in the legendary Planet Earth franchise Few places on Earth remain untouched by humans, creating challenges for the wildlife we share it with. We have entered a new age, and we must look at the splendour of the natural world through a different lens. From the depths of our oceans, to scorching deserts and the darkest jungles,  Planet Earth III  features spectacular places and surprising animal behaviours from all corners of our world. And for the first time, a human element is introduced to each landscape, highlighting how, in the age of the Anthropocene, today's planet has been forever changed by humanity and that wildlife now faces new challenges in our crowded, modern wo

The Library Book Recommendation - Earth: Over 4 Billion Years in the Making by Chris Packham and Andrew Cohen

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  A beautiful, full colour book to accompany the 5 part BBC TV series telling the most important story of all, the deep history of our own planet. With the trademark dramatic storytelling techniques of  The Planets  and  The Universe , Andrew Cohen and Chris Packham narrate the biography of the Earth, revealing the most epic moments from its history, from the first seconds of its existence to the arrival of its most incredible inhabitants, us. But humans take a back seat for this story as the Earth takes centre stage. We'll witness those moments where our planet's future hung in the balance in the face of massive bombardments from space, extreme changes in climate, the collision of whole continents and more, and we'll tell the story of how Earth's most incredible creations - life and intelligence - are set to have the same lasting impact on Earth's story as any meteorite or earthquake. This is the epic 4 billion year story of the place we call home. Publisher:  Harp

The Library Weekly Book Recommendation - KS5/Adult - The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

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  Mr Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound! The terrible spectacle of the beast, the fog of the moor, the discovery of a body: this classic horror story pits detective against dog, rationalism against the supernatural, good against evil. When Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead on the wild Devon moorland with the footprints of a giant hound nearby, the blame is placed on a family curse. It is left to Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson to solve the mystery of the legend of the phantom hound before Sir Charles' heir comes to an equally gruesome end.  The Hound of the Baskervilles  gripped readers when it was first serialised and has continued to hold its place in the popular imagination. The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War. Publisher:  Penguin Books Ltd ISBN:  9780141199177 Number of pages:  208

The Library Weekly Book Recommendation - KS4 - The Maze Runner - Maze Runner Series by James Dashner

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  The first book in the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series - now a series of major movies starring Dylan O'Brien! SEE THE FILMS. READ THE BOOKS. ENTER THE MAZE ... When the doors of the lift crank open, the only thing Thomas remembers is his first name. But he's not alone. He's surrounded by boys who welcome him to the Glade – a walled encampment at the centre of a bizarre and terrible stone maze. Like Thomas, the Gladers don't know why or how they came to be there – or what's happened to the world outside. All they know is that every morning when the walls slide back, they will risk everything – even the Grievers, half-machine, half-animal horror that patrol its corridors, to try and find out ... Publisher:  Chicken House Ltd ISBN:  9781909489400 Number of pages:  384

The Library Weekly Book Recommendation - KS3 - The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks - by Katie Kirby

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  Lottie Brooks is 11 3/4 and her life is already officially over - not only is she about to start high school without any friends but she doesn't have glamorous swooshy hair. She might as well give up now and go into hibernation with her hamsters Sir Barnaby Squeakington and Fuzzball the Third. Lottie navigates the many perils of growing up in this fantastically funny new illustrated series for a 9-12 audience, filled with friendship, embarrassing moments and plenty of lols. Hilarious, relatable and full of heart, for fans of funny and chaotic family stories. Publisher:  Penguin Random House Children's UK ISBN:  9780241460887 Number of pages:  432

The Library Weekly Book Recommendation - KS5/Adult - Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent

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  Sally Diamond cannot understand why what she did was so strange. She was only doing what her father told her to do, to put him out with the rubbish when he died. Now Sally is the centre of attention, not only from the hungry media and police detectives, but also a sinister voice from a past she cannot remember. As she begins to discover the horrors of her childhood, Sally steps into the world for the first time, making new friends and big decisions, and learning that people don't always mean what they say. But who is the man observing Sally from the other side of the world? And why does her neighbour seem to be obsessed with her? Sally's trust issues are about to be severely challenged. Publisher:  Penguin Books Ltd ISBN:  9780241993576 Number of pages:  384

The Library Weekly Book Recommendation - KS4 - Powerless - The Powerless Trilogy by Lauren Roberts

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Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya... The Elites have possessed powers for decades, gifted to them by the Plague, while those born Ordinary are just that, banished from the kingdom and shunned from society. No one knows this better than Paedyn Gray, an Ordinary posing as a Psychic to blend in with the Elites. When she unsuspectingly saves one of Ilya's princes, Kai Azer, she's thrown into the Purging Trials, a brutal competition showcasing the Elites' powers. If the Trials and the opponents within them don't kill her, the prince she's fighting feelings for will if he discovers what Paedyn is... completely Ordinary. Be swept away by the first in the romantasy trilogy taking the world by storm! Publisher:  Simon & Schuster Ltd ISBN:  9781398529489 Number of pages:  528  

The Library Weekly Book Recommendation - KS3 - Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

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  The first book in the bestselling Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Now with a new cover look, read the story that launched Percy Jackson into the stratosphere, before the Disney+ series comes out! Half boy, half god, all hero. Look, I never asked to be the son of a Greek god. I was just a normal kid. . . until I accidentally vaporized my maths teacher. Percy Jackson is having a bad week. His life has gone from totally normal to monsters-from-Greek-mythology-randomly-appearing kind of strange. Worse still, the king of the gods thinks Percy has stolen his all-powerful lightning bolt - and it seems making Zeus angry is a very bad idea. Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to catch the true lightning thief and stop all-out war from erupting on Mount Olympus. What could possible go wrong? Publisher:  Penguin Random House Children's UK ISBN:  9780141346809 Number of pages:  400

OPHS Library - Why Should you Read?

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Why Should You Read? So let’s start with the basics, reading widens your range of vocabulary. When reading a book, you will often come across certain words that you didn’t even know existed until then! When this happens, we end up remembering the word and are able to use it later on in life, this is useful for things like essays, homework, or even just sounding sophisticated. Dr. Seuss once wrote, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”Children's books expose kids to 50 percent more words than TV does. Exposure to this new vocabulary not only leads to higher test scores, but studies have also found that it leads to a higher intelligence later on in life. As well as making you more intelligent, regularly reading can also help to reduce memory loss later on in life. As you get older, your memory and brain function starts to deteriorate, however, regularly getting lost in a book may help to slow down this process

The Library Weekly Book Recommendation - KS5/Adult - The Hemlock Queen - The Nightshade Crown by Hannah Whitten

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  The corrupt king August is dead. Prince Bastian has seized the throne and raised Lore - a necromancer and former smuggler - to his right-hand side. Together they plan to cut out the rot from the heart of the royal court and help the people of Dellaire. But not everyone is happy with the changes. The nobles are sowing dissent and the Kirythean Empire is beating down their door. Even Prince Bastian has changed. No longer the hopeful, rakish, charismatic man Lore knows and loves, instead he's become reckless, domineering and cold. And something has been whispering in her ear. A voice, dark and haunting, that's telling her there's more to the story than she knows and more to her power than she can even imagine. A truth buried deep that could change everything. With Bastian's coronation fast approaching and enemies whispering on all sides, Lore must figure out how to protect herself, her prince and her country before they all come crumbling down and whatever dark power has

The Library Weekly Book Recommendation - KS3 - The Whisperwicks: The Labyrinth of Lost and Found: The Whisperwicks by Jordan Lees

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  The spell-binding world-building of Philip Pullman with the page-turning kid appeal of  Skandar and the Unicorn Thief . Discover a world of magic and secrets, friendship and unimaginable quests in this spectacular new fantasy series from the most exciting new voice in children's books. A boy who doesn't believe in magic. An impossible world that will change his mind. Eleven-year-old Benjamiah Creek believes in science, logic and the power of reason. He definitely does not believe in magic. But when he receives a mysterious gift in the post - a doll that can transform into a bird - he is led into the impossible (and most definitely magical) world of Wreathenwold, where dark secrets are lost amongst a vast labyrinth of streets. Benjamiah soon finds himself swept along in a dangerous quest - led by the fierce and brilliant Elizabella, who is determined to solve the disappearance of her missing brother. Will Benjamiah ever find his way home and discover his puzzling connection wi

The Library Weekly Book Recommendation - KS4 - Keedie by Elle McNicoll

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  Set in Juniper five years before  A Kind of Spark ,  Keedie  is a powerful coming-of-age story that thoughtfully tackles bullying, navigating friendships, and the joys and difficulties of being an autistic teenager. As Keedie and her twin sister Nina approach their fourteenth birthday, they seem to only be growing further apart. Keedie instead feels drawn to, and fiercely protective of, their quiet younger sister Addie - who on the surface is the opposite of loud and fiery Keedie, but in fact they have more in common than anyone knows. Publisher:  Knights Of Media ISBN:  9781913311988

The OPHS Library Online Newsletter April 2024 #33

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  The OPHS Library Online Newsletter April 2024  #33 Welcome to our Online Monthly Library Newsletter Every month, in our Library Newsletter, we will have reviews on wonderful books that we have in our Library, snippets of new books on the horizon and interesting information about lovely Authors and books-to-movies information. There will be links to access upcoming books that are in The Library and lots of book information that you will enjoy.  We will have competitions, winner announcements, links to short stories and poems and other interesting literacy information all in one Newsletter!   If you would like to add a contribution to our next Newsletter (May issue), such as:  What is your favourite book from our Library?  What were your favourite and/or worst books that you have ever read?  Would you like to send in a book review and/or a literacy picture? Can you think of anything else that would look great in our newsletter?  Then please email: ltaylor@oakspark.redbridge.sch.uk If y