Reigate Chatterbooks original group have also been getting into the festive mood ....we have just read The Boy who saved Christmas by Matt Haig then we made baubles......No current stock library books were damaged during this activity

The new Reigate Chatterbooks group have just read The Goffins Bubbies and Baubles by Jeanne Willis. Then feeling festive we made our own baubles out of very old books........ We have now started reading the books on the shortlist Surrey Children's Book Award...... A Jar of Pickles and a Pinch of Justice by Chitra Soundar

Haslemere Chatterbooks have just read 'Goodnight Mister Tom' by Michelle Magorian and 'The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips' by Michael Morpurgo. We are starting to get all Christmassy with a selection of books including 'Christmas Poems' by Gaby Morgan.

The Libraries Week stories conclude…

All four stories, completed by our 13 active Chatterbooks groups, have been delivered safely by the last four Chatterbooks groups. What a journey and what amazing stories you have helped create.

Alice and Blake went on an epic adventure through a black hole, met the Storymaster and came face to face with many fantastic creatures including some evil ducks. But, did they find the ‘key’ to despatch the evil creatures and return the Storymaster to his book?

Christina and Jeff had a gentler journey but who was the mysterious hooded figure and did they read sufficient booksto find the key to the big lock to escape?

Charlotte and Riley had a time travelling adventure fending off a robotic cat, dragons and soldiers. Would they ever find a way back through time or was there an easier solution?

Finally, Ella and Liam’s determined quest for the dark cloaked figure led them to a truly terrifying monster and Liam vanishes. Will the Head Librarian come to their rescue in time and where does Dewey number 398.469 fit into the story?

Only the finished book will answer all your questions….

Watch this space for another update soon.

New Chatterbooks Group coming to Weybridge Library

Weybridge Library are hosting a taster Chatterbooks session on Friday 15th December for children in Year 4 and 5 who love reading. We'll be reading extracts from the brand new 'Father Christmas and Me' by Matt Haig and other great christmas books.

If you love reading and would like to join our new group next year please come along to our taster session. Please sign up in advance at Weybridge Library.

Reigate Chatterbooks original group are starting to feel Christmassy so we are currently reading A Boy called Christmas by Matt Haig.

Reigate Chatterbooks original group really enjoyed reading the classic tale of Charlotte's Web. We then made our own webs and spiders.

Reigate Chatterbooks new group are getting into the Christmas spirit.....We are currently reading The Goffins Bubbies and Baubles by Jeanne Willis

Reigate Chatterbooks new group have just read Bob No Ordinary Cat by James Bowen. We then played Pin the tail on Bob...

This month we read 'Cogheart' by Peter Bunzl.

Reigate Chatterbooks (the original group) have just read Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson. It led to some interesting discussions, and biscuits

The Libraries Week stories continue ...

The interactive stories that our Chatterbooks Groups are writing to celebrate Libraries Week are getting more and more exciting!

Chertsey, Cranleigh, Dorking and Reigate Chatterbooks have now added to the stories that were passed to them.  The mysterious hooded figure is still lurking in one story, and the robotic cat has morphed into a fire-breathing dragon!  Meanwhile, book characters have come to life and are running amok in the library, and a huge creature with 3 eyes, 2 noses, 2 mouths and 4 arms has put in an appearance.

We can hardly wait to see where our next Groups - Camberley, Caterham Valley, Egham and Haslemere - will take the stories, 

Chatterbooks Story Project for Libraries' Week

Wow! The 4 Chatterbooks Groups that have started our collaborative story-writing project for Libraries' Week have come up with some fantastic openings and we can't wait to see how the stories continue.

Dittons, Guildford, Redhill and Woking groups were all given the same opening sentences of a story and have each taken it in their own direction.  We now have mysterious squeaks and cackles, thunder and lightning, a mysterious hooded figure, a transparent wall with nothing but black beyond, and even a robotic cat!

Now it's time for Chertsey, Cranleigh, Dorking and Reigate groups to continue the stories that have been passed to them.  We can't wait to read the next instalments!

Keep a look out on the Chatterbooks blog for more updates on the project, and the finished stories.

This month we have read books
from 'The Roman Mysteries' by
Caroline Lawrence.

Getting ready for the start of our story writing session.

Reigate Chatterbooks are back from the summer break we are pleased to have some new members, which means we now have 2 groups. We are reading The Goldfish Boy and Dave Pigeon

Over the summer we have read lots of different books. Here is a display of our kite book reviews.

Animal Agents at Chertsey Chatterbooks

Chertsey Chatterbooks celebrated the start of Summer Reading Challenge this week. Everyone is really excited about signing up for the challenge and helping the Animal Agents solve the library mystery. 

Why don't you sign up too and join the fun?

You can sign up at any Surrey Library and have until 15th September to complete the challenge.

This month we talked about mysteries and what makes a good mystery story before choosing our books. The books all came from the Reading Agency Animal Agents reading list. Here's what we picked...

We also had time for some of the fantastic Animal Agents activities sheets and everyone completed the Animal Agents library treasure hunt. 

We've now got a short break for the summer and will be back in September to share more great books and book related activities.

Are you interested in joining Chertsey Chatterbooks?

Come into Chertsey Library and ask to join our waiting list.

This month we read books by Enid Blyton. Our main book was 'The Secret Seven' so we made 'Kerry Blue' lucky horseshoes.

Would you read the book before or after you watch the movie?

This month at Chertsey Chatterbooks we were considering just that.
So many great children’s books have also been made into fantastic movies. Can you think of some?

Here are a few we thought about

The BFG

Swallow and Amazons

The Jungle Book

Alice in Wonderland

Diary of a Wimpey Kid… and… Roddrick Rules… and Dog Days… and… the Long Haul…

How to train your dragon Book 1… and Book 2… and… Book 3…

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief… and… The Sea of Monsters

And all the Harry Potter Books

And, coming soon…

The Adventures of Captain Underpants

Have you seen any of these?
Did you prefer the book or the movie?

We had a great discussion about films and books and then, continuing the theme, we had a lively game of charades.

We also talked about Summer Reading Challenge.

Did you know its only two weeks until the launch on Saturday 15 July?

Why not visit your local library on or after 15 July and you can sign up for the challenge.

During our meeting we joined up to the Reading Agency’s Summer Reading Challenge website so we can use the ‘book sorter’ to find new books, take part in games and competitions, write reviews about the books we have read and earn rewards. Its easy and safe to sign up at https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk

This month we read 'Doctor Bonkers' written by Jeremy Strong and illustrated by Rowan Clifford. We also made a time capsule.

Sport's Day at Chertsey Chatterbooks

It’s that time of year again and with Sport’s Days looming we were talking about all things sporting at Chertsey Chatterbooks this week.

We played sports charades which was lots of fun and not competitive at all! Then had a game of pass the ‘ball’ with a difference. Standing in a circle we had to say someone’s name and then throw the ‘ball’ very carefully to that person who had to catch it carefully then…

…open it anywhere and read a sentence from the page!

That’s right, the 'ball’ was an old book which had previously been withdrawn from service in the library and was now given a new lease of life as a ball. Please note though, great care was taken and no books were harmed during this game.

We were all winners after our sporting efforts with the ‘ball’ so we made our own winners medals from chocolate coins, stickers and ribbon.

Then down to the business of the day – choosing a book about sports to read before our next meeting. Top choices this month were:

Big Nate – Game on! by Lincoln Peirce

Let’s Play! Poems about Sports and Games from around the World by Debjani Chatterjee

Palamino pony rides out by Olivia Tuffin

Gymnastics by James Nixon

Francesca the Football Fairy by Daisy Meadows

Handsprings and Homework by Jane Lawes

Summertime and Somersaults by Jane Lawes

Reigate library Chatterbooks were lucky to have a visit from Swapna Haddow and Sheena Dempsey with Dave Pigeon, were really enjoyed meeting them and taking part in drawing pigeons. Meanwhile Heather was in Tenerife with Dave and Skipper

Reigate Chatterbooks have completed reading all the nominated books in this years Childrens Surrey Book Awards. We have each voted and been given our certificates.

Reigate Chatterbooks have just finished reading The Bolds to the Rescue by Julian Clary we enjoyed doing the quizzes, word searches and spot the difference.

This month we have read 'The Great Rabbit Rescue' by Kate Davies.

Chertsey Chatterbooks have been meeting at Chertsey Library for six months! 

We have eleven members from nearly seven to 10 years old and we all love reading. At our first meeting last November we picked themes for the year. So far we have read books on Spooky Stories, Christmas, Surrey Children’s Book Awards, Diaries and Fantastic Creatures.  

This week we celebrated Star Wars Day - May the 4th be with you!   

We had a fantastic Star Wars Reads Factivity pack from the Reading Agency and lots of books on Star Wars and space including Star Wars Jokes! 

Why did the Jedi cross the road? 

To get to the Dark Side. 

We meet once a month on a Tuesday from 3.45 pm – 4.45 pm with great books, awesome activities and lots of chat about the books we like and even some we don’t like. If you’d like to join our friendly, book-loving group come into Chertsey Library or email Chertsey.library@surrecc.gov.uk for more information.  

Reigate Chatterbooks have just finished reading Aubrey and the terrible Yoot by Horatio Clare. We found it very sad but would give it 10/10

This month we have read 'Ottoline and the Yellow Cat' by Chris Riddell. Our main activity was making Yellow Cat masks.

Reigate Chatterbooks We have just read Eddy Stone and the Epic Holiday Mash-Up by Simon Cherry. It is a story about pirates so naturally we made our own pirate ships

This month we have read 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' by Jeff Kinney.

Reigate Chatterbooks have made their own Globe Theatre....& it doubles up as a hat !!! We have just read The Boy and the Globe by Tony Bradman.

This month we have been reading 'Witch Wars' by Sebeal Pounder and illustrated by Laura Ellen Anderson.