Haslemere Library Chatterbooks

Yesterday was our last session before Christmas. We have just finished reading Ottoline and The Yellow Cat by Chris Riddell and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. We made Yellow Cat masks and Narnia themed Christmas decorations. 

During December we are reading lots of books including Mistletoe and Murder by Robin Stevens and The Battle for Christmas by Jeremy Strong.

We Love Bookmarks!

Once again, we had another lively meeting of our Chatterbooks group at Weybridge Library. We welcomed some new members which is always great and we caught up with everyone's thoughts about the book that we had just read, Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver. Whilst not everyone thought the book was for them, it certainly generated quite a lot of discussion especially about the plot and the need to concentrate on what was happening as the book is packed full of adventurous twists, some of which are quite unexpected. Our group thought that perhaps it would have been useful to have a list of characters at the beginning of the book that you could check whilst you're reading. It was mostly a positive "thumbs up" for Wolf Brother.

Set mostly in a forest, Wolf Brother has plenty of descriptions of animals and of course, one of the main characters is a wolf! So, we made some origami book marks of animal faces. It was great fun and you can see our efforts below on our next book The Light Jar by Lisa Thompson.

The Light Jar is an adventure story about a young boy Nate and his mum who have to leave their home in the middle of the night, without much explanation. It's an adventure story, from the author of The Goldfish Boy so we were quite excited to start reading this book.

If you happen to be at Weybridge Library over the next couple of weeks, stop and have a look at our Chatterbooks display.

Haslemere Library Chatterbooks

Haslemere Library Chatterbooks have just finished reading 'Witch Wars'.  It is the first book in a series written by Sibeal Pounder and proved very popular.  Younger members of the group read 'The Gunpowder Plot - a time for treason' written by Ann Turnbull.  It is a really exciting story about two girls called Eliza and Lucy who are living in London during the reign of James 1.  We had lots of activities including quizzes, wordsearches and colouring sheets.  At the end we all really enjoyed making 'witch' bookmarks.

We love Justice!

We had a great first Chatterbooks meeting after the Summer. Everyone was excited to share their summer news, but all of us were really excited about the book that we'd read over the Summer holiday. "A Girl Called Justice" by Elly Griffiths was a universal hit with everyone.
Lots of us had asked for murder mystery stories and we have read some which have received mixed reviews. This one however, was one of our most popular books, with a thumbs up from everyone.
The book is set in the 1930's when Justice is sent to boarding school for the very first time, after the death of her mum. The school is remote and rather eery and Justice's detective skills are challenged from the very beginning. It's one of those books that keeps you guessing, with lots of plot twists all the way, right through to the end.

The author Elly Griffiths has a family connection to Weybridge and so we did some group research, to see if we could find out about the school that Elly's mum went to locally, which the school in the book, Highbury House, is based on. We found some pictures of it in local history books and read about its history. It has been closed for a long time as a school, but the building can still be seen in Weybridge. Here it is in the picture below and you can see the tower, exactly as it is described in the book when Justice goes around the school looking for clues!

All of us agreed that Elly Griffiths has written a really enjoyable and exciting book which we would recommend! @EllyGriffithsAuthor @quercusbooks  Nan Lawson  hachettechildrens

Our next read is "Time Travelling With a Hamster" by Ross Welford. It's an exciting adventure story, which we are looking forward to reading. You can catch up with what we thought about the book in our next blog.

Haslemere Library Chatterbooks

In September, the younger members of our group read Lucy Longwhiskers by Daisy Meadows. It is the first book in the popular series of Magic Animal Friends. We also read The Cherry Pie Princess by Vivian French and our main discussion centred around this book. After establishing the main characters and storyline of the book we wrote book reviews for our new display. Everyone enjoyed the book that they read and would thoroughly recommend them. There is a fantastic audio copy of The Cherry Pie Princess read by Vivian french herself on our catalogue.

Haslemere Library Chatterbooks

Chatterbooks at Haslemere Library have now completed this year's Summer Reading Challenge. To celebrate, we made starcatchers. Everyone brought along one of their favourite books from the summer holidays to recommend. Popular books included The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton, Swallowdale by Arthur Ransome, The Case of the Feathered Mask by Holly Webb, The Cafe at the Edge of the Moon by Francesca Simon, The Troublesome Tiger by Tamsyn Murray, Amazing Esme and the Pirate Circus by Tamara Mcfarlane and Roald Dahl's Matilda's how to be a genius... by Quentin Blake.

Weybridge Chatter Books

Our last two books have given us some mixed reviews. In May, we read "The Boy Who Flew" by Fleur Hitchcock. We all agreed that the book had some really interesting characters. Some who were obvious heroes and some who were particularly scary. This meant that there were quite a number of unexpected twists in the book, which draw the main figure, Athan Wilde into some perilous situations. Through a series of dangerous adventures, that often leave the reader on the edge of their seat, Athan is able to triumph.  Most of our group enjoyed this book and thought that it was well written and would recommend it to other readers.

In June we read another, quite different book. "The Boy at the Back of the Class" is written by Onjali Q. Rauf and is a story about a 9 year old boy called Ahmet who is a refugee. This book prompted quite a lot of discussion in our group about what it actually means to be a refugee and there were some mixed reviews as to whether the book captured how that must feel.
We read a very powerful piece of prose by Khaled Hosseini "Sea Prayer" and talked about our own experiences of meeting, or knowing refugees.

During the Summer holiday, we will be reading "A Girl called Justice". This is a book by Elly Griffiths, who writes adult crime fiction. Our group likes mystery and adventure, so we are looking forward to reading about what it is that Justice gets up to when she goes away to school. Have a fun Summer, whatever you're reading!!!

Haslemere Library Chatterbooks

During July, Chatterbooks at Haslemere Library are reading The Last Chance Hotel by Nicki Thornton and The No.1 Car Spotter Fights the Factory  by Atinuke. On Saturday, as well as quizzes and wordsearches, we registered for this year's Summer Reading Challenge - Space Chase and decorated the library with Space Chase bunting.

Reigate Chatterbooks have just had their last meeting before the summer break. We have just read a variety of books that were made into films and had a lively discussion about what was best book or film ?

Haslemere Library Chatterbooks

During June, Chatterbooks at Haslemere Library read Wilf the Mighty Worrier Saves the World by Georgia Pritchett and Mirror Magic  by Claire Fayers. We also had a quiz based on 100 Events that made History by Clare Hibbert. Other activities included wordsearches, colouring and drawing our own reflections.

During May, Chatterbooks at Haslemere Library read The Great Rabbit Rescue by Katie Davies and First Class Murder by Robin Stevens. We also had a quiz based on The Book of Flags by Rob Colson.
Other activities included a treasure hunt based on the books from the 2019 Surrey Libraries' Children's Book Award and a murder, mystery memory game with Trevor the cat!

                                               

After

Weybridge Chatterbooks

Our last meeting at the beginning of May was a very lively one. We had chosen The Lost Magician by Piers Torday as our book to read for April.

There were mixed reviews for this book. The group was split around who enjoyed it and who didn't. We did agree that it was a little like some other stories that we had read in the past. Some of us did enjoy the magic element though, whilst others thought that the time that it was set in, just after the war, was quite interesting.

We made some posters for our library display, with some of the memorable sayings from the book and some of the mythical creatures that were part of the story. #LostMagician
@HachetteKids @readingagency

Our next book is The Boy Who Flew by Fleur Hitchcock. It's about a boy called Athan Wilde and his adventure with a flying machine. It's a proper murder mystery!!! Everyone is looking forward to  reading this as it promises to be an exciting and interesting adventure for us all.

Reigate Library Chatterbooks have just taken part in the Surrey Libraries Children's Book Award.
Congratulations to Alan MacDonald we enjoyed reading Ask Oscar, and then enjoyed making our own Oscars out of pompoms.

Woking Library April 2019

This month we read 'Below Zero' by Dan Smith

Twelve-year-old Zak is plane-wrecked on an abandoned research outpost in the Antarctic with his sister and parents. Here, a series of nightmarish occurrences and bizarre visions suggest a link to something else - a presence beneath the ice - which only Zak can understand ...Not one for the faint hearted, especially if you suffer from arachnophobia!
This book was well liked by the group.
We designed a poster for Antarctica, and worked out what things we should take for our trip to the frozen south pole. 
The group then did a 'treasure hunt' for clues from the book around the library. They are getting very good at this now and were able to find the clues and work out the hidden word much too quickly!

Reigate Chatterbooks have just read Ask Oscar by Alan MacDonald we then made our own dogs out of woolen pompoms, things got quite knotty !!!

Weybridge Chatterbooks

What a wonderful adventure we went on in February with "The Children of Castle Rock" by Natasha Farrant! Weybridge Chatterbooks group all agreed that it was a really interesting and exciting book to read.

You can see from our reviews, the different things we liked about this book. We are also celebrating 90 years of the publishers, Faber and Faber who have published loads of books over that time, some of which I'm sure you've read. As well as publishing our last book, our next book "Max and the Millions" by Ross Montgomorey is also a Faber book. Our first impressions were good, so be sure to catch up with the blog to hear what we thought.

                                     #Faber90 @FaberBooks @readingagency


We still have space for new members in Year 4 or 5. To enquire about joining, please come to Weybridge Library and our next meeting is Friday 3rd May at 3.45 pm.

March 2019

This month we read 'Bigfoot, Tobin and Me' by Melissa Savage.

The book is set in 1970's  (pre-mobile pone!) California and most of the group enjoyed it-I think the adults liked it better than the children! Lemonade Liberty Witt has lost her mother, she's been forced to move away from her home to live with the grandfather she barely knows, and can't wait to be able to get away, move back home. This isn't her home and it never will be.

Her grandfather does not argue with her, in fact, he seems to spend more time with Tobin, a boy who runs his own Bigfoot Detective Agency, as they live in an area with many sightings. Lemonade unwillingly finds herself entangled in his business when she comes across evidence of Bigfoot's existence in the woods.

Lemonade is determined not to put down roots, not to make friends, not to enjoy living with her grandfather, but gradually she may find herself living up to her namesake of 'making lemonade from lemons', despite her grief.

Lemonade and Tobin are endearing, characters.The author is a grief counsellor and shows how a child might deal with the death of a parent and come to terms with a new life, and the book came with it's own set of 'book-club' questions.

This month we welcomed new member Nohva.

We made a list and drew pictures of the ten things we would pack in a suitcase which would represent what is important to us and who we are. We played a Bigfoot version of 'Beetle Drive' and designed monsters by playing 'Heads,Bodies and Legs'.

Chatterbooks at Haslemere Library

Chatterbooks at Haslemere Library are taking part in the Surrey Libraries' Children's Book Award 2019.  We have just enjoyed reading Bee Boy Clash of the Killer Queens by Tony De Saulles and Ask Oscar by Alan MacDonald. 

Another adventure for the Weybridge Chatterbooks.

Weybridge Chatterbooks

Our February book is "The Children of Castle Rock" an adventure story written by Natasha Farrant.
We're looking forward to meeting up next week and sharing our thoughts about the story.

Our display board is looking really good. If you're in the library, have a look at the display of aeroplanes where we shared our thoughts about "The Explorer" by Katherine Rundell

Our Chatterbooks group is a lot of fun and if you feel like you might want to join us, there are still spaces for those in year 4 or 5. We would love to see you. Please enquire at Weybridge library if you think you'd like to come along.

Woking Chatterbooks February 2019

This month we have been reading The Last Chance Hotel by Nicki Thornton.
Seth is the down-trodden kitchen boy with ambitions to be a chef. He has always lived and worked at the remote Last Chance Hotel in the middle of a seemingly endless forest.
When a strange gathering of magicians arrives for dinner, their leader is poisoned. A locked-room murder investigation ensues - and Seth, is the main suspect as he prepared a special desert only eaten by the kindly Dr Thallomius.
Can he solve the mystery and clear his name, especially when magic's afoot?
This was a wonderful, complex and original story with some unusual plot twists. It looks like it may be the first in a series to rival Harry Potter.

Most of the group liked the book except Kasper who doesn't like books about Magic.

As it was St Valentine's day we made hearts showing our favourite books.

We made 'Love bug' greetings cards-in which most of which the group wrote rude messages!

Woking Cahtterbooks January 2019

The book we have been reading this month is 'Jake Atlas and the hunt for the Feathered God'

by Rob Lloyd-Jones.

This is an adventure story about Jake Atlas, his twin sister Pan, and their parents who are treasure hunters.
In order to save their friend, the groups tech-wizard Sami from the clutches of the Snake People, the Atlas family have to travel to the rain forests of Honduras to find the Emerald tablet for the evil Snake Woman in return for the antidote to the poison she has used on Sami.  

Dare-devil Jake is always getting into trouble with his parents for taking risks-but sometimes he is just the boy for the job!

We were surprised that this action packed adventure did not go down as well as we thought it might.

We then did a treasure hunt in the library. The group had to find the Aztec symbols hidden in the library from a set of clues, translate them into letters of the alphabet and then work out together what word they spelled out.
Although they are getting very good at following the clues and finding the hidden symbols, it took quite a while to find the secret word: EMERALD!

After that we used the story dice to create stories. Somehow they always seemed to feature Donald Trump!

Reigate library Chatterbooks are taking part in the 2019 Surrey Children's Book Award. We have just read Song of the Dolphin Boy by Elizabeth Laird. We talked about helping to save our world and played a board game based on

packing an environmentally lunch box.

Reigate Library Chatterbooks are taking part in the Surrey Children's Book Award 2019. We have just read Bee Boy Clash of the Killer Queens by Tony De Saulles, we loved the illustrations learnt lots about bees and made Bee mine cards for Valentines Day.

The Weybridge Chatterbooks Explorers

We recently met to see what we thought about our last book "The Explorer" by Katherine Rundell. Have you read it? What did you think? It is certainly an adventurous book!

Our group thought it was good, on the whole and we enjoyed writing our reviews. If you're in Weybridge library, have a look at our display. We used banners attached to little yellow airplanes to write down what we thought about the book.

Our book for February is "The Children of Castle Rock" written by Natasha Farrant. It's an adventure story with a twist. Check in to our next blog to see what we thought and what we enjoyed about it.

Chatterbooks at Haslemere Library has enjoyed reading 'The Awesome Book of Space' by Adam Frost.

Reigate Chatterbooks 2 have just read Ask Oscar by Andy MacDonald we liked the idea of a dog turning up on our doorstep. We then made our own Oscar from pompoms

WOKING LIBRARY CHATTERBOOKS DECEMBER 2018

This month we read 'Silver Hand' by Terry Deary.
We thought this tale set around the end of the first World War was appropriate with the centenary this year.
French Aimee and German Marius flee from the sinister 'Silver Hand', a British soldier spying for the Germans.                                                                                                                                             
 As it was Christmas we iced gingerbread men and biscuits.

We welcomed new volunteer Anne-Marie!

Weybridge Chatterbooks

Weybridge Chatterbooks have had the first meeting of 2019 and a very lively one it was! We have been together for about 5 months and have read some very different books during that time. The favourite so far has been the Armistice Runner by Tom Palmer. A really good read. We imagined what it would be like for a young man in 1918 running into enemy territory.

At Christmas our group read two books, A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haigh and Winter Magic a book of short stories about Winter and Christmas. We wrote down our thoughts about both books and decided whether we would recommend them. These reviews will soon be part of a display in the library. Our new book for January is The Explorer by Katherine Rundell. We are pretty excited about this book. More news on that in the next blog. If you're interested in joining the group and are in year 4 or 5, we have spaces. Come to the library for more information. Our next meeting is on February 8th at 3:45pm at Weybridge Library.

Reigate library Chatterbooks have just read Noah Scape Can't Stop Repeating Himself by Guy Bass. We had fun deciding what our favorite food was and what our world would be like if there was more than one of us. Then we did some sticking and gluing with spaghetti.

During December Chatterbooks at Haslemere Library really enjoyed reading 'The Polar Bear Explorers' Club' by Alex Bell.  At home we tried out some tasty recipes from Nadiya Hussain's 'Bake Me a Festive Story' and, on Saturday we all made fat balls from her bird feeder recipe.