CILIP Carnegie and Greenaway Medal Winners 2014 Announced

Kevin Brooks has been announced today as the winner of the 2014 CILIP Carnegie Medal for The Bunker Diary (Puffin).  It is the fictional diary of a kidnapped boy being held hostage in a bunker and was initially rejected by publishers because of its lack of hope.  As part of his acceptance speech, Brooks argued that children benefit from stories without happy endings.

Jon Klassen was awarded the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal for his picture book This is Not My Hat.  Kevin Brooks and Jon Klassen each receive £500 worth of books to donate to their local library.

 

 

The Bunker Diary and other titles from the Carnegie shortlist are available to borrow from the War Memorial and Discovery Libraries.  If you like The Bunker Diary you may like to try other books by Kevin Brooks, which are available to borrow from your libraries.

TRS student donates books to the libraries

One of this year’s TRS Jack Petchey achievement award winners, Christopher Caden (8 SA), has chosen to use his award money to buy books from the British Museum for our libraries.

The books, which are mostly historical and contain some stunning illustrations, cover topics from Roman history and ancient relics to Shakespeare’s Britain and are available to borrow from the Discovery and War Memorial Libraries.  Come and browse and borrow!

World Cup 2014 - Display

To celebrate the FIFA 2014 World Cup being held in Brazil, we have put together a display of great footballing reads - from fascinating facts to fantastic quick reads and footballing fiction. As they say, love football, love reading! We also have some brilliant books on Brazil and the other footballing nations taking part.

So far it has been a great success, as we have had lots of students browsing and borrowing! Look out too for our MOTD World Cup wallchart, which we will be filling in alongside the competition.

 

World Cup 2014 - Factoids

The FIFA 2014 World Cup has now kicked off in Brazil!  The competition began in 1930 and has been held every four years since (with the exception of 1942 and 1946 when it was cancelled because of World War II).  Below are some fascinating World Cup 2014 facts:

These facts have been sourced from http://www.worldcupbrazil.net/world-cup-2014/facts:

 

• This will be the first World Cup ever with goal-line technology.
• Brazil is the 5th country to host a World Cup for the 2nd time.  Brazil last hosted the World Cup in 1950.
• 2014 World Cup is the most expensive World Cup ever.  The costs so far are 14-16 billion US Dollars.
• A paraplegic teenager in a mind-controlled exoskeleton suit will take the first 2014 World Cup kick.
• Referees are allowed to stop matches 2/3 times due to weather conditions.  The heat can become very intense is some of the northern and north eastern cities where matches will be played.
• Lionel Messi Is ‘the most expensive player’ in the 2014 World Cup
• 2014 World Cup champion will win 35 million US Dollars.
• Bosnia And Herzegovina is the only country in this World Cup to have qualified for the first time.
• Germany will be the first country which will play their 100^th World Cup match. 
• A Simpsons episode has been dedicated to the 2014 World Cup.  The episode is called “You don’t have to live like a referee and was first aired on 30 March 2014.  In the episode Homer and his family go to Brazil where Homer is recruited as a referee for the World Cup.
• Fuleco is the mascot of the 2014 World Cup.  The Brazilian three-banded armadillo is nicknamed tatu-bola.

 

 

World Cup 2014 - National Literacy Trust competition

The National Literacy Trust have launched a World Cup Reading Selfie competition.  This World Cup prize draw challenges children to have their picture taken holding something they have read that relates to the 2014 World Cup.  This could be a newspaper, a book, a magazine or even a football sticker album.  One winner, chosen at random, will receive a signed copy of Frankie and the World Cup Carnival signed by Chelsea and England mid fielder Frank Lampard.

The competition is open to children between the ages of 5 and 16 years and is open from Monday 9th June to Sunday 6th July. To enter, simply ask your parents to complete the entry form and email it with the photo to competitions@literacytrust.org.uk.  For more details and to download the entry form go to National Literacy Trust World Cup 2014 competition.

Irish Novelists News

Eoin Colfer, author of the much loved Artemis Fowl books, has been named as the new Children’s Laureate for Ireland.  12 year old Artemis Fowl is a criminal mastermind, whose humorous and fast-paced adventures make for great reading.  All the books in the series can be found in the Discovery library, including a selection of excellent graphic novel versions of books in the series.  Come and browse and borrow!

Bailey's Women's Prize (formerly known as the Orange Prize) for Fiction 2014 has been won by Irish novelist Eimear McBride for her novel A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing.  The novel, which took McBride nine years to be published, tells the story of a young woman's relationship with a brother afflicted by a childhood brain tumour.  Eimear McBride was awarded the prize fund of £30,000 at a ceremony in London.

Maya Angelou, celebrated African American author, poet and civil activist dies aged 86

Described by Michelle Obama as “one of the greatest spirits our world has ever known”, Maya Angelou (Marguerite Annie Johnson) died last month on 28^th May 2014.  A truly inspirational person, at her memorial service held at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, many tributes were paid by speakers including first lady Michelle Obama, former present Bill Clinton and TV star Oprah Winfrey.  Her poem, Still I Rise, was read out at the service by her grandson:

"You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

The first volume of Maya Angelou’s celebrated memoirs, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, is available to borrow from the War Memorial Library.

TRS 1914 - 1918

The War Memorial Library commemorates the staff and students of our school who died in the World Wars.  This year marks the 100th anniversary of the First World War and we have put together a display that includes the war grave details of the eight teachers from this school who left their classrooms to fight in the Great War.