KPE Episode 410: "Kaimanawa Princess"

This is Litia's final podcast for Korero Pt England as she is going to St Cuthberts College in 2012.  She has chosen to review "Kaimanawa Princess by Dianne Haworth and Shoal is her interviewer.   This book is based on a true story. The main character is an eleven year old girl, called Becky, who lives in the Bay of Plenty in NZ and at the beginning she is choosing her first horse. But these aren’t just any horses, they are wild Kaimanawa horses that are use to living in the mountains, and roaming free. They had been rounded up and were getting sold.

     Inspired by a true life story, Dianne Haworth has woven a moving and inspiring story of love and courage, and the bond between a young girl and her pony.  When the department of Conservation announced plans to cull the wild Kaimanawa herds, some unlikely bedfellows found themselves locked into a desperate fight to save the horses.  When a young girl stood beside the desert road in protest, her inspiring stand moved hearts and changed her own life, when a shy black and white mare looked to her for help - and paid back her debt in love and devotion.

KPE Episode 407: "EJ12 Girl Hero"

 

In this podcast Litia interviews Shoal about a book she has been reading.

This book is called "EJ12 Girl Hero" and is written by Susannah McFarlane. Emma Jacks is an ordinary girl. She is also a gymnast. She's competing in a competition and wants to be able to do big jumps onto the beam for the routine that she is doing but she doesn't believe she can. But actually, she is NOT so ordinary as you will find out when you listen to this podcast...

KPE Episode 400: "Chicken Feathers"

This is an amazing event in the history of Korero Pt England -KPE has published 400 episodes today.

That means Pt Englanders have reviewed 400 books!

Ka pai Pt England kids!

Litia and Vivienne from Room 17 are the producers of this celebration podcast and have done us proud again.

They have chosen "Chicken Feathers" by Joy Cowley for this landmark episode, and we know you will enjoy their review. And check out the very cool photography while you listen...

Joshua lives with his parent on a farm with three thousand chickens. Joshua has been around chickens so long that he knows just about everything that there is to know about a chicken. But then Joshua meets Semolina who is quite different from any other chicken he’s ever seen.


Joshua’s father Tucker gives Semolina to his son one day. “She’s a character this one… Too old to lay, fights with the other chickens,” Tucker says. But Joshua likes the scruffy old chicken with ragged feathers nonetheless.


Then Joshua learns the truth about Semolina. The old chicken can talk just a like a human. Joshua tries to tell his parents but they don’t believe him.....

KPE Episode 364: "No Half Measures"

"No Half Measures" by Dunedin author Judy Knox this is the story of a camping holiday in the wilds of South Westland that goes horribly wrong. 

Litia has been reading this book and is interviewed by Shoal.  You will enjoy this podcast and the fabulous animation Litia has included as part of the images accompanying the podcast.

Mitch is on a tramping trip with his bossy twin sister and their uncle when his uncle is badly injured, his sister twists her ankle, and Mitch realises it is up to him to go for help.

He heads into the wilderness, hoping to meet someone, but he finds himself in the middle of a ring of desperate criminals with no apparent way out.

Mitch is a strong character, and makes a nicely plotted development from laziness and uncertainty to tenaciousness and courage by book's end.

KPE Episode 360: "End of the Alphabet"

We have another Fleur Beale podcast to share with you. In this episode Vivienne interviews Litia about "End of the Alphabet" - a book Litia has been reading in the holidays. You will find this a detailed and fun review of this book - we highly recommend you take a listen.

Ruby Yarrow is a 14 year old who lives in a busy, loving, chaotic family with her mum, stepdad, brother and two little stepbrothers. Ruby feels a bit like a doormat - she has to help out in the family a lot while her brother doesn't. He wins lots of prizes at school and she has a learning difficulty and needs a reader/writer to help her in exams. Ruby's surname Yarrow is at the end of the alphabet and when the roll gets called out she's always at the end and she hates it. She feels she's always at the end of the line. Not that she's a misery bag at all. She has great friends and loves clothes, fashion magazines and sewing and she's got a real knack for it. She's very keen to go on the school trip to Brazil and so gets a job to earn the money to go - works in a supermarket for an old grump, learns a bit of Portuguese, meets exchange students….

KPE Episode 353 :"My Dog the Dinosaur"

Vivienne and Litia from Room 17 have created another fantastic episode of KPE
.
Take a listen and tell them what you think of this book and their podcast....

Gunk's dad wears fluffy chicken slippers.

His sister, Fliss, is into weightlifting and his mum is searching for aliens. 

Gunk has Spot, his pet dog or is it? (a dog, that it.) Spot has a long neck, a flat tail and eats lettuce. Lots of it. Come to think of it, Spot is the silliest-looking dog Gunk has ever seen. Spot is scared of cats, too, and Fliss′s motorbike. And then Spot starts to grow...

Will Spot ever learn to bark? What strange secret does Pete, the girl next door, keep in her shed? Can Gunk teach Spot to like dog food? Or, will everyone in the world want to take Spot away when they find out that he isn′t really a dog?

KPE Episode 329: "Treasure Deep"

Litia and Ashleigh have brought us a podcast about another one of David Hill's fabulous books - Treasure Deep.

Glyn and Api are best mates, they always have been. That they come from different backgrounds, Api is Maori and Glyn is Pakeha, is something that neither has given a thought to, until now. But problems start to appear, and Colin the Cop doesn't help matters. The boys make a scary discovery in nearby sandhills, which turns their world upside down.

KPE Episode 276: "Duster"

Litia and Vivienne, Year 5 students from Room 15, have been reading "Duster" by Margaret Beames. This story will appeal to all dog lovers. "Fliss is playing softball at school with her friends when she finds a small, bedraggled dog by the boundary fence. It’s exhausted , hungry and responsive to the children’s attention. The name Duster is agreed on. The group of friends explore several possibilities for keeping their canine companion. They are reminded by the adults involved of the practical barriers to instant and unplanned dog ownership. A stopgap solution is found and Duster becomes involved in the school community, though not without unforeseen consequences."

KPE Episode 252: "Call of the Cruins"

Litia and Makerita, Room 15

Litia and Rita are Year 5 students in Room 15.  They have chosen to tell us about "Call of the Cruins" by Elizabeth Pulford for Episode 252 of KPE.  They not only discuss this very interesting story, but they also are able to share some of their learning because the whole class has been learning about the early European settlers to New Zealand.  If you visit the links to their blogs above you will find out a lot more by watching their movies and animations.

"Call of the Cruins" tells us about the realities of pioneering life in early New Zealand.  Emeline Malone (the main character) is a child of the 1880s and this story tells of her everyday life and responsibilities which are so very different to those faced by children today.   Life in a sealing community was difficult. In this book Emeline risks her life to save a baby seal.  Now she has the responsibility of ensuring its survival.  Her determination to keep her secret Cruin alive tests her resourcefulness and ingenuity. Life in a pioneering community, especially one that earns its living from the dangerous job of seal hunting, is harsh.  When her father and brother go missing in a boating disaster, Emeline and her family face a very dark future. 

Have a listen and tell them what you know about the life of the early settlers.....

KPE Episode 249: "Albert"

"Albert" by William Taylor

Litia and Rita are now in Year 5 and they have chosen "Albert" for their first podcast in 2010. Joey's Mum loves going to the Refuse Transfer Station (another name for the rubbish dump) because she often finds treasures there. The most valuable treasure Joey and his mother ever found at the dump was Albert, a very suprising cat.
Rita tells us about some of the amusing incidents which occur when Albert joins their family, and leaves us with a cliff hanger when Albert goes missing.

This sounds like a fun book to read. If you have read it, tell us what you think about their podcast. And if you have a cat at home, tell us one of the funny things YOUR cat has done!

KPE Episode 165 "Charlotte Frisbee and the Slime Attack"

"Charlotte Frisbee and the Slime Attack" by Sally Sutton is a new book in the Kiwi Bites series. This book has been reviewed by one of our young readers, Litia, who is in Room 11. She is 7 years old. She asked her big sister Tinei to be her DJ for her first podcast. We know you will love this one!
This is what the publisher says about the book on their website:
"Charlotte Frisbee is the president of a secret club called PAWS (the Perfectly Amazing Word Society). Along with the other members of PAWS – super-brain Podge, extra-serious Bugsy and freaky-looking Simon – the big excitement of Charlotte's week is getting the club together for word games and general language silliness. That is, until one day when strange things start to happen around the school. What has caused the stinky green slime the kids have noticed around the place? And who stole the S's from the school sign and ripped the S section out of Pugsy's dictionary? Charlotte and her friends strongly suspect the Bookbashers . . . but are they really smart enough to plan such a direct attack on what PAWS loves the most? Soon the cause of the mysterious circumstances is revealed . . . and who would have thought that such a sweet little slime monster could have caused so much confusion?"
Listen to Litia and Tinei and tell us what you think. They would love to hear from other people who have read this book too.