“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go”
~Dr Seuss
This term the focus for the Kiwi Can programme is resilience – or
“coping with challenges and bouncing back”.
So, again this term, we’ve put our heads together with the librarians at the Marlborough libraries, and came up with a list of just some of the books on themes of resilience, grit and perseverance.
Both the good and bad examples and characters can make for great discussions! We hope you find these books useful for encouraging thinking and talking about resilience – and reinforcing our children’s learning at home. Some of these books your children might like to read to themselves, and some you might like to read to them.
If we’ve missed your favourite off the list drop us a message on Facebook (@GraemeDingleFoundationMarlborough) to let us know!
And if you need any more encouragement, the National Library says, reading for pleasure is a door to success for your children – “Aside from the sheer joy of exercising the imagination, research shows reading for pleasure improves literacy, social skills, health and learning outcomes.” So simply by sharing a book with our tamariki (and talking about the ideas) we can help reinforce their learning at home…
Happy reading!
Picture Books
| Parachute by Danny Parker * | Something Wonderful by Jenny Nimmo |
| After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again by Dan Santat * | Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin |
| The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Rosemary Wells | Love Waves by Rosemary Wells * |
| The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle * | Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats |
| The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch * | Willy the Champ by Anthony Browne * |
| Rosie Revere. Engineer by Andrea Beaty * | Princesses Are Not Perfect by Kate Lum * |
| The Lorax by Dr Seuss * | Oh, the Places You’ll Go by Dr Seuss * |
| Teddy Took the Train by Nicki Greenberg * | Ben’s Trumpet by Rachel Isadora |
| The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires * | A Perfectly Messed-Up Story by Patrick McDonnell |
| How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers * | The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi * |
| Brave Irene by William Steig | Lenny and Lucy by Philip Stead * |
| Princess Smartypants by Babette Cole * |
Sophisticated Picture Books
(Books for ‘big’ kids who like pictures, and more mature themes)
| The Fix-It Man by Dimity Powell * | The Hugging Tree by Jill Neimark |
| Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman | The Middle of Nowhere by Geraldine McCaughrean * |
| Hasel and Rose by Caroine Magerl * | Dogger by Shirley Hughes * |
| Grandmother’s Song by Barbara Soros | My Name is not Refugee by Kate Milner * |
Children’s Fiction
(For middle readers aged roughly 7+)
| The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate * | The Explorer by Katherine Rundell * |
| Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr * | Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White * |
| Roses are Blue by Sally Murphy * | Invisible Vinnie by Jenny Nimmo * |
| Charlie Brown (series) by Charles M. Schulz * | The Charm Bracelet (and series) by Emily Rodda * |
For Older readers
(Roughly 10+)
| Bastion Point: 507 Days on Takaparawha by Tania Roxborogh * | The Power of One (young readers edition) by Bryce Courtenay * |
| How to Bee by Bren MacDibble * | Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper * |
| Escape from Mr Lemoncello’s library by Chris Grabenstein * | From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg * |
| Hatchet by Gary Paulsen * | The Thunderbolt Pony by Stacy Gregg * |
| The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera * | The hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien * |
| When Hitler stole pink rabbit by Judith Kerr * | Wonder by R. J. Palaccio * |
| Song for a Scarlet Runner by Julie Hunt * | Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson * |
| Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl * | Under the Mountain by Maurice Gee * |
| I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai * | The Harry Potter series by J K Rowling * |
| The Ruby Redfort Series by Lauren Child * | Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt * |
| Heidi by Johanna Spyri * | The Silent One by Joy Cowley * |
| Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren * | Coraline by Neil Gaiman * |
| Mrs Frisby and the rats of Nimh by Robert C. O’Brien * | A Series of Unfortunate Events (series) by Lemony Snicket * |
| The ACB with Honora Lee by Kate de Goldi * | The 10pm question by Kate de Goldi * |
Non-Fiction
| Sky High: Jean Batten’s Incredible Flying Adventures by David Hill * | Amazing Expeditions: Journeys that Changed the World by Anita Ganeri * |
| The Great Big Book of Feelings by Mary Hoffman * | She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton |
| You are Awesome by Matthew Syed * | True grit by Bear Grylls * |
| Bruce Wants to Go Faster by Dreydon Sobanja * | The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson * |
The * beside books in the list means it is (at the time of writing) available from Marlborough Libraries.
You should of course check the book to make sure it’s a good choice for your child. Your local librarians can help too – just ask them!
And from Monday 17th June, head in to the Blenheim library to choose from a display of great library books about resilience – and free bookmarks to take home.
Happy reading!
