More titles Beneath the Surface.

Good morning summer readers. Let's head back beneath the surface and take a look at three more titles from our Middle and High school reading list.

The Land of the Silver Apples is the second book in Nancy Farmer's Sea of Trolls series.

When Jack's little sister Lucy is kidnapped, he must journey to Elfland and face creatures and dangers he's never dreamed of in order to save his family. Click here to read more about this best-selling fantasy trilogy.

David MacAulay's Underground gives us a fascinating description of the labyrinth that lies beneath the feet of so many city dwellers.

Explore the network of walls, columns, cables, pipes and tunnels needed to meet the basic needs of a city's inhabitants. A real treat for those interested in architecture and engineering. Click here to find out more about this award winning author, including a video showing how he creates his incredible books.

Haunted Ground by Erin Hart opens with a grisly discovery. Farmers cutting turf in an Irish peat bog uncover the perfectly preserved head of a young woman with long red hair.

Irish archaeologist Cormac Maguire must work with American pathologist Nora Gavin to solve the puzzle...who is she and how long has she been buried? If you enjoy this book there are three more featuring Cormac and Nora to choose from. Read more about them here.

Don't forget to log all your reading minutes -  it's not too late to sign up for our summer reading programme. You can sign up by clicking here or by visiting your local library.

Until tomorrow - keep on reading!

More from our Elementary reading list.

Good morning summer readers! Hope you all had a great weekend - wasn't it a hot one! Curling up in the shade with a good book is a great way to beat the heat during the summer months. Here are a few more titles to keep those precious reading minutes ticking over.

In Lauren Oliver's The Spindlers, twelve year old Liza must descend into a dark and ominous underground to save her brother's soul. Evil, spider like creatures, known as the spindlers came in the night and stole it.

Join Liza as she battles tree snakes and shape-shifting scawgs in her quest to reach the spindler's lair and save her brother's soul. Click here  to read more about this creepy tale.

Clare Vaderpool's New York Times Best Seller,  Navigating Early, tells the adventure of two boys' incredible quest on the Appalachian Trail where they deal with pirates, buried secrets and a great black bear.

This is a beautifully written story which explores the themes of friendship, loss and self-discovery. Click here to read where the author got her ideas for this story.

Eleven year old Thomas Hammond has always lived next to Leepike Ridge, but never imagined he might end up lost beneath it!

What Tom finds underneath Leepike Ridge will change his life forever. Now, if he can only find his way home again...

That's it for today summer readers. Join us here tomorrow for three more title from the Middle and High  School reading list.

Back to our Primary reading list.

Hello summer readers! We hope you enjoyed reading all about the Literature in the Garden programme, and we hope you enjoyed a great fourth of July holiday.

Click here to find out everything you need to know about upcoming activities at your library. Don't miss out on the wonderful things we have planned :)

Let's take a look at a few more titles on our Primary reading list.

Last week on June 25th, it was the 84th birthday of much loved children's author and illustrator, Eric Carle. His story, The Tiny Seed is a perfect addition to a book list all about digging into reading!

The story is a colorful look at the life cycle of a plant, as strong autumn winds blow seeds away and they must survive lots of challenges to make it to spring. A wonderful nature lesson with a great message about not giving up.

Another wonderful title about gardening is Lynne Cherry's How Groundhog's Garden Grew.

Join groundhog as he learns to plant and tend his own food garden through every season. A beautifully illustrated and well-researched picture book full of information on gardening, plants and insects. Great for the whole family.

Strega Nona has been busy in her garden in Tomi de Paola's Strega Nona's Harvest.

Follow beloved Grandmother Strega Nona and her assistants Bambolona and Big Anthony, through the planting season to harvest time. When Big Anthony doesn't follow Strega Nona's careful gardening instructions, he ends up with a harvest bounty that is much more than he bargained for!

That's all for today summer readers. Join us back here next week for more summer reading tips :)

Happy reading and have a great weekend!

Literature in the Garden.

Good morning summer readers!

Today we are going to take a closer look at one of the great activities happening at our libraries over the summer.

Last Wednesday a group of 7 to 11 year olds gathered at Bowman Library for Literature in the Garden. The children worked with Master Gardeners who did a wonderful job of engaging everyone.

The focus of the session was Pond Life so the Gardeners took the children on an exploration of the pond outside the library. Everyone kept their eyes peeled for turtles, dragonflies, frogs, fish, birds, berries, flowers and animal homes.

Small gourds were painted to represent a realistic or fantastical pond animal and we read Emma's Turtle and Around The Pond - Who's Been Here?

Join us on Wednesday July 16th for our next Literature in the Garden session. The session starts at 2pm at Bowman Library and the theme is container gardening. We'd love to see you there :)

Until tomorrow...happy gardening and happy reading!

Back Beneath the Surface.

We hope you enjoyed reading about all the great summer reading programmes that are happening at your local libraries. We are certainly enjoying sharing them with you :)

Let's turn our attention back to the many great titles that relate to our theme of digging into reading. Today, three titles from the middle and high school reading list.

Have you ever wondered what it's like to descend deep into a mysterious cave? Paul Burger's Cave Exploring is an excellent instructional guide that will tell you everything you need to know.

Learn about the history and geology of caves; caving gear; risks and safety measures and the history of cave exploration. A must read for all those budding spelunkers out there!

Ann Aguirre's Enclave is the thrilling tale of two young people in an apocalyptic world, facing dangers unlike any the've ever known.

New York City has been devastated by war and plague and most people have moved to underground enclaves where life expectancy is no more than the early 20s. If you enjoyed The Hunger Games then Enclave is for you.

Another title that comes highly recommended for fans of The Hunger Games is James Dashner's Maze Runner.

When Thomas wakes up in a lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank...but he is not alone. When the lift doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade...a large, pen space surrounded by stone walls...a giant maze.
A film version of this award winning novel is currently in production.

Tomorrow we are going to take a closer look at the wonderful Literature In the Garden program - just one of the interesting things our summer readers have been getting up to at their local library.

Until then keep exploring beneath the surface! 

Busy, busy, busy!

It's hard to believe but today we are over one month into our Summer Reading Programme - where has the time gone?

We'd like to share with you some of the great things that have been happening at our libraries over the past four weeks.

In the reading cave at Bowman Library.

 Over 1200 young people have signed up to our Summer Reading Programme! A great wave of reading is happening all over Winchester as we speak and all those super summer readers are making sure to log all their precious reading minutes.  It's not too late to sign up. Just click here or come and see us at your local library.

Things got off to a great start at the Bowman Library on June first with the Rally for Reading. There was lots of reading, a spot of digging and even an appearance by a big digger!

The preschool storytimes have been packed with eager children and adults, and librarians have been spotted in their pyjamas entertaining young readers at PJ Storytime.

The wonderful Mokihana paid us a visit and entranced us with her Hawaiian stories, chants, songs and hula dances that celebrate the earth.

Our very special friends the Paws for reading dogs are visiting us too. How could you resist coming along and sharing a story with one of these gorgeous creatures?

Click here to find out about all the upcoming summer reading events taking place at your local library. Liking Handley Regional Library on Facebook will also help you stay up to date with all the great activities you can be a part of.

We hope to see you at the library soon. Check back here tomorrow for more highlights from our Summer Reading Lists.

Happy reading!

Dig into reading - a look at some more titles from the elementary reading list.

Our three titles today are all well known classics that have been around for many years, and were written by Scottish or Irish authors.

C.S.Lewis was born in Ireland and is probably most well known for his seven book adventure series The Chronicles of Narnia.

The Silver Chair - book four of the Narnia Chronicles - takes us deep into the underland where unlikely partners Eustace and Jill must work together to save King Caspian's son from great evil. Keep your eyes out for a movie version of this classic tale in 2015.

Next we move to Scotland and Robert Louis Stevenson's timeless tale of pirates and buried gold, Treasure Island.

Join cabin boy Jim Hakins for a swashbuckling adventure with treasure maps, dangerous sea journeys, mutiny, pirates and a deadly scramble for buried treasure. Written in 1933, this story is the origin of many of the pirate images that still exist to this day  - treasure maps marked with an X, schooner type sailing ships, tropical islands and one legged seamen with parrots on their shoulders! Shiver me timbers!!

Kenneth Grahame also hails from Scotland and in 1908 he retired from his banking job and started writing down the bedtime stories he had been telling his son.

Wind In The Willows follows the adventures of Mole, Badger, Ratty and Toad as they roam the English countryside. A wonderful tale of friendship set amidst the beautiful English countryside. One for all ages to share.

We hope you are having lots of special time with friends this summer. Why not try sharing a book with someone special to you?

Until next week, have a great weekend and happy reading :)