Storylines Christchurch Free Family Day – Sunday 28 August at Upper Riccarton Library

If you are looking for something for the family to do next week, do I have news for you! The annual funfest that is the Storylines Christchurch Free Family Day is on Sunday 28 August at Upper Riccarton Library between 10am and 3pm. Find out all the cool stuff on offer by viewing the full programme [220KB PDF] and:

• Like the Storylines Christchurch Free Family Day on Facebook.
• Subscribe to the Storylines Christchurch Family Day event on Facebook.
• Visit the Storylines Christchurch Family Day website.

What’s happening?

There are plenty of workshops, events, and competitions including:

• *Lily Max* Satin Scissors Frock Arts and Crafts (ages 7 to 12)
• Tyre Repair at the Library! (teens and adults)
• Writers’ Workshop: Designing Characters
• Kapa Haka (All ages)
• Face Painters Galore (All ages)
• Treasure Hunt (All ages)

This year’s Storylines Christchurch Family Day will feature a special performance at 2pm by the TKKM o Te Whanau Tahi immersion school Kapa Haka group. They will bring the book He Taniwha i Te Kura to life – te reo Māori – as part of the Books Alive programme. This book by Tim Tipene is about how to overcome classroom bullying.

Great New Zealand authors, illustrators and performers will be there, including:

• Fifi Colston
• Leonie Agnew
• James Norcliffe
• Steve Gurney

And waaaay more. Get in amongst it!

Storylines Christchurch Free Family Day 2014. Upper Riccarton Library. Sunday 24 August 2014. File Reference: P1040738.JPG

Tellin’ stories – Storylines 2012

Well, the weather wasn’t warm, but the atmosphere inside the Storylines 2012 Free Family Day at Cathedral College last Sunday was very toasty. Numbers weren’t as high as usual, but those families who did make it were very enthusiastic. There was a wide range of New Zealand’s best children’s writers to listen to and many great tips for good reads.

Sandy Mackay, a Dunedin writer, has just released the second in a series, Mr Tripp Goes for a Skate a fun collection of three stories for junior primary readers.

Sarona Aiono-Iosefa, a Christchurch-based writer read us her wonderful Blackcurrant Jam short story (published in Out of the Deep) an anthology of New Zealand and Pacific stories published to celebrate 2007 Children’s Book Day and the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen.

Helen McKinlay read her hilarious Grandma’s Kiwi Christmas and told us to look out for her contributions to the Tuesday Poem, an international poetry blog based in New Zealand.

Melanie Drewery was visiting from Golden Bay and shared Fishing Fame, one of her younger fiction books based on memories of growing up in the area and spotting sharks at Pooh Point where the run off from the sewage and freezing works was sure to attract these dangerous beasties and provide lots of excitement for sharp eyed children.

Finally, Tim Tipene from Henderson, shared his thoughts on the power of books to transform children’s lives with healthy messages. He is the author and facilitator of the community programme Warrior Kids which aims to help adolescents and children learn powerful and positive life skills.

Overall, the authors shared lots of great tips for budding writers. Many of them said they wrote about their own experience, but with a lot of exaggeration! The audience was advised to:

• stick close to home,
• reflect their own culture
• show lots of persistence because rejection letters were by far the norm from publishers in these days of tightening budgets.

Christchurch City Libraries has lots of advice and helpful links for aspiring writers on its writing page.

And the publishers’ guide for children’s writers and illustrators is now online.

Storylines 2011 comes out on Topp

Warmth and sunshine greeted the Storylines Free Family Day at Cobham Intermediate on Sunday 21 August. Organisers estimate at least 1,500 people passed through the displays, competitions and performances over the five hours of the event.

Normally held in the Town Hall and attracting at least 3,000, chief organiser Kim Dovey was relieved not to host that many on the smaller site. The gym was packed to capacity for the main event – Jools and Linda Topp performing There’s a Hole in my Bucket, the song that provides the text for their soon to be released book and CD.

The Topp Twins pose with their new book

Audience participation was encouraged and eagerly given. When the Twins beckoned the audience to dance along to their Untouchable Girls finale, the floor mats were jammed with little ponytails bopping to the beat.

Face painting, colouring competitions and Science Alive kept young bodies busy and the
Mobile library bus proved as popular as always. They  reported over 300 browsers.

The perennially popular Mobile Library

Other literary luminaries such as David Hill, Tessa Duder and Kyle Mewburn read aloud and mingled, while illustrators such as Helen Taylor displayed paintings of intricate beauty.

Helen Taylor

Join the fun at the 2011 Storylines Free Family Day

The Storylines Free Family Days are held every year throughout New Zealand to celebrate the amazing, extremely talented authors and illustrators that we have in our country.  This year the Christchurch Free Family Day is being held at Cobham Intermediate School, 294 Ilam Road, Burnside on Sunday 21 August, from 10am-3pm.  It’s a chance for you and your children to meet some fantastic New Zealand authors and illustrators, including:

• David Hill
• Kyle Mewburn
• Leonie Thorpe
• Donovan Bixley
• Ben Brown and Helen Taylor

And some very special guests…

• Author of the Zac Power and Phoenix Files series, Chris Morphew
• New Zealand legends, The Topp Twins

Your children could get their favourite author’s autograph, listen to them talk about their books and read some of them, or enter the Storylines competition.  It’s totally FREE, so come along with your family and join the fun.  You can download the programme from the library website or grab one from your library.

Come along to the Storylines Free Family Day

On Sunday 15 August from 10am-3pm some of New Zealand’s best children’s authors and illustrators will be heading to the Christchurch Town Hall for the Storylines Free Family Day.  The whole day is FREE and it’s a chance for you to come and meet some of your favourite authors and illustrators, including Margaret Mahy, Joy Cowley, Gavin Bishop, and the creators of the Wonky Donkey book, Craig Smith and Katz Cowley. 

As well as meeting all these cool people and maybe even getting your books signed, there are heaps of fun things for you to do, including face painting, creating your own bookmark or mask, and learning about the world around you in the Factopia zone.  Come dressed as your favourite book character and you might even score a spot prize.

To find out more about what’s happening on the day you can grab a programme from your local library or visit the Storylines website.