Melanie Koster | Writer

 Christchurch City Libraries have penned a lovely article about Elephant Park .  https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/blogs/post/once-upon-an-elephant-bishopdales-favourite-playground-slide-and-the-book-it-inspired/

Three articles about Elephant Park  - the book and the slide. One in The Press online and the others by Christchurch City Council and Star News/Otago Daily Times. Click on the images to read the articles. 

 We received 149 entries for the Elephant Park  Writing Competition! Thank you to everyone who entered - it was wonderful reading all your fabulous poems and stories inspired by playground memories. We are very grateful to the fabulous Penny Scown at Scholastic NZ for judging. The results are in! We are delighted to announce the winners, runners-up and highly commended entries in both the Junior and Senior divisions. You can read the judge's comments here: And enjoy reading the winning entries below: Congratulations to our top placegetters Anisha, Amaia and Tiana (Juniors) and Agatha, Emma and Nathaniel (Seniors). Juniors: Anisha (6) WINNER - beautifully lyrical poem, wonderful use of descriptive and imaginative language Amaia (6) - RUNNER-UP -  very well written for a 6-year-old - competent retelling, detailing emotions and descriptions Tiana (8) - HIGHLY COMMENDED - good use of structure and language, draws the reader in Seniors: Agatha (9) - WINNER - Wow! Remarkable wr...

There were over 300 entries for the  Elephant Park  colouring competition! The standard was very high and the judges, illustrators Jenny Cooper and Monica Koster said it was very challenging to choose a winner. Well done to everyone who entered. Here are the results for the Junior Category: Congratulations to 1st Place Winner, Orla ! 2nd Place goes to  Bethany C. Both Orla and Bethany will receive a book prize pack courtesy of Scholastic NZ. Well done to Jett, Sora and Ted who were all awarded Highly Commended. In the Senior Division, the 1st Place Winner was  Enya , congratulations! 2nd Place was awarded to Doris J. Enya and Doris have each won a book prize pack courtesy of Scholastic NZ. The judges also awarded Highly Commended to Ren Y, Xia H, Harper B, 'Emeline V and Wan Ting Y.  Jenny Cooper has provided written feedback for all of the winning and highly commended entries. Thank you to Jenny and Monica, and thank you to everyone who unleashed their artis...

There's still a week left for tamariki to enter the Elephant Park  colouring and writing competitions. Pick up an entry form from Ōrauwhata: Bishopdale Library, University Bookshop Canterbury or Piccadilly Bookshop.  Completed entries may be dropped off to  Ōrauwhata: Bishopdale Library, or submitted electronically at the link below: Elephant Park  Competition  - submit entry .

Elephant Park has been getting some lovely reviews! Click on the images below to read the full review.

Thank you to everyone who came along to help us celebrate the launch of Elephant Park ! It was a joyful occasion with lots of scrummy retro treats (including fairy bread and asparagus rolls) and we all loved Elly's trumpet at the end of the story! (Thanks to the trombonist hiding behind the bookshelves at the back!)

 Join us to celebrate the launch of Elephant Park  on Friday 8 November from 5.30pm at the University Bookshop Canterbury. RSVP here:    Click HERE to RSVP .

Grab an entry form from Ōrauwhata: Bishopdale Library and Community Centre and get colouring and/or writing! Be in to win a copy of Elephant Park  and some other awesome Scholastic titles! Return your entry to Bishopdale Library or click on the link below and follow the instructions to upload your entry electronically. Click HERE to enter the Elephant Park competition

  I'm excited to announce that Elephant Park , illustrated by Jenny Cooper and published by Scholastic NZ is coming in November!

 Thanks, Jo for the awesome review on Kiwi Reviews! 'Mr Four's favourite song at his kindy is "I Saw A Taniwha" but this is the first time he has actually seen a book about one. He and his sister, Miss Five, were enchanted by the cover picture and there was a long discussion as to whether this Taniwha might be friendly or just plain scary! It was not long before Miss Five decided that the Taniwha was actually Grandma because she could see some similarities in the descriptions. Mr Four thought that Tama's sisters were really mean and it was nasty of them to try to scare their brother. Miss Five agreed. The two siblings get on well, and neither approved of the way the girls were teasing Tama. Hopefully this attitude will continue as they get older! They were both delighted when the "Taniwha" scared the girls so they had to get out of the water, and they could not stop laughing. Mr Four was pleased that Tama was able to have a good time playing in the water...