Roald Dahl Day!

For those of you who don't know, last week was Roald Dahl Day, a celebration of the children's author and a chance to promote his charity, Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity. Here at Grey Coats we joined in by doing a Roald Dahl quiz. The girls filled in a sheet consisting of 9 questions plus a tie-breaker: "If you could be an Roald Dahl character, which one would you be and why?"
A staggering 90% of those who handed in quiz sheets said that they would be Matilda, and all but one person wanted to be a character from the same book.
Here is a selection of the best tie-breaker answers:

"If I could be a Roald Dahl character, I would be Hortensia (from Matilda) because she doesn't care if she gets caught or not. She's so cool, she's certified with swag. She has a sense of humour and her character may not be the best, most polite or pleasant but she makes the book Matilda really fun and enjoyable for me to read. Yes she plays pranks all day and she just makes me laugh most of the time" - Mary

"Matilda, because she's a book worm, just like me! She's adventurous and intelligent and a keen learner as well. I'd choose to be her so that I could have incredible supernatural powers just like her." - Kesaia

"If I could be one of the Roald Dahl characters, I would love to be Miss Honey. Although by no means a major character in comparison to others in the book, she is a character with an interesting past who learns not to care what Miss Trunchbull threatens her with, but that she has to make a stand which was a very admirable thing to do." - Bethia

"Matilda because she ends up living with lovely teacher, she has a library near her home so she can go whenever she wants and she has magic powers" - Bie Tu

"The Giraffe (from The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me) because I'm tall and I can reach tall trees" - Jasmine

First Post of the New Term!

The Grey Coat library blog is back in session for the new school year. There is plenty going on in the library at the moment, what with the upper school library being closed for refurbishment (should be finished at the end of next week!), thousands of textbooks to give out and lots of new students to show around!

Desert Island Reads is currently taking a bit of a break as we are so busy, but we hope to be able to bring you more next month. We are also hoping to have some more book reviews, and news of all the great activies the library is providing this year.

Desert Island Reads - Mr Jones

 

 

If you knew you were to be stranded on a desert island and you could take 5 books (not including the Works of Shakespeare and the religious text of your choice), 1 CD and 1 luxury item, what would you take? This is the question we ask in our new column, based on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Each week a member of staff, a student or a person of interest will put forward their choices.

 

Friday 13th of July 

 

Mr Jones, LSA and environmentalist.

 

1. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell – like five novels in one, each with mind boggling detail to discover on every read.

 

2. The Life of Pi  by Yann Martel – beautiful book about being lost at sea, so maybe there’ll be some good tips for coping on a desert island. It’s also the kind of book you can read over and over without getting bored.

 

3. The Self Sufficient-ish Bible by Andy Hamilton and Dave Hamilton – Packed full of eco advice, from how to grow your own food to how to darn your socks. Great for tips on survival, but also on how to care for the environment on my desert island.

 

4. Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – a magical book about a boy on a journey trying to get back home. I’d take the original version so that I can brush up on my French while I’m waiting to be rescued.

 

5. The Collins Illustrated World Atlas – so that I can explore the world even though I’m stuck on one island.

 

 

 

 

 

Luxury item: the biggest chocolate cake I can find.

 

CD: In Rainbows, by Radiohead. Choosing the band was easy, but if I’m forced to choose which album, it would have to be this one as it always makes me happy and I can leave it on repeat for days without getting bored of it.

 

If you would like your choices to be posted in this column you can email them to me at lsaint-smith@gch.org.uk  

Desert Island Reads - Mrs Thompson

 

 

If you knew you were to be stranded on a desert island and you could take 5 books (not including the Works of Shakespeare and the religious text of your choice), 1 CD and 1 luxury item, what would you take? This is the question we ask in our new column, based on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Each week a member of staff, a student or a person of interest will put forward their choices.

 

 

 

 

Friday 6th of July 

 

Mrs Thompson, maths teacher has sent in her choices.

 

1. Nightfall by Isaac Asimov (the short story in the anthology Nightfall One, not the later novel in partnership with Robert Silverberg)

2. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

3. What a Carve Up! by Jonathan Coe

4. So Many Ways to Begin by Jon McGregor

5. Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams

 

Each of these books had a strong emotional impact when I first read them and I have since reread each of them countless times. I have recommended them to all my friends and family and do so to you now - read these books, you will love them!

 

My CD would be Second Coming by the Stone Roses and my luxury would be an endless (!) supply of pencils and paper.

 

 

If you would like your choices to be posted in this column you can email them to me at lsaint-smith@gch.org.uk

Desert Island Reads - Cassandra Clare

 

If you knew you were to be stranded on a desert island and you could take 5 books (not including the Works of Shakespeare and the religious text of your choice), 1 CD and 1 luxury item, what would you take? This is the question we ask in our new column, based on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Each week a member of staff, a student or a person of interest will put forward their choices.

Friday 29th of June 

Cassandra Clare,  author of the Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices series has responded with her selections. Keep an eye out for the Mortal Instruments film, which is coming out next year.

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

2. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

3. The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien

4. The Two Towers by J.R. R. Tolkien

5. The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien

Also a CD of the Goldberg Variations and an ipod that never runs out of batteries as a luxury! 

We have all of Cassandra's books in the library. You can find out more about them from her website: http://www.cassandraclare.com/

If you would like your choices to be posted in this column you can email them to me at lsaint-smith@gch.org.uk

Desert Island Reads - Catherine Macphail

 

 

If you knew you were to be stranded on a desert island and you could take 5 books (not including the Works of Shakespeare and the religious text of your choice), 1 CD and 1 luxury item, what would you take? This is the question we ask in our new column, based on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Each week a member of staff, a student or a person of interest will put forward their choices.

Monday 25th of June 

Catherine Macphail, popular author of Another Me, Roxy's Baby and Worse Than Boys has given us her choices. If you have any questions about Catherine's books you can contact her via her website: http://www.catherinemacphail.co.uk/, she promises to always answer back.

 

Had a really hard think about this, so hard. So many books! But here goes:

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Couldn't do without my Mr. Darcy

2. Salem's Lot by Stephen King -  because I love vampires

3. A biography of Houdini - He's one of my heroes and he could escape from anything, so it would maybe help me to escape from the island. If it was big enough I could use it as a boat!

4. Pears Encyclopedia - I still have the one I got for my 10th birthday, still read it. It has history, all the Greek myths and legends, a general knowledge section, a cookery section, a geography section. you name it!

5. The Complete Works of Agatha Christie in one volume - I love murder mysteries. Is that cheating? If not I'll take And Then There was One.

 

The CD I would choose, Queen's Greatest Hits.

 

 

 

And the luxury? Pencils and paper.

 

We have all of Catherine's books in the library.

 

If you would like your choices to be posted in this column you can email them to me at lsaint-smith@gch.org.uk

British Library Trip

Our blog update for this week was slightly delayed because the library took some year 9 pupils to the "Writing Britain" exhibition at the British Library on Friday. We had a fantastic time, we did a brilliant workshop that encouraged us to discover the parts of the exhibition that meant the most to us personally.
Prior to going to the library we had a group discussion about places that meant a lot to us, and some people had a go at writing about them. This theme continued in the objects that the girls liked best in the exhibition.
We were excited to see original manuscripts of Harry Potter, Cider With Rosie and Jane Eyre. Mrs Saint-Smith was thrilled to see Persuasion written in Jane Austen's own hand, and everyone loved Stephen Walter's map of Liverpool.

For more information see: http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/writingbritain/index.html