Letterboxes undergo literary treatment

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Caption: Kaurilands Primary School pupils from left, Katie Thompson, 6, Robert Collins 7 and Bronwyn Rhodes, 5, with one of the school’s winning letterboxes.

Media Release

May 21, 2009
Letterboxes undergo literary treatment

Mountains, hidden delights and impressive art were among features of the winning creations in Waitakere Library and Information Services’ Letterbox Lineup competition.

The literary-based art contest challenged students from 13 Waitakere schools to design letterboxes for their school libraries, based on the 15 books short-listed in the Junior Fiction, Picture Book and Non-Fiction categories of this year’s New Zealand Post Book Awards.

The most popular inspiration came from the book The Were-Nana, with several of the winning or highly commended entries basing their creation on the book.

Students also had to write about their reasons for selecting that particular finalist and what materials they used.

Room 11 at Kaurilands Primary School in Glen Eden was one of those who based their design on the book. It featured a black veil with a nasty looking face that when lifted revealed a happy, sunny, nana.

The judges were impressed that the whole class was involved in making the letterbox and liked the step by step documentation provided about its creation.

Waitakere City councillors Brenda Brady and Linda Cooper were among those to present the winners with their prizes during the ceremony at Westfield WestCity.

“The creativity of some of the letterboxes was really impressive and a lot of thought had gone in to them,” says Cr Brady.

“This is a great way for children to let their imaginations run wild while demonstrating a love of books.”

The winning classes were awarded books and vouchers for their school library.

Participating schools were: Arahoe School, Don Buck Primary, Edmonton School, Freyberg School, Glen Eden Primary, Green Bay School, Henderson Intermediate, Kaurilands School, Laingholm Primary, Lincoln Heights School, Oratia Primary, Peninsula Primary and Te Atatu Intermediate.

Results:
Junior (Year1-3):
Winner: Room 11 Kaurilands School for their The Were-Nana-inspired design.
Highly Commended: Room 12 Edmonton School (Roadworks); Don Buck Primary (Duck’s Stuck); Room 11 Edmonton School (Every Second Friday); and Room 24 at Kaurilands School (Every Second Friday).

Middle School (Years 4-6):
Winner: Room 34 from Lincoln Heights School for their letterbox based on the book The Were-Nana.
Highly Commended:
Room 4 Summerland Primary (Chicken Feathers); Room 10 Freyberg School (Roadworks) and Room 15 Freyberg School (Every Second Friday).

Intermediate/senior (Years 7-8)
Room 10 from Don Buck School for their letterbox based on the novel (Old Drumble - the smartest drover's dog there ever was).
Highly Commended: Room 12 Green Bay Primary (The Crafting of Narnia); Room 10 and 11 Te Atatu Intermediate (Back and Beyond); Room 9 Henderson Intermediate (High-tech Legs on Everest).

A special award for outstanding effort went to Year 6 students from Kaurilands Primary School, who created a letterbox based on the book Piano Rock.

For a full list of finalist books across all four categories in the New Zealand Post Book Awards, visit www.nzpostbookawards.co.nz.

ENDS

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