Category Archives: Video

Craig Before the Creek

Before he was Craig of the Creek, he was just Craig – a new kid in a new town. All Craig wants is to go back to his old friends at his old home. But when he learns that the nearby creek is hiding a lost treasure that could make his wish come true, Craig sets off on a journey to find it – navigating the perilous suburban wilderness, forging new friendships, all while being pursued by a fearsome band of pirates who are bent on destroying the Creek itself.

Craig of the Creek is one of my family’s favorite animated series, my eight-year old and I always watch it when we find it while flipping through the channels in our TV downtime. The show is a paean to friendship, adventure and the thrill of a childhood spent outdoors that we wish would never end.

Having watched the series from end to end several times I was delighted to hear that Craig Before the Creek is finally being released in a physical medium on March 26, 2024. Suitable for the whole family it is a wonderful beginning to a story that is loved by millions (including my little gingersnap and me). I highly recommend it – buy your own copy, stream it on HBO or request it from your local library – they are sure to have multiple copies and if not you can request that they do!

BBC One Watership Down Trailer

Save our Libraries Caitlin’s Moranifesto

The Mind’s Treasure Chest

A long, long (ish) time ago I was a student librarian in the School of Education at the Cape Technikon (now the Cape Peninsula University of Technology). It was during the second year of my studies that one of my favourite lecturers (Dr Liz van Aswegen) showed my class a video called The Mind’s Treasure Chest

Released in 1991, THE MIND’S TREASURE CHEST is a feature length educational comedy that teaches students to think for themselves. This film is a marriage between a Hollywood movie and an educational video. It’s about libraries, research, and information. It’s about history and hypothesizing. It’s about thinking for yourself.

Distributed in five countries, it won a multitude of awards, including Best Film for Grades 7 – 12 at the National Educational Film and Video Festival.

For Kennedy buffs, the film features a number of sequences that dramatize the history of the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Parts of it are a bit dated, for example I do not think that many (or any) school libraries still use microfiche readers; catalogues are computerised and the internet is now available on broadband rather than a limited dial up service.

You may be able to show it to your students as part of their library induction or get them to spot the ways that school library usage has changed (and indeed, remained the same) but if not it is still an entertaining and educational film for Librarians to watch and reminisce on how things used to be done.

The Secret Fire – Book Trailer

Little White Lies by Katie Dale

Give the gift of a book this Christmas

Beautiful video courtesy of Bloomsbury Publishing…

The CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Award Livestream

For the first time a live stream of the 2014 CILIP Carneige & Kate Greenaway Award ceremony will be available to view commencing at 12.00 on Monday 23 June for approximately one hour.

You can watch it here, or at http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/stream/

Haunt by Curtis Jobling

Neil Gaiman Reads The Graveyard Book

If you run a teen group in a library you can have Neil Gaiman himself read your teens The Graveyard Book over nine weeks or even nine days if they are keen.

With each chapter coming in at between 45 minutes to just over an hour they will fit in to most teen group sessions.

Return to the sprawling graveyard in this classic novel or discover Bod’s boyhood adventures anew, read by master storyteller Neil Gaiman himself one chapter at a time.

Watch his tour readings to hear the captivating book in its entirety

If they cannot wait for a weekly fix of the greatness that is Gaiman you can push physical copies of The Graveyard Book into their hands (or any of his other amazing titles if they have already read it).