Our top 5 bedtime stories for April

List by Danielle

"It's very simple why kids are crazy about dinosaurs -- dinosaurs are nature's Special Effects. They are the only real dragons. Kids love dragons. It's not just being weirdly shaped and being able to eat Buicks. It's that they are real."

~ Robert T. Bakker, Honolulu Advertiser, Jul. 9, 2000

February was superhero month.

April - April was also superhero month.

I don't think the superheroes are going anywhere anytime soon.

Spiderman is up there as flavour of the month, though he's got tough competition from Ben 10 and the Powerpuff Girls. Also, as far as literal flavours of the month go, cookbooks are also still a firm favourite amongst the kids. They love to flip through pictures of food and chat about what looks good enough to lick the page and what makes them go EWWWWWW.

Over the last couple of months we've really enjoyed visiting our new local libraries (Glenfield and Northcote), and browsing through a whole new collection of picture books and graphic novels. (We also made a nostalgic trip back to Tupu - hey, Richie & the team! - and Botany to raid their awesome kids' collections.) The kids have been having a lot of fun exploring not only the libraries but their play areas, gardens and surroundings. You can't get much better for a free outing for little kids than taking them to a library they've never visited, for real. Plus - stuff to take home!

Top 5 items I took out last week that are totally worth sharing

List by Tosca

"When I got my library card, that's when my life began."
- Rita Mae Brown

A while back I lost my book mojo and, for someone who lives for books as much as I do, it was a weird time. To say the least. I went from reading/enjoying anywhere from 30-40 books a month to pretty much zero. It was extremely frustrating. I would see books come and go and feel not a twinge of interest. Then, bit by bit, it came back. Admittedly, it's not even close to the level it was at a year ago, but I'm taking it a book (or a DVDs or a magazine or even a CD) at a time. And you know, I think I'm ok with that. One thing I've started to do since my book mojo came back is, at the end of each week, make note (mental note/written note/whatever) of the top 5 books I liked enough to want to share. To date I've never actually thought to share those particular lists but I think I might make it a regular post. So, here's a top 5 roundup of books/DVDs I took out last week that I really enjoyed that you may have missed.

Top 5 most looked at Top 5 posts

List by Tosca

"Good taste is the excuse I have given for leading such a bad life."
- Oscar Wilde

Have you led such a bad life, readers? Do you have excellent taste in books, movies, music? Only time, and blogger's inbuilt stats tools, know :) I was poking around in the Stats section of our Top 5 blog and came across info displaying the most looked at pages...which translates into this fly-by posting of our top 5 most looked at Top 5 posts. Oy, what a mouthful! And you know what? They tell me next to nothing about your varied interests at all LOL You'll find a link to each of the separate posts below as well as their full introduction. Enjoy :P

Papakura Library guest post: Top 5 magazines I like to borrow from the library

List by Emily

"Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labeled "This could change your life.""
- Helen Exley

A bit of a boring title for a Top 5 list I admit, but I realised no one had done a magazine list, so thought why not be the first.

Here are my (and/or my hubby’s) favourite magazines that we can borrow (for free!!) from the library. They happen to all be New Zealand magazines - what a patriot I am - but there are also lots of international magazines available at the library as well.

Feel free to share what magazines you like.