Chapter 1

Everyone was having fun playing at Rodger’s two story home, it had an indoor spa pool, a very old guava tree, a new trampoline and even a timber jungle jim. Rodger is a forty-eight-year-old man, he was very smart; there was not a single hair on the sparseness of his head he always wore his dark sunglasses and a small pointy moustache grew from under his nose.

The old man owned a five-year-old dog called Misty he was White West Highland Terrier who liked to cause trouble. Misty would always complain that Rodger didn’t feed him enough, at lunch he would start searching for more food in the cupboard. Whenever Misty sees someone that’s not Rodger, he will start barking, whenever Rodger lets him inside, he would start tearing up the sofas and eat all the food he could find in the cupboard, in a few minutes all the food that was in there vanished. Misty has very poor eyesight and always bumps into things like poles and walls, once he tried crossing the road, but he almost got ran over by a speeding truck.

Rodger also owned 10 Cream Leg bar chickens, so he didn’t have to drive to the shop to buy eggs all the time. The chickens were locked up in their dirty cages, once in a while he would open the doors to the cages and let the chickens roam around and do anything they want, eat worms, scratch around for bugs, dig holes to have sand baths or sit on the big guava tree. Every afternoon there would be a blue egg lying in the cage waiting to be collected.

Chapter 2

Rodger invited his neighbours to come over for a Christmas barbeque, even the kids came. When everyone got there they started cooking, one person set up the rickety barbeque and threw the Pork sausages, sweet corn and kumara were all sizzling on the rusty barbeque and the savouries were getting cooked in the kitchen. You could even smell the food from outside.

The children and parents saw a small tree planted in the dirt waiting to be decorated, they ran towards it and started decorating the big Christmas tree, they hung candy-canes on it, painted polystyrene balls and a bright shining star was sitting right on the top looking down at everyone like it was a spy. The kids loved the tree so much they danced around it, very shortly they sat in a circle and started to chant Christmas carols, everyone was happy.

The snowy white dog was enjoying the sun; the chickens were digging deep holes in the ground. Rodger slowly walked over to the two trees that were standing guard, he lay down on the rainbow coloured hammock and listened, cicadas were calling and the kids were chanting. Suddenly the wind picked up speed and blew on Rodger’s face.

After the kids were done chanting their Christmas carols and dancing around the tree they all rushed over to the barbeque like a stampede of bison. As they settled down expectantly, salivating over the smells wafting from the BBQ, when SNAP!

Chapter 3

The barbeque broke into two. Everyone rushed to the kitchen (not including the children) to get cups of water and poured it on the raging fire. They repeated the process again and again, in five minutes the fire calmed down then died.

The children suddenly burst into tears, the barbeque broke so therefore no more pork sausages, sweet corn or kumara. The parents tried everything they could to calm them down, they told them that there was still food in the kitchen, nothing would work. Soon Rodger came and saw he problem, he walked all the way down to the store that was a kilometre away from his house just to buy cooked sausages. He came back tired and full of sweat. At least the children were happy.

Now it was Misty’s turn, he hadn’t eaten anything today or the day before. He hiked his way over to the big guava tree, he wanted to eat, his eyes slowly moved up scanning the tree for any chickens. His eyes stopped. It was a big fat juicy chicken sitting on the highest branch. Misty was a dog and dogs aren’t very good at climbing, but nothing would stop him. Everyone was inside even the kids and no one knew what the silly dog was up to.

Chapter 4

Misty steadily climbed up the tree, as he got higher and higher the branches he stood on got wobblier. He could see the chicken a few more branches higher than him. Misty was scared but he kept climbing, he would not stop now. The naughty dog kept going, at last he was on the same branch the chicken was. All he had to do was to slowly creep up and pounce

Suddenly everyone ran out of the house, maybe they were full. They stood at the deck and watched. Misty was about to fall. He kept going, but when he was almost there CRACK! The branch did not like Misty, it sent him flying across the grass. A few seconds later he dropped. Not knowing if he was dead or not Rodger called the vet.

Soon a man named Tom arrived, he was tall and skinny. Rodger lead his way over to Misty, Tom grabbed out some suspicious items out of his bag

“He’s dead,” the man said

Tom got out a shovel and dug a deep hole. Everyone watched, the kids burst into tears again. Rodger picked up Misty and gently placed him in. Dirt slowly flicked up covering the body, soon it was gone.

Rodger continued on with his life like nothing had happened. The next day he set out for the shop and bought himself a goldfish.

Jk Rowling

Jk Rowling is best known as the author of the Harry Potter series, she was born on 31st July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire England and had three children Jessica Arantes is her sister as well as Mackenzie Murray and David Murray as a son, Rowling’s father was Peter Rowling. On the 26th December 2001 Rowling married Neil Murray who worked as a Scottish doctor. Jk Rowling worked as an author, novelist, screenwriter and a film producer. The “K” stands for Kathleen, her paternal grandmother’s name. It was added at her publisher’s request, who thought a book by an obviously female author might not appeal to the target audience of young boys

JK Rowling said she hated her teenage years when she was at college. In 1982, she took the entrance exams for Oxford University but sadly was not accepted. Martin sorrel, a French professor at Exeter remembers “a quietly competent student, with a denim jacket and dark hair, who, in academic gave the appearance of doing what was necessary. Rowling recalls doing little work, preferring to listen to The Smiths and read books by dickens and Tolkien. After one year of studying she graduated from Exeter in 1986, soon she moved to London to work as a researcher and bilingual secretary for International. Taking her notes with her, she moved to northern Portugal to teach English as a foreign language, married Jorge Arantes in October 1992 and had a daughter, Jessica, in 1993. When the marriage ended later that year, she returned to the UK to live in Edinburgh, carrying not just Jessica but a suitcase containing the first three chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

Her father, Peter, was an aircraft engineer at the Rolls Royce factory in Bristol and her mother, Anne, was a science technician in the Chemistry department at Wyedean Comprehensive, where Jo herself went to schoolJK Rowling moved to Portugal in1990 to teach English. Rowling started writing fantasy books when she was small and frequently read them to her sister who was nine. Her parents first saw each other at king cross station, that’s how Rowling made up Platform 9 and ¾ where harry and his friends take the train to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Over the next five years JK Rowling started planning for the Harry Potter books.

Her first novel was published in the US under a different title, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, in 1998. In 2001, the film adaptation of the first book was released by Warner Bros., and was followed by six more book adaptations, concluding with the release of the eighth film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, in 2011. J.K. Rowling has also written two small volumes, which appear as the titles of Harry’s school books within the novels. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages were published in March 2001 in aid of Comic Relief.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._K._Rowling#Childhood 4th May 2017

http://www.biography.com/people/jk-rowling-40998 7th May 2017

https://www.jkrowling.com/about/ 7th May 2017

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows review

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published in 21st July 2007. Parents need to know that this a grim violent and fantasy book, all the characters show wonderful qualities such as bravery, loyalty perseverance and sacrifice. We know younger kids want to and probably will read this wonderful end to the Harry Potter series, but because of the heavy themes and that’s why people have rated this 12+. I recommend Harry Patter and the Deathly Hallows for ages 10+.

Deaths occur in almost every chapter of the book. After Albus Dumbledore’s death, Harry Hermione and Ron continue searching for the missing Hocruxes (parts of Voldemort’s body.) They were successful and found almost all of them. When Voldemort tries killing Harry with the elder wand, Harry is knocked out, not dead. Surprisingly Harry is one of Voldemort’s Hocruxes, when Tom riddle tries killing harry with the Avada kedavra it destroyed the Hocrux and not killing Harry. Throughout their journey they learnt that love conquers fear and this allows them to be selfless in many ways. This book is written in 3rd person and portrays the thoughts and emotions of each character, The Deathly Hallows is marvellously written, which is why I rate this book 10/10.

By Brian

Galileo Galilei report

Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa Duchy of Florence Italy on 15th February 1564 and died on 8th January 1642 age 77 and he had a dog named Luna because he loved nature and had a fondness for animals. He was a physicist, engineer, mathematician and much more. Galileo had five siblings, he was the oldest and the surname Galileo derives from the given name of the ancestor. Galileo had many friends including Cardinal Maffeo Barberini who became pop urban VIII in 1623. He had a lot of nicknames including the father of modern physics and the father of scientific method. He was sentenced to jail, but because of his age and poor health he was allowed to serve his imprisonment under house arrest. Galileo first invented the compass in 1597, next he invented the thermometer in 1603 and later the telescope in 1609 with a 3x magnification soon he was smart enough to make one with 30x magnification.

Do you think Galileo got married? No never got married, however, he brief relationship with Marina Gamba, a woman he met on one of his many trips to Venice. Later he they had three children. His two daughters, Virginia and Livia, were both put in convents where they became, respectively, Sister Maria Celeste and Sister Arcangela. Galileo moved from Padua to Florence and he left his son Vincenzio with Marina. In 1613 Marina married Giovanni Bartoluzzi and Vincenzio joined Galileo in Florence. Three of Galileo's five siblings survived infancy, Galileo had three children and 5 siblings, his father was Vincenzio Galileo and his mother was Giulia di Cosimo Ammannati. Vincenzio was became a lieutenant. Galileo soon became a lieutenant himself and would have learned early from his father a scepticism from established authority.

Galileo Galilei was a very famous mathematician, but lacked interest in medicines. In 1589 he was appointed to the chair of Lucasian Chair mathematics which is one of mathematics professorship in the University of Cambridge. He owns an academy, it is located in the historic North end of San Francesco and it was originally built in 1921. Galileo considered the priesthood as a young boy, but his father urged him not to. Later he wanted his father to let him study mathematics and natural philosophy. When Galileo was eight his family moved to Florence but he was left with Jacopo Borghini for two years. Jacopo Borghini was Galileo’s tutor in Florence.

To Galileo the tides were caused by the sloshing back and forth of water at sea. Galileo observed the Milky way in 1610. After he observed the Milky way, he previously believed to be nebulous and found it to be multitude of stars packed so densely that they appeared from earth to be clouds. Galileo made a 3x magnification telescope and later he improved his version with a 30x magnification telescope. With a Galilean telescope the observer could see magnified, upright images on the Earth. His telescopes were also a profitable sideline for Galileo, who sold them to merchants who found them useful both at sea and as items of trade.

Galileo was a very famous mathematician and was appointed to the chair of mathematics in 1589. He died in Arcetri near Florence Italy from suffering a fever and heart palpitations, after he died his middle finger from his right hand got chopped off and is currently on display. There is also a book called Galileo’s middle finger written by Alice Drigger. After Galileo observed the Milky way this is what he said The Milky way is nothing else but a mass of innumerable stars planted together in clusters.

Bibliography

Wikipedia contributors. "Galileo thermometer." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 27 Mar. 2017. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.

Wikipedia contributors. "Galileo Galilei." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 28 Mar. 2017. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.

By Brian Lin

Embarrassing recount

The fresh smell of scrumptious food drifted into my nose as I entered the room. People were shouting to each other and digging their noses into their lunches. The floor was steeped with oil. I walked over to the kitchen and indiscriminately chose my meal. I scurried across to a table, but slipped.

A throng of eyes slowly turned towards me. Food was splattered all over the greasy floor. Brown gravy slowly dribbled of my shoe. I could hear people shouting at me.

I got up and made my meal again, but this time only a tinge of gravy. My arms compounded my plate with all sorts of delicious food. Slowly and steadily I walked over to a table again. I tripped again.

Animal recount

We were in the garden, the snowy white dog was enjoying the sun, the noisy chickens were fluttering in their cages and the children were playing happily. I lied down on the hammock and listened, cicadas were calling the children were shouting and the wind was blowing. Suddenly the misty dog stood up.

I knew exactly where he was going to go. I tried shouting his name, cajoling him, everything, but nothing would work. Furtively he crept up and jumped. My ears got stuffed with the sound of clucking chickens. Feathers started flying in every direction. Again the dog jumped and feathers started flying in very direction again.

I counted them, but then I realized, one was steeped with red blood. The dog got one. Continuously, the scared chickens started flapping around, while the misty white dog laughed.

Chocolate cookies

I remembered people shouting, the sun shining on my face. Three seconds later it happened

Dry grass tickled my legs as we raced across the thorny bushes. It got smaller and smaller without making a sound

The salty smell of hot chips and the patty on buns drifted into my nose. Smash!

A few moments ago, something dreadful happened near the hills of our house.

Kiwi Brew

Double double toil and trouble

fire burn and cauldron bubble

The hair of an old cockatoo,

In the cauldron boil and bake

Slime of a slug and a toe of a frog

The scales of a tuatara and an eye of a dog

Feathers of a geese and a small bees-sting

Kiwis beak and a broken Weka’s wing

Bones of a longfin eel and a flipper of a seal.

Wool of a Pekapeka bat and a small brown rat

For a charm of powerful trouble

Like a hell-broth bubble

Double double toil and trouble

Fire burn and cauldron bubble

By BL

Recount

The rushing sound of the loud waterfall filled our ears as we sped up the rocky hill. Trees waved birds sang, trees blew on our faces, bees hovered above our heads, and flowers on the grass looked like bugs. Finally, we arrived, we could see everything from this high up. Soon we shot down the other side of the cone shaped mountain, and jumped onto the arch that lead across a stream.

We continued journeying to the falls. Suddenly, miniscule flying dots started appearing out of nowhere. One after another, bees started flying in every direction. There was a giant hive of angry bees hanging from a wobbly branch that was about to fall, they all rushed out to see what we were doing.

We all stood still, while my sister was trying to swat them away as if they were flies. Immediately she got stung, her thumb started suffering in pain, she tried picking at it, but all she could do was yelp. We didn’t want to go any further, so that was the end of our trip.

By BL