Sharing family stories with your children is a great way of connecting with them, and also connecting them with their past. Often it sparks an interest in history as children begin to understand the context of the times that these family members lived in.

Children are very adept at technology, and frequently learn about the cool apps before the adults do. Many games and educational tools are developed for them, with some taking off and becoming a craze.

A new app out, is Little Family Tree which is designed to help teach younger kids about their family relationships and personal heritage using photos, games and activities pitched at their level.

It requires log-ons to connect to a family tree in FamilySearch or PhpGedView and offers five games for free, with an additional five games for $US3.99.

Great fun!

Read Thomas MacEntee review on Geneapress for a broader perspective.

Happy hunting

Seonaid

Centenary photographs from Auckland Libraries Heritage Images

Women of the J D Richardson family. Sir George Grey Special Collections,  Auckland Libraries, 4-2419

Mr Cooper and family. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 7-A17229

Mr and Mrs Shaw with grandchildren. Sir George Grey Special Collections,  Auckland Libraries, 4-8903

Recommended read

Holes by Louis Sachar (1998)

In this second post on young peoples’ fiction with a family history theme, I read the award winning novel, Holes  by Louis Sachar.

I’m not sure how it is I never really knew about this book before, when it’s been around for a while and has something of a cult following. This is seriously good fiction, with baddies, delinquent kids, a mystery, a curse, and a backstory to keep you guessing – the family history part of it. Whatever your age, child or adult, boy or girl, you should read this story. There’s a good chance you won’t be able to put it down.

Stanley Yelnats is our protagonist -  the loser kid we’ve probably all felt like at some time or another but poor Stan really does have bad luck, attributable to a family curse. He’s sent to a juvie camp out in the desert:

“A sign in front said, “You are entering Camp Green Lake Juvenile Correctional Facility.” Next to it was another sign which declared that it was a violation of the Texas Penal Code to bring guns, explosives, weapons, drugs or alcohol on to the premises. As Stanley read the sign, he couldn’t help but think, Well, duh!

Each day the boys must dig a massive hole - something to do with building character although if they find anything, they are given a day off. Hmmm. I won’t give anything away but a reviewer said that Holes is the kind of book that improves with each reading, showing you just how complicated it really is although as a read, this is simply a darned fine story that ties up at the end.  And there are nice bits, such as this at the end of a chapter after Stanley has taken the rap for stealing a bag of sunflower seeds:

He went over to his hole and to his surprise it was nearly finished. He stared at it, amazed. It didn't make sense. Or perhaps it did. He smiled. Since he had taken the blame for the sunflower seeds, he realized, the other boys had dug his hole for him.
“Hey, thanks,” he said.“Don’t look at me,” said X-Ray.Confused, Stanley looked around – from Magnet, to Armpit, to Zigzag, to Squid. None of them took credit for it.Then he turned to Zero who had been quietly digging in his hole since Stanley’s return. Zero’s hole was smaller than all the others.

Click here to grab a library copy though you might need to place a hold.

There are also formats from eBook to audio CD, and if the weather falls apart over the holidays, there’s the 2004 movie on DVD with young Shia LaBouef as Stanley.

Here’s the trailer. But go and read the book first!!

Joanne

Recommended read

A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle (2011)

I’m on a bit of a mission at the moment reading kids’ books, courtesy of one of our leaflets here at Auckland Libraries recommending children’s fiction with a family history theme. What better way to share the reading love, after all, than to read the story for yourself. Even better, it’s a kid’s book so you can finish in an hour or so.

First up on my mish is this wonderful Roddy Doyle story, A Greyhound of a Girl. It’s a lovely story, pretty much about death.  Four generations of Irish women – 12-year-old Mary, her mother Scarlett, her dying grandmother Emer, and the ghost of her great-grandmother Tansey come together as Tansey (who died in her 20s) wants to see her dying daughter, Emer (now elderly.) It’s funny, emotional, witty, plenty of flashbacks chronicling the girls, and absolutely suitable for all ages so don’t just get it for your kids to read. Read and enjoy it for yourself -  especially if you love things Irish and great dialogue such as this:

“Well,” said Tansey. “I’m a ghost. It sounds a bit daft, but I’m the ghost of your great-granny.” She looked at Mary. “Are you surprised?” she asked.
“Not  really,” said Mary. “If you are my great granny then you have to be a ghost or something, like. Because she – you’ve been dead for ages.”

“Clever girl,” said Tansey.

“Prove it,” said Mary.

“Prove that you’re a clever girl?”

“No,” said Mary. “Prove you’re a ghost.”

And later on, the young ghost Tansey meets her ailing eighty-something daughter, Emer. Emer speaks first:

“I think I know you,” she said

“Good girl.”

“You’re my mother.”

“Yes,” said Tansey.

“Have you come to collect me?”

“Not yet,” said Tansey. “There’s no hurry.”

“But you’re dead.”

“I am.”

And even better…. If you’re travelling over the holidays, we also have an audiobook you can click here to borrow. Not a bad way to pass the time on the “Are we there, yet” trek!er the summer holidays and have fun reading, completing challenges, 

For summer reading fun, get the kids or grand-kids involved with Dare to Explore - Out of this world, Auckland Libraries summer reading adventure. Visit the Dare to Explore homepage for more information or join up at your local library.

Joanne Graves
Central Auckland Research Centre

What were working conditions of children like in Britain in the 1840s?

I was checking out the library edition of Ancestry.com for any newly added databases to bring to the attention of staff recently and came across the 1842 Commissioners’ report of children’s employment (appendix, trades and manufactures part 2) .  It is a very interesting document in that children and adults from all over the British isles have been interviewed about the working conditions children are being employed in.  Not only that but you get the child’s name, age, occupation, address of home and work and sometimes mention of other family members and pay rates.

Two children and a trolley laden with boxes, c.1928 Sir George Grey Special  Collections, Auckland Libraries.

The document has been name indexed so is searchable but there is also a name index at the end of the work as well.

If you are interested in social history, you will find this worth reading.  It is rather a lengthy tome but probably dipping in and out of the interviews would be enough to give a flavour of the document.

Marie Hickey

While we’re all quite obsessed with the past, it’s worth remembering that one day we will be the past, and while our lives may not seem terribly fascinating to us, the great grand kids may find it quite interesting one day. A family newsletter could be a terrific way to get some of that information preserved in a fun way, both digitally and in print; the beauty of it is that it could involve different family members in its production – from the research, to designing the newsletter, to using software to play around with images.

On the shelves in the Central Auckland Research Centre is Creating Family Newsletters -  123 ideas for sharing memorable moments with family and friends by Elaine Floyd (1 GEN DOC - reference only) – “.” It is packed with ideas for starting your own family newsletter including creative ways to use photographs, how to put together a hand made newsletter (fab for the crafty types), and ideas on themes, such as weddings, school news and birthdays. Some aspects of the book are dated in terms of software and websites (the blog hadn’t even been invented) but ideas will translate both digitally and in to the written word. It even has an “Idea Tools” chapter which even includes an A to Z of dozens of possible ideas to name the newsletter.


Another book that could be useful is To Our Children’s Children: Preserving family histories for generations to come, by Bob Green (1 GEN DOC on our shelves). A very useful tool when it comes to interviewing the rellies, as it includes hundreds of questions to ask when putting together a family history – some terrific ways to jog the memory.

There is also a borrowable copy in the Auckland Library system but a browse through will get the ideas flowing.



Happy newsletter planning!

Joanne Graves

This year the Central Auckland Research Centre is excited to be taking an active part in Auckland Libraries’ Dare to Explore summer reading adventure for 5-13 year olds.

Children on the Dare to Explore programme complete a number of challenges ranging from jandal throwing to fishing for books. Part of the aim is to have children coming into the libraries around the Auckland region to have fun, increase their love of reading and feel comfortable as library users.

There are six lists of challenges. The children need to do their home library challenges but have the option to complete the challenges from the lists of the other five; Geyserland, Wild and Windy; Sunny Sounds, Coast to Coast; and Bottom of the South.

They get a passport that is stamped when a challenge is completed and a party to go to when they have completed their home library’s challenges.

We decided that it would be fun (and appropriate) for us to have the crest making challenge, with inspiration coming from our many books on Heraldry and Crests.


Marie has created a cabinet full of different kinds of crests from people such as Sir Edmund Hillary and Catherine Middleton (now the Duchess of Cambridge) and pictures of Heralds and Knights in full attire, and we plan to have tables with art materials for the children to make their own.
 

Each branch has to do their own challenge, taken from the lists, and the Central Auckland Research Centre decided to do find out who the NZ Prime Minister was in the year that you were born.

Come in and see the wonderful colourful timeline that Sam has done, with pictures. Staff in the Research Centre plan to put our own names by the Prime Minister in power at the time of our births (due to our demographic, most of us will be down in the first cabinet - not in the second containing Lange up to Key).

Come and see us! We love having children come to visit us in the Research Centre.

Bridget

We've recently purchased a series of educational resources for children, called Branching Out.

They are US produced lessons plans by Jennifer Holik, broken into books with ages groups:
Branching out : genealogy for 1st-3rd grade students;  Branching out : genealogy for 4th-8th grade students ; and Branching out : genealogy for high school students.

Each age group contains 30 lesson plans; and works through the mechanics of step-by-step how to research your family history in an age appropriate way.

This is an exciting new addition to the Central Auckland Research Centre.

We often get children and teens on school visits come into the Research Centre. Family history is often introduced to children via the school curriculum in Year 4 and then later around Year 10; although some schools also do it in other years.


 Getting children interested in family history has fantastic results in terms of teaching them the concept of "history" and also teaching them how to research. It allows them to identify with history in a highly personal way, through their own families.

They learn valuable information seeking skills, how to use different resources, and how to cite their sources.

When they come into our Research Centre, they don't just learn to use our online databases and subscription websites. They learn about microfiche and microfilm; heritage newspapers; and using books and CD-Roms.

We have many other resources to help as well.

We try to teach them to think laterally.

Some of these schools treat family history as a year long project, with a fantastic scrapbook at the end of it.

My plan is to take these resources and adapt them for New Zealand.

I'd love to work more collaboratively with schools, raising awareness of how much we can help them.

And I am also considering developing a school holiday programme.

I think using Family History is a great way to teaching kids how to research and how to use their Library.

If you think your school would be interested, let them know and tell them to give me a call! The best way for us to help classes, if they ring and arrange a suitable time to come in.

Meanwhile, have a look at the photos on our Facebook page. Our wonderful displays team has created a display for Family History Month (August) called Family History for Teens and Children.

Seonaid
 

The Queen's Birthday weekend is upon us. In the UK, they are having a 4-day weekend to celebrate.
In recognition, The National Archives in England, have digitised about 60 Addresses to Queen Victoria for viewing in an online exhibition. It covers both jubilees in 1887 and 1897. The images are gorgeous, and you can also view a video clip telling you information about it.

Are you aware of our own Address to Queen Victoria?

In 1897, around 25,000 children in the Auckland education district signed a congratulatory address to Queen Victoria on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee, celebrating 60 years as Queen. The Auckland education district covered all public schools from Northland to Rotorua and Tauranga.

The information available includes the child’s name, which school they belonged to and a page number which refers to the signatures in the original manuscript held in the Sir George Grey Special Collections (NZMS 540).

Because of its fragile condition, the original manuscript has been copied onto microfiche. These are available in the Auckland Research Centre and the Sir George Grey Special Collections.

You can search our database looking to see if one of your ancestors, is one of the 25,000 children that signed this remarkable address!

Hope you have a happy and safe long weekend

Happy hunting

Seonaid