【推荐1】Keeping children occupied has been a challenge for many of us of late but books can certainly help. Whether purchased as e-books or ordered online for delivery, the following titles are among the Times’ team’s favourites.

Irish rugby players may boast of being ‘together, standing strong’, but only Kiwis know how to kia kaha!

Best suited to little ones aged three to seven years of age, this book is a rousing celebration of all the many

And, thanks to its accompanying CD (which can be downloaded instead), they can learn a heart-warming song in both Maori and English.

June Pitman-Hayes, Ngaere Roberts (Maori lyrics) & Minky Stapleton (illustrator): Kia Kaha – Together, standing strong | Scholastic

After her multi-champion pony suffers a devastating injury, Vicki must turn to a beautiful, although inexperienced, mount to compete.

Although she is sure Jackamo has the X factor, has she actually bet everything on the wrong horse?

The latest addition to Kelly Wilson’s popular series, this book is a tale of tenacity and overcoming the odds through dedication and hard work.

Kelly Wilson: Showtym Adventures 7 – Jackamo the Supreme Champion | Puffin

The ‘force’ is strong with Cece! Designed to make science more accessible to young minds, this book sees Cece and her friend Isaac team up to discover the opposing forces of push and pull can be used to help Cece’s dog, Einstein.

Fostering a love of learning, this series might just help a few older ones – to whom science class is a distant memory – discover how the universe works too!

Shelli R Johannes, Kimberly Derting & Vashti Harrison: Cece Loves Science – Push and Pull | HarperCollins

One of the most well-known characters in modern children’s literature – Greg Heffley, aka the Wimpy Kid – is up to his old tricks once again.

When the Heffleys receive an unexpected inheritance, major home improvements become their focus. How will this affect Greg? There’s only one way to find out!

Jeff Kinney: Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Wrecking Ball | Puffin

【推荐1】When Laura Smith was 14 years old, she volunteered at a nonprofit food community organization. As she was filling bags with donated (捐赠) food, she noticed something that didn’t seem right: Canned and packaged goods were plentiful, but she saw nothing fresh or green to give to families in need. She thought it would be great to change that. She wanted to start a garden on part of her parents’ farmland to provide families with home-grown produce.

While being proud of her, Laura’s father expressed worry about the workload involved. Laura had raised rabbits and lambs before, but she had never tried growing vegetables on such an extensive level. However, he soon realized that his daughter was ready. Laura did a lot of research online to find out what worked and what didn’t, which plants needed shade, which needed more water, and when was the best time to harvest each crop.

In spring 2021 Laura planted 15 types of vegetables on a land of 5,000 square meters. When the first green shoots appeared, it was an exciting feeling. Yet, that’s where the real work began. “Our summers are very hot and dry, so I had to water every day,” said Laura. Throughout the summer, she checked her plants daily for weeds and watered them by hand, using two water tanks attached to a farm vehicle to continually refill her watering can.

Laura was soon ready to harvest and weigh her first crops-the first batch weighed 40 pounds. She then packaged them and donated the products to eight local groups. “It felt really good to know that anyone who wanted fresh vegetables could get them,” Laura said.

Over the past two years, Laura has donated more than 8,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables. “Laura’s confidence and generous hand in helping those in need have made a greater impact than she could have imagined,” said Remi Freeman, an official from one of the charity groups. “It helps our mission to end hunger, and also demonstrates the selflessness and kindness that is so wonderful to see in younger people.”

【推荐2】We drove to the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park—a very remote, dry, mountainous place in Utah. I went there when I was about 10 years old, but I can only recall certain things: how cold it got that night as we slept in the tent, the small insects that covered the mountain beside us, and having to use the bathroom in an outhouse.

Huge rocks are hanging dangerously on the jagged mountainside, and you know they have to fall eventually. We stopped at Newspaper Rock, a National Historic Site where prehistoric people sketched drawings onto sandstone from B. C. time to A. D. 1300. With only a short fence surrounding it, it seems unavoidable that modern-day people would feel the urge to carve their names into this precious historic landmark.

The sky is the bluest I think I’ve ever seen; it’s a beautiful backdrop to the orangey-red cliffs lining the horizon. And the silence—I’ve never experienced a quieter place. When I first got out of the truck at our campsite, I stood still and held my breath, and all I could hear was the ringing in my ears.

In my opinion, only at night can you witness the true beauty of the Canyonlands: the stars. Since the Needles district is an extremely dry place about 80 miles away from any major city’s lights, it offers the clearest view I’ve ever seen of the night sky. It is incredible how many stars you can see out there. I climbed on top of a nearby rock formation and lay on my back just soaking (沉浸) it all in. It was like looking through a window straight into the universe.

I wanted to sleep outside beneath the stars, but then the temperature dropped to 40 degree and I discovered massive ants crawling on the ground, so I quit that. The next morning, I discovered a nearby camper passed out on the rock formation in a sleeping bag. How he managed to brave the temperatures and the ants, I have no idea.