Shakespeare, 1906!

 My father gave this to me years ago.  It is a complete book of Shakespeare, printed in 1906, Oxford, England.  It was given to my grandfather by his lady friend, Miriam, before he left for Canada, 1907.  What a wonderful piece of history.
Look at the right margin for more pics.

Oldest english bookstore in Paris!

CHRISTMAS ideas!

CHRISTMAS

ANGELS & DEMONS

I love it when an author, under his notes states, " References to all works of art, tombs, tunnels, and architecture in Rome are entirely factual (as are their exact locations).  They can still be seen today.
The brotherhood of the Illuminati is also factual."
 Dan Brown's ANGELS & DEMONS  has the main setting in Rome.  My sister & I spent only four full days in Rome, but no one covers more territory than my sis and I.  We stayed at the Daphne Inn, Piazza Barberini, between the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain.  We had our best meal sitting outside at Piazza Navona, then wound our way around the Night Walk route, leading to the Pantheon and eventually back to our Inn's alleyway.  In St. Peter's Basilica we found the unmarked stairs leading down to where the  Popes lay.  In other words, though we didn't plan it, our hunting grounds were those of this book.  We loved every minute and probably saw and did more than most people in two weeks.
So do I recommend this book?  If you love history, art, symbology, codes, secret societies, then you will enjoy it as much as I.

Kids & ebooks ZINIO

On Black Friday, standing in line at Roots, I heard a couple ladies talking about gifts for kids and how 'books don't cut it any more'!  I bit my tongue, held my peace so to say, as after all, 'tis the season to be jolly!  I felt like saying, "Like, duh, get with it ladies, have you ever heard of ebooks and Zinio?"
Through Zinio, you can subscribe to hundreds of magazines for your ebooks, and many kids have ebooks and use them with ease.
I went on both the Cdn. & USA sites and found great reads for children/teens.  Some I have never heard of, but sound fantastic.  Such as:

Popular Mechanics DIY KIDS  12 great projects:  build your own balloon launcher/wind turbines
Kayak...Canada's History Magazine for Kids   This looks really great.  Easy and fun to read!
seventeen   Popular way back when, still popular now!
DOCTOR WHO ADVENTURES   For kids who are crazy about monsters & aliens. Bursting with beasts & brain-teasers!
How it works book of AMAZING ANIMALS  The kids I used to teach would have loved this!
American Girl, Teen Now, and so many, many more...

Zinio  This is the link to my site for the Zinio page.

Happy hunting!
Heather

celebrate: THE ESSENTIAL BOOKS OF THE SEASON

I opened up the Saturday paper, and there it was:
celebrate: THE ESSENTIAL BOOKS OF THE SEASON
Here's a sampling:
These are links to amazon.  They are to the USA amazon, but you can switch to Canada.  But, if I had you click into the Canadian site, you can't switch to the USA.  So this way, you have a choice!  Right?!!!

The Beatles, The BBC Archives                             CHUVALO, A Fighter's Life
Doctor Who, The Vault 1st. 50 years                    50 CANADIANS who changed the world
HOBBIT:The Desolation of Smaug Chronicles - Art & Design
Lemony Snicket: "When Did You See Her Last?"
off the leash: The Secret Life of Dogs
One Direction: Where We Are, by One Direction
SAVE with JAMIE

Music, fiction, history, kids/teens & cooking are all included above!
These are really good books!

Snuggle time!

'Tis the season to snuggle and read, especially when it's so cold outside, like right here, in Oakville!  An article I recently read was about adults enjoying children's literature.  When you think of the countless number of times that you curl up with your kids to read a story, well, it's a good thing we enjoy them, because we read them over, over and over again.  How many times did my daughter insist on Robert Munch's Jonathan Cleaned Up - Then Heard a Sound.  Way too often yet enjoyable every time.  Probably because it was about city hall!  Jan Brett's books were loved by my primary classes.  They would sit closer and closer to see the illustrations around each page.
Then there was E.B. White's Charlotte's Web, read so many times over the years to my 7-9 year olds.

Eric Wilson's mysteries, especially Lost Treasures of Casa Loma and Code Red at the Supermall were also really popular. The Supermall being the West Edmonton Mall, still the largest mall in North America, where this book takes place!  These are two of his older novels, but new ones are out.    

My daughter followed the moon in Margaret Wise's Goodnight Moon and loved the characters in Wind in the Willows, which was written by Kenneth Grahame way back in 1908!
Remember Mr. Toad, Ratty, Mole, Mr. Badger?  Then of course onto the Little House on the Prairie series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  My Gr 5's got really involved in Holes by Louis Sachar.
I could go on forever.  Even as computers, tablets & digital games take over, the kids still want to sit in the story corner and listen to a really great book and look at the pictures.  A real book, you know, with paper pages and great illustrations!!
Books, a perfect gift at anytime!

Jan Brett   Kenneth Grahame   Robert Munsch   E.B. White   Laura Ingalls Wilder   Margaret Wise

Linwood's A TAP ON THE WINDOW

I'm halfway through Linwood Barclay's 'A TAP ON THE WINDOW'.   It takes place in the small town of Griffon, upstate New York, not too far from the Canadian border.  Borrow or buy, just read it! Really good!!  Try any of his books!

                                                           A TAP ON THE WINDOW

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

My post on Nov. 11 was about the shared reading my daughter & I did with the Little House on the Prairie series.  A dear friend of mine shared with me her tradition.  Every year she bought a new and different 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, so she & her daughter could snuggle & read. A perfect tradition for the night before Christmas, that ended at the age of 21! Yes, 21 beautiful, different versions of this favourite, to be passed down to the next generation!

Another great bookshop!

I would have loved this as a kid.  Think I still would!

Poplar Kid's Republic, Beijing, China