Librarytomes

November 5 “a wall of water”

November 5th is World Tsunami Awareness Day. On December 26, 2004, an earthquake in the Indian Ocean caused a devastating tsunami that tragically claimed the lives of around 230,000 people and affected 14 countries. There have been several movies, and eyewitness videos which show the devastation that happened a mere twenty years ago. I reachedContinue reading “November 5 “a wall of water””

November 4th “What two letters spell candy? C and Y”

November 4th is National Candy Day. Some say that it is easy to celebrate this day by raiding a childs left-over Halloween bag. I have several books to observe this day in better ways than using left-over trick or treats.. First is this paperback pamphlet “The Candy Book” edited by Ruth Berolzheimer from the CulinaryContinue reading “November 4th “What two letters spell candy? C and Y””

November 3 “Did he invent tourism, or did tourism invent him?”

November 3rd, 1801, Karl Baedeker was born. “ Baedeker guide books are still being used today, he set the standards not only with maps of countries, cities, and towns, but of sites to see, places to eat and sleep. I love books with insert pages and maps, and Baedeker maps are superb. Have a fewContinue reading “November 3 “Did he invent tourism, or did tourism invent him?””

November 2 “Give me some peanuts and Cracker Jack”

November 2nd (first Saturday in November) is National Bison Day. The North American Bison is the Official National Mammel of the United States. He is on plenty of old nickles. I have an interesting book “Buffalo Country” by Bob Duncan, 1959. In America, we seem to interchange buffalo and bison. They are the same animal.Continue reading “November 2 “Give me some peanuts and Cracker Jack””

November 1 “just touch a book”

November 1st is National Cinnamon Day. I do like the flavor of cinnamon. Even my toothpaste is Close-Up, cinnamon flavor. There is true cinnamon from Ceylon, and there is Cassia from Indonesia and China. Both are similar. In England and Australia, they are marketed separately, but in America, Cassia can be called cinnamon. In fact,Continue reading “November 1 “just touch a book””

October 31 “For Halloween shows, Pop-ups or Prose?”

Happy Halloween-October 31! I have a bit of debate today bouncing around in my head. What would be more fun to display today, Halloween ghost stories or Halloween pop-ups? Why not give a demonstration of both? After all, Halloween is about excess. As a kid, one goes after as much candy as they can. WhenContinue reading “October 31 “For Halloween shows, Pop-ups or Prose?””

October 30 “Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Teacher”

On October 30th, 1735, John Adams was born. Adams was our first vice president, our second president, and a writer of the Declaration of Independance. He did not own slaves, and as a lawyer, he defended the British soldiers in court, after the Boston Massacre, in which five colonists died, including the Crispus Attucks, aContinue reading “October 30 “Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Teacher””

October 29 “Welcome to Sherwood, my lady!”

October 29th is International Robin Hood Day. I have a very pretty illustrated book on the subject. It is “Robin Hood” retold and illustrated by Margaret Early, published 1996. While the story is a solid one of Robin Hood’s stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, what is most appealing are the illustrations.Continue reading “October 29 “Welcome to Sherwood, my lady!””

October 28 “Chocolate fixes everything”

October 28th is National Chocolate Day. I have several books about chocolate. The first one is a marvelous photography book from Brazil. It is in Portuguese and English. The photographs are of fruits of the Brazilian rain forest. Here are several pictures of the Cacau fruit. The next book is an all around good bookContinue reading “October 28 “Chocolate fixes everything””

October 27 “Tricks or Treats”

On October 27th, 1275, The name of Amstelledamme (Amsterdam) was first documented by the Count of Holland, mentioning tolls for travelers going through. I have an interesting book on Amsterdam, “Liefde te Koop”, 2002. It is written in Hollish, so I just look at the pictures. It is about the history of prostitution and theContinue reading “October 27 “Tricks or Treats””