Farmhouse Fables..Family friendly site, winner of several awards.

"Childrens stories and fables for the young at heart of all ages, all of them original, complete, and absolutely free; and none of them available anywhere else in the world except here.
They do not depend on animated pictures, so you can print them off then read them anywhere you want: in bed, or curled up in an armchair, or on the bus, or wherever else is comfortable.
There will be a new story from time to time; all of them are completely free, and there is nothing violent or cruel or nasty in any of them: that's a promise.

These short storybooks are about all the many little creatures that have made their homes in the meadow that lies next to the Old Farmhouse.
They are about Robert the Rabbit, known to everybody as Robbit, and his best friend Jonathan, the smartest and cleverest snail in the whole meadow.
As well as Robbit and Jonathan, there are Millicent, the harvest mouse, Andrew the ant, and many, many more - not forgetting the animals' special friends, Farmer Jack, and his wife, Katie, who live in the Old Farmhouse.

The Old Farmhouse is called that because that is what it is - an old farmhouse.
In fact, it's a very old farmhouse: so old that it's become all wobbly, just like a very old person.
Its roof is wobbly and its walls are wobbly and, inside, its floors are wobbly as well.
It's only a small farmhouse, but Farmer Jack, and his wife, Katie, are very happy there and wouldn't live anywhere else in the whole, wide world.

The meadow lies close by the Old Farmhouse, on a hill that leads down to a tiny stream and a pond.
The meadow is small, just like the Old Farmhouse, but, in the summer, when it's full with flowers, it's so pretty that, sometimes, Farmer Jack and all meadow creatures sit there in the afternoon sunshine and think how happy they are just to be there." (taken from the website, as noted in quotes)

Copyright © Jan Luthman ..... Filray Web Design Ltd ...... Last update January 4, 2004

http://www.fables.co.uk/index.html

Announcing the New Built-in Orderly Organized Knowledge Device, Otherwise Known as the BOOK!

It's a revolutionary breakthrough in technology: no wires, no electric circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected or switched on. It's so easy to use even a child can operate it. Just life its cover. Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere--even sitting in an armchair by the fire--yet it is powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD-ROM.

Here's how it works: each BOOK is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets of paper (recyclable), each capable of holding thousands of bits of information. These pages are locked together with a custom-fit device called a binder which keeps the sheets in their correct sequence. By using both sides of each sheet, manufacturers are able to cut costs in half.

Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain. A flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet. The book may be taken up at any time and used by merely opening it. The "browse" feature allows you to move instantly to any sheet, and move forward and backward as you wish. Most come with an "index" feature, which pinpoints the exact location of any selected information for instant retrieval.

An optional "BOOKmark" accessory allows you to open the BOOK to the exact place you left it in a previous session--even if the BOOK has been closed. BOOKmarks fit universal design standards; thus a single BOOKmark can be used in BOOKs by various manufacturers.

Portable, durable and affordable, the BOOK is the entertainment wave of the future, an many new titles are expected soon, due to the surge in popularity of its programming tool, the Portable Erasable-Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language Stylus...(Reprinted from the IFLANET website http://www.ifla.org/l/humour/humour.htm#laws)

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As the night draws in....

As the night draws in are we inclined to curl up with a good book, or dig out the remote and tense up with our favourite show!

Reading is one of those comfort zones that few of us seem to have time for. Between work, and family schedules, curling up with a good book appears to be a thing of the past!

Seeing is certainly a part of doing. If our children see us reading, are they inclined to sit down with a book or play video games?

With such a thrust on literacy in the curriculum, isn't it time to READ!

Set aside some quality time with your children and read, it is well worth the effort for the rewards you will reap.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Careington Bears

Abigale and Theodore Careington welcome you to their magical world of bears, dogs, cats, people, and children's literature.

We are a new site promoting Canadian books for children, featuring Abigale and Theodore Careington. Join them and their circle of friends as they explore new and wonderful places, while meeting diverse and interesting people.

Along with their friends Zach, Max, Mocha and Solomon their adventures are just beginning!

You can visit us at http://www.careingtonbears.ca/


To view more children's books by renowed Canadian children's author
Robert Muncsh


Visit the official web-site of Robert Munsh by following this link http://www.robertmuncsh.com

The library of Assurbanipal

The library of Assurbanipal

About the middle of the first half of the first millennium BC the Hittite advance succeeded in paralysing the power of Babylon and giving wings to the ambitions of the Assyrians. Having destroyed or annexed the small states he encountered on his way, Teglat-Falasar III was proclaimed king of Babylon in 728 BC. Assyria was at its zenith. The borders of its empire now marched with those of the great kingdoms of Egypt, Urartu and the old empire of Elam. Sargon II (721-705 BC) and his successors waged war for over a century against these three kingdoms, eventually emerging triumphant, and Assurbanipal (668-628 BC), who was called Sardanapalos in Greek, became absolute ruler of the world of the Orient.
Assurbanipal, a man of incredible energy, had a deep love of letters and applied himself to raising the intellectual and educational level of his subjects. All the evidence points to the conclusion that Assurbanipal intended to gather into his `library' all written texts relating to the social, intellectual and religious traditions of every people that lived and achieved great things around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. At Nineveh he began to assemble the most important literary texts of the Babylonians and Assyrians. To this end he despatched agents to all parts of his empire to record the contents of both private and public collections of tablets in the various large cities. He also organised a special `scriptorium' to reproduce and annotate the early literature.
This led to the formation of the largest and most important collection of tablets of encyclopedic, literary and `scientific' interest that the world had ever seen, containing over 25,000 tablets classified in two sections: the first contained letters, diplomatic documents, financial contracts and registers, and the second literary, historical, religious and astrological works. It was rightly, therefore, that Assurbanipal proudly boasted of his House of Tablets: `I acquired the hidden treasures of all the knowledge of the scribes... I resolved the persistent problems of division and multiplication, which were not recorded with clarity; I have read the artistic writing of the Sumerians and the dark writing of the Akkadians, and have deciphered the inscriptions written on stones at the time before the Flood.'
(Kotinos Publication, 2005)
http://www.libraries.gr/nonmembers/gr/history_mesopotamia_soumer.htm

"Where was the first library?"

“Where was the first library?

The first people to set aside special areas for sorting and sorting written materials, were the Sumerians. Around 5,000 years ago, the Sumerians lived on the Euphrates River in the Middle East. The Sumerians are credited for being the first people to use writing. They recorded information about their lives on clay tablets, which were stored in temples.

The greatest and best know ancient library was in Alexandria, Egypt. It was a center of learning and contained over 700,000 papyrus scrolls. “
(excerpt taken from ‘Questions Kids Ask’ published by Scholastic, 2001)

Sites of interest to librarians and educators

Sites related to libraries, schools, and school science activities...

http://www.imsafe.com/
The I’m safe network provides parents and educators with proven tools,
resources, and materials to assist in keeping children safe.

http://www.zoonzone.com/
A web site devoted to Dr. Zoon’s favorite activities that challenge
and motivate students as they investigate science and technological principles.

http://mainst.monterey.k12.ca.us/library/libpg/Dictionary/dict.html#anchor410386
Pronouncing dictionary of author’s names.This dictionary is the collaborative
work of the members of the LM_NET library listserv.

http://www.accessola.com/site/showPage.cgi?page=headlines.htm
Ontario Library Association

http://www.facthound.com
FactHound offers a safe, fun way to find Internet sites from rabbits to space,
and much more. All of the sites on FactHound have been researched by their staff.






NOMINEES FOR THE GILLER PRIZE ANNOUNCED

Writers Joan Barfoot, David Bergen, Camilla Gibb, Lisa Moore and Edeet Ravel are in the running for one of Canada's most prestigious literary awards, the newly named Scotiabank Giller Prize. The winner will be announced in the televised ceremony in Toronto on Nov. 8. The shortlist was chosen from a total of 94 books submitted for consideration. This year's jury includes Richard B. Wright, who won the prize in 2001 for his book Clara Callan, as well as writers Eliabeth Hay and Warren Cariou. The award now ranks among this country's most lucrative prizes for literature, the winner receiving $40,000. The nominees are:

• Joan Barfoot. Luck.
• David Bergen. The Time in Between.
• Camilla Gibb. Sweetness in the Belly.
• Lisa Moore. Alligator.
• Edeet Ravel. The Time In Between.

Last year's award was won by Alice Munro for her collection of short stories, Runaway.
(OLA, September 28, 2005.)

Munsch for Children..

There are some great sites out there for children...one of them belongs to renowed Canadian Author Robert Munsch. You can access his official site through http://www.careingtonbears.ca

Have fun, and enjoy.