Australia Day

Did you know that today is Australia Day? Australia Day is the official national day of Australia, like our Independence Day (July 4th). It's celebrated on the 26th of January every year and marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Sydney Cove. Today Australians celebrate with family and friends, by reflecting on Australian history, and with citizenship ceremonies welcoming new immigrants to Australia.

Want to learn more about this wonderful country? Check out one or two of the following books on Australia:

Atlas of Australia by Karen Foster

Welcome to Australia by Mary Berendes

Australia by Dana Meachen Rau

Australia in Pictures by Ann Kerns

Spotlight on Australia by Bobbie Kalman

Explora Australia y Oceanía by Bobbie Kalman y Rebecca Sjonger

Or try one of these stories first published in Australia:

Noni the Pony by Alison Lester

Maudie and Bear by Jan Ormerod

The Biggest Frog in Australia by Susan Roth

Layla, Queen of Hearts by Glenda Millard


Moonrunner by Mark Thomason

The Warrior Sheep Down Under by Christine & Christopher Russell

Weddings & Hawaii

First, I'm sorry about the lack of posts lately-- I have been busy planning my upcoming wedding! I'd also like to apologize in advance for the month of November. I am certain that, between the wedding itself (this weekend!) and my honeymoon (Hawaii!), this will be both the first and last blog post until December.

That being said, for purely self-centered related reasons, I'd like to highlight some books for kids and teens that feature both weddings and Hawaii! Enjoy!

Kids:

Katy Duck, Flower Girl by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Barbie Wedding Party! by Mary Man-Kong
Just Grace and the Flower Girl Power by Charise Mericle Harper
Amber Brown is Tickled Pink by Bruce Coville
Grandma's Wedding Album by Harriet Ziefert
Lilly's Big Day by Kevin Henkes
Donovan's Big Day by Lesléa Newman
Mikale of Hawaii by Maya Angelou
Ollie & Moon: Aloha! by Diane Kredensor
Calvin Coconut: Rocket Ride by Graham Salisbury
Olvina Swims by Grace Lin

Teens:

That Summer by Sarah Dessen
The Story of Us by Deb Caletti
Sammy Keyes and the Wedding Crasher by Wendelin Van Draanen
The Sweet, Terrible, Glorious Year I Truly, Completely Lost It by Lisa Shanahan
The Bridesmaid by Hailey Abbott
Strange Relations by Sonia Levitin
Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board by Bethany Hamilton
Name Me Nobody by Lois-Ann Yamanaka

Check out one of the books above and think of me while you read!

Favorite Toys

Somewhere in the midst of Internet link-clicking, I stumbled upon this beautiful set of photos of children with their toys from around the world. Taken by photographer Gabriele Galimberti, these photos depict kids with the toys they treasure most from countries like the USA, Italy, Iceland, Botswana, Costa Rica, India, Australia, and many others. Ultimately, I think it reminds us that kids are kind of the same anywhere you go, but according to the photographer, the way each of the children played revealed a lot about their countries. “The richest children were more possessive,” he said, “At the beginning, they wouldn’t want me to touch their toys, and I would need more time before they would let me play with them. In poor countries, it was much easier. Even if they only had two or three toys, they didn’t really care. In Africa, the kids would mostly play with their friends outside.”

This got me thinking about my most prized toys as a kid. I grew up in Long Island, New York in the 80's and early 90's. There were a few clear standouts: Magic Nursery Babies, Care Bears, Puppy Surprise, Maple Town figurines, Littlest Pet Shop, and Yum Yums. Were these toys important to any other kids of my generation? What were your most favorite childhood possessions?

Do you want to read more about toys of yesterday and today? Here are some books you may want to reserve:

Toys of the National Toy Hall of Fame: A Celebration of the Greatest Toys of All Time! by Scott G. Eberle and Strong National Museum of Play

Toys by Kevin Cunningham

Toys: 100 Years Ago by Allison Lassieur

Totally Tubular '80s Toys by Mark Bellomo

Turning Vintage Toys by Chris Reid

The History of Toys: From Spinning Tops to Robots by Deborah Jaffé

Or for more on photographer Gabriele Galimberti, check out his website.

25 Most Beautiful Public Libraries in the World

That's the Amsterdam Public Library pictured above.

I know I do these kinds of posts pretty frequently, but if you're any kind of library-lover at all, I hope you appreciate these beauties as much as I do. Flavorwire is the latest to post beautiful, international libraries. However, this batch is especially good (and nearer and dearer to my heart) because they're all public libraries! Have you been to any of the ones that they've listed? I've been to three of them.

Read their article here: The 25 Most Beautiful Public Libraries in the World

More Beautiful Libraries from Around the World

A few months ago I made a post called 10 of the Most Beautiful Libraries and Bookshops to Visit on Your Travels. Well, library-lovers, today we can admire more of these international beauties. This time we'll look by continent, thanks to MentalFloss.com.

First, they've listed 15 Spectacular Libraries in Europe. This list includes 1 library in Ireland, 2 in England, 1 in France, 1 in Spain, 1 in Portugal, 2 in the Netherlands, 1 in Switzerland, 3 in Austria, 1 in Germany, and 2 in the Czech Republic. Take a look at the link above and just scroll through the pictures. Is your library this beautiful? Have you ever been to any of these landmarks?

Next, there are 11 Fabulous Libraries in South America. This includes 2 in Brazil, 1 in Chile, 3 in Peru, 1 in Costa Rica, and 4 in Columbia. Click the link above and look at how beautiful these structures are both inside and out. I would love to sit down in any of these, but especially the EPM Library in Colombia. That one looks so cozy.

Lastly, and closest to home, they've looked at 10 Amazing North American Libraries. These have 2 located in Canada, 2 in Mexico, and 6 in the USA. Click the link above and see if you've been to any of these famous libraries. I've been to the Central Library of Vancouver, Canada and the Stephen A. Schwarzman Library, USA.

These all look so beautiful! What's the nicest library you've ever been to?

Merrylands Central Library

Ask me where I've disappeared to. Go head, ask.

I've been away in Australia!

While I was gone, I had the pleasure of visiting a few area libraries, including the Merrylands Central Library, which is a regular, not-too-fancy library slapped in the middle of suburbia, about a half-hour outside of Sydney.

Here I am at the library's MASSIVE entrance, looking super excited to get inside and see what a library on the other side of the world looks like!

I learned that the Merrylands Central Library is part of a library system called the Holroyd Council, which operates the Merrylands Central as well as two other branch libraries.

Inside, the library resembles a combination of a big city library and a small town library, with lots of open space and natural light, but book collections that are substantially smaller than an American library's counterpart.

Here I am in the children's nonfiction section, taking a look at the collection.

If you find libraries on the other side of the world (literally) as interesting as I do, take a look at BootsNAll's list, "10 of the Most Beautiful Libraries and Bookshops to Visit on Your Travels" and make an effort of visit one of THOSE libraries.

Or why not visit the Holroyd City Library website and marvel at the similarities and differences between American libraries and Australian libraries right from home?

10 of the Most Beautiful Libraries and Bookshops to Visit on Your Travels

You may or may not be a seasoned traveller, but world-wide, "libraries are often distinguished architectural landmarks and can provide deeper insights not only into a country's literature, but also its culture and history as a whole," (according to Bootsnall.com). Plus, libraries are almost always free and open to the public. So why not take a visit in your travels?

BootsNAll has compiled "10 of the Most Beautiful Libraries and Bookshops to Visit on Your Travels" to keep an eye out for as you go.

Have you been to any of these? You can start by taking a look at them online.

Vancouver Public Library (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)

Royal Danish Library (Copenhagen, Denmark)

Austrian National Library (Vienna, Austria)

National Library Singapore (Singapore, Singapore)

Law Library of the University of Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland)

Great Court and Reading Room, British Museum (London, United Kingdom)

Philological Library of the Free University (Berlin, Germany)

Lello Bookshop (Porto, Portugal)

Bibliothèque Nacionale de France (Paris, France)

Biblioteca Nacional de España (Madrid, Spain)

I've been to so many of the cities listed above, but only one of the libraries! I wish I could go back in time; these look so beautiful.

Happy travels!

Modern Toilet

Ok, don't think I'm crazy, but ever since I heard about this restaurant a few months ago, I can't stop thinking about it (2 thumbs up for the Travel Channel). Anyway, I figured if it made such an impression on me, maybe it'll make an impression on all of you too... so I'm going to share it, but please, don't think I'm crazy.

It's called Modern Toilet and it's a bathroom-themed chain restaurant that is based in Taiwan, but expanding into China and other parts of Asia too (There are 12 branches in total, currently). The seats are toilets, fancy, stylish and acrylic with the lid down, of course. The tables are a layer of glass with a sink underneath. And the BEST part is that the food comes in a a mini toilet bowl and the drinks come in a mini urinal! Also, the REAL BEST part (and this is what started it all), the soft-serve ice cream comes to you in a dish shaped like a squat toilet!

Before Modern Toilet was a full restaurant, its owner, Wang Zi-wei, 29, had an ice cream shop that began selling chocolate ice cream swirls on paper squat toilets with tons of success. He got the idea for it from a Japanese robot cartoon character, Jichiwawa, who loved to play with poop. Grossly awesome, yes?

According to this article in TIME, the restaurant's menu includes curries, pasta, and fried chicken, as well as several shaved-ice desserts with gross names that are just a teeny bit too descriptive (read the article).

When I saw this on the Travel Channel I immediately thought, "If the dining room is full of toilets, what's in the bathroom?" Actually it made me a little bit anxious to think about, but luckily the restaurant does have proper bathrooms and they are, apparently, very well marked (so no mistakes). However don't think you'll get to wash your hands in a regular sink. Nope, their sinks are in toilets too.

Want to see more pictures? Here's some on Fun Fever, and here's some on Spot Cool Stuff Travel.

I hope one of these restaurants comes to New York! Otherwise, does anyone want to go to Taiwan?

Oh, and folding chairs and normal dishware are available if you really can't handle all the toilets. But what's the fun in that?!