My Children Books World

++ The International Children’s Digital Library ++

misshappycat — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:35:56 +0000

The International Children’s Digital Library

I found this website today and am thinking of joining there as a volunteer translator.
This website has many good books from around the world for children ( and adults too! ) to read online. There are books from different languages for example, Japanese, German etc.

The foundation is non-profit one and their goal is to make books as bridges to connect children around the globe to learn , understand and live with differences, to be members of global community as said on the homepage of the website.

Here is their official mission stated on their website.

The mission of the International Children’s Digital Library Foundation (ICDL Foundation) is to support the world’s children in becoming effective members of the global community – who exhibit tolerance and respect for diverse cultures, languages and ideas — by making the best in children’s literature available online free of charge.

The Foundation pursues its vision by building a digital library of outstanding children’s books from around the world and supporting communities of children and adults in exploring and using this literature through innovative technology designed in close partnership with children for children.

To be honest, this website and their intention remind me of a program on TV here.
It was a program that take two kids from two families that have different background and lifestyle then send each of them to live with the other’s family as some kind of exchange program like a kid from a Muslim family in the South spent a week at a Buddhist family in the North and vice versa so the children learn more about each other’s lives, cultures, and the local.
That helps them understand more about the differences so that they learn to tolerate with diversity in society when they grow up.

It’s good to start when with children because they are so pure and still be more open to learn new things. Well, at least better than some grown-ups you know, too many stuffs installed in my brain already it’s hard to get ‘em out lol.

Now let’s see how you can find some books from around the world to read here !

I really like the colors they used on their website , it’s not too cute yet , not too formal, just soo nice! Here’s the screen shot of the homepage.

Well, yeah, now I found a place to read books around the world and I’m not a kid!I think it’s good for anyone, from children to parents or single

++ Round The Christmas Tree ++

misshappycat — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 03:35:37 +0000

Christmas is coming up! Actually, I don’t know why I really love Christmas since it’s not a big event here in Thailand but I just love it very much and it’s my most fav holidays I look forward to each year. We have some light decorations , choirs , big Christmas trees in Bangkok and other big cities though. I’m going to share some pics I took when I was still in Bangkok later.

Ok. Back to the book again. I got this book on New Year’s Eve in 1993 lol, I know that’s long time ago hehe. This book collects Christmas stories from around the world.
Here are some examples,

Wag-by-wall by Beatrix Potter [ England ]

A story of a poor woman named Sally who lived alone in her cottage. She owned an antigue wall clock which sang a strange song ” tic: toc: gold: toe” . Later she got a letter from someone currently taking care of her niece because her daughter and her husband just died. Sally was asked to send some money to the person as the cost to send her niece to her but she was out of money really. She was worried she couldn’t send money to get her niece back but there were some miracle happened which you have to read it by yourself lol. I aint gonna spoil it.

Mrs. Pepperpot’s Christmas by Alf Proysen [ Norway ]
A story of Mrs. Pepperpot from a series of children book ” Mrs. Pepperpot “.
It started when she woke up and found herself small like a pepperpot.
It wouldn’t be such a big deal if she didnt have a date with Mr. Pepperpot to buy some stuffs for Christmas at Christmas Fair. So how could she go ??

There are more stories in the book which are fun to read I’m sure the kids would love it and it’s good to hear different Christmas stories from different places around the world.

Roundup: Children’s books about the presidency

misshappycat — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:49:11 +0000

Found an article on USA Today site by Bob Minzesheimer on four new children’s books about politics. I don’t live in USA and my country doesn’t have a president [ we have a Prime Minister ] but I think the books are good for any kids from anywhere to read.

I really believe there should be more books on these complicated topics like economics or politics that are easy to understand and more accessible to children so they can get be more knowledgeable and get involved with it more , and don’t feel like it’s something for adults only.

Yes We Can: A Biography of President Barack Obama
By Garen Thomas
Feiwel and Friends, 236 pp., ages 9 and up

Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out
By 108 authors and illustrators
Candlewick, 242 pp., ages 10 and up

This one written by a 13 year-old.

First Kids: The True Stories of All the Presidents’ Children
By Noah McCullough
Scholastic, 189 pp., ages 9 to 12

The Great White House Breakout
By Helen Thomas and Chip Bok Dial, ages 6 and up

Credit : Roundup: Children’s books about the presidency

My all-time favorite book : Mary Poppins

misshappycat — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:53:00 +0000

It would be mean if I don’t write about my all-time fav book here.

I read this book for the first time when I was 7.

I was so young that I thought every word in the book was real lol.

I really thought Mary Poppins and the Banks family did exist ~~

oohh~~ what a cute lil innocent girl teehee

I remember i walked up to my eldest sister and asked her how to get to Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane to visit the Banks family haha.

I even asked her to take me there and my sis was like “well , we have to go to England cuz the Banks lives in England” pshhh~~

This book has quite a big impact on me. At least it got me doing crazy little things back then. I’ll tell you later bout that hehe. Now let’s go to the review from me.

Mary Poppins is the first book of Mary Poppins series.

The Banks were in need of a new nanny after the last one just quit the job and Mary Poppins came.

And since then their lives never be the same again, no more another ordinary day ~ just full of surprises and adventures

She was mysteriously unique and the children loved her.

They also had a little adventures like traveling around the world with a compass or visiting Mary’s uncle filled with laughing gas and was floating in the air.

At the end of the book Mary left the children and yeah, the way she left was kinda weird.

She took her umbrella out and let the wind blow her umbrella and carry her up from the ground. well, yeah, she just flied away with her umbrella.

Now you can guess what I prolly was gonna do with it after I read the final chapter lol.

Yes,I took an umbrella and walked outside to the front yard , there I was standing raising my umbrella and waiting for the wind to carry me up like it did to Mary Poppins.

No~I didnt stop it there lol I kept doing it for like 3-4 days and finally I realized there ain’t gonna be such a thing happen in real life lol

I was sad actually cuz I was really hoping to fly away like that and met Mary Poppins lol

Anyways, the story of Mary Poppins didnt end there since Mary left a note written in french ” Au Revoir ” which means ” see you again” so she was comin back some time in the future which I will write more later.

Ok~ back to the book. The first pic I uploaded here is Mary Poppins Thai version which is the first Mary Poppins I read. The second one was a gift from one of my best friend. He visited his brother in USA and bought this book for me.

Tales of Beedle the Bard becomes best seller in the UK

misshappycat — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:57:58 +0000

Tales of Beedle the Bard set tills ringing

JK Rowling’s pendant to the Harry Potter books is outselling its nearest book-chart rival five to one

JK Rowling’s new book The Tales of Beedle the Bard has followed in the footsteps of its seven predecessors to fly to the top of the UK’s book charts, selling more than five times the number of copies of its closest rival despite being on sale for just three days.

Almost 368,000 copies of the book were sold last week, according to book sales monitor Nielsen BookScan, compared with 73,236 copies sold of second-placed Guinness World Records, and 68,073 of At My Mother’s Knee, Paul O’Grady’s autobiography.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard was published last Thursday, with a worldwide print run of eight million copies, and net proceeds going to charity. Although its opening dwarfs the rest of the Christmas titles currently jostling for position in the book charts, the sales are a long way off those of the final book in Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which racked up three million sales in its opening weekend last year.

Nonetheless, bookshops expect Beedle to remain at the top of the charts until Christmas at the earliest, and the book is currently number one on both Amazon and Waterstone’s online bestseller lists. “The low price-point [of £6.99] helps, and the fact that it is so ‘pick-upable’,” said Foyles head of buying Kate Gunning. “[It's] good to have a new title published so near to Christmas, and that the proceeds are going to charity.”

A collection of five fairy tales set in the Potter world, the slim book – weighing in at just 109 pages, compared with the 832 of Deathly Hallows – includes commentary from Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore, and Rowling herself. Although it featured in Deathly Hallows, where it helped Potter destroy his arch-nemesis Voldemort, the boy wizard himself has no part in this latest addition to Rowling’s oeuvre.

Wonderful Wigs Children’s Book Makes a Big Hit With Pediatric Cancer Community

misshappycat — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:14:24 +0000

Author Chaun Archer’s first children’s book brings hope and boosts the self esteem of little girls undergoing cancer therapy. The first in a series of discussion books on rare, but difficult, real life issues has already proven to be a hit!

Dec 09, 2008 – Wonderful Wigs is the first in a series of children’s books that will strive to open up an indirect line of communication between parent and child to discuss life’s rare but difficult issues. Written for children ages 4-10, this story is about a little girl recounting her experience with cancer, including when she lost her hair. Her mother takes her to a special wig stores, and she finds that wigs are not so bad, but more importantly, that she doesn’t need a wig to be beautiful.

Childhood cancer is something that is a reality to many families. The author of these books believes that, “We must not underestimate the mind of a child. We should be able to be honest with our children without making them afraid, or downplaying what is happening to them, to the point that we ignore what is happening. Sometimes even adults have problems communicating what they feel, and when our children have questions, I feel like we should have answers; and, if we don’t, we should be able to find helpful resources that can help us. Something children can relate to.”

Notable Children’s Books of 2008 on NYTimes

misshappycat — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:44:15 +0000

Holiday Books

Notable Children’s Books of 2008

WABI SABI
By Mark Reibstein. Illustrated by Ed Young.
Little, Brown & Company Books for Young Readers. $16.99. (Ages 3 to 6)

In this book of ingeniously layered text — both narrative and haiku — and gorgeous collage art, a cat named Wabi Sabi sets out to discover the meaning of her name. Chosen by The Times as a Best Illustrated Children’s Book of 2008.

THE KINGDOM ON THE WAVES
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume 2.
By M. T. Anderson.
Candlewick Press. $22.99. (Ages 14 and up)

This sequel completes the story of race and revolution told in “The Pox Party.” As Octavian Nothing, escaped from slavery, joins up with British forces in Boston, his story encompasses both the comic and the tragic with sweeping ambition.

SUNRISE OVER FALLUJAH
By Walter Dean Myers
Scholastic Press. $17.99. (Ages 12 and up)

An idealistic young soldier lands in Iraq’s deadly hall of mirrors, in a kind of sequel to Myers’s 1988 Vietnam novel, “Fallen Angels.” In this powerful new book, laced with violence but also warmth and humor, the narrator faces humanitarian missions that turn into deadly ambushes (a detonator is concealed in a tub of flour) and bears witness to the killing of friend and enemy alike.

THE HUNGER GAMES
By Suzanne Collins
Scholastic Press. $17.99. (Ages 12 and up)

A brilliantly plotted tale that begins after North American society has been decimated by climate change and war. In this world, children fight to the death in ritual games — a form of both repression and entertainment in the country of Panem. When her younger sister is picked to compete, Katniss Everdeen, a skilled hunter, makes the fateful choice to take her place.

LITTLE BROTHER
By Cory Doctorow
Tor/Tom Doherty Associates. $17.95. (Ages 13 and up)

A near-future terrorist attack hits San Francisco, and Marcus Yallow, 17, playing hooky from high school, is detained in the crackdown that follows. The experience leads him into an ingenious program of resistance and civil rights activism in a novel that is at once an entertaining thriller, a thoughtful polemic and a practical handbook of digital-age self-defense.

ABC3D
By Marion Bataille
Neal Porter/Roaring Brook Press. $19.95. (Ages 5 and up)

A simple but sophisticated idea animates this small, chunky pop-up book, which does wonders with the letters A through Z. In Bataille’s paper engineering, B doubles as 3, C flips over to become a D, U is a perfect parabola, and so on, all in bold black, white and red. This stylish and interactive work of art can be read again and again.

My very first book

misshappycat — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 08:06:14 +0000

Today I’m going to blog about the very first book I read.
I have to thank my eldest sister who loves reading and always buy new books to read. That’s why I grew up reading many interesting books.
She believes reading is another way to learn about things in life and it makes a person clever.

I quite agree with her.

Ok! Back to my very first book.
I was 7 by the time I started to read books. I was never interested in reading books until one day when I saw my sister bought a new book, I started to wonder what’s in the book so I borrowed it from her to read.

The very first book I’m talking about is

The Fables of La Fontaine

The one I read was a Thai version one and sorry that I don’t have my own picture of it but I just don’t know where my sister keeps this book. She’s being too busy to find it for me.
So I’m going to use picture from Amazon then.

The name of the author is Jean de La Fontaine who was a French fabulist in the 17th Century. To be honest, I don’t know much about him but if some of you guys feel like reading more about him can go the link below.

This is more details on who Jean de La Fontaine

I really liked the book because there were stories from Aesop’s fables. La Fontaine wrote the stories in his own style [ poetic ]. The stories were not full of fantasies like Harry Potter but you know, full of classic stories that has some meaning and teaching behind each of them.

My very first blog

misshappycat — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 02:30:12 +0000

I’m starting this website to blog about children books I have read in my life, the books I’m reading and also my wish list. I have read hundreds of books when I was a child and I still read them now and then. My all time favorite is Mary Poppins hehe

One thing to say here is that …

My English is not so so good because I’m not a native English speaker and I don’t have much chance to use English in my daily life so if you could, please overlook some grammatical flaws and just enjoy the content teehee

I’m going to write about children books only though because it’s my original intention to start a site here but if anyone wants to share your ideas or opinions about regular novels then you are welcome