Meet Robert Sabuda ...

If you have never seen one of Robert Sabuda's pop-up books you are in for a treat! They are nothing short of amazing and delightful. (Miss Bun and I love paper art so we are especially enamored of these!)


Visit his website: Robert Sabuda to find out more about the man and his work. Be sure to look at his "Simple Pop-Ups You Can Make" section to try your hand at paper engineering!

I have found many children's book authors to have a very generous spirit and I think that is evident here. Mr. Sabuda obviously doesn't mind promoting the work of other artists on his site. (Don't you just love people who love to share?)

Under the "Pop-Ups" tab you will find an international gallery of pop-ups, info on The Moveable Book Society, and a whole lot more! (There is a newsletter you can sign up for too.)

Don't forget to have a peek at the video below. You'll be glad you did.

Enjoy!

Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart - Take a Look!

Science Fiction .....It's Alive!!!

As this site claims: SCI-FI LISTS "is dedicated to bringing you quality lists and concise reviews of science fiction's all-time top books, films, TV shows and short stories".

Here you will find book reviews, lists and polls, film & TV lists as well as recommended links.

The truly amazing fact about this site is that it is not a commercial venture but a hobby site created by one Peter Sykes who hails from Australia. A site that is the recipient of over thirty respected website awards and currently averages over 5000 hits a day.

Kind of makes you long for that little bit of alien in all of us, doesn't it?

Get The Big Picture!

If you are visually oriented or just like great photography check out this blog: The Big Picture from the Boston Globe run by web developer Alan Taylor.

This from the About Page:
"Inspired by publications like Life Magazine (of old), National Geographic, and online experiences like MSNBC.com's Picture Stories galleries and Brian Storm's MediaStorm, The Big Picture is intended to highlight high-quality, amazing imagery - with a focus on current events, lesser-known stories and, well, just about anything that comes across the wire that looks really interesting."

The latest entry is on the Hubble Telescope's final servicing mission (some stunning photos there!) and you can take a look at the archives back to June 2008.

Enjoy!

Physics Rocks! Check Out This Online Exhibit!

If you have any interest at all in science and physics in particular you need to take a look at this wonderfully informative and often entertaining (and that's saying a lot coming from someone with a degree in English Lit.!) offering by the Center for History of Physics Online Exhibits of the American Institute of Physics website.

Here you will be able to explore some of the most fascinating and important scientific discoveries to date as well as the scientists who made them. Learn about: Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, The History of the Transistor, The “uncertainty principle” that Werner Heisenberg used to explain quantum theory, The Discovery of Global Warming, and lots more!

Science really comes alive in the Moments of Discovery exhibit which tells the story of three scientific discoveries (Fission, Pulsar, & Superconductivity) in the scientists' own words. You can read the text and hear their actual voices.

You will also find teacher guides, links, and further resources. Kudos to the American Institute of Physics!

Book Chat ...

An Inconvenient Wife by Megan Chance

"Young Mrs. Lucy Carleton is the daughter of one of the oldest and wealthiest families in 1880s New York City. William Carleton is Lucy's un-pedigreed, nouveau riche husband. Problems arise when Lucy becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the prudish manners and paternalistic dependencies that define the wives of New York society. Lucy longs to break away and give free reign to her more bohemian soul, but her ambitious husband and domineering father are determined that she learn to conform to the mores of her social circle. Enter Dr. Victor Seth, the controversial neurologist whom William hires to try to cure Lucy of her perceived nervous disorder. Seth's groundbreaking methods of hypnosis lead Lucy to unforeseen and shocking experiences and set readers on a path through one of the most riveting works of historical fiction in recent memory."

Book Bytes: I just finished this and loved it. If you are fond of historical fiction, engaging characters, and exploring human nature this one is for you! This would be a great book group read. Highly recommended.

Puzzling Over What To Read Next?

Then Whichbook.net is for you!

According to their about page "Whichbook enables, for the first time, the choice of book to start from the individual reader and what they are looking for".

This is a pretty amazing concept which lets the reader choose elements of what he or she is in the mood to read. From things like happy/sad (or somewhere in between) to sex/no sex (or somewhere in between) to short/long (or......you get the idea).

That's just the beginning. From there you can choose elements of plot, character and setting.

Whichbook will find titles which match your preferences. If you don't like any of the books offered, change your choices and try again - there are 20 million different individual combinations possible!

Readers can also choose to search for audio or large print only.

The books in the database are all fiction and poetry in paperback written in or translated into English and published since 1995. Books are read by one of a team of 150 people who are drawn from libraries and literature organisations and are specially trained to create the entries.

Whichbook is managed by Opening the Book Ltd, who founded the reader development movement in the UK and create reader-centred approaches to promoting literature.

If you are on our side of The Pond (or living in Britain) you will not be able to take advantage of Whichbook's book borrowing capabilities but don't let that stop you from trying out this unique way to choose your next read.