Get Over It And Say Cheese

If you’re anything like me, you often cringe when you see pictures of yourself. For me, I always think twice before getting into a photo. I prefer to be behind the camera, not in front, and since my girls are wonderful subjects, I take tons of pictures. I have pictures of them all over the house. Last month, my kids went off to camp. As part of her “going away” preparations, my youngest daughter wanted to take a small photo album of her city friends, her cousins and her family. All of us. Even me. This did pose a problem since I have very few pictures of me with my girls. As I said, I’m the one mostly behind the camera.

When I tried to explain this to my daughter, she said, “But Mom, I want to have lots of pictures of you and me.”

It makes sense, of course, to have pictures of my girls and I for posterity. So why is it so hard? I know that when she’s older, or even when she has kids, it will be so wonderful to pull out pictures of us when we were younger. I know my kids (or grandkids) won’t be care about extra baby weight, a bad hair day or if I'm in sweats or covered in paint. All the reasons I give for not being in pictures will be irrelevant. My kids will (hopefully) only look at the pictures and remember the good times, the hugs and the smiles and the love. So, from now on, I am now going to make an effort to say yes to pictures. I mean, don’t you love looking (and laughing) at pictures of your parents when they were young?

How do you feel about being in pictures? 

"Go - Bon Voyage" to the Ottawa Public Library this summer (part 2)

By  Xiao Feng Xing - Youth Collections Librarian at the Ottawa Public Library  Here's part 2 of this year’s Summer Reading Club. The “Go – Bon Voyage” travel theme encourages children to go on their reading journey to places near and far and explore anywhere or anything.

Cocca-Leffler, Maryann: A Vacation for Pooch, Henry Holt, 2013

Violet felt very sad. She can’t bring her dog with her on her vacation to Florida. Her dog has to stay behind on vacation at her grandfather’s farm. Before she leaves on her vacation, she packed two bags: one for her dog and the other for herself. But Violet accidentally takes her dog’s bag. Will Violet and her dog both be okay for their vacations? This book describes the emotions that come with separation from a loved one.  You could pair this with a book from the Toot & Puddle series by Holly Hobbie.

Smith, Mike: The Hundred Decker Bus, Macmillan, 2013

You might have taken a ride on a double-decker bus in Ottawa. Can you imagine what would happen when you take a ride on a hundred-decker bus? The giant fold-out bus at the end of this book will give you a big surprise too!

Koolen Maayken: The Kidnapping of Mona Lisa,  Clavis, 2012

Fans of Where’s Waldo will enjoy this super searchable book that has a great mystery detective plot. Five thieves have stolen Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous painting the Mona Lisa. Join officer Rat and officer Wolf who chase the thieves through the most beautiful cities in the Europe: Paris, Berlin, Rome, London, Barcelona, and Amsterdam. You’ll see lots of famous buildings and landmarks as you solve the mystery in this wordless giant book.

Gravett, Emily: Meerkat Mail, Macmillan, 2006 

Sunny is a meerkat, a squirrel-size member of the mongoose family, who lives in the desert in Africa. Of course it’s very dry and very hot in the desert. Sunny’s family motto is “Stay safe, stay together." However, Sunny wishes he could live somewhere else. So he packs his suitcase and goes on a trip to visit his mongoose relatives - from Monday to Saturday - to search for the perfect home. He sends postcard to his parents every day during his trip. The text and illustrations on the postcards are full of humour and delight.  In the end, Sunny realizes that his own family is the best, and that there’s no place like home.Children will love how most of the story is told through flip-the-flap postcards featuring stamps and postmarks.

Falconer, Ian: Olivia goes to Venice, Atheneum Books, 2010

In this book, Ian Falconer tells the story of a little pig, Olivia, and her family, and their travels to Venice. They enjoy gelato (ice-cream), taking a gondola ride, and looking for the perfect souvenir to remember Venice. Olivia takes a stone from the Bell Tower as her perfect souvenir, causing the monument to tumble down!

Familiar drawings of Olivia and family as well as photos of the real Venice are digitally combined to create a fresh illustration experience. Pair this one with Froggy goes to Hawaii to see how your favourite characters spend their vacations.

Come into one of the Ottawa Public Library’s 33 branches and bookmobiles to sign up for the TD Summer Reading Club all summer long. Pick up your “passport” and activity book as well as delightful stickers. You can also enter your sticker codes at www.tdsummerreadingclub.ca  to reveal rewards.

Train Rides at the Science and Tech Museum

By Kamerine This summer at the Science and Tech museum you can ride on an actual train. It's a steam locomotive pulling two vintage rail cars on an out and back trip, run by volunteers from the Bytown Railway Society. It costs $2 and was totally worth it: the kids loved it!

The trains run between 11am and 3:45pm on Wednesdays and Sundays until September 2nd.

You buy your tickets just inside the museum and present them at the train station which is outside. We bought our tickets when we got to the museum around 10am, checked out some of the museum before heading to the station. We arrived at the station a few minutes before the first ride at 11am, but had to wait for the second trip because it was so busy.

The ten-minute trip was narrated and we were told all sorts of interesting things about the train and the rail cars. Unfortunately the trip was over in no time and we had to leave the train. I think the kids could have gone again and again.

The kids have loved trains forever and couldn't have been happier than when they were finally sitting on one. Definitely one of the highlights of the summer.

For information about the train rides and other fun things going on this summer at the Science and Tech museum visit their website: http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/whatson/2013-summer.cfm.

Let us know if you decide to go!

Kamerine is mom to 3-year-old Little J and 2-year-old  Little K.  She documents her life with two toddlers, a husband and a cat at The Life of K.

“Go – Bon Voyage” to the Ottawa Public Library this summer (part 1)

By  Xiao Feng Xing - Youth Collections Librarian at the Ottawa Public Library  This year’s Summer Reading Club “Go – Bon Voyage” travel theme encourages children to go on their reading journey to places near and far and explore anywhere or anything.

Library branches across the city will offer exciting programs featuring travel theme too. Here are a few suggested books we hope you and your child will enjoy reading together.

Luciani, Brigitte: How Will We Get to the Beach? North-South Books, 2000

Roxanne wants to take five things (a book, a ball, a turtle, a beach umbrella and a baby) to the beach. Her car is broken; she has to use a different transportation method. But the problem is that each alternate form of transportation can only carry four items with it. Children will enjoy this interactive guessing-game.

You could pair this book with The Big Trip by Valeri Gorbachev

Zion, Gene: Harry by the Sea, Harper & Row, 1965

This is my favourite book in the Harry the Dirty Dog series. In this book, Harry the white dog with black spots went to the beach and got separated from his family. Suddenly he was completely covered with seaweed by a big wave. He didn’t look like a dog anymore. People thought he was a sea serpent, a giant sandworm, or a sea slug. People tried to catch it and take it to the aquarium.

Will little Harry find his family? Your child will be captivated by this little dog and his hilarious adventures, and will ask you to read this timeless story again and again.

Kasza, Keiko: Ready for Anything, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2009

Keiko Kasza is the author and illustrator of multiple award-winning books for children. Her book My Lucky Day has won numerous U.S. awards. All of her books feature simple and interesting story plots and humorous characters. The dialogue is lively and fun to read aloud.

In Ready for Anything! Duck and Raccoon plan a picnic together. Raccoon worries about everything, and always thinks of the worst possible scenarios. Duck on the other hand, is very positive and always thinking of fun thing for each challenge. It’s an entertaining story of friendship, sharing feelings, and overcoming fears. You could pair this with a book from Scaredy Squirrel series by Melanie Watt.

Dusen Chris Van: A Camping Spree with Mr.Magee, Chronicle Books, 2003 

Mr. Magee and his dog are off on a camping trip. But when a bear accidentally unties Mr. Magee’s camper from his car, the camper gets stuck on a rock above a fifty-foot waterfall. Will Mr. Magee and his dog be rescued?

This book has it all: charming illustrations, smooth-flowing rhymes, and an action-packed adventure plot. You’ll find it a great read for you and your family while at your camp site. You can download the e-book or watch animated and narrated e-books directly from the TumbleBooks library at Ottawa Public Library website. You could Pair this book with Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee by the same author.

That's part 1 of our summer Reading Club Book selections. You can find more TD summer reading lists on our library website.

Come on in to one of the Ottawa Public Library’s 33 branches and bookmobiles to sign up for the TD Summer Reading Club. You can pick up your “passport” and activity book as well as delightful stickers. You can also enter your sticker codes at www.tdsummerreadingclub.ca  to reveal rewards.

Farmers, Warriors, Builders: The Hidden Life of Ants - A Giveaway (Closed)

Farmers, Warriors, Builders: The Secret Life of Ants is a new exhibit at the Museum of Nature. We sent Andrea and her kids to scout out the digs and they loved it. You can read about their adventures here. The collection is on loan from the Smithsonian and features 39 incredible, large-format images from Mark W. Moffett, who the National Geographic Society describes as “the Indiana Jones of entomology.” The exhibit is jam-packed with all kinds of interesting information about how ants work, hunt, live and communicate.

Now for the giveaway part

We have a family pass for one lucky family (2 adults and 2 kids) to visit the Museum of Nature and The Hidden Life of Ants.  The pass includes admission to the Hidden Life of Ants exhibit and all the regular exhibits but some special exhibits and movies may have additional fees. In order to qualify you must answer tell us one fun fact about ants (or even just why you love ants!).  Leave your answer in the comments below and we'll pick a winner at random on August 5th. Good luck!