Books On Film | A Day with Wilbur Robinson

The Walt Disney animated film Meet the Robinsons (2007) is a loose adaptation of a 1990 children's picture book by William Joyce called A Day With Wilbur Robinson. In the book, a young boy visits the unusual home of the Robinson family and meets a bevy of eccentric relatives while on a search for Grandpa Robinson's missing teeth. 

The movie borrows the idea of a young boy meeting the eccentric Robinson family, but the similarities pretty much end there. In the movie, an inventive young orphan named Lewis, goes on a time traveling adventure into the future with the youngest Robinson.

Young children will enjoy both the book and the movie, but because of the big differences in plot it might be best to introduce them separately.

Cover courtesy of LibraryThing.

The Reader Digests | Free Hamburgers

What is better than a hamburger?  A FREE hamburger. 

I love anything free, but I was inspired to write about hamburgers this week because SSJCPL is giving out free burgers! Sort of. I mean, librarians haven't turned the info desks into grills or anything like that (but that would be pretty awesome). What I do mean is that SSJCPL is participating in In-N-Out's "Cover to Cover" club. Kids - ages four to twelve - can sign up for this club at any SSJCPL library location. The rules are simple: read five books by April 12, get a burger! And kids can read 15 books for a total of three burgers!

The program got me thinking. I know that I am a fan of burgers, but from where (not what) do burgers originate?  Many people think that hamburgers came from Hamburg, Germany and it is true that is where hamburger, or ground beef, was first introduced. However, hamburgers, the ones we know and love, beef in a bun - or, if you are watching your carbs, lettuce - were first enjoyed at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904! The easy, cheap, and tasty treat was quickly adopted as one of America's all-time favorite foods! We have added plenty of variety to our burgers over the years. People use different meats or meatless patties, a wide array of condiments, other toppings, and different types of breads (or lettuce).

So, here are my personal "burger awards". I would love to hear about your burger awards in the comments section!:

Favorite homemade burger: Beef burger with jalapenos, salsa, guacamole, and cheddar cheese.

Most unique burger: Gott's Roadside Ahi Burger

Best fast food burger: In-N-Out! I went to college in the Midwest and every time I came back to California I always put In-N-Out on my list of places to visit. The fact that they give kids burgers for reading makes them even more cool! 

Book Bucket List | Disney's Frozen and The Snow Queen

Elsa says, "Pin please!"

Disney's latest animated film, Frozen, is a huge hit.  It was released on November 27, 2013 and is still in theaters.  I can't remember when a movie is being released on DVD and the film is still being shown. One of our patrons was kind enough to make us a paper doll of the character Elsa, and boy is she popular.  We get patrons of all ages asking us : a.) If they can have her.  b.) If they can buy her. c.) Who made her and if they're selling her.  So obviously Frozen fever is still around.

So if you're a Frozen fan, here are some fun facts about the movie:

• The character of Elsa was originally supposed to be the film's villain, but the song "Let It Go" was so inspiring that they didn't want to give the song to a villain.  The producers reworked the entire story so that Elsa is innocent and at the mercy of her powers.
• A lot of Olaf's lines were improvised to make the filmmakers laugh.
• The characters Hans, Kristof, Anna, and Sven were named after Hans Christian Anderson.  If you say the names quickly, they sound like Hans Christian Anderson!
• Tangled's Flynn Rider and Rapunzel make a cameo appearance during Anna's "For the First Time in Forever".

Something that not everyone knows about Frozen is that it has been an idea floating around the Disney vault for years.  It has had numerous names and crews that haven't worked out..  They were basing the story on Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen.  We have many versions of this in our system, so be sure to check out the original Frozen story!  We also have non-Disney adaptations of this story, like the picture book The Snow Queen: a retelling of the fairy tale.

Disney has also uploaded the Academy Award winning song "Let it go" to their youtube channel.  You can enjoy it below!

Just Life | Sauce Basics

Do you love to cook?

If the answer is yes, then you should take a look at this book:

" Sauces basics:recipes illustrated step by step" by Keda Black.

I came across this book by accident. I opened it and I was hooked. This book uses simple ingredients, simple directions and wonderful illustrations to teach you how to make different sauces. The pictures are so clean and crisp. Just loved this book's simplicity.

Here is an example of what you find in this book:

There are recipes for salad dressings, pasta sauces and even recipes for making foams. (I don't have the slightest idea what that is.)

What I love about this book is that it doesn't require a gazillion ingredients to make these sauces. The directions are very simple and easy to follow.

I tried the Lemon cream pasta sauce one night and I loved it but my husband & daughter weren't that thrilled.
 

They said that they were shocked by its intense flavor. Basically they weren't expecting such a unique pasta sauce from me. I have to admit, I am boring when it comes to cooking and they weren't expecting such a bold flavored food from me.
 
So to tickle my family's taste buds a bit more, I am planning to cook the following delicacies in the very near future:

Escargot followed by Fried Frog Legs and I would finish it with some "Brain Sandwich" which is a delicacy in Iran.

I am heading to my backyard, this instant to collect some snails...lol.

Signing off until next Monday- Panteha

Books On Film | Bambi

The Walt Disney classic animated film Bambi (1942) is an adaptation of Felix Salten's Bambi: A Life in the Woods (1923). Originally published in Austria, the book has since been translated and republished in at least 20 languages.

The story follows Bambi, a young male deer, from birth through adulthood. Along the way he loses his mother, finds his mate, and learns important lessons from his father and from his experiences in the forest.

The sequel, Bambi's Children: The Story of a Forest Family (1939) follows the life of Bambi's twin fawns.

Covers courtesy of LibraryThing.

The Reader Digests | Blogging, Take Three!

Alrighty, I'm not going to beat around the bush here.  It has been a long time since I have blogged.  I actually forgot how to log on to our blogging site.  That is how much time it has been!  

So let's review my blogging fails...

First, I tried the Short Attention Span Challenge and I couldn't keep it up. It was too, well, challenging.  But truthfully, it's because I went back to school (after this post) and I just couldn't do all those projects combined with working full-time, parenting my kids, and grad school every week. 

Then, I tried Miss Moneypennypincher's money-saving blog.  Here's the deal, I ran out of money-saving ideas.  I guess if I was Suze Orman or Dave Ramsey, I would have more than a blog at ssjcpl.com (not that there is anything wrong with that, mind you!).

If you won't, then I will!

Now (and hopefully forever-ish), I am undertaking a whole new blog!  And here is the premise:

Do I eat food? Yes.

Do I like food? Yes.

Can I talk endlessly about food? Yes!

Sounds like an obvious "blogging win" to me!

My new blog is The Reader Digests! Yum!!!

Every  Friday at 2 p.m. 

Book Bucket List | The Museum of Extraordinary Things

I love book reviews that mention other books. Comparing and contrasting books, especially popular titles where even if you haven't read them you know the general idea behind them, is a easy and quick way to know if I'm possibly interested in reading the new title.  One of my favorite websites to read book reviews is Goodreads.  You can post your progress on the books you're reading, read your friends reviews (if you're linked through Facebook), and even get status updates from authors on their latest works.

 If the review compares the books to books I haven't liked in the past, then I usually won't bother reading it.  But every once in awhile, there's a review that compares a book to more than one of my favorites and then I try to get my hands on that title as soon as possible.  That's how I ended up reading Divergent, which I ended up liking more than The Hunger Games.

A recent example of this is when I was reading reviews of popular new releases, and I came across the book The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman. I'm not going to quote the review, because it would give away major spoilers (Thanks reviewer!) but it compared it to the Night Circus and Water for Elephants.  Since I enjoyed both of these books, I'm hopeful that I'll enjoy Hoffman's new book which I'm now officially putting on my bucket list.