What did you read this Christmas?

Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce was a good choice for the Christmas holiday. From the cover: "When a bag stuffed full of money drops out of the sky Damian and Anthony find themselves rich. Very rich indeed. Suddenly the brothers can buy anything they want - except the one thing they really need..." Add a menacing robber and a school nativity play, and you have an entertaining, funny and touching story. The Carnegie Medal-winning book and an audio-CD of the story are both available in the library. For extra enjoyment, get the DVD of the film version. Go to http://www2.foxsearchlight.com/millions/ to see the trailer.

Happy Christmas!

It's the last day of school and everyone will be enjoying the Christmas break soon! Try this Snowglobe for some holiday fun. Have a fantastic time and see you in 2006.

Lord of the Rings

On this day in 2001 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was released. Directed by Peter Jackson, the film retells the adventures of the members of the "Fellowship of the Ring"and is based on the first part of J. R. R. Tolkien's epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings.

The books are available in the library, and the DVDs of the trilogy have recently been added to the collection. All DVDs may be borrowed for a period of 1 week.

Christmas cards from the British Library

The British Library has chosen 15 images from their collection to use as Christmas e-cards; the picture here is a detail from The Night before Christmas. There is also information about the first printed Christmas card. Go to http://www.bl.uk/ecards/indexxmas.html - it's easy and it's free.

Christmas Cartoons

We know that everyone loves cartoons! Take a look at these Santa cartoons by Gregory J. Hollobaugh.

New books for Christmas

We have a wide selection of Christmas books available in the library, but hurry – they are very popular! For art students there is The Christmas story: told through paintings, for lovers of cartoons and fun we have Christmas at the New Yorker: stories, poems, humor and art, and Charlie Brown Christmas: the making of a tradition; with more fun in Princess Diaries: guide to Christmas by Meg Cabot and Skipping Christmas by John Grisham. Those who want exciting stories should try Christmas Train by David Baldacci or Deck the Halls by Mary Higgins Clark. Finally for traditional sentimental Christmas stories check out The Christmas Visitor by Anne Perry, The Cat who came for Christmas by Cleveland Amory or The Boat of Dreams by Richard Preston.

Books by Camel

The Camel Library Service in Kenya was set up to provide access to books, to fight illiteracy, and to support formal education where there is an absence of books and school libraries. A longer article about this vital service can be read at The Guardian.

Advent

Advent is a word used for the arrival of something important, so at this time of year it refers to the arrival of Christmas! It was originally a religious observance, beginning in Western churches on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, and observed by many Christians as a season of prayer, fasting, and penitence. Even though Advent begins on 27 November this year, Advent Calendars usually begin on December 1st. A fun on-line Advent Calendar by Penny Schenk is at http://www.advent-calendars.com/. Language students can also read it in French (sorry, no German or Spanish this year).