Alice in Wonderland

On this day in 1862, Oxford mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson sent a handwritten manuscript called Alice’s Adventures Under Ground to 10-year-old Alice Liddell as a Christmas present.

Alice in Wonderland has been inspiring beautiful artwork since then. We can find examples of how Alice can influence designers from all parts of the world as the creation of  Mayra Magalhães.

I love this story and one of my favorite passages is when Alice is lost and ask the cat for directions:

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”
“I don’t much care where –”
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”

So brilliant, so real. There are other quotations in http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/2933712-alice-s-adventures-in-wonderland.

I also found an amazing version of the tale written in Cordel which is a very popular literature in Brazil. You can find more information in http://www.loc.gov/folklife/Symposia/litcordel/bios.html and in case you are studying Portuguese Language I will recommend you the book.

Yes, we can! Obama again!

You’ve never heard about Mafalda before. Really? Well, this little girl is simply amazing, you should learn more about her http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafalda

Puppets

You do not know if your students would like to speak a foreign language or not. Let them make their own puppets and try. You will be amazed at the ability of children to use the language and with the joy they amuse themselves with it.

Buying Books

I loved the idea of The Book Depository  sharing with us what books people are buying around the world. It was amazing!  The ones who love literature, just love, no explanation. Some may wonder what’s the point of looking at a map with names of books popping up all the time. However, I find it absolutely fascinating trying to figure out who those people are and why they’ve chosen this or that book. Were they motivated by personal interests? Is there any connection with current events in their countries? Media influence? Buzzword? Any connection with age? Profession? There is someone from Malta who bought Animal Farm , a fellow from Australia has just grabbed Waking The Tiger, whereas someone from Chile preferred Rede de Computadores and Ice Man was the favorite to someone in Poland, Cliffs of Insanity was just purchased  in Ireland, Art of the Japanese Postcard – Masterpieces  from Th Leonard A Lauder Collection (Hardback) has just been bought in Germany (might be gorgeous this one, I am curious). My choice was Once Upon a Time: on the Nature of Fairytale which I strongly recommend. That’s enough for a while, before they find out there is a crazy lady spying on their books, check the site, you might enjoy it  http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/live

Three Cups of Tea

A few years ago, I was at the book shop and couldn’t resist the temptation to grab this book and start reading it straightway. It was my first contact with Pakistani people and their suffering in the hands of the Taliban, specially women. When I saw the sad episode of Malala Yousafzai in the news I had to write about it and also share with my readers that there are people who fight to change this situation. Express our indignation to what happened to young Malala might be a starting point to put an end to it. She refused to keep silent and set an example to us all. I would like to recommend some sites for more information http://www.gregmortenson.com/, http://www.threecupsoftea.com/, http://www.ikat.org/ and also http://www.stonesintoschools.com/. I hope you enjoy the books as  much as I did and Pakistani girls have the chance to attend school as it is their right.

Fancy a good reading?

The day is claiming a good book. What’s your suggestion?

Games, Literature and Ice Creams

This is the way we decided to enjoy the Children’s week at my school. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8dtpx2nki9xiwbm/u5NYrh2vhm?m#/

Every child is an artist.  The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows
up.  ~Pablo Picasso

One
must ask children and birds how cherries and strawberries taste.  ~Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe<!–, quoted in Johann Peter Eckermann, Gespräche mit Goethe; RC; SD; NEMYL–>

Grown-ups
never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be
always and forever explaining things to them.  ~Saint-Exupéry, The Little
Prince, 1943

Everybody’s 12 years old in an apple
orchard.  ~Rachael Ray, Rachael Ray Show, while making autumn stew,
original airdate 11 October 2007

Fancy being a child? Take a look at more quotations http://www.quotegarden.com/inner-child.html

Wise Words

“I am not young enough to know everything.”
by Oscar Wilde

https://www.facebook.com/#!/OscarWildeAuthor

Shakespeare Insult Kit

You can make a good use of your own Shakesperian ofenses (thou gleeking, crook-pated flap-dragon), and click here to get much more  http://www.murderati.com/

MUSEU DA PESSOA

The Museums of the Person are virtual museums that collect, preserve and share life stories for social change. To be a Museum of the Person is to be locally responsible for the democratization of social memory and for the dissemination of the local life stories in a global level. The Museum of the Person’s international network links individuals and groups through authoring and sharing life stories. Museums of the Person are located in Brazil , Portugal , the USA , and Canada.

Visit the site and tell your story http://www.museudapessoa.net/ingles/index.htm