WORDLESS BOOKS  Without the need to decode the words, children build their reasoning and comprehension skills as they “read” the illustrations, discover details and clues, and infer what is happening on the page.  Instead of you reading to your child, your child can tell you the story as they deduce it.  Having your child tell you the story can also lead to more complex conversation and promote more sophisticated vocabulary—because they are not restricted by words on the page to narrate the story.  Children also gain confidence and independence as they determine the story they are seeing, and articulate it.  Children love exploring wordless books.  By encouraging your child to “read” these books to you, you are helping them begin the process of constructing stories in their head from information on a page.  Their attention to detail grows, and they develop a passion for books and get excited about trying to read for themselves.  Here are some terrific wordless or nearly wordless books. They all feature wonderful illustrations and richly imagined characters and stories that will provide you and your child hours (if not years!) of engaging discussions.  Eva Moskowitz  https://lithub.com/the-joy-of-perusing-pictures-a-reading-list-of-wordless-picture-books/  

On November 30, 1955, Patricia Highsmith published her fourth novel (her third under her own name—she originally published 1952’s The Price of Salt as Claire Morgan), a psychological thriller starring the one and only Tom Ripley, the character who would become Highsmith’s most famous.  This, of course, was The Talented Mr. Ripley, a book that arrived to acclaim and continues to delight and influence readers and writers of all kinds.  Highsmith famously wrote the book in six months in 1954.  “It felt like Ripley was writing it,” she said later, “it just came out.” * Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White begins serialization in All the Year Round (November 26, 1859) * Charles Dodgson sends the handwritten manuscript of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground (soon to be published as you-know-what) to Alice Liddell (November 26, 1862)  * The first part of Edmund Spenser’s “The Faerie Queene” is registered for publication (December 1, 1589) * Sherlock Holmes makes his first appearance in the story “A Study in Scarlet''—which would not end up being one of Arthur Conan Doyle’s favorites (December 1, 1887) * Isaac Asmiov’s I, Robot is published (December 2, 1950)  Literary Hub  November 26, 2023  

Cornwall is a ceremonial county in South West England.  It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations and is the homeland of the Cornish people.  The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, Devon to the east, and the English Channel to the south.  The largest settlement is Falmouth, and the county town is Truro.  The county is rural, with an area of 3,562 square kilometres (1,375 sq mi) and population of 568,210.  Most of Cornwall forms a single unitary authority area, and the Isles of Scilly have a unique local authority.  The Cornish nationalist movement disputes the constitutional status of Cornwall and seeks greater autonomy within the United Kingdom.  It includes the southernmost point on Great Britain, Lizard Point, and forms a large part of the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  The AONB also includes Bodmin Moor, an upland outcrop of the Cornubian batholith granite formation.  The county contains many short rivers; the longest is the Tamar, which forms the border with Devon.  Cornwall had a minor Roman presence, and later formed part of the Brittonic kingdom of Dumnonia.  From the 7th century, the Britons in the South West increasingly came into conflict with the expanding Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, eventually being pushed west of the Tamar; by the Norman Conquest Cornwall was administered as part of England, though it retained its own culture.  The remainder of the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period were relatively settled, with Cornwall developing its tin mining industry and becoming a duchy in 1337.  During the Industrial Revolution, the tin and copper mines were expanded and then declined, with china clay extraction becoming a major industry.  Railways were built, leading to a growth of tourism in the 20th century.  The Cornish language became extinct as a living community language at the end of the 18th century, but is now being revived.  See graphics at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornwall 

John Moore Cornwell (1931–2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré was an English author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television.  "[A] sophisticated, morally ambiguous writer", he is considered one of the greatest novelists of the postwar era.  During the 1950s and 1960s, he worked for both the Security Service (MI5) and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6).  Near the end of his life, due to his strong disapproval of Brexit, he took out David Irish citizenship, which was possible due to his having an Irish grandparent.  Le Carré's third novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963), became an international best-seller, was adapted as an award-winning film, and remains one of his best-known works.  This success allowed him to leave MI6 to become a full-time author.  His novels which have been adapted for film or television include The Looking Glass War (1965), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1974), Smiley's People (1979), The Little Drummer Girl (1983), The Night Manager (1993), The Tailor of Panama (1996), The Constant Gardener (2001), A Most Wanted Man (2008) and Our Kind of Traitor (2010).  Philip Roth said that A Perfect Spy (1986) was "the best English novel since the war".  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_le_Carr%C3%A9  

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2750  November 29, 2023  

The Atacama Desert is a desert plateau located on the Pacific coast of South America, in the north of Chile.  Stretching over a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land west of the Andes Mountains, it covers an area of 105,000 km² (41,000 sq mi), which increases to 128,000 km² (49,000 sq mi) if the barren lower slopes of the Andes are included.  The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in the world, and the second driest overall, behind some specific spots within the McMurdo Dry Valleys.  It is the only hot true desert to receive less precipitation than polar deserts, and the largest fog desert in the world.  The area has been used as an experimentation site for Mars expedition simulations due to its similarities to the Martian environment.  The constant temperature inversion caused by the cool north-flowing Humboldt Ocean current and the strong Pacific anticyclone contribute to the extreme aridity of the desert.  The most arid region of the Atacama Desert is situated between two mountain chains, the Andes and the Chilean Coast Range, which are high enough to prevent moisture advection from either the Pacific or the Atlantic Ocean, creating a two-sided rain shadow effect.  See graphics at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atacama_Desert 

Zibby Owens is a passionate philanthropist and volunteer leader for health and education organizations.  She serves on the boards of the Child Mind Institute, Mount Sinai Health System, Mount Sinai Parenting Center, and The Center for Fiction, and she is an advisory board member of The New York Public Library.  Through her leadership on the Board of the Child Mind Institute, she has been instrumental in advancing the Child Mind Institute’s mission to transform the lives of children struggling with mental health and learning disorders.  Zibby is the founder of Zibby Owens Media, a privately held media company designed to help busy people live their best lives by connecting to books and each other.  The three divisions include Zibby Books, a publishing house for fiction and memoir, Zcast, a podcast network powered by Acast that includes Zibby’s award-winning podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books, and Moms Don’t Have Time To, a new content and community site including Zibby’s Virtual Book Club, events, and the former Moms Don’t Have Time to Write.  https://childmind.org/bio/zibby-owens/ 

Nov. 25, 2023  The automotive experts at Edmunds have selected five standout vehicles with starting prices less than $30,000.

SMALL CAR:  HONDA CIVIC   MIDSIZE SEDAN:  KIA K5   SMALL COUPE: SUBARU BRZ   ELECTRIC CAR:  CHEVROLET BOLT EV   HYBRID CAR: HYUNDAI SONATA HYBRID  Find descriptions at https://apnews.com/article/affordable-vehicles-cars-shopping-6f444432be3a39c775d7316bd8c7701d

Co-hosted by The Talk’s Sheryl Underwood and Comedian Roy Wood, Jr., the two-hour GRIO awards broadcast on November 25, 2023 celebrates “icons, leaders and legends” from the African-American community, with honorees spanning film, music, comedy, television, sports, philanthropy, business, fashion, social justice, environmental justice and education.  Mariah Carey will be honored with the Music Icon Award, with musical tributes from her godmother, Patti LaBelle, and EGOT-winner Jennifer Hudson, who recently had the Queen of Christmas on her talk show.  Denzel Washington, meantime, will receive the Film Icon Award, with Kevin Hart receiving the Comedy Icon Award.  Dwayne Johnson will also be in attendance to receive the Inspirational Icon Award.  Other honorees include Don Cheadle, dancer Misty Copeland, Tamron Hall, Steve Harvey, and Eddie Murphy, who will receive the singular Icon Award.  In addition to LaBelle and Hudson, musical performers include Boyz II Men, Coco Jones and Smokey Robinson.  https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/watch-the-grio-awards-online-free-streaming-1235677136/  “grio is short for griot–an African storyteller.  Griots and Bards–the European equivalent– were artists, mostly traveling poets and musicians, who served as guardians of traditions and bridges between generations.”   Spoken inspiration during the ceremony:  * help others * be kind * be nice

A body of clay, a mind full of play, a moment's life -- that's me. - Harivansh Rai Bachchan, poet (27 Nov 1907-2003) 

Paul Lynch (born 1977) is an Irish novelist known for his poetic, lyrical style and exploration of complex themes.  He has published five novels and has won several awards, including the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Lynch_(writer)  

The 2023 Booker Prize is a literary award given for the best English novel of the year.  The winner was announced on 26 November 2023, at the Old Billingsgate in London.  The winning writer receives £50,000.  The prize was won by Paul Lynch, for his novel Prophet Song. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Booker_Prize 

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2749  November 27, 2023

The noun woof is derived from Middle English wof, oof, owf (“threads in a piece of woven fabric at right angles to the warp, weft, woof; also sometimes the warp; transverse filaments of a spider web”) [and other forms] (the forms beginning with w were influenced by warp and weft), from Old English ōwef, āwef, from ō-, ā- (prefix meaning ‘away; from; off; out’) + *wef (“web”) (only attested in the form gewef (“woof”); from wefan (“to weave”), from Proto-West Germanic *weban (“to weave”), from Proto-Germanic *webaną (“to weave”), from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid; to weave”)). The verb is derived from the noun.   woof (plural woofs)  (weaving)  The set of yarns carried by the shuttle of a loom which are placed crosswise at right angles to and interlaced with the warp; the weft. quotations ▼  (by extension) A woven fabric; also, the texture of a fabric. quotations ▼  (by extension, loosely, chiefly poetic) The thread or yarn used to form the weft of woven fabric; the fill, the weft. quotations ▼  (obsolete, rare) Synonym of weaving (“the process of making woven material on a loom”) quotations ▼  (figurative)  Something which is interwoven with another thing. quotations ▼ An underlying foundation or structure of something; a fabric.  quotations ▼  Derived terms  warp and woof  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/woof#English   

WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?  Bridge size cards are 57 x 89 millimeters or 2.25 by 3.5 inches while poker size cards are 64 x 89 millimeters or 2.5 by 3.5 inches.  Both decks consist of 52 cards including some Jokers, but one set of cards is relatively thin compared to the other.  When playing with bridge size cards, the player holds up to thirteen cards and that extra 0.25 inch can add up fast when holding poker size playing cards.  Simply put, bridge cards are smaller and thinner because you have to hold more of them.  You can use bridge size playing cards to play poker.  And in actual fact, most poker rooms in professional casinos use these cards because of their cost and size.  The cards are more affordable than poker size playing cards.  Moreover, KEM, the most popular casino card manufacturer, focuses on bridge size playing cards.  Interestingly, players use poker cards to play blackjack and use bridge cards in poker rooms.  https://greatbridgelinks.com/poker-size-cards-vs-bridge-size-cards/   

On November 14th, 1889, a newspaper reporter named Nellie Bly (a pen name; she was born Elizabeth Jane Cochran) set out from New York City on a quest to beat the record of Jules Verne’s fictional Phileas Fogg, who traveled around the world in 80 days in Verne’s 1872 adventure novel, Around the World in 80 Days.  Initially, her superiors at Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World didn’t want to let Bly go.  “It is impossible for you to do it,” the managing editor told her.  “In the first place you are a woman and would need a protector, and even if it were possible for you to travel alone you would need to carry so much baggage that it would detain you in making rapid changes . . . no one but a man can do this.”  “Very well,” Bly replied.  “Start the man and I’ll start the same day for some other newspaper and beat him.”  They didn’t doubt that, and eventually they relented.  Bly boarded the Augusta Victoria with nothing but the clothes on her back—a dress and overcoat (made specially of sturdy material for the occasion)—and a single handbag.  Bly’s goal was to make the trip in 75 days; she completed it in 72, arriving back in Jersey City to great fanfare (and lots of newspaper sales for the World) on January 25, 1890.  She also beat out a competitor—another female journalist named Elizabeth Bisland who had been attempting the same feat (in the opposite direction) for Cosmopolitan.  Literary Hub  November 12, 2023   

The assassination of John F. Kennedy, the 35th U.S. president, occurred on November 22, 1963, while Kennedy was riding in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas.  Kennedy was the fourth U.S. president to be assassinated and the most recent to have died in office.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page   

What loneliness is more lonely than distrust? - George Eliot (pen name of Mary Ann Evans), novelist (22 Nov 1819-1880)   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2748  November 22, 2023 

uke-e  noun  (art) A kind of ukiyo-e (“Japanese painting or woodblock print showing a scene of everyday life”) depicting an auspicious subject, which was popular in Japan during the late 1800s.  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/uke-e#English   

Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries.  Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; flora and fauna; and erotica.  The term ukiyo-e (浮世絵) translates as 'picture[s] of the floating world'.  In 1603, the city of Edo (Tokyo) became the seat of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate. The chōnin class (merchants, craftsmen and workers), positioned at the bottom of the social order, benefited the most from the city's rapid economic growth, and began to indulge in and patronize the entertainment of kabuki theatre, geisha, and courtesans of the pleasure districts; the term ukiyo ('floating world') came to describe this hedonistic lifestyle.  Printed or painted ukiyo-e works were popular with the chōnin class, who had become wealthy enough to afford to decorate their homes with them.  The earliest ukiyo-e works emerged in the 1670s, with Hishikawa Moronobu's paintings and monochromatic prints of beautiful women.  Colour prints were introduced gradually, and at first were only used for special commissions.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukiyo-e    

James Renwick Jr. (born 1818, Bloomingdale in Upper Manhattan 1895) was an American architect in the 19th century, noted especially for designing churches and museums. The Encyclopedia of American Architecture calls him "one of the most successful American architects of his time".  He learned most of his skills from his father, and then studied engineering at Columbia College, now Columbia University, in Manhattan.  He entered Columbia at age twelve and graduated in 1836.  He received a M.A. three years later.  Renwick received his first major commission at the age of twenty-five in 1843, in which he won a competitive bidding process to design Grace Church, an Episcopal Church in New York City, which was built in English Gothic style.  In 1846, Renwick won a competition to design of the Smithsonian Institution Building in Washington, D.C.  Built between 1847 and 1855, the Smithsonian's many-turreted building, often referred to as "the Castle," was designed in Romanesque style, as requested by the Smithsonian's Board of Regents, and was built with red sandstone quarried at Seneca Quarry in Seneca, Maryland.  The Smithsonian Institution Building proved influential in inspiring the Gothic revival in the United States.  In 1849, Renwick designed the Free Academy Building at present-day City College of New York at Lexington Avenue and 23rd Street in New York City.  It was one of the first Gothic Revival college buildings on the U.S. East Coast.  Renwick went on to design St. Patrick's Cathedral, on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 51st Street, which is considered his most notable architectural achievement.  He was chosen as architect for the Roman Catholic cathedral in 1853; construction began in 1858, and the cathedral opened in May 1879.  The cathedral is the most ambitious Gothic-style structure, and includes a mixture of German, French, and English Gothic influences.  Renwick was the supervising architect for the Commission of Charities and Correction.  A small group of Renwick's architectural drawings and papers are held by the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University.  See pictures at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Renwick_Jr.   

The Best Reviewed Books of the Week Michael Cunningham’s Day, Benjamin Taylor’s Chasing Bright Medusas  A Life of Willa Cather, and Claire Keegan’s So Late in the Day all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week.  November 17, 2023 by Book Marks   https://lithub.com/what-should-you-read-next-here-are-the-best-reviewed-books-of-the-week-11-17-2023/   

the world is someone's oyster  proverb  All opportunities are open to someone; the world is theirs.  From the version of the play The Merry Wives of Windsor published in the First Folio (1623) of the works of the English playwright William Shakespeare (baptized 1564; died 1616).  The original context was that Ancient Pistol would use force to obtain a loan from Sir John Falstaff, like prising open an oyster with a sword to obtain a pearl.  Derived:  the world is one's lobster  The First Folio of the English playwright William Shakespeare’s plays, regarded as one of the most influential books ever published, was entered into the Stationers’ Register  400 years ago (on 18 November according to the Julian calendar) in 1623. This term originates from the play The Merry Wives of Windsor which appears in the book.  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/the_world_is_someone%27s_oyster#English   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2747  November 20, 2023