Books for Walls Project, Learning About the World

(We are no longer using this feature) Our fun Clustrmap --every time a new visitor 

clicks on our site, we get a red dot.

The map counts visits, not hits (page views.)

In honor of our upcoming one year anniversary (April 1, 2011) we finally updated the countries listed on our Clustermap. During the first several weeks of the project The Sisters couldn't wait to look at the map, announce new dots, and learn about each new place. Soon there were new dots, so many dots, it was hard to keep track of the new ones. So there was a bit of sleuthing and list organizing to keep track. It took us a while to figure out all our newest countries, since last June, but we did and we updated Covering the Globe (click the link to see how BFWP is growing out into the world.) 

The Avenue of Baobabs
in Madagascar --know
anyone in there? Please
share the project with
them, we cannot wait
to learn about reading
on Madagascar!

One BIG part of the Books for Walls Project is learning about the world --the random visits (red dots) spark interest in places-- this morning we talked about Baobab trees (as we dreamed of making it to Madagascar), learned a little more about Israel and talked about Morocco and how close it is to Spain (and thought about The Sisters' uncle who rode a camel in Morocco!) Remember when we reached Antarctica and made a new friend?

We are so close to reaching all 50 states only one more to go: Delaware! If you know any bibliophiles in Delaware, please share the project with them. We have a great way to celebrate reaching all 50 states, so please help us get there and find out what it is!

The Sisters voted to clear the map regularly (monthly) so that they can keep track of the data more simply. That way it will be easier to note new countries as they pop up. We are working on a big wall map with fun red push pins to update each new country. Who knew keeping track of red dots could be so much fun?


Learn a little about the places BFWP has been since June, each country has a link, click it!

Argentina, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Colombia , Costa Rica , Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Hungary, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Kuwait, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Turkey


Visit Covering the Globe to see all the maps and watch how the internet can spread an idea... all over the globe! So far this has been an amazing way to teach two little girls (and their parents) about our amazing world. We hope you enjoy too!


Please take a moment, click here, and tell us where in the 
wonderful world that you are from!

The Birthday Story Challenge (from the Little Sister)

The Fairy Piñata!

The Mom is helping me, The Little Sister, with the typing for this week's Challenge.

This week is my 7th birthday so I wanted to make a "Birthday Challenge" and since Books for Walls Project is about telling our stories I want to ask all of you readers about your birthday memories and traditions --to tell me a story about birthdays!!

The Mom and I will tell you first about one of our traditions!

The fairy piñata (see the picture!) that we made many years ago --usually piñatas get smashed to bits, but the fairy is special, she  is a pull string piñata and so we fill it up and then get to reuse it over and over! We made her 6 years ago for The Big Sister's 5th birthday which also happened to be our first Mice and Beans Birthday party.

The Big Sister found the book Mice and Beans by Pam Munoz Ryan which is about a grandmother getting ready for her granddaughter's birthday. Thanks to the wonderful story one of our birthday party traditions is to serve rice, beans, fresh cilantro-corn salsa and tortillas --no matter how many people come to the party there is always enough! This year the Little Sister is celebrating her 7th birthday, just like the little girl in the story. There is nothing like a Mice and Beans Birthday!

In the comments below tell us stories about birthdays, traditions, memories... have fun, tell the Little Sister and the Books for Walls Project Readers a story!

Herstory Challenge

When I (The Mom) was little I though history meant HIStory, his story. Most history I learned was about men. How wonderful is it that now we have a whole month dedicated to the fact that women of the world have a pretty amazing history too. And we'd like to bring attention to one amazing and simple fact: without women there would be no men!! (That makes us giggle every time and yes, we are giggling now as we type this!)


For this week's challenge we continue our celebration of International Women's Day (take a moment, read yesterday's post --there are some wonderful comments about some wonderful women!) and focus on Women's History Month which is celebrated in March America. 

2011's Women's History Month theme is "Our History is our Strength." The National Women's History Project further explains,  “Our shared history unites families, communities, and nations.  Although women’s history is intertwined with the history shared with men, several factors - social, religious, economic, and biological - have worked to create a unique sphere of women's history.” The Books for Walls Project invites you to share books about women's history!


For more on Women's History Month:

• National Women's History Museum for all sorts of goodies, including an online exhibit.
• Find information and resources at the Library of Congress' Women's History Month website.
• This year's theme is "Our History is our Strength"
•  Visit the National Women's History Project

Now, take the Herstory Challenge and tell us about a book whether fiction, non-fiction, poetry, essays, picture books -you name it. Tell us about the book and why a person seeking women's history might want to read it!

Please use the following format for your comment:

Title of Book, Author, and your thoughts on the book.

Celebrate the 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day

"This year, we commemorate the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, a global celebration of the economic, political, and social achievements of women past, present, and future.  International Women's Day is a chance to pay tribute to ordinary women throughout the world and is rooted in women's centuries-old struggle to participate in society on an equal footing with men.  This day reminds us that, while enormous progress has been made, there is still work to be done before women achieve true parity." Excerpt  President Obama's Women's History Month Proclamation 2011

How will you honor women on this 100th anniversary? The Mom and The Sisters came up with a few ideas:

ONE: Today get in touch with a woman

a woman you admire, 

a woman you believe in, 

a woman who has helped you through a hard time, 

a woman you love,

a woman that taught you,

a woman who listened,

a woman who writes,

a woman who cared for you,

a woman who sings,

a woman who laughs,

a woman who cooked for you,

a woman who loves you  

and then tell her that you are celebrating her today! 

TWO: Take a moment and tell the Books for Walls Project about a woman who you'd like the world to recognize, tell us about one of your personal heroes.

THREE: Support tomorrow's women by supporting girls today!

• Give a "High Five" to Girl Up (a $5 donation will help the United Nations on their girl focused campaign --for more click here.)
• Take a moment and watch a video to learn about the Girl Effect. 
• Read Three Cups of Tea or Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson --The Big Sister, The Mom and The Bean met Greg and his work made a lasting impression on all of us!

Happy International Women's Day!

Amazing Minds: Adora Svitak

The Sisters watched Adora's TED talk yesterday and were "wowed." Adora Svitak is an amazing person. (Notice: I do not say young person, I do not say girl, I say PERSON.) Her ability to share, speak, write, publish and inspire --left all of us feeling ready to work hard and listen. Follow Adora's blog to learn more.


_____________________
And in other news:

We wondered how long it took to make "Organizing the Bookshelf" the wonderful stop motion film we posted last week.  And so, we found and then contacted the creators!

Sean Ohlenkamp and Lisa Blonder Ohlenkamp and they were happy to share insights:

"I think the actual photography of our video took something like 11 hours if you exclude the breaks we took, and then a couple more hours of selecting the music and editing the video in After Effects (Sean did all of the computer stuff - I have no idea how the computer side of it works). Stop motion definitely requires patience."

The Teacher's grand-daughter who came into the world yesterday morning: Welcome to the world sweet baby, we're giddy to share books and stories with you!

What Are You Reading RIGHT NOW! Challenge March 2011

It has been a while since we started a new list... 

...so go ahead tell us, What are you reading RIGHT NOW. 

Thanks to The Big Sister for originally coming up with this challenge!

So, what are you Reading RIGHT NOW? 

Please use the following format for your comment:

Title of Book, Author, and your thoughts on the book.