FINAL POST: Plans For 2020 and Beyond: Follow Go Shopping Bees on Twitter

In November 2016, this blog was started with the intentions of sharing great gift ideas for every occasion. As a practical business decision, we have decided that beginning this year 2020, this blog will no longer be maintained and the majority of our posting activity will be shared via X (formerly Twitter).  

Thank you for your support. Below is an alphabetical listing of all posts from 2016 to 2019 published on this blog. 

• Art Lovers : Gift Ideas : Fairy and Fantasy Art of Molly Harrison
• Book Lovers : Gift Ideas for Readers of Science Fiction and Fantasy
• Books for Children (or For Adults Who Love Reading Children's Books?)
• Cookbooks Recommended For the Young and the Old
• Decide Your Halloween Costume Based on Your Birthday!
• Entertainment for Children : "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
• Food and Drink : Do You Have a Favorite Jelly, Jam, Preserves orFruit Spread?
• For Fantasy Sci-Fi Horror Art Lovers or Lovers of Asian Artists
• Gift for Cat Lovers Who Can't Own a Cat
• Gift Giving : Romantic Gift to Her? Chocolate or Corset?
• Gift Giving : Shopping for Retro and Vintage Gifts?
• Gift Ideas: Jewelry: Talisman or Crucifix?
• Gift Shopping for Jazz Lovers
• Gifts for Her: Only Sexy Things: Corsets
• Gifts for Music Lovers : Magnificent Tenors : Andrea Bocelli
• Grocery and Gourmet : Herbal Teas : Lavender, Calendula and HibiscusHerbs
• Halloween Fun! Suppose You Could Create Your Own Monster
• Health and Beauty: The History and the Health Benefits ofAromatherapy
• Home and Garden : Gifts Ideas For Bird Lovers
• Little Black Dress - Doing It First Lady Style!
• Loner Games ~ When You Want To Be Alone (Plus Bonus Find!)
• Natural Remedies: The Four Thieves ~ Fact or Folklore?
• Only Sexy Things : Top 5 Lingerie Brands
• Protect Your Home : Home Security : Crime Prevention
• Shopping for Christmas, Valentine's Day? (or any other special day) :Gifts for Her : Fragrances
• T is for Throwback Thursday and Tulips
• Top 5 Essentials For Every Cyclist (Guest Post)

Follow on X (formerly Twitter)

Happy New Year AND Happy Shopping!

Books for Children (or For Adults Who Love Reading Children's Books?)

The little kid in me enjoys reading and also listening to children's books.

Commercials make fun of adults who won't be seen enjoying their favorite kid's cereal, but what if they were caught reading a children's book?

Do you enjoy reading books for children? Not reading children's books to children for their education, entertainment, and enjoyment. But do you - the adult-like reading them?

Several years back, my spouse and I contemplated the idea of writing books for children. We even had ourselves tested to see if we had the necessary skills and aptitude. We were looking for a means of earning income while working from home and caring for our young children and thought this might be a viable solution. The test results were persuasive, so we decided on this path to pursue our financial goals. We will never know if we would have been as successful as the author of the Harry Potter books. After a few manuscript rejections by various publishers, we turned our efforts to more practical, more immediate, income-earning opportunities.

Although no longer interested in writing books for children, I discovered something about myself that I did not know. I thoroughly enjoy immersing myself in children's books. Not reading them to my children or to children, but I like reading them for myself. Yes. It's an indulgence.


Many books for children, adolescents or young adults are about 100 to 250 pages and are a quick read. Those marvelous children's picture books with their exquisite illustrations are even shorter reads; about 25 pages, pictures included. But what a wonderful distraction they are from the daily grind of work, housework, grocery shopping, and other mundane chores. They're so adventurous and other-worldly. Reading children's books actually refreshes and energizes me.


During the course of our failed attempt at becoming children's book authors, I found numerous writers in this field that I wish I had been introduced to when I myself was a child. I had never heard of many of them and yet they were award-winning, outstanding, notable, respected authors. Laurence Yep, Katherine Paterson, Madeleine L'Engle and Jane Yolen are four such writers.

So, if you're wondering what would be a guilt-free indulgence to set yourself free from your daily routine for just a few moments, try reading a children's book. Choose books by the authors mentioned above, or if you don't know where to begin, visit Al's Book Club for Kids. Oprah also publishes a Kids' Reading List. Although these lists were created with children in mind, they are perfect for those of us who want to indulge our inner child.



References:

• Paterson, Katherine. Rebels of the Heavenly Kingdom. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1983. Print.
• L'Engle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1962. Print.
• "Jane Yolen." Fantastic Fiction. Web. 27 Apr 2011.
• "Al's Book Club for Kids.", TODAY.com: Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, Ann Curry, Al Roker, Natalie Morales, TODAY Show Video, News, Recipes, Health, Pets. Web. 27 Apr 2011.
• "Kids' Reading List - Oprah.com." Oprah Winfrey's Official Website - Live Your Best Life - Oprah.com. Web. 27 Apr 2011.
• "Author Katherine Paterson After Bridge to Terabithia - Oprah.com."Oprah Winfrey's Official Website - Live Your Best Life - Oprah.com. Web. 27 Apr. 2011.
• "FIND A BOOK: L'ENGLE, MADELEINE." Anita Silvey's Children's Book-A-Day Almanac. Web. 27 Apr 2011.

Suggested link: Children who have published books and have made an impact on the world of literature. Click this link to read Literary History: Children Authors. It's fascinating!



( NOTE: Full article previously published a YAHOO Voices.  YCN website shut down.  Portions of republished various places around the web. )


Browse books by the authors:
Laurence Yep
Katherine Paterson
Madeleine L'Engle
Jane Yolen

Gift Shopping for Jazz Lovers

First I'll share a cool quote and some information links about where to find cool jazz around the web. Then I'll share some gift ideas. If that's OK keep reading this post.


"Jazz does not belong to one race or culture, but is a gift that America has given the world."
- Ahmad Alaadeen

Entertainment for Children : "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

"Redwall" by Brian Jacques is for children (and adults who have a child's heart). 😊 

- Great as Animated Series or Book Series

Redwall was published in 1987, and it propelled the author Brian Jacques (1939 - 2011) into international stardom.

A crop of Image:  Brian Jacques
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

If you don't want to read the book series, then watch the animated series. Check YouTube. The hero is a mouse, named Matthias. Read the books or watch the series with your children or by yourself. I watched it by myself. It was fantastic!! My daughter read some of the books. She said they were fantastic!

She likes to read!  I like to watch the animation.  

We were both very pleased. 😊

 

Redwall (Redwall, Book 1) By Brian Jacques

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Ep. 1 - "Cluny The Scourge Part One" Part 1

Gifts for Music Lovers : Magnificent Tenors : Andrea Bocelli

My introduction to magnificent operatic tenors came through two avenues. Movies which starred the great and incomparable Italian tenor Mario Lanza; and via cartoons. Can’t remember the specific cartoon but there was a dog and he was belting out a song on stage in the best opera voice ever! Think it was an old Tom and Jerry cartoon. Can’t find it on YouTube. Any Tom and Jerry fans out there? Holler!

Anyway … fast forward to life AFTER meeting my S.O. (significant other), who introduces me to music never played in my childhood home.

• He introduced me to an Italian tenor named Andrea Bocelli.
• Visit Bocelli’s YouTube channel.

Mr. Bocelli says that he derived his inspiration and example from Mario Lanza. This man has collaborated with many other artists such as Celene Dion, Mary J. Blige, Sarah Brightman, and David Foster. Received his album Romanza as a gift. This is just my humble opinion, and no disrespect intended to Mr. Lanza, but Mr. Bocelli is in a class all his own! Mario Lanza may have given him the impetus to pursue his singing career, but now that he has made his mark, there is nobody in a league with him! He doesn’t just sing opera. He sings popular music as well.


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These days there are many well known operatic tenors (who also sing popular music) and even tenor groups like Il Divo. I love the sound of a male tenor’s voice: solo or in a group. Don’t you?

♦ ♦ ♦

Feature Image Credit: The 21st Annual Crystal Awards: Andrea Bocelli | Flickr.com

Content first pubished in 2017 at Literacy Base


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Gift Giving : Shopping for Retro and Vintage Gifts?

Looked up the definition of the word “vintage” and found some talk about wine.

Definition: the year or place in which wine, especially wine of high quality, was produced. Example: "1986 was a classic vintage for the Cabernet Sauvignon".

Wizzley.com: Another Great Gift Shopping Site

If you are looking for more great online shopping sites, like this one, just scroll down the sidebar on this website and look at the list of sites mentioned as "♦ Recommended Shopping Sites".  If you noticed a sited called Wizzley.com and you're curious to know more, this post is a quick intro.  Wizzley is a site, based in Germany, that was created to grow a community of writers/affiliate marketers, and give them a platform to share their passion or expertise, showcase their writing skills, and complement their work with related affiliate product suggestions, which helps them earn supplemental income. Unfortunately, the owners are no longer accepting new members. Fortunately, they have allowed the old members, like me, to keep their product pages online. Now all I need to do is invite you to visit my Wizzles. Consider yourself invited.