One Good Thing by Jillie

I usually review books or movies but I found a blog that I just have to share. It’s called One Good Thing and every day the author gives you one good thing. It may be a recipe, a craft or a way to do something cheaper yourself. The author of this blog, Jillie, has had some personal challenges including suffering from alcohol addiction. Her website is now her passion and she brings the rest of us something good, every day. Jillie really has an answer for everything! People ask her how to do things cheaper, how to replace store bought … Continue reading →

International Children’s Digital Libary Foundation

I have an amazing resource to share today. The International Children’s Digital Library Foundation is a free online library with thousands of children’s books from around the world. This digital library has an amazing selection of books. To give you an idea, there are currently 662 books in many different languages in the preschool age range alone, and 121 that were originally written in English. You will find books written in Portuguese, Yiddish, Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Dutch, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Italian, French, Norwegian, and many, many more. Most of the books are translated into English. Some are translated into many … Continue reading →

Battle of the Books

My twin boys are busy this summer reading up for Battle of the Books. They love to read, have great memories, and love to discuss (argue) about books, so this a great program for them. We’ve had a lot of fun asking each other questions about the books we’ve read. The kids actually do a lot better than I do! Battle of the Books is a reading incentive program for students in grades 4th-12th. Our elementary school has sponsored a team for many years. Students who are interested in participating read from a list of pre-chosen books. Most of the … Continue reading →

What is GoodReads?

Those of you who are familiar with Shelfari will immediately catch the premise of GoodReads, which has essentially the same concept – recommend books to your friends and get recommendations back. But it’s not just about reading, it’s a whole social network. You start your GoodReads experience by creating an account. You can upload a picture or an avatar (or leave that field blank, but how boring is that?) add personal information or not, and create your profile to suit you. Then you start adding books to your list. You can search for authors’ names or titles, or you can … Continue reading →

Jan Brett’s Website – Over 4000 Fun Activities

Jan Brett is a well known children’s author and illustrator. Her artwork is beautiful and unique. She shares it for free on her website, www.janbrett.com, with over four thousand pages of activities, coloring pages, drawing instructions, games, and projects that are sure to educate and entertain children for hours. You can view video instructions for drawing hedgehogs, polar bears, lions, elephants, chickens, bunnies, and even gingerbread babies. You’ll even find some recipes, and craft instructions. Online games include a concentration game, a scrambler, and interactive coloring pages. My favorites though are the chance to decorate a Christmas tree and gingerbread … Continue reading →

Have You Checked Out IMDB.com?

I love the Internet Movie Database. I use it frequently as I’m blogging over in Movie Reviews. If you haven’t visited this site, you really should go take a look. When the homepage comes up, you can see at a glance which movies are coming out that week and which movies are doing the best at the box office. There’s also a list of what movies are coming out in the theaters in future weeks, and what DVDs are being released. It’s a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of movie entertainment. Off to the side is … Continue reading →

StoryCasting: For the Movie in Your Mind

Have you ever read a book and thought to yourself, “I can really see (insert actor’s name) playing this role if it’s ever made into a movie.” StoryCasting is a new website that lets you share your opinions on which actors should play which book characters. I just spent some time over there, and let me say, it was a lot of fun. First I created my account, by filling in a username and password. Then I chose an avatar to represent me—okay, they didn’t really have one that I felt looked like me, but the one I chose was … Continue reading →

What are Blogs?

Blogs have only been around for the last little while. They first appeared in 1993, gained a little in popularity in 1997, but in 1999 they really took off. Today, it’s estimated that two new blogs are created every second, with 1.6 million postings a day, which come out to 18.6 posts per second. Yes, I’m sure I contribute to that. . . A blog is an online journal, so to speak. It’s a site where you collect your thoughts and ideas and post them for others to see. Most blogs are informal, while others are professional. Let’s take a … Continue reading →

What are Google Alerts?

Just when you think the Internet couldn’t get any cooler, it does. I recently started using Google Alerts. It’s a fascinating tool that allows you to choose a topic you’re interested in and be alerted anytime a blog is written on that topic or a website mentions it. I like to keep on top of what people are saying about me, so I put “Tristi Pinkston” in as a search term. Once a day, I get an e-mail which shows me a list of all the places where I’ve been mentioned that day, along with links and the first sentence … Continue reading →

Manage Your Library Account Online

Have I mentioned recently that I love my library? Are you sick to death of me bringing it up? Well, I can’t help it – I really have the greatest library on earth. One of the things I like best about it is the ability I have to access it online. Depending on where you live, you might have this option as well – ask your librarian the next time you’re in. When I sit down at my computer, I click on the link that takes me to my library. I love it so much, it’s saved in my favorites … Continue reading →