Collection: Bookmarks- Small Individual Collections

Bookmarks

As you probably know I am trying to beat the World Record for Largest Collection of Bookmarks. The current record holder is Frank Divendal from the Netherlands. He has 103,009 different bookmarks from all over the world, as of February 8th, 2010. As of this post (January 2014) I have 493 bookmarks in my collection! I have am no where close but I like to have goals!

This is a photo of the box I keep all my bookmarks in!

I organize my bookmarks into individual collections:

Smaller Collections (In-depth look below):

• Metal
• Bookshops
• READ
• Bookish                          
• Movies/TV
• Magnet
• Clips
• Wooden

Larger Collections (these will have individual blogs because they are my favorites and thus need more attention. Links will be embedded within this post when those blogs are complete):

• Harry Potter
• From Places
• Signed
• Unique
• Handmade
• Found in Library Books

Small Individual Collections

My METAL bookmark collection!
Most of these were gifts. 

My BOOKSHOP bookmarks!
Some of these were found by my pages at work in the books and given to me.

My READ bookmarks!
These consist of free paper bookmarks that are given out at public and school libraries.
90% of these were given to me by my Cousin Kelly!!

My BOOKISH bookmarks!
This collection includes bookmarks that promote books or feature book characters!

My MOVIE/TV bookmarks!
These include bookmarks of movies and shows that are adapted from books, or bookmarks with movie/show characters!

My CLIP bookmarks!

My WOODEN bookmarks!

My MAGNET bookmarks!
These bookmarks open up to clip over the page!

BONUS: this is a picture of my Largest
and Smallest bookmarks!

If you have extra bookmarks lying around collecting dust that you don't want anymore or if you have a book you'd like to promote with bookmarks, send them my way!

Email me at Littlewood10@aol.com with "bookmarks" as the subject if you'd like to help my collection grow!

I hope you enjoyed this tour of my smaller bookmark collections!

Do you collect bookmarks, too? 

~Laura!

Review: Hollow Earth by Carole & John Barrowman

Hollow Earth by Carole and John Barrowman 

Release Date: October 30^th, 2012 

Publisher: Aladdin 

Age Group: Middle Grade/Young Adult (could go either way) 

Pages: 381 

Source: Library 

Series: Hollow Earth (#1) 

Other Titles in the Series: Bone Quill (#2) 

Summary (goodreads.com): Imagination matters most in a world where art can keep monsters trapped—or set them free.

Lots of twins have a special connection, but twelve-year-old Matt and Emily Calder can do way more than finish each other’s sentences. Together, they are able to bring art to life and enter paintings at will. Their extraordinary abilities are highly sought after, particularly by a secret group who want to access the terrors called Hollow Earth. All the demons, devils, and evil creatures ever imagined are trapped for eternity in the world of Hollow Earth—trapped unless special powers release them.

The twins flee from London to a remote island off the west coast of Scotland in hopes of escaping their pursuers and gaining the protection of their grandfather, who has powers of his own. But the villains will stop at nothing to find Hollow Earth and harness the powers within. With so much at stake, nowhere is safe—and survival might be a fantasy.

My Review:

Let me tell you the story about how I came to read this book. It was on the Children’s  truck I was routing in at work and the first thing I noticed was the cover. It’s hard to ignore a giant stag crashing through a window. I next noticed that the kids were holding a book and STUFF was coming out of it. I knew right then that this book would be interesting so I read the inside cover and decided that I had to read it because the idea that two kids could bring art to life sounded amazing to me. I then wondered who had come up with this brilliant idea and proceeded to check the back flap to see the author’s bio because until that moment I had failed to look at even the author’s name. It was at that point that I started yelling “John Barrowman. John Barrowman?! AS IN CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS OF DOCTOR WHO FAME, THAT JOHN BARROWMAN?! JOHN AND HIS SISTER WROTE A CHILDREN’S BOOK AND I AM JUST FINDING IT NOW?!”  Needless to say I got quite a lot of looks and several “why are you shaking your fist and yelling Barrowman?” and, of course, I decided to check the book out as soon as my shift ended.

            Hollow Earth was a breath of fresh air for me. I had been looking for a kid’s fantasy book that would excite me, leave me guessing, and stay in my head and heart forever. Hollow Earth is that book. I loved everything about it, from the characters, to the plot, and from the dialogue to the setting. The main characters are twins, Em and Matt, and their new friend Zach. All three of them have their own abilities and personalities, which makes them extremely enjoyable to read about. The dialogue as well as the prose of the rest of the novel is beautifully written and engaging. I love how seamlessly the Barrowmans wrote together and would love to know their process. I could clearly see how much their sibling relationship affected the characterization of the twins. Sometimes in twin novels the characters don’t really seem to be related let alone twins, but in Hollow Earth it was plain to see and I think the Barrowman relationship is the reason. The setting for most of the book is a tiny island off the coast of Scotland. Besides the main concept, this was my favorite part because it felt like I was there. I could see the island and hear the distinct dialect of the locals.

When embarking on writing a fantasy, especially for kids, it is important for the magic to be explained in a way that is both exciting and thorough so that it doesn’t either bog down the story or leave readers confused. The Barrowmans were able to do this in Hollow Earth by splitting the story between the main characters’ current timeline in which they themselves learn about the ideas of the Animare (people who can bring art to life) and flashbacks to the Middle Ages that tells the most important story of Animare history, one which affects the current story. The complex history behind the Animare and the Guardians that make sure they stay safe is extraordinary in its depth. It has everything it should including political strife and the historical background with the Middle Ages time line but also by making some of the world’s most famous artists into Animare themselves as a way to integrate us into their world.

I truly cannot praise Hollow Earth enough. I encourage you to find a copy and read it. You might be drawn in by John Barrowman’s name on the cover, but the premise and the well written prose will keep you on the edge of your seat until you beg for the sequel! 

~Laura!

Thoughts From Places: Ohio (2006)

My Trip to 

Sandusky/Cleveland, Ohio (2006)

The Cedar Point Ferris Wheel
which I didn't go on because it's HUGE

I went to Cedar Point, the famous Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio and the Cleveland Zoo as a part of a class trip in 8^th Grade. Let me start off by saying I hate Amusement Parks. I went on this trip for 3 reasons: I had never gone anywhere before, my best friend was going, and I like zoos. 

I don’t remember a lot from this trip. My strongest memory is my ride on the Raptor, the scariest 2 minutes of my life. There were these rules for the trip that said you could NEVER BE ALONE. Well, being me, the rule abiding kid that I am, I stuck to my best friend’s side like we were handcuffed. My best friend wanted to go on the Raptor and I couldn’t be alone and I couldn’t let her go on by herself so I went on the Raptor. Since then I realized that I could have literally done ANYTHING and I could have avoided it. I could have just stayed VERY close to the exit, I could have found my teachers and hung with them until she got off, ANYTHING, but no I went on the stupid coaster. 

I am afraid of heights and high speeds and I get extremely motion sick. THAT THING WENT UPSIDE DOWN, I have never regretted anything as much as that. Somehow the people operating the ride made sure we took off our shoes but they neglected to say that it would have been a good idea to take my glasses off too. I spent the whole time holding on to them for dear life because if they fell off to their doom I would have never survived (I can barely see a foot in front of me clearly). I also probably would have enjoyed the Raptor more if I couldn’t see how close I was to perishing. Needless to say I looked miserable in that photo they take of everyone while they’re on the ride, I am also apparently the best friend in the world seeing as I risked life, limb and SIGHT for her to have a good time on the ride. The only good thing that came out of my ride on the Raptor is that I can say I went on it and didn't die. I can cross "GO ON TERRIFYING ROLLER COASTER OF DOOM" off my list of things to do, I guess.

          The other (way more enjoyable) half of the trip was a visit to the Cleveland Zoo. I think I was the only one who was excited for this part. I don’t remember much of it at all. I remember seeing a tiger and some polar bears, and seeing flamingos and a bald eagle in real life for the first time. I bought an adorable little stuffed tiger that I named Justin after one of my friends who I was in my group and who really liked the tiger too. I really wish I remember more from the zoo because I love animals. I should have written down my memories at the end of each day. 

I remember random bits and pieces from the trip as well; laughing with my favorite gym teacher because he got so sunburned he looked like a lobster; a bowling party we had (maybe in the hotel itself because I don’t remember leaving the hotel); a kid doing the worm in the middle of the alley. I remember that some of the boys sitting in the hotel stair way with their legs dangling down; worrying that a kid got left behind at the park 

(they were fine, they went to the bathroom at the wrong time); what seemed like the longest bus ride of my life. I remember the sense of semi-freedom that comes from being away from home; of staying up late with friends in a hotel room for the first time; of having fun with my best friend in a foreign place! I am really glad that I went on that trip. I remember the excitement that led up to the trip. I remember going with my mom to buy a suitcase (a great ugly pink one). I still have that suitcase. It has gone on every trip (except Salem/Boston). I turned it into the "Travelling Suitcase" and wrote every place it had visited (inspired by the Sisterhood of Travelling Pants). I remember getting a ton of those little travel sized shampoos and stuff for no reason.  
I may not remember a lot of the specifics from my trip to Ohio, but I remember enough to know that I had fun (except on that coaster, which was just the worst). Maybe one day I will go back to the Zoo.

~Laura! 
PS: If you click the photos they should get bigger.

Collection: Souvenir Pennies

Souvenir Pennies

My pennies in their display case!

For anyone who doesn't know what souvenir pennies are, they are pennies that are smushed and stretched on  rollers in a machine, and when it goes through any design on the rollers is engraved on the penny as the machine elongates it! The tradition of making and collecting these special pennies started at the World's Columbian Exhibition in 1893. You can learn more about them at the official website.

My first Penny.

My Penny Case!

I don’t know exactly how old I was when I got my first elongated penny, but I know I got it at the Buffalo Science Museum when I went on a field trip there with my class. Some people are very serious about collecting these pennies. I am not a Serious collector, I collect pennies from the places I've been that have the machine. I don't buy them online, I prefer to make them myself. I didn't even know it was a serious market for these things until I was at the National Museum of American History, one of the Smithsonian Museums in Washington, DC and saw a Collector's case with the website on the back. 

I like these because they are cheap, fun ways to remember an experience! 

(Sorry the following pictures are arranged strangely, it's the only way they would arrange on the page)

Pennies from Buffalo (my hometown):

I don't remember when I got this one.

I got this on a trip to the Zoo
in 2013 with my best friends.

I don't know where this one is from or when I got it.

I don't know where this one is from or when I got it.

I made this when I went in
2011 for the Narnia Exhibition

I made this when I went in
2011 for the Narnia
 Exhibition

I made this on a trip to
Darien Lake in 2009

Not technically Buffalo, but
made to commemorate my trip
to the Niagara Falls Aquarium
with my best friends in 2011

Most of these were made before I considered myself a collector of pennies.

 I was still a child when I made these.

I consider these to be the very first thing I started to collect!

Most of these were made before I considered myself a collector of pennies.

 I was still a child when I made these.

I consider these to be the very first thing I started to collect!

Pennies from My 8th Grade Class Trip to Ohio in 2006

(my first trip away from home):

To commemorate the fact that I went on
a roller coaster (the Raptor)

To commemorate my love of Polar bears

To commemorate my trip to Cleveland

Pennies from My Italian Club Trip to New York City in 2010:

I made this to commemorate
my trip to Liberty Island

To commemorate my trip to
Ground Zero 

Made this at the M&M store
in Times Square!

Pennies from Trip to Washington, DC in 2010:

I chose this because the dino skeletons
were my favorite and most iconic

I chose this because it was a cool exhibit!

I chose this because Sputnik was the only thing I recognized

To commemorate my trip to
Mount Vernon

This penny was a mistake.
I wanted the normal MV one
but I couldn't figure out the machine

This is the penny featured
in my Penny case!

Pennies from Trip to Baltimore in 2013:

To commemorate my Trip to Baltimore

To commemorate my time at the Harbor

To commemorate my time at
Ripley's Museum. This
made me laugh!

To commemorate my trip to the National
Aquarium

I never did see the Puffin
which is sad because they
are my favorites

To commemorate my experience with
the dolphins!

Pennies from Trip to Salem in 2013:

To commemorate my trip. This is the Official Salem Logo

I chose this one because
I love the pentagram

I chose this one because the bear
 is adorable

To commemorate my trip!

I really like the Salem Pennies. I think it's because they are all witch-y. Everything in Salem is witcht-y even their pennies!

Pennies from Trip to Boston in 2013:

To commemorate my love
of Myrtle the Turtle!

To commemorate my
bonding experience
with Kathleen over
penguins

To commemorate my trip to Boston's Aquarium

Other Commemorative Coins I keep in my Case:

Front of a coin I got at the National
Air and Space Museum

Back of the coin, commemorating the
moon landing

Front of the coin, commemorating the
Freedom Trail of Boston

Back of a coin I got at the Old North Church
where the lanterns to warn Revere were hung

I hope you enjoyed this tour of my Souvenir Penny collection!

Do you collect pennies, too? 

~Laura!