Pigeon Parades in Venice, Italy

Simon celebrated his fourth birthday in Venice, Italy. He picked the itinerary on birthday day, which meant we spent most of the day in St. Mark’s Square, feeding popcorn to the pigeons and feeding ice cream to Simon. Our secret to successful travel with a preschooler was bribery of gelato ice cream at the end of each hike or museum. Simon learned the Italian words for numbers and flavours. By the end of the trip we could all speak gelato!

To prepare Simon before the trip, we read him picture books. In Angelo by David Macaulay, an Italian stonemason restoring the façade of a church befriends an injured pigeon. However, the one we were asked to read over and over was Papa Piccolo by Carol Talley. A tomcat living in Venice adopts two homeless kittens. We acted out the scene in which the cats fall in the canal by falling off the bed onto the blue carpet.

Since our trip, two new picture books with Venetian settings have been published. I took home The Famous Nini : a Mostly True Story of How a Plain White Cat Became a Star by Mary Nethery, and Simon declared it “good for young kids”.Olivia Goes to Venice by Ian Falconer has the famous cartoon pig superimposed on Venetian photos. My favourite line was, “As they went through the airport, Olivia was searched for weapons. She was very pleased.” That certainly reflected Simon’s attitude to removing his shoes at security. We worried he would be worried, but Simon was too busy trying to get a look at the x-ray luggage screen to think about it.

At age four, Simon was too young for one of Mom’s favourite books, The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke. This would be enjoyed by kids 9 to 13. It’s about two orphans trying to survive on the streets in Venice. They are given sanctuary in an abandoned movie theatre by the Thief Lord, a mysterious teenager. Simon has since enjoyed the movie version from the library.

Adults might enjoy The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt, the author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It’s a true story filled with some unique characters who call Venice home.

Simon’s favourite Venetian activities:

· Looking at the fish in the outdoor market. He helped a little snail in its escape from the sale table into the canal

· Riding boats up and down the canal- vaporetto and traghetti are cheaper than gondolas

· Being four, Simon spent a lot of time looking at cars and trucks in Calgary. In Venice, he watched for the Italian counterparts: the garbage boat, the delivery boats, fireboats, and the Police boat. We watched a high speed police boat chase when we visited the island of Murano

· Running up and over the endless bridges with Grandma in hot pursuit

E-dreaming on a snowy day

Preparing for a trip with your kids? Or daydreaming about one? There are now over 150 Frommer’s electronic guidebooks available for download from the Calgary Public Library website. We also have some DK Eyewitness Travel series and “for Dummies” travel series, plus books by travel writers like Peter Mayle, Frances Mayes, and Bill Bryson. If you have a laptop, Kobo or Sony e-Reader, iPhone or iPad to read them with, you are in luck. You can load up some electronic books before you leave, and grab more while you’re away, all using your CPL library card. That’s meant a lot less weight in your suitcase!

You need a reading device, a USB cable, a CPL library card, and a little time to download some software. The collection of e-books is called Overdrive, and you find a link on our home page. You are directed to download software called Adobe Editions to manage the e-books, which is required by the publishers to protect copyright. The e-book is downloaded to your computer using an online checkout system, and then transferred to your device. iPhone users get a streamlined process with an app.

I like to use “Advanced search” to find books, which allows me to limit to the subject “Travel”. The radio button option “Only show copies with copies available” is great when I want something right now. Otherwise, I can put e-books on hold, just like the popular books in the regular collection.

I’ve downloaded Storybook travels: From Eloise's New York to Harry Potter's London, Visits to 30 of the Best-Loved Landmarks in Children's Literature by Colleen Dunn Bates. This slight book attracted me because I always like to find a kids’ novel about the place we’re going next.

Somebody else in the city is filling up their e-reader at the same time as me. The 2^nd edition of Frommer's 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Upby Holly Hughes is checked out, so I placed a hold.

Overdrive also has electronic audio books to download and listen to on MP3 players or an iPod. I loaded up Hatchet by Gary Paulsen and The B.F.G. by Roald Dahl to help Simon through the boring time waiting for planes.

Looking for something to do during the holiday season? Banff is always a great place to spend some time. Whether you are going just for a day or have longer to spend, there is always lots to see and do. My kids used to love stopping to see the hoodoos, riding up the gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain and, of course, spending time on Banff Avenue visiting the candy store.

We all think of Banff for downhill skiing, but do we also think of dog-sledding and horse-drawn sleigh rides? The Hot Springs are open year round as is the Sulphur Mountain Gondola. Just imagine the snowy vistas you can see from the top of the mountain!!

If you prefer indoor activities, you can visit some of the museums such as the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, the Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum or the Banff Park Museum National Historic Site of Canada.

There are lots of activities both indoor and outdoor that are free of charge. Think of ice skating outdoors in the middle of the mountains, tobogganing and sledding or cross-country skiing. One of my favorite activities is a stroll through the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel.

You can make the most of your visit by checking out some of these great books at Calgary Public Libray before you go. Find some hidden corners that you haven't discovered before.

My Favourite Restaurants: Calgary, Banff and Beyond (2009) by John Gilchrist. Calgary’s very own John Gilchrist has again shared his opinions on the best places to dine.

The Town of Banff has a comprehensive website with information on things to see and do.

As well, Banff National Park has a website with information on activities, natural wonders and public safety.

There is also a Banff Lake Louise website with more information on things to see and do.

Happy Holidays!!

Jolly Young England

Grandma, Mom and Simon, age 8, went to London, England in the springtime. Being a librarian’s child meant lots of reading beforehand for Simon! Here are some of our favourites which are all available at Calgary Public Library.

Frommer’s guides have sections for kids’ top attractions. In the case of London, they have a guidebook aimed at families, with attractions rated and suggested itineraries. Frommer’s London with Kidsby Rhonda Carrier helped us find a good place to stay.

Daily Life in Ancient and Modern London by Betany Toht is a 60 page kids’ information book with excellent pictures. It gave us an historical timeline so Simon could understand the buildings he was seeing.

So many children’s’ books are set in London that it’s hard to pick a best novel. Perhaps you might reread a favourite from your childhood together. Simon picked Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. There are London walking tours for the most devoted Rowling fans.

In the picture book section, you can find Will’s Quill, or How a Goose Saved Shakespeare by Don Freeman. The watercolour paintings show London in the 1500’s, and would be a good introduction if you planned on touring the rebuilt Globe Theatre.

Adults may want to watch the recent Sherlock Holmes DVD with Robert Downey Jr. Even if you don’t like the action-filled story, the London sets are incredible. (Sherlock Holmes (DVD)] Warner Home Video, 2009)

Simon’s favourite London activities:

· Listening to the kids’ audio tour at the British Museum. Mummies, Greek statues, Easter Island heads, strange little chess pieces, gold hoards, and a fake crystal skull!

· Visiting Hamleys - an entire department store of toys! Simon’s reaction? “I need a little alone time with Grandma!”

· Taking the train to Windsor for the day to visit Legoland.

· The Imperial War Museum has displays geared to kids, and a great bookshop. Simon bought The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tipsby Michael Morpurgo, and devoured the novel about a cat evacuated from his home on the south coast of England as preparations were made for the D-Day invasion.

· We saved the London Eye observation wheel for last so we could point out all the places we had been. Take a peek in the Queen’s backyard!

New York, New York

New York is a direct flight away in the warm months, so we went on a family trip with Grandma and Grandpa. To ease Simon through all the museums the adults wanted to visit, I put red dots on our New York City map with the location of all the toy stores. The carrot for this trip would be little boxes of single Playmobil soldiers!

Our first stop was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We did our homework, focusing on finding artifacts that would appeal to a 7 year old boy. A chariot, William the Egyptian hippo, paintings of martyred saints, a temporary exhibition of Jeff Koons balloon animal sculptures, and a visit to the restaurant eased us through two visits. Simon’s favourite part was the rooftop sculpture garden with its views over Central Park. He took art photos of the pigeons while we drank lemonade.

Girls might want to read From the mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg before they visit. Claudia and her younger brother run away from home and live in the Met Museum while they solve a mystery. Simon read many picture books before we visited. Can you find it?by Judith Cressy and Can you hear it? : listen and look, more than 40 details in 26 works of art & musicby William Lach are both full of Metropolitan art that will help prepare for the visit.

Central Park Serenadeby Laura Godwin is a lovely picture book about visiting the popular park. The paintings are full of light and colour, and got us excited about visiting. Wow! City! by Robert Neubecker is a large picture book with exuberant illustrations. A little girl travels to New York with her dad and is amazed by all the people. 0786809515

The hilarious Penguins of Madagascar cartoon DVD stars four madcap penguins that live in the Central Park Zoo.

Simon’s favourite activities:

· The American Museum of Natural History with rooms for every possible interest. Watch the DVD Night at the Museum first!

· Taking the Staten Island ferry past the Statue of Liberty

· Street vendors- hot dogs, pretzels, even classic shaved ice

· Toys stores, of course. FAO Schwartz at the bottom of Central Park, and the Toys R Us in Times Square.

Kari