What Makes a Van Gogh a Van Gogh? By Richard Muhlberger

Published in part by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this book shares information about Vincent Van Gogh's life and paintings. It discusses his surroundings and others who had influence upon him; deals with 12 of his important paintings pictures ranging from the Potato Eaters to the very ominous Crows over a Wheatfield; and covers the different types of pictures that Van Gogh painted including portraits, interiors, florals and landscapes. It also talks about his painting techniques and choices of color. This is a handsome, hardcover book that you will treasure forever. It is a young adult book, perfect for someone like you and I who wants to learn a bit more about Van Gogh and who does not already have a lot of knowledge about the painter.

Order your copy of What Makes a Van Gogh a Van Gogh here on Amazon.

See you

at the art gallery!

Brenda

Lego Brick Calendar (853195)

Lego's Brick Calendar, set number 853195, is perfect for this year and for next year and for the year after, too. It is a never-ending Lego-themed gift idea. It is a fun and practical desk accessory for the adult Lego builder in your life that it is also suitable for younger builders. It has 112 pieces and is recommended for individuals aged 6 and up. 

I love the fact that this is an eternal calendar. You have a choice. You can either have an ordinary paper calendar or you can have this one, a Lego calendar that you build and rebuild every month.

It was released in 2011 but it is now retired. Click here to find Lego's Brick Calendar on eBay. 

Happy Building!

Brenda

MORE LEGO READING

New, retired, used and vintage Lego in my eBay store.
Lego fans will enjoy checking out the retired sets in my eBay store.

Discover Lego's Haunted House Set.
Halloween geeks will love building this set and then using it as part of their Halloween decor!

Uncover two great Lego Books.
Fun for Lego builders, young and old.

Discover Lego's Duplo Garbage Truck.
An adult-level set for those appreciate grocery stores or markets of the old-fashioned style.

Two Great Lego Books for Lego Fans

Within the pages of The Lego Book, a Lego fan will discover the story behind the history of the Lego brick. This is an updated version of the book and includes a timeline and information about the more recent Star Wars, Ninjago and Friends Lego sets. It even includes information about Lego’s movies and video games. This Lego Book is discontinued and therefore, the price of a new copy has gone up. However, used copies are very affordable and you can check out The Lego Book, new and used, here on Amazon. It is a book that belongs in every Lego fan's collection. 

In 2013, when I was looking for a good Lego-themed book, the Lego Minifigure Year by Year Visual History by Gregory Farshtey and Daniel Lipkowitz also ranked at the top of the pile. It is another interesting option and a fascinating trip back in time for a nostalgic Lego fan. You can read more about it the Lego Minifigure book here on Amazon.

See you

at the toy store!

Brenda

MORE LEGO READING:

New, retired, used & vintage Lego in my eBay store.

Lego fans will enjoy checking out the retired sets in my eBay store.

Lego's Beatles' Yellow Submarine Set.
Know someone who loves Lego and the Beatles? This will be the set for them!

Lego's Typewriter Set

A throw-back to another time, adult fans who remember typewriters will enjoy this set.

Lego's Green Grocer Set

An adult-level set for those appreciate grocery stores or markets of the old-fashioned style.

Springbok Book Shop Jigsaw Puzzle (2016)

For National Book Lovers' Day, which is celebrated every year on August 9, I am pleased to bring you this fantastical book-themed jigsaw puzzle from Springbok. Called simply Book Shop, it features a gloriously fun book shop packed floor to ceiling with vintage and antique books. 

 

The puzzle has 500 pieces and the finished product will measure 20 inches by 20 inches. You will love the unique pieces. As is the case with many Springbok puzzles, each piece is unique and is never repeated. The pieces are quality made and are constructed of thick cut 75 point board, which is thicker than the average puzzle. 

 

About this puzzle, Springbok says, "Crack open your favorite novel and enjoy yourself with Springbok's Book Shop jigsaw puzzle. Full of gorgeously colored books and the beautiful imagery of an overflowing library, this puzzle will make you want to curl up with a good book and never leave!" I would add that it also promises the fun of an afternoon of jigsaw puzzling with a good cup of tea at hand!

 

I love the curling stack of books that at first seemed like it might be a stairwell leading to still more books and I smiled at the fabulous old sign that reads, "The Buck A Book Room Through This Door." Who else would like to enter that bargain book filled room? Or climb a magical bookcase stairwell? Or maybe just work this puzzle?

 

Happy Puzzling!

Brenda

 

Quick Links:

 

Buy Springbok’s Book Shop puzzle on Amazon. Please note that the 1,000 piece version is not available on Amazon.

Check eBay for both sizes of the puzzle.

Check out the new, used and vintage jigsaw puzzles in my eBay store!

 

Doctor Who Target Books

I've been busy listing the first of a number of Doctor Who book sets in my eBay store. It is going to be a long process and I am trying to commit to listing six books a day. Wish me luck!

UPDATED TO SAY: ALL OF THE BOOKS IN THIS SERIES HAVE BEEN SOLD.

This huge collection belonged in a sense to my son because they were purchased for him.  However, he never had the opportunity to read them and now he is moving to Seattle and leaving them behind to be sold on eBay...

The first set that I am listing is the Target Books paperback series, which was published between the years of 1973 and 1991. I read that Target started with new releases of the books by Frederick Muller and that the last three books were released by Virgin books after they took over Target.  Those last three titles were The Power of the Daleks and The Evil of the Daleks by John Peel and The Paradise of Death by Barry Letts.

I'm learning a bit as I work my way through these books.  If you have already read them, you no doubt know more about the history of them than I do and probably remember them fondly from years gone by.

I had the opportunity to meet a customer who purchased three books from me shortly after I started on this Doctor Who adventure. He was thrilled to find the titles that he needed to complete his collection.  He purchased The Rescue by Ian Marter and The Planet of Giants and The Wheel in Space by Terrance Dicks, his collection is now complete and my collection no longer has those titles available. It was really rewarding to see his appreciation for the books.

All of the books that I have listed so far have been in pretty good condition with yellowing as befits older paperback books and a small irregularity at the top of the spine, which was caused by the removal of a small sticker. I expect the rest of the books in this collection to be in the same condition. 

If you are missing a title or two, be sure to visit eBay to complete your collection. See all of the vintage Doctor Who books on eBay by clicking right here.

You never know what I might
have in store for you!
Brenda


Image Credit:

By chance, I stumbled across The Target Book: A History of the Target Doctor Who Books by David J. Howe on Amazon.  I would love to have a chance to look at it but it appears to be a very hard-to-find book, which translates directly into it being very expensive on Amazon.  

A Bloom Of Friendship by Anne Renaud

A non-fiction, children's picture book written by Anne Renaud and illustrated by Ashley Spires, A Bloom Of Friendship: The Story Of The Canadian Tulip Festival tells the story of the history behind the world's largest tulip festival held every spring in Ottawa. It is thus far the only book about the Canadian Tulip Festival that I have been able to find. Therefore, we are extremely lucky that it is such a great book!

Let me start by saying that I am not a history expert and this is in large part a history book. It is perfect for children aged eight- to ten-years old, but it is also great for adults who want to learn a bit about the history of the relationship between Holland and Canada and the tulip festival. It is beautifully illustrated with pictures that have been painted and with both historical and modern day photographs, newspaper articles created to tell the story and lots of historical tidbits woven in and around the main text.

This page can serve as an introduction to the history of the Canadian Tulip Festival (which is sometimes incorrectly called the Ottawa Tulip Festival) as well as a review of this book. I am actually giving more of the history of the tulip festival than is normal in a book review because I think that this page will also be good for people who are looking for this background information who are planning to attend the festival. I would, however, encourage you to check out the book whether or not you have children. It is really very beautiful; I think the artwork would be lovely framed. It also tells a beautiful story ~~ the history of the Canadian and Dutch friendship.

This book was republished in 2014, hence the two images to the right. The top picture is the new cover. The second picture, the original cover from 2005. You can find A Bloom of Friendship: The Story of the Canadian Tulip Festival on Amazon by clicking right here. The more recent book is only available in paperback. If you want a hardcover copy, you will have to buy the original book.

"The Canadian Tulip Festival is a celebration of the friendship between two countries more than 50 years ago."

The Canadian Tulip Festival and Barbara and Malak Karsh

A Bloom of Friendship opens with a letter from Malak Karsh's wife, Barbara Karsh who tells of their discovery of the thousands of tulips in Ottawa in 1946. The pictures that Mr. Karsh took that day have since travelled the world telling Princess Juliane's Canadian story. Eventually, in 1953, his interest in the tulips would cause him to be instrumental in the creation of the Canadian Tulip Festival.

The Second World War, The Dutch and The Canadians

A LONG-LASTING FRIENDSHIP IS FORMED OUT OF THE TOUGHEST OF TIMES...

On May 10, 1940, the Dutch people were awakened by the sounds of airplanes and the sight of hundreds of soldiers parachuting to the ground as Hitler invaded Holland. This was the beginning of a horrible five-year period for the Dutch people.

The Little Princesses: The Story Of The Queen's Childhood By Her Nanny Crawfie by Crawford, Marion (2003)

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Queen Wilhelmina and the Dutch Royal Family Escape

Queen Wilhelmina and the Dutch Royal Family escaped to England but even England was not a safe place to be. The Queen's daughter, Crown Princess Juliana, nine-month old Irene and a two-year old Beatrix found a safe place to escape too and that was Canada. They arrived in Halifax via the dutch ship Sumatra in Halifax in June 11, 1940 and from their proceeded to the home they would live in, which was located in Ottawa.

Perhaps the most notable event while they lived in Canada, was the birth in the spring of 1942, of Princess Margriet Francisca who was born a Dutch citizen because Canada named the place of her birth extraterritorial -- meaning outside of Canadian territory.

At Home, The Dutch People Struggled

Meanwhile in the Netherlands, life was very tough and the Dutch struggled to survive under the Nazis. Living conditions were terrible; supplies scarce. Eventually over 100,000 Dutch Jews were sent to Nazi death camps.

The Battle of the Scheldt, The Battle of the Rhineland and Freedom

In support of the final phase of the war in Europe, the allies needed to get supplies to their advancing troups in Belgium and The First Canadian Army was tasked with clearing the banks of the Scheldt of Nazis so that supplies could arrive through the Scheldt Estuary. For two months, the Canadians fought the German army along the Scheldt. In the end, more than 6,000 Canadian soliders were killed or wounded but, thanks to their sacrifices, the port of Antwerp was opened successfully. These Canadian soldiers rested in December and January; many of them in the homes of the Dutch where they made friends that would be remembered forever.

Rhineland, however, was one of the places that remained in German control. On February 8, 1945, the First Canadian Army once again was tasked. This time with clearing a passage for allied troups. At the end of this campaign, more than 5,000 Canadians were dead or wounded but at becauase of their efforts, the Allies were able to defeat Hitler.

In March of the same year, the First Canadian Army freed the remaining parts of Holland and, when it was clear that the war was nearing an end, a truce was made allowing for the dropping of much needed food and supplies to the Dutch. This time it was the Royal Canadian Air Force 405 Squadron that helped out by dropping 12,000 tons of needed items.

The Gift of Tulips

Finally on May 8, 1945, the war in Europe was over. Princess Juliana's family returned home and discovered a people who were extremely thankful to the Canadians. In 1945, the Dutch Royal Family sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Canada by way of thanks. Every year since then, they have sent 20,000 additional tulip bulbs. I am sure that I will remember this story whenever I see tulips in the future. Will you?

Buy A Bloom Of Friendship on Amazon

A Bloom of Friendship: The Story of the Canadian Tulip Festival

 Buy Now

A Bloom of Friendship: The Story of the Canadian Tulip Festival (My Canada)

 Buy Now  

I am especially interested in this story because I reside in Ottawa and am able to see the tulips every year. Have you ever visited the tulip festival?  What did you think of it? Are you interested in the history behind the tulips and this book, A Bloom of Friendship?

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda
You Never Know What 
I Might Have in Store For You!

More About the Canadian Tulips

• The Canadian Tulip Festival
  The Canadian Tulip Festival (sometimes called the Ottawa Tulip Festival) has become the world's largest tulip festival and takes place in May each year with more than three million tulips in bloom. It runs for three weeks every spring and this...

Open A Book And You Can Travel The World

The magic of reading...OPEN a book and you can travel the world!

Just yesterday I returned from a trip to Brooklyn, New York after reading and closing the pages on a popular coming of age book called A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

A Tree Grows in Brookly was written by Betty Smith in 1943. The story is that of a young girl's coming of age in the early 20th century New York City and it was the latest read for my book club. Yes, I would recommend it and I see online that some people call it their favorite book.

Next we will open a book called All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It was written much more recently and promises to take me on a very different journey, this time to World War II Europe where I will meet a German boy and a French girl trying to survive the war. I don't know much more about it than that though I do see that it was Amazon's book of the month in May 2014. I am looking forward to opening it and beginning my next trip.

What book have you opened lately? Would you recommend it?

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda
You never know what
I might have in store for you!

This was my second Five-Minute Friday Post. Every Friday, blogger Heading Home issues a challenge to write for just five minutes about a word.  This week's challenge was to write with the word open. 

I know I have now spent a few minutes more than the allotted five minutes but I definitely spent less time than last week so I am improving! If you're interested in participating, you can subscribe to the blog by following the link to Heading Home shown above.

Quick Links:

It seems appropriate that my copy of this book is a first edition copy. You can buy your first edition copy of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn on eBay by clicking here.

31 DAYS OF COFFEE MUGS: Sandra Boynton Coffee Mugs

You might know Sandra Boynton and not even be aware that you know her.  I first encountered her many years ago when my children were preschoolers through a 1993 children’s board book called Barnyard Dance.

Sandra Boynton is an award-winning children's author and illustrator who has created a world of funny animal characters that we know and love. They appear not only in her numerous children's books but also on greeting cards, coffee mugs, bedding and so much more.

Naturally, Sandra Boynton's coffee mugs feature her iconic characters in funny moments. From Christmas to Valentine's Day to mugs that share frustrations with the work place, there is a Sandra Boynton mug for you.

This, the 24th post In my 31 DAYS OF COFFEE MUGS series, is dedicated to the mugs of Sandra Boynton.

If you are a competitive sort, you’ll appreciate the I Play To Win mug.

If you drag yourself to work on Mondays, you will enjoy the sentiment on, the Fact: There Are Three Times As Many Mondays As Fridays mug.

Whether you do or do not embrace all the craziness of the Christmas season, you might enjoy the Bah Humbug mug.

Recycled Paper Products has been producing these mugs on Sandra Boynton’s behalf for quite awhile, which means that some of the designs are harder to find than others. However, a quick look at the eBay sales statistics shows that the most expensive Sandra Boynton mug sold in the last year sold for just under $40, which means they should not be priced out of reach of the average consumer.  The mugs that fetched the highest selling prices included the Juan in a Million, Wee Fish Ewe A Mare E-Grets Moose and the Rudolph No Business Like Snow Business mugs.

You can check out ALL of the Sandra Boynton mugs on eBay by clicking right here. When I looked, there were over 600 options listed.

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda
You Never Know What I Might Have in Store for You!

How To Make Money Selling on eBay

The 2014 version of "My eBay Sales Suck" has a much friendlier title that its predecessor: eBay 2014 Why You Are Not Selling Anything on eBay and What You Can Do About It. It is available from Amazon as an eBook for under $5 or a paperback book for under $15.

I read it along time ago and I need to revisit the 2014 version before I can vouch for it. However, for some insight you can check out the Amazon customer reviews.

And in case you don't know, you do not have to have a Kindle eReader to access a Kindle book. I read my Kindle books on my iPhone and on my computer.  It's definitely not an ideal way to read a book but it is definitely doable.

Edited in 2019 to add that eBay changes very quickly. There still may be value in reading an older book but you are probably better off with newer publications, which given the ever changing nature of eBay are out of date almost before they are published!

Brenda



Quick Links:

Download your copy of Amazon.

If You Give A... Children’s Picture Books

We have enjoyed the very popular "If You Give A..." series by Laura Numeroff.

The first one, If You Give A Cat A Cupcake, features cupcakes and boy, do I love cupcakes! The ones on the cover drew me in & the cat in this book took me on a wild and crazy adventure after he made one heck of a mess with the sprinkles!

The second book, If You Give A Pig A Pancake, features pancakes and a pig!  Just imagine what might happen if you gave a pig a pancake and some syrup and you are launched on the way for another great adventure!

All three characters (Mouse, Moose and Pig) from the bestselling If You Give . . . series are in this wonderful family treasury, Mouse Cookies & More: A Treasury. Find it by clicking here to Amazon. Inside, you will find the books, recipes, songs, and activities. It is full of fun things to do.

I love children's picture books! How about you?

Brenda

Treasures By Brenda

Your Life Sentence - A Challenge

In the book Not Quite What I Was Planning, famous and not-so-famous writers were asked to provide their life stories in six word sentences. They responded with funny, sad and often poignant quotes that are a short record or chronicle of their lives. I thought it would be fun to get to know some of you a bit better so...can you sum up your life in a six word sentence?

Here are four examples, just to get you thinking...

Aged pretty well, all things considered.
Oldest of three; boss of everyone.
The second mouse gets the cheese.
Read the map. Still got lost.

Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure

This task won't be easy for everyone, believe me I know! I wrote several before I finally chose one to post and I am not sure that it is great but at least it is a start! (You'll have to visit my page to see what I said about myself.)

Be the next to post your life sentence either here!

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda