Friday, April 8, 2011

101... Before You're 12!

Now I have two more books to recommend, both by Joanne O'Sullivan. We first found these gems at our local library and since bought our own copies. Of course, the library books don't come with the stickers ;-)


The first of the pair is 101 Things You've Gotta Do Before You're 12!



As the title says, the book contains 101 things to do... before you're 12. Each page, or double page layout, vibrantly illustrates and describes the activities. Well, truth be told there really shouldn't be an age limit as most of the book would be fun for an adult to complete too! What kind of 'things' are suggested?

Examples: geocaching, growing your own garden, reading your cereal box, try a new sport, go on a ghost tour, give your room a  make over, see a meteor shower, conquer a fear, sleep under the stars, make edible art, dig for fossils, and way more.

As you can see, some things can be done locally and others may require a trip. Some things are quick, free, and easy, others take time, money, or planning. The book comes with several sheets of stickers which are helpful to keep track of the activities accomplish and even rate them. With 150 stickers, you'd think it were enough, but it could use more; however, it depends on how active you are and how you want to track your progress. For example, there are not enough "mission accomplished" but you could always use a "top 20" or "this rocks" to mark those you've done. Or use "never ever" or "way weird."  








 The second book is, 101 Places You've Gotta See Before You're 12! Can you see the trend?! Lol. This second book is exactly like the first, complete with stickers, but with a different focus: things to see. Examples of suggested things to see: a big cave, a light house, a waterfall, backstage of a theatre, an unusual museum, a street market, your parent's workplace, a subway, an eccentric eatery, a special place to sleep (like Quebec City's Ice Hotel), a place of worship other than your own, a haunted place, a pig pen, a sculpture park, an old folks home, a crazy dream home.... and waaaay more.





Now, you certainly don't need either book to accomplish the tasks or visits, but it sure is nice to have them as a list all in one place and be able to mark off the ones you've done, like a diary! One problem: lack of space to write notes. But it's not impossible. Plus the 101 Places You Gotta See Before You're 12! does have several note pages at the *back* of the book; weird that the 'To Do' book doesn't.







Thanks to Joanne O'Sullivan stopping by and leaving a comment below, I can add a bit more information to this post!

Guess what?! She adds to her lists through her blog The Wanderlists. So go check it out too for even more cool ideas!







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6 comments:

  1. Your right you don't need a book, but the ideas you shared promote some thinking and conversations about things to do. I would also leave an age limit off of it. These would make interesting presents to generate exploration.

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  2. definitely Bailey! I do have these books on our General Gift Giving list.

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  3. I think my daughter would really like the first book--we're in a rut right now and it might jump start her creativity. Thanks very much!

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  4. Thanks for the mention- so glad you liked them! We are hoping to get to some of the many, many wonderful places in Alberta that I found out about while researching the books. I'm adding on to my lists at my blog The Wanderlists, Thanks,
    Joanne

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  5. You're welcome Christina, it's my pleasure to share. I hope it helps! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment-- I really enjoy reading them.

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  6. Well, Joanne, these books have been a favourite of my son's for a very long time. He'd get them out of the library often and just day dream, lol. I'm not sure what took us so long to purchase our own copies!

    I've added your blog link to the post so people can hop on over to your blog and check out the new ideas. I can't wait to see if you put up an Alberta list on your blog ;-) Something new you may or may not have heard about yet is Jurassic Forrest-- http://www.jurassicforest.com/

    Thanks so much for leaving a comment!

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