Library of the Early Mind coming to Victoria

Mark your calendars for an exciting children's literature event.  Library of the Early Mind, a documentary that explores children's literature, is coming to Victoria on January 20th at UVIC at the David Lam Auditorium at 7pm.  This free documentary will be followed by a children's literature panel moderated by Professor Sylvia Pantaleo to discuss the film's themes from a Canadian perspective. The panel features, Valerie Wyatt, an editor with Kids Can Press and the author of the award-winning How to build Your Own Country, Kristi Bridgeman, illustrator of the Governor General's short-listed Uirapurú written by the late P.K. Page, Tracy Kendrick, Coordinator of Children's and Teen Services for Victoria Public Library, and Sheryl McFarlane, author of Waiting for the Whales.

A book-related gift activity for kid's to try from Kristi Bridgeman

Illustrator Kristi Bridgeman writes " Here is a fun gift recipe that would lend itself to the images that I researched for my latest book Uirapuru... set in the rainforests of Brazil."

Kristi goes on to say that " I loved that the research for my illustrations end up taking me on these fabulous adventures in books and on the internet. Part of the story is about the creatures of the night... so I set to work looking up all the nocturnal birds and bugs and animals of the Brazilian rainforest that Icould find. I ended up discovering many rare and colourful creatures, and found photos of insects that are as big as cats! I was inspired to use the photo research for illustrations in the book.  I know my kids loved the images of creepy crawly bugs.... it might be their favourite picture in the book.  

Here is my recipe for adding toy bugs to the inside of a bar of glycerine soap.  It makes a great gift, but it's not edible."

Bug Soap Bar (Parent Help required)

You'll Need:  

 *2 soap molds: clean single-serve yogurt containers work perfectly 

*Insect toys; use new or clean and dry plastic bugs that will fit into the bottom your yogurt container.

*1 bar of glycerine soap (clear or nearly clear looks best)

Directions:

*Lightly oil the molds (You'll need two molds for this recipe).  
*Warm and melt the bar of soap in a small saucepan on a very low setting. 
*Once melted, let cool a bit, stirring to keep it liquid.
*Fill each mold with about 1 inch of liquid. 
*Place the toy upside down about halfway into the soap
*Fill the mold to cover it. 
*Tap to remove air bubbles and let cool overnight. 


Once cooled the soap should pop out of the plastic mold easily. Wrap it in a bit of kitchen wrap with a ribbon to make a nice gift, helps wash away those bugs! :) 


Hint: if the toy floats up, let the first inch of soap cool before adding the next layer.  You'll have to reheat the glycerine soap for the second pour.