When I saw The Lego Ideas Book: Unlock Your Imagination by Daniel Lipkowitz arrive at Calgary Public Library, it brought back memories of when Lego ruled our world. I’m nostalgic for the days when a Lego magazine’s arrival in the mail was a major event. All activity would halt as the magazine was devoured cover to cover. The required money was tallied, the piggy bank counted, and all upcoming birthdays and holidays taken into account. Then quick to the phone to sweet talk Grandma! All hands were on deck as 1000 pieces of Lego were spilled on the dining room table; parents in charge of sorting Lego by colour, while the chief builder did the assembly without a break until it was done.

Legoland Florida opened in October on the site of the old Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven. We haven’t visited this one, but looking at the map shows they’re using some of the popular features from other Legolands. Our first visit was to Legoland California in San Diego. My strong memories are not the rides, but the clever Lego statues that dotted the park. In the medieval section there was a little pink grunting pig. Down a darkened tunnel was a menacing polar bear. For a photo op, you could stick your head in the jaws of a roaring lion.

We also visited the Legoland in Windsor, England. You can take a train from London for a day trip. Getting off the train, you grab a bus or taxi, skirting around the Queen’s Windsor Castle. There are two huge colourful dragons on the Viking’s River Splash. Trolls dump water on you at the end of this water ride. We all enjoyed the Kid Power Tower in which two people pull their seat up in the air with a rope to get a good view. As in all Legolands, there’s a model miniland in the middle of the park with some architectural highlights of the surrounding country. Miniland is my favourite part of Legoland. It’s fun to look back at places you’ve been, and to look forward to the next destination.

The library’s Lego books are very popular, and sometimes you need to place holds to get the latest titles. We scoured the books on the history of Lego. The little yellow headed people are important; a friend’s child dressed up as one for Halloween. Standing Small: A History of Thirty Years of the Lego Minifigure chronicles their story. There are lots of X books too- easy readers with limited vocabulary for those learning to read.

Books devoted to specific Lego collections are also popular. Right now, Harry Potter is flying off the shelves. Harry Potter: Building the Magical World has colour photos of the sets no longer available. The Star Wars book is also great, and a lot easier to flip through than poking through E-bay!

Lastly, we recommend the DVD Lego: the Adventures of Clutch Powers. Clutch is an action hero minifigure in this animated movie suitable for young kids. There are five Legolands to visit: in Florida, California, England, Germany, and Denmark, the original. Block on!

Our family is reading the Scott Westerfeld Steampunk trilogy: Leviathan, Behemoth and Goliath. It’s a great bedtime story for an older boy. An alternate history of World War I, there are daring adventures and dramatic cliffhangers which careen past like old movie serials. Simon likes looking at the black and white illustrations of steam powered tanks and battle armor. The main characters are Alek, an Austrian prince, and Deryn, a girl disguised as a midshipman in the British Navy. They travel across the world in an airship.

Steampunk is a literary and artistic movement that reimagines the Victorian world as if steam power were the main form of energy instead of electricity. Several children’s writers have played with the genre, including Arthur Slade with his Hunchback Assignments, meant for readers in grade 6 and up. Another Steampunk novel is Airborn by Kenneth Oppel, the author of the Silverwing bat novels. I read this when it came out and can’t wait to share it. This exciting adventure has orphaned Matt and wealthy Kate searching for strange flying creatures as they travel on an airship.

Simon and I travelled to Seattle for a Steampunk convention. First stop was The Museum of Flight, filled with World War I aircraft. Simon loved being the expert explaining to me how they all worked. This fantastic museum contains a comprehensive collection of historical aircraft, including a Sopwith Camel, a Spitfire, a Harrier Jump Jet and a Concorde. We toured the retired Air Force One plane for President Kennedy, which had a little dog door inside for presidential pups.

Like the Arts and Crafts Movement, Steampunk is partly a reaction to mass production, and homemade items are much respected. Some ladies spend months researching and sewing elaborate Victorian gowns. The men make shiny futuristic weapons. Oftentimes they start with Nerf guns as the base. The guns are “modded” with the addition of hardware parts, and are painted metallic colours. A significant part of the Steam convention is the costume show and tell, where you ooooh and aaaaah over what others have made.

We visited Seattle landmarks that would appeal to a 10 year old boy. We first saw the Frank Gehry Experience Music Project building from the Seattle Space Needle beside it. This undulating building contains exhibits about popular music and science fiction. We enjoyed the innovative technology In the Avatar movie exhibit. Next we went to the Pikes Place Market to check out the wall of gum. It smelled beautiful! After buying some Chukar Cherries, we headed to the Fremont neighbourhood. It’s a great place to walk around with lots of public art, including the Fremont troll sculpture tucked under a bridge. There are lots of places to eat, including an organic chocolate factory which offers tours and samples. Check out Walking Seattle by Clark Humphrey for some ideas.

Just north of Fremont is Archie Macphees. This is the place Simon talked about most when we returned home. It’s a joke shop full of more stupid gags than you imagine existed. Simon was especially impressed with the bacon items: bacon Band-Aids, bacon flavoured tooth floss, rubber bacon action figures, and bacon breath mints. On our last morning we went to a breakfast buffet and he ate a plate full of bacon. As we drove to the airport, he was already asking to come back to Seattle.

Kari

How to make the most of your travel dollars? Travel Day 2011 included a program "Travel Tips for Budget Travellers". In case you weren't able to attend the program, I thought that over the next few weeks I would share some of the tips and tricks Patti and I talked about.

First and foremost, we emphasized that the best way to keep those dollars from flying away while you are travelling is to "Know before you go"! Research, research, research!! And be very careful that your sources are reliable, especially when using the Internet. Where better to start than your public library? We have a fantastic collection of guidebooks for all kinds of travellers.

For example, Fodors and Frommers are industry standards, covering most major tourist destinations. New editions come out every year, as a rule.

Rick Steves' series of guidebooks concentrates on authentic travel through Europe. These guidebooks cover all the major destinations, as well as including Europe Through the Back Door, which maximzes your time while helping you save money.

Lonely Planet, a series of guidebooks, was conceived after a young couple travelled across Asia. "A beat-up old car, as few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure" led to their first book, Across Asia on the Cheap. This series covers major destinations as well as some of the more out of the way places. Their books are often updated every two or three years.

Let's Go was started by students for students, and is great for those who are backpacking and hostelling, but also contains many great tips for all budget travellers. These guides have great ideas for budget travel and for off-the beaten path information.

Rough Guide leans more towards the adventure type of traveller with very practical information.

There are also books targeted just for budget travellers. Frommers has a series "Free and Dirt Cheap" for major cities such as Washington, Sydney, Paris and London.

More budget titles!!

And don't forget that we have travel magazines, travel atlases and maps for major tourist destinations!!

Join me next week and we will talk about some online sites for improving your budget travel experience.

Paris: the city of pain au chocolat

For some reason, there are many more girl characters than boys in books to prepare for a visit to Paris. Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans is the classic, about the twelve little girls in two straight lines following Madeline into adventure.

Another fine picture book is Everybody Bonjours. This is a simple story of a little girl doing all the major tourist “to do” Parisan activities with her family. The painted watercolours are simple, colourful, and appealing. The book verges into silliness in the scene of the girl standing ALONE in front of the Mona Lisa! The Louvre mob scene around the famous painting is ten people deep.

We also enjoyed the picture book A Spree in Paree by Catherine Stock. Monsieur Monmouton’s barnyard animals all join him on a trip to the favourite tourist spots.

For an 8 year old boy, I figured gargoyles, the French revolution, and the Eiffel tower would have the biggest appeal, so I gathered some nonfiction information books about those topics. You Wouldn’t Want to be an Aristocrat in the French Revolution : a Horrible Time in Paris You’d Rather Avoid by Jim Pipe was a hit, both for it’s humour and it’s comic illustrations.

Since the trip, I’ve read The Invention of Hugo Cabret : a Novel in Words and Pictures by Brian Selznick. It’s a well written mystery about an orphan who lives in a Paris train station, and would be good for boys or girls of upper elementary school age.

Our top Parisian DVD recommendation is the delightful Ratatouille about a rat who wants to be a chef.

Top attractions for kids:

• The number one appeal is the bakeries, and there are many. Simon was delighted when our friend Gail took him to compare the neighbourhood bakeries’ pain au chocolat, a pastry with chocolate inside. They returned with a bag of samples for breakfast.
• The museums are not oriented to children, like the interactive displays in North American buildings. However, we had a fun time at the Louvre by pretending that Simon could look at ONLY 10 paintings. We picked dramatic ones with stories, like the shipwreck in The Raft of the Medusa, the Coronation of Napoleon and, of course, the Mona Lisa. The book Louvre in Close-Up by Claire D’Harcourt is a good introduction.
• The Cluny Museum was a hit because Simon is interested in the Middle Ages. The highlights were the medieval pilgrimage tourist souvenirs found in the Seine and the unicorn tapestries.
• We spent an enjoyable afternoon at the Sunday pet market near Notre Dame Cathedral. Simon rescued a rabbit that made an escape. The other days of the week this is a flower market.
• In keeping with the child centered trip, we promised we would only visit one church, so we chose the stain glass filled Saint Chapelle on a sunny day.
• A carrot at the end of our visit was Disneyland Paris, an easy train ride from Paris. They had an Indiana Jones rollercoaster with a loop that we dared each other into riding.

Kari

It’s hard to say who was most excited to see the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando. Carol and I have been going to the movies on opening day for years, but Simon had some Christmas money saved for Honeydukes candy shop! It had been eight months since the park opened, but there were still crowds lined up at 9 am outside the gates. The Wizarding World is part of Islands of Adventure, one of two Universal Studios theme parks in Orlando, Florida.

We stayed at a Universal Studios hotel for ease and early access. Even in January, the slowest time of the year, the shops and attractions were packed by 10 am. Early in the morning is the most magical time. It’s easy to imagine you really are walking down the street of Hogsmeade Village, the snow covered shops which the Hogwarts students visit on special weekends.

It is the detail that makes it convincing. Universal hired staff from England so the clerks sound convincing. J. K. Rowling was rigorous in her demands. For example, she wouldn’t let pop be sold because it would detract from the illusion. Only pumpkin juice and sweet, frothy butterbeer can be found. The shops are full of great detail, such as chained brooms shaking with excitement, wand choosing ceremonies, and a marauder’s map with footsteps running around it.

But first to Honeydukes, the candy shop! There were Bertie Bots Every Flavour Beans, Cauldron Cakes, and Chocolate Frogs with wizard cards, all at exorbitant prices. This display shows how licorice is made.

After stuffing your face, a small family rollercoaster called Flight of the Hippogriff takes you past Hagrid’s hut and Buckbeak. Dragon Challenge is two intersecting, high speed roller coasters. The main attraction is in Hogwarts Castle itself. You walk through the boar statues at the gates into Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. The walkthrough as you wait in line is an attraction in itself. The ride is a motion simulator ride based on the robots used in automotive plants. Strapped into a seat, you fly through the castle grounds. There’s a combination of specially filmed scenes of the actors and three dimensional sets as you rotate and pivot along a track. It’s absolutely stunning, but can be hard on imaginative kids. They throw everything at you on this ride: spiders, dragons, dementors, and even the whomping willow takes a swipe at you.

Since there are so many references to the books and movies, you may wish to read and watch them again from the library before you visit. We have the DVDs on Blu-ray now. One of the treasures of our collection are the bookcds narrated by Jim Dale. An incredible voice actor, he does a great job reading all the characters. In the Deathly Hallows that is 146 different characters!

Another cool thing to check out of CPL is The unofficial Harry Potter cookbook: from cauldron cakes to knickerbocker glory--more than 150 magical recipes for wizards and non-wizards alike. It’s available as a regular or electronic book. Remember Magic Eye books? Now there’s Harry Potter Magic Eye® book: 3D magical creatures, beasts and beings. There are also many books of criticism, translations in different languages, and even The complete idiot's guide to the world of Harry Potter. Get them now, because Harry Potter mania will only increase as we near the release of the final movie July 15.

Next summer, watch for Harry Potter parties at a library near you.