Even before my sons were born, I have been collecting children's books.  So, as I was browsing my Twitterfeed this morning and feasted my eyes on the newly designed There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly book, I knew straight away that I need this book on my shelf.

Jeremy Holmes, with some guidance from Chronicle Books, designed and illustrated this visually and texturally stunning book and gave the classic story a fresh look. 

I can't wait to get my hands on this must-have!

Link [via The Foundation]

Creative genius Brian Dettmer carves into books and reveals the artwork inside creating three-dimensional masterpieces.
Link [via Centripetal Notion]

Book lovers, check this out!  PaperBack Swap is an online place where you can swap a book for another...  for free (unless you count postage).

Mail a book. Get a book. Any book you request is yours to keep, share or trade. No late fees. No processing charges. No hidden charges. Every time you mail a book to another member, you can request one for yourself from over 3 Million.

As Thomas Carter's new photobook CHINA: Portrait of a People makes its debut as the most comprehensive book of photography on modern China ever published by a single author, literati and the press are unable to hold back their acclaim. Following are excerpts from the praise CHINA: Portrait of a People continues to receive from readers and media reviewers:

What a fantastic find!  "Book of Short Stories" is a collection of short stories written by New York City fifth graders in 1931.

A book of grade schoolers' stories is always worth a gander, a safe bet for "ahhh, kids say the darnedest things". My own memorable fourth grade essay chronicled a day at my father's office, me summing up his duties as "sitting around all day cussing people out". So it's doubly intriguing to stumble upon a collection of fifth graders' stories from 1931! February 18, to be exact. Consider the world into which these kids were born. The first generation born following "the Great War" with its bloody new technologies: trench warfare, air forces, and mustard nerve gas -- these children also entered a world decimated by the Spanish flu pandemic wherein 50-100 million people died worldwide. Now "carefree" grade schoolers, aged ~10 to 11, when -- cue the Great Depression! Liven things up a bit more with that distraction the Dust Bowl and locusts -- you've quite a lively childhood.

Tom Carter’s CHINA: Portrait of a People captures diversity of 33 Chinese provinces



Beijing, China – As the 2008 Summer Olympics commence, all eyes are on China. But far from being the celebration envisaged by Chinese leaders, the first six months of 2008 have seen unrest in Tibet, worldwide protests against the Olympic torch and the devastating earthquake in Sichuan.

This attention has raised new curiosity: Who are the Chinese? How do they live, work and play? How much do we really know about the 1.3 billion people who inhabit this vast country?

I used a variety of objects (i.e., boarding passes, fancy store-bought bookmarks, flowers) to bookmark my books, but after meeting my hubby my bookmarking habits changed.  Jason keeps his books in somewhat pristine condition and doesn't use bookmarks fearing that the bookmarks would ruin the binding of the books.  I'm glad I've been broken of this habit.  Apparently, many people forget their "bookmarks" in their books, give the books away and potentially lose something very valuable. 

AbeBooks.com has put together an interesting article on the things they have discovered inside books by AbeBooks.com booksellers.  You will not believe some of the strange and priceless things they found. 

Have you ever forgotten anything in your books?  Share it in the comments.

Link [via]

Read at Work is a website that lets you get away with reading at work by disguising various literary classics as 'Powerpoint' presentations.  Instead of procrastinating on Facebook, catch up on your reading.  Link.

"My Beautiful Mommy" is a children's picture book written by Dr. Michael Salzhauer, a board-certified plastic surgeon, where a mom explains to her daughter why she is having cosmetic surgery done.  Link [via]

I definitely foresee this book winning the Caldecott Medal.

Designer Lucy Norman uses unwanted used books to create attractive chandeliers. 

The World of Books.com sell second hand books which they receive from the British Heart Foundation charity. 25% of the books they receive cannot be sold as no-one will buy them, which is approximately 10,000 a week. Presently these books have to be land filled which is costly and detrimental to the environment.  These wasted books are used to create an attractive chandelier.  Every page of the book is folded in half, producing a circular arrangement which hangs around a ceiling light.