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Library Topics
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Address: 301 N.
Pennsylvania |
You can celebrate Saturday, December 12, in true holiday tradition by
remembering some special sights and sounds of the season. First, it is Poinsettia Day, a
day to enjoy the beautiful flower and to honor Dr. Joel Roberts Poinsett, the American
diplomat who introduced the Central American plant which is named for him into the United
States. Saturday is also Ding-A-Ling Day, which honors handbell players!
WHAT'S HAPPENING?
Wednesday's 10:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Dinosaur storytimes feature stories and a dinosaur poster craft. Saturday morning's 10:00 Bear storytime features stories and a shadow puppet play, and participants will make a bear in a cave.
BOOK TALK
Librarian Rosie Klopfer provides this week's book information. Do you ever wonder what the side effects are to your medication? Does it mix with other medications, food, or sunlight? To find out, come check out some of our new books on prescription drugs.
The "PDR Family Guide to Prescription Drugs" is based on the "Physicians' Desk Reference." The "People's Guide to Deadly Interactions," by Joe Graedon and Teresa Graedon, Ph.D., tells how to protect yourself from life threatening drug, food, and vitamin combinations. For instance, grapefruit juice can cause serious side effects when mixed with high blood pressure medicine or antihistamines.
The "Johns' Hopkins Handbook of Drugs: For the 100 Major Medical Disorders of People Over the Age of 50," edited by Simeon Margolis, M.D., Ph.D., has full explanations of proper use, side effects, interactions, alternative choices, and drug storage. "Natural Alternatives to Over-the-Counter and Prescription Drugs" by Michael Murray discusses dozens of herbal remedies, vitamins and minerals, and ointments, along with how each can be used to bring relief from specific ailments. If you're a computer bug, you can access several Internet websites for additional information.
DID YOU KNOW?
Speaking of the Internet, here are some more interesting tidbits of animal information from there. According to tests made at the Institute for the Study of Animal Problems in Washington, DC, dogs and cats, like people, are either right-handed or left-handed - that is, they favor either their right or left paws. Polar bears are left-handed, and studies have shown that right-handed people, on average, live nine years longer than left-handed people do.
You might also be interested to know that crocodiles cannot stick their tongues out. The ant can lift 50 times its own weight and can pull 30 times its own weight. Fleas can jump 350 times their body length, which is comparable to a human jumping the length of a football field. Elephants are the only animals that can't jump (thank goodness).
The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds, giving it the number one ranking for the most taste buds. Butterflies taste with their feet. Only female mosquitoes bite, and they are attracted to the color blue twice as much as to any other color.
Every night, wasps bite into the stem of a plant, lock their mandibles into position, stretch out at right angles to the stem, and, with legs dangling, fall asleep. Ants stretch when they wake up. They also appear to yawn in a very human manner before taking up the tasks of the day. And a cockroach can live up to nine days without its head before it starves to death!
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: "There is always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. For example, I am sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt." (unknown)
JUDY ARMSTRONG, 624-7276
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Address: 301 N.
Pennsylvania |
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