Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

Monday, July 12, 2010

From the Archive - Day 1: A Clockwork Orange


A Clockwork Orange is a speculative fiction novel by Anthony Burgess, published in 1962, and was later the basis for a 1971 film adaptation of the same name by Stanley Kubrick. The novel was chosen by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005.

Download the free PDF here!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Day 165: Miffy

miffy-dick-bruna

Miffy is a small female rabbit in a series of picture books drawn and written by Dutch artist Dick Bruna. Her original Dutch name is Nijntje which stems from a toddler's pronunciation of the word "konijntje" meaning "little rabbit".

The first Miffy book was produced in 1955, and almost 30 others have followed. In total they have sold over 85 million copies, and inspired a television series as well as items such as clothes and toys featuring the character.

Download the PDF file here and make your own Miffy toy!

Tell us what toys you like to see by visiting our Facebook Fan page.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Day 157: Harry Potter

harry-potter-toy

Harry James Potter is the titular character and the protagonist of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. The books cover seven years in the life of the lonely orphan who, on his eleventh birthday, learns he is a wizard. He attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to learn magic. Under the guidance of the kind headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Harry discovers that he is already famous throughout the wizarding world, and that his fate is tied with that of Lord Voldemort, the universally feared Dark wizard who killed Harry's father and mother.

Download the PDF file here and make your own Harry Potter toy!

Tell us what toy would you like to see by visiting our Facebook Fan page.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Day 135: Little Miss Sunshine





Little Miss Sunshine is the fourth book in the Little Miss series, a series of 42 books by Roger Hargreaves, creator of the Mr. Men series of 48 children's books. After Hargreaves' death in 1988, his son, Adam Hargreaves, began writing and illustrating new stories involving the Mr. Men and Little Miss characters, including the creation of ten new characters, four of which were inspired by work Roger Hargreaves had produced before his death.

Download the PDF file here and make your own Little Miss Sunshine toy!

Find out what's the next toy by visiting our Facebook Fan page.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Day 128: Tweedledum & Tweedledee





Tweedledum and Tweedledee are fictional characters in an English language nursery rhyme and in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, and Alice in Wonderland. Their names may have originally come from an epigram written by poet John Byrom.

The characters are perhaps best known from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass and what Alice Found There. Carroll, having introduced two fat little men named Tweedledum and Tweedledee, quotes the nursery rhyme, which the two brothers then go on to enact. They agree to have a battle, but never have one.

Download the PDF file here and make your own Tweedledum and Tweedledee toys!

Find out what's the next toy by visiting our Facebook Fan page.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Day 126: Coraline



Coraline is a fantasy/horror novel by British author Neil Gaiman, published in 2002 by Bloomsbury and Harper Collins. It was awarded the 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novella, the 2003 Nebula Award for Best Novella, and the 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers. It has been compared to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and has been adapted into a 2009 stop-motion film directed by Henry Selick.

Download the PDF file here and make your own Coraline toy!

Visit our Facebook Fan page for more goodies!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Day 123: The Snowman (Raymond Briggs)



The Snowman is a children's book by English author Raymond Briggs, published in 1978. It is the tale of a boy who builds a snowman one winter's day. That night, at the stroke of twelve, the snowman comes to life.

In 1982, this book was turned into a 26-minute animated movie. It was first shown on Channel 4 late on Christmas Eve in 1982 and was an immediate success. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Animated Short Film in 1983. It has been shown every year since and has become a part of British and international Christmas popular culture.

Download the PDF file here and make your own Snowman! Also check out our last Christmas's special, Jack Skellington as Santa!

Visit our Facebook Fan page for more goodies!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Day 121: Thomas the Tank Engine







Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional anthropomorphic steam locomotive created by the Rev. W. V. Awdry as one of a number of characters in his Railway Series books, first published in the 1940s.

In 1979, the British writer/producer Britt Allcroft came across the books, mortgaged her house and used her savings to bring the stories to life as Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends (later simplified to Thomas and Friends). The programme became an award-winning hit around the world, with a vast range of spin-off commercial products.

Download the PDF file here and make your own Thomas!

You can also get the blank template from our Facebook group and customize your own toy!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Day 116: Sipi (Where the Wild Things Are)





It's Sipi, one of the character from the children's book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak!

Download the PDF file here and make your own Wild Thing! Also don't forget to check out Moishe and Max too!

You can also get the blank template from our Facebook group and customize your own toy!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Day 106: Moishe (Where the Wild Things Are)





Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is a children's picture book originally published by Harper & Row. The book is about the imaginary adventures of a young boy named Max, who is punished for making mischief by being sent to his room without supper. Max wears a distinctive wolf suit during his adventures and encounters various mythical creatures, the "wild things". Although just ten sentences long, the book is generally regarded as a masterpiece of American illustrated children's literature.

Originally the Wild Things did not have names. They were later named after (and are presumably caricatures of) Sendak’s aunts and uncles (except “Goat Boy”, of course): Aaron, Bernard, Emil, Moishe and Sipi.

A live-action movie version is currently in post-production, with Spike Jonze directing, due in theaters on October 16, 2009. Featuring Catherine Keener, and introducing Max Records as Max, the film also has Lauren Ambrose, Chris Cooper, James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara and Forest Whitaker providing the voices of some of the Wild Things. Adapted by Dave Eggers and Spike Jonze.

Download the PDF file here and make your own "wild thing"! You can also get the blank template from our Facebook group and design your own toy!

Please check out Max too which I made earlier.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Day 90: Willy Wonka



Willy Wonka is a fictional character in the Roald Dahl novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and its sequel Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, as well as the film adaptations Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Download the PDF file here and make your own Willy Wonka toy!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Day 79: Max (Where the Wild Things Are)



Max is the protagonist of the children's picture book "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak. The book is about the imaginary adventures of Max, a young boy who is punished for "making mischief" by being sent to his room without supper. Max wears a distinctive wolf suit during his adventures and encounters various mythical creatures, the wild things. Although just ten sentences long, the book is generally regarded as a classic of American illustrated children's literature.

Written in 1963, it was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1964.

Download the free PDF file here and make your own Max toy!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Day 72: Shrek



Shrek is a 2001 computer-animated American comedy film, directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and starring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. Based on William Steig's 1990 fairy tale picture book Shrek!, the film was produced by DreamWorks Animation. Shrek was the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, a category introduced in 2001.

Download the PDF here.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Day 19: Moomin


The Moomins are the central characters in a series of books and a comic strip by Finnish writer Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish in Finland. They are a family of carefree and adventurous trolls who live in Moominvalley.

The Moomins have since been the basis for numerous television series, a film and even a theme park.

Moomin PDF here.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Day 1: A Clockwork Orange



A Clockwork Orange is a speculative fiction novel by Anthony Burgess, published in 1962, and was later the basis for a 1971 film adaptation of the same name by Stanley Kubrick. The novel was chosen by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005.

Download the free PDF here!