Our Blog
Flat Is The New Thick: Flat Stanley Visits the Quirk HQ
Recently the Quirk compound was visited by beloved children's book character Flat Stanley.
As many of you will recall, young Stanley was rendered two-dimensional when a huge bulletin board fell on top of him. He didn't let flatness keep him down, though; in fact, he took advantage of the situation by folding himself into envelopes and mailing himself all around the world. Since then, kids in over 6.000 schools–including my nephew Sam–have participated in the Flat Stanley Project by creating their own Flat Stanleys and mailing them all over the place.
The Stanleys are mailed back with photos and information about where they've been. So here are some of the pictures from Stanley's visit to Quirk. (Spoiler alert–Sam got an A.)
Posted by Rick Chillot
Sing and then Mate and then Die
by Buzzy the Cicada
Pssssttt…hey, you down there. Yeah, that’s right. Hi. I’m up here, in the tree. You got a minute?
Posted by Rick Chillot
Sightseeing Destinations to Satisfy Your Inner Bookworm
Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House, Photo via Smart Desintations
Who needs the Grand Canyon? In honor of National Tourist Appreciation Day on May 6th and National Tourism Day on May 7th, here are some sightseeing destinations to satisfy your inner bookworm.
Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House (Concord, MA) The home of the author of Little Women is open for tours year round. The house also offers educational programming for school groups and Girl Scouts. Guides dressed in traditional 19th century garb share excerpts from the Alcotts’ journals and give students an opportunity to experience a lesson in a 19th century schoolroom.
Photo via Visit Philly
Edgar Allan Poe’s House (Philadelphia, PA) A national historic landmark run by the National Parks Service, Poe rented this house in 1843 and is said to have lived there for less than a year. While Poe lived in several houses in Philadelphia over the years, this home is the only one that remains in The City of Brotherly Love. Admission is free and guided tours are available Wednesday through Sunday year-round.
If your Tell Tale Heart can’t get enough, there are three other preserved Poe homes in the United States: one in The Bronx, one in Baltimore, and one in Richmond. Road trip, anyone?
Posted by Danielle Mohlman
The Accidental Sea: A Short Film by Ransom Riggs
When Ransom Riggs isn’t busy penning awesome New York Times bestselling novels or collecting odd vintage photographs, he enjoys shooting short films. And I’m not just talking about his book trailers for Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. He’s done a number of them, all of which you can brose on his website, including this fantastic short film, The Accidental Sea.
He released this video back in May, and it has since racked up over half a million views on YouTube, some nice compliments from Roger Ebert, and has been featured on popular websites like Neatorama and mental_floss.
Check it out. It’s pretty incredible.
Posted by Eric Smith
