Little Toys.rar TOP
At first glance parents might think Shopkins are simply little plastic grocery store shaped items with a cute face and creative names. Well, ask any toddler to preteen girl, they will tell you, Shopkins are so much more!
little toys.rar
So I just started, a little bit at a time, taking out the really bad things and then splitting things from my own garden and putting them in there, and then buying things. It was very gradual. And the only person that really knew I was there and saw me was this wonderful custodian named Ron, and I still take care of it. It feels like another way of the garden paying forward, that it became a story for you.
I think actually end papers might be one of my new favorite pieces of a book too. It used to be the case cover, hidden under the jacket, I thought was really, really fun. But weirdly now that I have a two and a half year old who is a whirling tornado and will just rip the jackets off of it, we just take them off now. Also that, and kind of the copyright page. Doing weird things with the copyright page has, from very early on, been my favorite. On The Loud Book that was illustrated by Renata Liwska and written by Deborah Underwood we did a little character with a megaphone. And so all the copyright information is shooting out of the megaphone. I worked on another book recently where each line of the copyright info was sort of floating all around the page and there was like a flock of chickens pecking at all of it. Playing with that stuff is really fun.
Elizabeth Ann must leave her home to move to rural Vermont and live with relatives. She needs a little extra care, though, so will anyone there understand her? If you're a homeschooling family, you'll especially love this one! (The characters are ??.)
**Description from Amazon: Full of magic and appealing characters, this classic novel takes readers on a remarkable adventure.It's Omri's birthday, but all he gets from his best friend, Patrick, is a little plastic Indian toy. Trying to hide his disappointment, Omri puts the Indian in a metal cupboard and locks the door with ...
Reviewed by: While You Are Sleeping Deborah Stevenson Deacon, Alexis While You Are Sleeping; written and illus. by Alexis Deacon. Farrar, 200632p ISBN 0-374-38330-8$16.50 Ad 2-4 yrs In this nocturnal narrative, bedside toys confirm what most people already suspect: when kids sleep, toys get active. In fact, they have quite the mission, checking the room out thoroughly for unspecified nasties, rearranging the covers for the sleeper's comfort, ensuring their charge doesn't wake when Santa passes through the house. The text is somewhat vague, especially in its conclusion, but there's a pleasing management of rhythm in the phraseology; audiences will particularly enjoy the confidential feeling of the first-person plural address and the touches of humor ("Bedbugs won't bite. We squish them flat"). Pages in soft browns and smoky pastel shadings over the strokes of paint confer a sleep-blurred nebulousness on the illustrations; while this effect is thematically appropriate, it also distances the action and makes the button-eyed toys often creepily blank (the sock monkey, bear, and elephant in fact look quite sinister as they loom over the wide-eyed new toy lion), so the intimacy of the text is unfortunately diluted. Slow Loris (BCCB 5/02) remains the author's superior look at surprising nighttime adventures, but this may be welcomed by little ones who can only sleep if the toybox residents are snuggled in alongside.
FOUR days had elapsed since the Spaniards made their entry intoMexico. Whatever schemes their commander may have revolved in hismind, he felt that he could determine on no plan of operations till hehad seen more of the capital, and ascertained by his own inspectionthe nature of its resources. He accordingly, as was observed at theclose of the last book, sent to Montezuma, asking permission tovisit the great teocalli, and some other places in the city.The friendly monarch consented without difficulty. He evenprepared to go in person to the great temple, to receive his gueststhere,- it may be, to shield the shrine of his tutelar deity fromany attempted profanation. He was acquainted, as we have already seen,with the proceedings of the Spaniards on similar occasions in thecourse of their march.- Cortes put himself at the head of his littlecorps of cavalry, and nearly all the Spanish foot, as usual, andfollowed the caciques sent by Montezuma to guide him. They proposedfirst to conduct him to the great market of Tlatelolco in thewestern part of the city.On the way, the Spaniards were struck, in the same manner asthey had been on entering the capital, with the appearance of theinhabitants, and their great superiority in the style and quality oftheir dress, over the people of the lower countries. The tilmatli,or cloak, thrown over the shoulders, and tied round the neck, madeof cotton of different degrees of fineness, according to the conditionof the wearer, and the ample sash around the loins, were often wroughtin rich and elegant figures, and edged with a deep fringe or tassel.As the weather was now growing cool, mantles of fur or of the gorgeousfeather-work were sometimes substituted. The latter combined theadvantage of great warmth with beauty. The Mexicans had also the artof spinning a fine thread of the hair of the rabbit and other animals,which they wove into a delicate web that took a permanent dye.The women, as in other parts of the country, seemed to go about asfreely as the men. They wore several skirts or petticoats of differentlengths, with highly ornamented borders, and sometimes over them looseflowing robes, which reached to the ankles. These also were made ofcotton, for the wealthier classes, of a fine texture, prettilyembroidered. No veils were worn here, as in some other parts ofAnahuac, where they were made of the aloe thread, or of the lightweb of hair above noticed. The Aztec women had their faces exposed;and their dark raven tresses floated luxuriantly over their shoulders,revealing features which, although of a dusky or rather cinnamonhue, were not unfrequently pleasing, while touched with the serious,even sad expression characteristic of the national physiognomy.On drawing near to the tianguez, or great market, the Spaniardswere astonished at the throng of people pressing towards it, and, onentering the place, their surprise was still further heightened by thesight of the multitudes assembled there, and the dimensions of theinclosure, thrice as large as the celebrated square of Salamanca. Herewere met together traders from all parts, with the products andmanufactures peculiar to their countries; the goldsmiths ofAzcapotzalco; the potters and jewellers of Cholula, the painters ofTezcuco, the stone-cutters of Tenajocan, the hunters of Xilotepec, thefishermen of Cuitlahuac, the fruiterers of the warm countries, the matand chair-makers of Quauhtitlan, and the florists of Xochimilco,-all busily engaged in recommending their respective wares, and inchaffering with purchasers.The market-place was surrounded by deep porticoes, and the severalarticles had each its own quarter allotted to it. Here might be seencotton piled up in bales, or manufactured into dresses and articles ofdomestic use, as tapestry, curtains, coverlets, and the like. Therichly-stained and nice fabrics reminded Cortes of the alcayceria,or silk-market of Granada. There was the quarter assigned to thegoldsmiths, where the purchaser might find various articles ofornament or use formed of the precious metals, or curious toys, suchas we have already had occasion to notice, made in imitation ofbirds and fishes, with scales and feathers alternately of gold andsilver, and with movable heads and bodies. These fantastic littletrinkets were often garnished with precious stones, and showed apatient, puerile ingenuity in the manufacture, like that of theChinese.In an adjoining quarter were collected specimens of pottery,coarse and fine, vases of wood elaborately carved, varnished orgilt, of curious and sometimes graceful forms. There were alsohatchets made of copper alloyed with tin, the substitute, and, as itproved, not a bad one, for iron. The soldier found here all theimplements of his trade. The casque fashioned into the head of somewild animal, with its grinning defences of teeth, and bristlingcrest dyed with the rich tint of the cochineal; the escaupil, orquilted doublet of cotton, the rich surcoat of feather-mail, andweapons of all sorts, copper-headed lances and arrows, and the broadmaquahuitl, the Mexican sword, with its sharp blades of itztli. Herewere razors and mirrors of this same hard and polished mineral whichserved so many of the purposes of steel with the Aztecs. In the squarewere also to be found booths occupied by barbers, who used thesesame razors in their vocation. For the Mexicans, contrary to thepopular and erroneous notions respecting the aborigines of the NewWorld, had beards, though scanty ones. Other shops or booths weretenanted by apothecaries, well provided with drugs, roots, anddifferent medicinal preparations. In other places, again, blankbooks or maps for the hieroglyphical picture-writing were to beseen, folded together like fans, and made of cotton, skins, or morecommonly the fibres of the agave, the Aztec papyrus.Under some of the porticoes they saw hides raw and dressed, andvarious articles for domestic or personal use made of the leather.Animals, both wild and tame, were offered for sale, and near them,perhaps, a gang of slaves, with collars round their necks,intimating they were likewise on sale,- a spectacle unhappily notconfined to the barbarian markets of Mexico, though the evils of theircondition were aggravated there by the consciousness that a life ofdegradation might be consummated at any moment by the dreadful doom ofsacrifice.The heavier materials for building, as stone, lime, timber, wereconsidered too bulky to be allowed a place in the square, and weredeposited in the adjacent streets on the borders of the canals. Itwould be tedious to enumerate all the various articles, whether forluxury or daily use, which were collected from all quarters in thisvast bazaar. I must not omit to mention, however, the display ofprovisions, one of the most attractive features of the tianguez; meatsof all kinds, domestic poultry, game from the neighbouringmountains, fish from the lakes and streams, fruits in all thedelicious abundance of these temperate regions, green vegetables,and the unfailing maize. There was many a viand, too, ready dressed,which sent up its savoury steams provoking the appetite of the idlepassenger; pastry, bread of the Indian corn, cakes, and confectionery.Along with these were to be seen cooling or stimulating beverages, thespicy foaming chocolatl,- with its delicate aroma of vanilla, andthe inebriating pulque, the fermented juice of the aloe. All thesecommodities, and every stall and portico, were set out, or rathersmothered, with flowers, showing, on a much greater scale, indeed, ataste similar to that displayed in the markets of modern Mexico.Flowers seem to be the spontaneous growth of this luxuriant soil;which, instead of noxious weeds, as in other regions, is ever ready,without the aid of man, to cover up its nakedness with this rich andvariegated livery of nature.As to the numbers assembled in the market, the estimates differ,as usual. The Spaniards often visited the place, and no one states theamount at less than forty thousand! Some carry it much higher. Withoutrelying too much on the arithmetic of the Conquerors, it is certainthat on this occasion, which occurred every fifth day, the cityswarmed with a motley crowd of strangers, not only from thevicinity, but from many leagues around; the causeways were thronged,and the lake was darkened by canoes filled with traders flocking tothe great tianguez. It resembled indeed the periodical fairs inEurope, not as they exist now, but as they existed in the Middle Ages,when, from the difficulties of intercommunication, they served asthe great central marts for commercial intercourse, exercising amost important and salutary influence on the community.The exchanges were conducted partly by barter, but more usually inthe currency of the country. This consisted of bits of tin stampedwith a character like a T, bags of cacao, the value of which wasregulated by their size, and lastly quills filled with gold dust. Goldwas part of the regular currency, it seems, in both hemispheres. Intheir dealings it is singular that they should have had no knowledgeof scales and weights. The quantity was determined by measure andnumber.The most perfect order reigned throughout this vast assembly.Officers patrolled the square, whose business it was to keep thepeace, to collect the duties imposed on the different articles ofmerchandise, to see that no false measures or fraud of any kind wereused, and to bring offenders at once to justice. A court of twelvejudges sat in one part of the tianguez, clothed with those ample andsummary powers, which, in despotic countries, are often delegated evento petty tribunals. The extreme severity with which they exercisedthese powers, in more than one instance, proves that they were not adead letter.The tianguez of Mexico was naturally an object of greatinterest, as well as wonder, to the Spaniards. For in it they sawconverged into one focus, as it were, all the rays of civilisationscattered throughout the land. Here they beheld the variousevidences of mechanical skill, of domestic industry, the multipliedresources, of whatever kind, within the compass of the natives. Itcould not fail to impress them with high ideas of the magnitude ofthese resources, as well as of the commercial activity and socialsubordination by which the whole community was knit together; andtheir admiration is fully evinced by the minuteness and energy oftheir descriptions.From this bustling scene, the Spaniards took their way to thegreat teocalli, in the neighbourhood of their own quarters. Itcovered, with the subordinate edifices, as the reader has alreadyseen, the large tract of ground now occupied by the cathedral, part ofthe market-place, and some of the adjoining streets. It was the spotwhich had been consecrated to the same object, probably, ever sincethe foundation of the city. The present building, however, was of nogreat antiquity, having been constructed by Ahuitzotl, whocelebrated its dedication in 1486, by that hecatomb of victims, ofwhich such incredible reports are to be found in the chronicles.It stood in the midst of a vast area, encompassed by a wall ofstone and lime, about eight feet high, ornamented on the outer side byfigures of serpents, raised in relief, which gave it the name of thecoatepantli, or "wall of serpents." This emblem was a common one inthe sacred sculpture of Anahuac, as well as of Egypt. The wall,which was quadrangular, was pierced by huge battlemented gateways,opening on the four principal streets of the capital. Over each of thegates was a kind of arsenal, filled with arms and warlike gear; and,if we may credit the report of the Conquerors, there were barracksadjoining, garrisoned by ten thousand soldiers, who served as a sortof military police for the capital, supplying the emperor with astrong arm in case of tumult or sedition.The teocalli itself was a solid pyramidal structure of earth andpebbles, coated on the outside with hewn stones, probably of thelight, porous kind employed in the buildings of the city. It wasprobably square, with its sides facing the cardinal points. It wasdivided into five bodies or stories, each one receding so as to beof smaller dimensions than that immediately below it; the usual formof the Aztec teocallis, as already described, and bearing obviousresemblance to some of the primitive pyramidal structures in the OldWorld. The ascent was by a flight of steps on the outside, whichreached to the narrow terrace or platform at the base of the secondstory, passing quite round the building, when a second stairwayconducted to a similar landing at the base of the third. The breadthof this walk was just so much space as was left by the retreatingstory next above it. From this construction the visitor was obliged topass round the whole edifice four times, in order to reach the top.This had a most imposing effect in the religious ceremonials, when thepompous procession of priests with their wild minstrelsy came sweepinground the huge sides of the pyramid, as they rose higher and higher inthe presence of gazing multitudes, towards the summit.The dimensions of the temple cannot be given with any certainty.The Conquerors judged by the eye, rarely troubling themselves withanything like an accurate measurement. It was, probably, not much lessthan three hundred feet square at the base; and, as the Spaniardscounted a hundred and fourteen steps, was probably less than onehundred feet in height.When Cortes arrived before the teocalli, he found two priestsand several caciques commissioned by Montezuma to save him the fatigueof the ascent by bearing him on their shoulders, in the same manner ashad been done to the emperor. But the general declined the compliment,preferring to march up at the head of his men. On reaching the summit,they found it a vast area, paved with broad flat stones. The firstobject that met their view was a large block of jasper, the peculiarshape of which showed it was the stone on which the bodies of theunhappy victims were stretched for sacrifice. Its convex surface, byraising the breast, enabled the priest to perform his diabolicaltask more easily, of removing the heart. At the other end of thearea were two towers or sanctuaries, consisting of three stories,the lower one of stone and stucco, the two upper of wood elaboratelycarved. In the lower division stood the images of their gods; theapartments above were filled with utensils for their religiousservices, and with the ashes of some of their Aztec princes, who hadfancied this airy sepulchre. Before each sanctuary stood an altar withthat undying fire upon it, the extinction of which boded as muchevil to the empire, as that of the Vestal flame would have done inancient Rome. Here, also, was the huge cylindrical drum made ofserpents' skins, and struck only on extraordinary occasions, when itsent forth a melancholy sound that might be heard for miles,- asound of woe in after times to the Spaniards.Montezuma, attended by the high-priest, came forward to receiveCortes as he mounted the area. "You are weary, Malinche," said he tohim, "with climbing up our great temple." But Cortes, with a politicvaunt, assured him "the Spaniards were never weary!" Then, takinghim by the hand, the emperor pointed out the localities of theneighbourhood. The temple on which they stood, rising high above allother edifices in the capital, afforded the most elevated as well ascentral point of view. Below them the city lay spread out like amap, with its streets and canals intersecting each other at rightangles, its terraced roofs blooming like so many parterres of flowers.Every place seemed alive with business and bustle; canoes wereglancing up and down the canals, the streets were crowded withpeople in their gay, picturesque costume, while from the marketplacethey had so lately left, a confused hum of many sounds and voices roseupon the air. They could distinctly trace the symmetrical plan ofthe city, with its principal avenues issuing, as it were, from thefour gates of the coatepantli; and connecting themselves with thecauseways, which formed the grand entrances to the capital. Thisregular and beautiful arrangement was imitated in many of the inferiortowns, where the great roads converged towards the chief teocalli,or cathedral, as to a common focus. They could discern the insularposition of the metropolis, bathed on all sides by the salt floods,