Being on the Same Page with Bibliarch/Fully Booked's Jaime Daez (Exclusive)

Fully Booked Training Manager Lisa Lopez with Bibliarch staff

During Bibliarch's soft opening at the KCC Gensan Mall on October 16, I was informed by Lisa Lopez, Fully Booked Training Manager, that their Managing Director, Jaime Daez would be doing the honors of cutting the ribbon signaling the formal opening of the store on October 19.

When I arrived at Bibliarch-KCC Mall Gensan Branch, I saw Lisa in a huddle with Gensan Kagawad Beth Bagonoc and Jaime Daez. Lisa introduced me to Jaime as the first one to blog about Bibliarch's soft opening. I told him I belong to the SoCCSKSarGen Bloggers who drummed up interest in the opening in Gensan of the first Bibliarch branch outside of Metro Manila. He thanked the bloggers for the help.

Jaime Daez, Kagawad Beth Bagonoc and KCC Mall Gensan owner enter Bibliarch-KCC Mall Gensan  after the ribbon-cutting ceremony

I told Jaime about my spending time at Bibliarch-Rockwell Center. He seemed pleasantly surprised to meet someone from Mindanao who actually visited his very first Bibliarch bookshop. I asked him if he designed the store layout of Bibliarch and Fully Booked. And beaming with pride, he said indeed he did. Jaime is an architect by profession, hence, Bibliarch is pronounced Bibli-ark, and not Bibli-arch.

He asked me what books I have bought so far. I told him I bought 3 graphic novels. "Ooh," he said, "I personally choose the titles because I am a graphic novel reader myself." Jaime is friends with the great Neil Gaiman.

I congratulated him for the special elevated kiddie reading section in Bibliarch as this will surely encourage many children in Gensan to be readers. This section caught the eyes of school principals and teachers during the soft opening.

I also ribbed him (much to his delight that his face broke into a big smile!) about Margaux Salcedo's calling him "Food for Thought and Eye Candy" in her blog and food column in Sunday Inquirer Magazine. For sure, some ladies go for tall, mestizo, intelligent, bespectacled men like Jaime who love to read.

He asked me if I have been to Fully Booked in Bonifacio High Street in Bonifacio Global City. I told him I'm still saving up for the trip. With four storeys and a basement filled to the brim with books, it will be a dream trip for any bookworm like myself!

Fully Booked in Bonifacio High Street. Photo courtesy of Southbound.ph

With an architect's eye for design, Jaime Daez's concept of a book shop. Photo courtesy of Southbound.ph

4 storeys and a basement filled with books. Photo courtesy of Southbound.ph

I thanked Jaime for the time and for opening Bibliarch in Gensan. And off he went to the ribbon-cutting ceremony. After that, he was busy meeting with well-wishers and taking pictures. The next time we meet, I hope it will at Fully Booked in Bonifacio Global City. :)

Bibliarch - Gensan Branch's Soft Opening

Almost eleven years apart, I visited two branches of Bibliarch. One is at the Rockwell Center in November 1999 and the other today at the KCC Mall in General Santos City (Gensan).

The first one at Rockwell Center was located just beside Starbucks. It was a then small specialty bookshop with lots of art, photography and architecture books. Since I was not a coffee drinker, I would spend time browsing through the books at Bibliarch before proceeding to my 3-week training sessions at the Ateneo Graduate of Business.

Bibliarch - Gensan branch located at KCC Mall, just across McDonald's

Today, I eagerly went to the soft opening of the Gensan branch of Bibliarch. It is the third branch, but the first branch outside of Metro Manila (the first two being in Glorietta 3 and Walter Mart). I was told by a reliable source that KCC Mall made Bibliarch an offer it could not refuse. This Bibliarch is a far cry from the first one I visited almost eleven years ago. For one, it now has a w-i-d-e selection of books.

Excited bookworms on October 16

Aside from the usual art and photography books, it now offers cookbooks, fashion books, biographies, inspirational books, Filipiniana, bestselling novels and non-fiction books.

The shelf filled with biographies.

Bibliarch and Fully Booked are known for its graphic novel selections.

Bibliarch also has shelves of magazines, journals, cards, bookmarks, gift bags and vanity pens.

Magazines galore!

Abubots, journals, gift bags

A section for kids who love to read is also an exciting addition. In this section, kids can browse through lots and lots of kiddie books or identify their favorite fairy tale characters on the wall papers.

The kiddies' section filled with wonderful books and wallpaper of their favorite fairy tale characters.

All over Bibliarch are wall papers with reading themes.

Reading-themed wallpapers are featured all around the Bibliarch.

Book shelves and wallpaper as seen from the Catolico Avenue.

And my book choices: A Warrior's Life - Biography of Paulo Coelho, American Vampire, a graphic novel by Stephen King, Batman Reborn, another graphic novel, Shadow of Doubt by Marites Vitug, How to Live - A search for wisdom from old people by Henry Alford.

I will definitely be back for more graphic novels and other books of interest to me and make full use of my Fully Booked discount card.

Book Find: Paul Simon Lyrics 1964-2008

Paul Simon: Lyrics 1964-2008

Whenever I go trawling for books at National Book Store and Book Sale, I'm amazed at the serendipitous moments when I come across books I've been looking for (most of which are not of the bestseller variety) or books I never expected to exist. So it is a pleasant surprise to find Paul Simon's book,  Lyrics 1964-2008.



I immediately browsed for my favorite Simon and Garfunkel songs and saw this page: April Come She Will. Sheer poetry!

April Come She Will, the lyrics are sheer poetry!

And Mrs. Robinson, composed for the film, The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman. I always sang along this song when it was played on the radio. I saw the film in my 30s because I was still too young to see when it was first  shown in a local cinema. The book is replete with photos too!

And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson

The Sound of Silence, a lifesaver of a song

The Sound of Silence is a deep song. I remember getting distracted by these lyrics during my teenage rebellion years in college:

"And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence"

Reading these again after all these years made me realize how timeless the lyrics are.

It's interesting to know the genesis and metamorphosis of some songs composed by Simon

Still Crazy After All These Years. Now this is one song, I'm going to be singing in my twilight (not THAT Twilight, silly!) years.

Graceland in draft and final forms

Graceland is one song I'm belatedly appreciating. I admit I lost interested in the Simon & Garfunkel duo when they split up. In recent years, I've rediscovered Art Garfunkel's vocal artistry and the genius of Paul Simon's lyrical songs.

At P99 for this hardbound book at National Book Store, it is indeed worth all the memories made and yet to be made in the span of my life.

Fully Booked to open its First Mindanao branch in Gensan

Full Booked finally ventures into the shores of Mindanao by putting up its first branch in the island. With the opening of Fully Booked-Gensan in KCC Mall tentatively set in June or July this year, local bookworms are already salivating and furiously saving up. 

With 11 branches (10 in Metro Manila and 1 in Cebu City), Fully Booked-Gensan promises a novel experience for local readers. Occupying the 300-square-meter frontage of KCC Mall, the reading public will be treated to shelves and shelves of books ranging from the latest bestsellers to graphic novels, CDs,  stationery and collectible items. For those who are not contented with looking at the front and back covers of books, browsing and reading are allowed inside the store. Strategically placed couches and seats will be made available to readers.

The presence of Fully Booked will surely change the reading habits of people in the SoCCSKSarGen area by making sure that shopping for books and other items in their store will be a pleasurable experience.

Fully Booked augments the present bookstores in Gensan: Crown Bookstore, Kristan Bookstore, Roxas Crown Bookstore, Philippine Christian Bookstore, Expressions, Booksale, Rex Bookstore and the two branches of National Book Store.

So let's give a big WELCOME to Fully Booked-Gensan when it opens its doors for us in June or July!

The biggest Fully Booked branch in Bonifacio Global City, Metro Manila.

Please read this link for its scoop on Fully Booked-Gensan: Click here

For all that has been, thanks! For all that will be, yes!

I have always believed that books come into my life for certain reasons. At one of the darkest times in my life in the mid-90s, a book suddenly fell out of my bookcase -  a self-help book written by Robert Schuller - and it opened to a page where I had previously highlighted in neon green a sentence: You are bigger than your problem. That sentence was a ray of light in my moment of dark depression.

I am no stranger to depression. In times of introspection while in freshman college,  I was given Dag Hammarskjold's Markings by an aunt. US President John F. Kennedy hailed Hammarskjold as “the greatest statesman of our century.” He was the second Secretary General of the United Nations and was the only person to have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously (having been nominated before he died in a mysterious plane crash).

Markings featured Hammarskjold's spiritual musings, struggles and triumphs and from which the blogpost title was taken. His reflections resonated in my own struggles for self-worth and identity. My search for inner peace was guided by his words. I savored his thoughts and his efforts to make peace with God and the world. He became my first mentor in peacemaking. Later in life, I would take a big step toward living the life exemplified by another peacemaker, St. Francis of Assisi. And the third and latest mentor I discovered was Mahatma Gandhi.

And what have I learned so far from my mentors? Peace, inner or global, begins inside each of us. No one can impose or legislate peace. We must want peace; we must need it. Peace cannot exist in a vacuum; nor can it be imposed by silencing people who need it. Many people today believe, in a Machiavellian manner, that to exact peace, we need to eliminate those who dare to disturb it. Those who believe that to obtain peace (and order), criminals have to be summarily executed by those in authority or through extrajudicial means, are living in an empty, meaningless peace. We cannot establish peace using emotional blackmail ("you should reconcile with each other because Christmas is coming or it's his/her birthday next week, etc."). When two people/groups are ready to talk without any other agenda than peace can there be genuine communication.

Peace is a struggle, a cause worth dying for. We have to work hard toward peace. I treat each year as a grand opportunity for me to keep and make peace with myself, other people and the world. That is why every time a year ends, whether it was a good one or not, I say Thanks! And for every incoming year, I say Yes!

Celebrate the Freedom to Read! Celebrate Banned Books Week (Sept. 26-Oct. 3)

Banned Books Week is celebrated on September 26 to October 3 this year. Let's celebrate our freedom to read!

How of these frequently-challenged have you read?

100 most frequently challenged books: 1990–1999

1. *Scary Stories (Series), by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate, by Michael Willhoite
3. *I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
4. *The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
5. *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
6. *Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
7. Forever, by Judy Blume
8. *Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
9. Heather Has Two Mommies, by Leslea Newman
10. *The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
11. *The Giver, by Lois Lowry
12. My Brother Sam is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
14. Alice (Series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
15. *Goosebumps (Series), by R.L. Stine
16. *A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck
17. *The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
18. *Sex, by Madonna
19. *Earth’s Children (Series), by Jean M. Auel
20. The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson
21. In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak
22. *The Witches, by Roald Dahl
23. *A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle
24. The New Joy of Gay Sex, by Charles Silverstein
25. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
26. The Goats, by Brock Cole
27. The Stupids (Series), by Harry Allard
28. Anastasia Krupnik (Series), by Lois Lowry
29. Final Exit, by Derek Humphry
30. Blubber, by Judy Blume
31. Halloween ABC, by Eve Merriam
32. Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George
33. Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane
34. *The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
35. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters, by Lynda Madaras
36. Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
37. *The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
38. *The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton
39. *The Pigman, by Paul Zindel
40. *To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
41. We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier
42. Deenie, by Judy Blume
43. *Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
44. Annie on my Mind, by Nancy Garden
45. *Beloved, by Toni Morrison
46. The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Louis Sachar
47. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat, by Alvin Schwartz
48. *Harry Potter (Series), by J.K. Rowling
49. *Cujo, by Stephen King
50. *James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl
51. A Light in the Attic, by Shel Silverstein
52. *Ordinary People, by Judith Guest
53. *American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis
54. *Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
55. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy, by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
56. Bumps in the Night, by Harry Allard
57. Asking About Sex and Growing Up, by Joanna Cole
58. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons, by Lynda Madaras
59. The Anarchist Cookbook, by William Powell
60. *Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume
61. Boys and Sex, by Wardell Pomeroy
62. Crazy Lady, by Jane Conly
63. Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher
64. Killing Mr. Griffin, by Lois Duncan
65. Fade, by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What?, by Mem Fox
67. *Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
68. *Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
69. *Native Son by Richard Wright
70. *Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies, by Nancy Friday
71. Curses, Hexes and Spells, by Daniel Cohen
72. On My Honor, by Marion Dane Bauer
73. *The House of Spirits, by Isabel Allende
74. Jack, by A.M. Homes
75. Arizona Kid, by Ron Koertge
76. Family Secrets, by Norma Klein
77. Mommy Laid An Egg, by Babette Cole
78. Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo A. Anaya
79. Where Did I Come From?, by Peter Mayle
80. *The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline Cooney
81. *Carrie, by Stephen King
82. *The Dead Zone, by Stephen King
83. *The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
84. *Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
85. Always Running, by Luis Rodriguez
86. *Private Parts, by Howard Stern
87. Where’s Waldo?, by Martin Hanford
88. Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Greene
89. Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume
90. Little Black Sambo, by Helen Bannerman
91. *Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose, by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education, by Jenny Davis
94. Jumper, by Steven Gould
95. *Christine, by Stephen King
96. The Drowning of Stephen Jones, by Bette Greene
97. That Was Then, This is Now, by S.E. Hinton
98. Girls and Sex, by Wardell Pomeroy
99. The Wish Giver, by Bill Brittain
100. Jump Ship to Freedom, by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

* Books I've read

My Belated Summer Reading List '09

Having some teeth extracted to make way for partial dentures is not my idea of enjoying the summer break. And so to distract my mind from the pain and to while the time while my gums heal, I immersed myself in reading some of Jack Ketchum's fiction: Off Season, Offspring and Peaceable Kingdom.

I'm glad to have found Ketchum's Off Season and Offspring this late. The earlier editions were abridged due to some gory scenes involving cannibalism. The books (in their restored texts) sure were the perfect foil to the hunger pangs brought on by the soft diet imposed by my dentist. Ketchum (whose real name is Dallas Mayr) is now getting the recognition he deserves. Some books of his had been/are being filmed (Offspring, Lost, Girl Next Door, etc).

Based on a true story in the 60s, The Girl Next Door is the story of a teen-aged girl who suffers abuse from a family that took her and her sister in after their parents died and other people in the community. It is also the story of how an adult holds sway over kids who know no better and the kid who is torn between the attraction of cruelty and the gut-feel of doing the right thing.

I have started reading this book of Ketchum's short stories. The stories are scary and stick to my mind like a last-song-syndrome (LSS). Ketchum now joins my list of favorite stellar authors.

I have not been able to smile the way I used to in the last two years due to some missing teeth and the penchant of some people I talk to of staring at my missing teeth. And so in looking forward to having partial dentures to complete my smile, I'm reading A Brief History of the Smile by Angus Trumble. Trumble explores various aspects of the smile as an involuntary reflex, a mating call, as a default facial expression, among others. There is no better preparation than this book in getting my original smile back. :)

The son of millionaire Gloria Vanderbilt, Anderson Cooper had to earn the respect of others the hard way and through hard work. As CNN reporter, Cooper gives his readers his first-hand accounts of chaos and conflict from the tsunami in Sri Lanka, the war in Iraq and the Typhoon Katrina aftermath in New Orleans and Mississippi.

As my fave author, Bob Greene never fails the reader in me. Here he tells the story of a childhood friend who is dying and how his friends saw him through to the end of his journey. Sentimental, true, but rightly just so. Anyone who doesn't get this book never had the privilege of experiencing true friendship.

A satisfying read to someone like me who loves musical theater. The book chronicles various points in Sondheim's life and the genesis of his musicals. The back stories of his musicals are so deliciously interesting. I'm now savoring how A Little Night Music came to life on stage. I can't wait to read about my favorite song, Being Alive from Company and the story behind Sweeny Todd.

I want this book by Bob Buford to cap my summer reading. The blurb convinced me to buy the three-book Philippine reprint: ". . . when you've accomplished something yet find yourself asking Is this all there is to life? Is there something more?"

Buford makes use of exemplars to show how we can make our lives richer and more meaningful and start living with the finish line in mind.

Want a Life? Read a Book - Reprint

Science and Technology

Want a life? Read a book DE RERUM NATURA By Maria Isabel Garcia Updated February 26, 2009 12:00 AM

Folks, it has been scientifically confirmed: you read in order to live. Those words attributed to novelist Gustav Flaubert are often seen printed in quaint bookmarks or publishing house signs. Now, they have also been seen in your brains.

You guessed it. Scientists looked inside the brains of people who were asked to read stories and they found that whatever they read, their brains showed they were processing it in parts as if they were doing it in real life. In other words, the subjects were simulating the scenes they were reading, in their minds.

The lead author of the study is Nicole Speer, while among his co-authors was Jeffrey M. Zacks, associate professor of Washington University in St. Louis. Their study appears in the next issue of the journal Psychological Science. In the study, they scanned the brains of people in fMRI machines while asking them to read four stories of about 1,500 words culled from a 1940s’ book about the daily tasks of a young boy named Raymond. Because the participants are not allowed to move while in the fMRI machine, they did not use an actual book but used a computer screen to display one word at a time. Each participant took about 40 minutes to finish.

I listened to Dr. Zacks’ interview in NPR. He said that this proves that when you read a scene, it is “significantly like being there.” This finding gives us back the power of the original virtual reality we each are endowed with: our imagination. It has been proven before that when you imagine an object, your brain part lights up for that image as if you were looking at the real thing so that an imagined apple and a real apple are eerily the same apple — neurologically. This study extends it to even animated scenes so that the motor parts of the brain are activated when the text states an action scene and other scenes evoking visual, smell and tastes also summoned the “real” in their brains.

I was especially struck by what Dr. Zack said about language. He said that we always think that “virtual reality is something that involves fancy computers and helmets and gadgets” but now with these findings, we see that “language itself is a powerful form of virtual reality” that “when we tell each other stories, we can control the perceptual processes that happen in each other’s brains.” This means that you need not play virtual reality games to safely rehearse living! Reading could serve as some sort of mental activity workbook where you are able to go in and out of your many selves safely through language, without the threat of being obligated to don a straightjacket in your size. Through reading, you can put yourselves in several situations and never have them destroy you when you make a wrong move. This gives us some sort of built-in online training for the whole enterprise of living. It also affirms that reading is not a substitute for living but perhaps another side of it, and even serves it.

If I had a bookstore, I would post this everywhere to encourage people to read. Readers and writers have always known this about the power of language. But now science has given us pictures of our own brains to prove it: reading simulates life for real life! Lure them to read and you lure them to live!

The Power of Books - Reprint

Opinion

The power of books ROSES & THORNS By Alejandro R. Roces Updated April 25, 2009 12:00 AM

Today marks the last day of Instituto Cervantes de Manila’s three-day celebration of Dia Internacional del Libro (International Book Day). Instituto Cervantes Director Jose “Pepe” Rodriguez objective for this year is to give focus on the rich culture and traditions common to both the Philippines and Spain and to bring back Manila’s glorious past as the cultural capital of Asia by featuring literary works. On a wider scale, the event, which is also promoted by UNESCO as The World Book and Copyright Day, highlights the importance of books and reading as a key to learning, which is the only way one can improve himself and the life he leads. Hence, authors worldwide are also recognized for their works and their contribution in the preservation of culture and heritage, regarded as fruits of the human spirit. The importance of protecting intellectual property is also brought to fore as authors create books which express and demonstrate cultural diversity.

Data from UNESCO reveal that over 100 million children in the world receive no kind of schooling of which two-thirds live in sub-Saharan Africa. In our country, for those with more resources than others, reading books seemed to have been relegated to the back seat as browsing the internet to get information and texting has become more popular due to its accessibility and convenience. With the vast resources that can be accessed from the internet, including literary works, it is not surprising that less people buy books to read. Even the once voluminous and expensive volumes of encyclopedia can now be accessed through the internet.

For the more disadvantaged members of society, the picture becomes grimmer as the poor, who would rather work to earn, miss schooling. The vicious cycle leads to lesser opportunities to learn which hopelessly binds them to a lifetime of poverty and illiteracy. For those who can manage to attend public school, they have to face the problem of the lack of textbooks for basic learning and or the proliferation of poorly written books. Unaware of the defects and errors in public school textbooks, these poor students are doomed to an impaired ability to communicate and incorrect learning. The worst part is the tendency for their children to take after their experience.

Latest data from the National Statistical Coordination Board brings the alarming news that more than 11 million Filipinos, or about 12 percent of the population live below the subsistence level and about half of this number cannot read or write. Add the number of those who have access to education but barely read, we have a large group of Filipinos doomed to a lifetime of poverty, illiteracy and mediocrity, unless a drastic action is taken.

The opportunities need not to be for a few. The resources are there, it is just for the taking. But we have to help the less disadvantaged get access to these available resources and opportunities. We have read of philanthropists and advocates installing library hubs and donating books to libraries. We should have more educational institutions and teachers reaching out to poor students in barrio schools through reading programs which have proven to enrich their intellectual skills, training community teachers in the process. We should have more schools doing this as part of their outreach programs so that the benefits are replicated and realized on a larger scale. Beyond helping the youth improve learning through reading, the most important part should not be forgotten — imparting to them the legacies of culture and tradition of generations past without which the present can have no meaning.

Filipino author nominated in Sweden award - Reprint

Filipino author nominated in Sweden award

Adarna Publishing House also in the running

By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 16:38:00 03/12/2009

Filipino children literature author Albert Gamos and Adarna House have been nominated in Sweden’s prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world’s largest prize for children and young adult literature.

According to the consulate general of Sweden here, the award administered by the Swedish Arts Council gives away every year five million krona (about Є480,000) to authors, illustrators, storytellers, and promoters of reading.

The prize aims to increase and strengthen interest in children and young adult literature worldwide. The winner will be announced on March 24.

Gamos is an illustrator of the "The Best of Lola Basyang" by Severino Reyes, which bagged the Gintong Aklat Award for Children's Literature and won the National Book Award for Best Anthology. He has received various international awards for his work.

Adarna House meanwhile has been nominated for its literacy project, Bright Minds Read (BMR), which it launched in 2003 together with the Ronald McDonald House of Charities and the Philippine Department of Education.

Adarna’s literacy project was a response to a study conducted among public school students showing that after completing first grade, 40 percent of students were still nonreaders.

Together with top educators from the University of the Philippines, 32 picture books were published and a campaign to teach teachers how to use BMR materials was done.

In the first year, the ratio of Grade 1 nonreaders dramatically dropped from 40 percent to four percent.

To date, BMR has covered 2,000 schools.

“By 2009 the pilot students will be graduating from grade school with not only a love of learning but with a passion for reading,” the consulate said.

Adarna House has also partnered with Reach Out and Read-Philippines (ROR-P) to promote early literacy and a love for books.

The first bilingual (Filipino-English) board books will be provided to pediatric patients below two years old.

Last October 22, Adarna House and ROR-P opened the Adarna House Reading Corner in the activity center of Philippine Children’s Medical Center. The Philippines is one of the first few countries outside of the United States that has implemented ROR.

Previous recipients of the prize have been candidates from the United States, Austria, Brazil, Japan, Venezuela, and Australia, among others.

Unique portrait from Shakespeare's life unveiled - Reprint

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A portrait painted 400 years ago and kept anonymously in an Irish home for much of the time since is now believed to be the only painting of William Shakespeare created during his lifetime.

The portrait of William Shakespeare is thought to be the "only" portrait painted during his lifetime.

The image reveals a wealthy Shakespeare of high social status, contradicting the popular view of a struggling playwright of humble status, according to Stanley Wells, a professor who chairs London's Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Wells, a distinguished Shakespeare scholar, arranged for three years of research and scientific testing which confirmed it was painted around 1610, when Shakespeare would have been 46 years old.

"A rather young looking 46, it has to be said," Wells said. Shakespeare died in 1616.

The Cobbe portrait -- named after the Irish family that owns the painting -- shows Shakespeare with rosy cheeks, a full head of hair, and a reddish brown beard.

The most common portrait of Shakespeare is a gray image showing a bald Bard with a small mustache and beard, and bags under his eyes.

The identity of the man in the portrait was lost over the centuries -- until Alec Cobbe saw a portrait from Washington's Folger Shakespeare Library. That painting, which fell into disfavor as a Shakespeare portrait about 70 years ago, turned out to be one of four copies of Cobbe's portrait.

The portrait "shows a man wearing expensive costuming, including a very beautifully painted ruff of Italian lacework which would have been very expensive," Wells said.

"It establishes, for me, that Shakespeare in his later years was a rather wealthy, a rather well affluent member of aristocratic circles in the society of his time," Wells said.

"There's been too much of a tendency to believe that Shakespeare, being the son of a glover, coming for a small town in the middle of England, that he necessarily retained a rather humble status throughout his life."

Wells reads even more into what he sees in Shakespeare's newly-found face.

"I think it's plausible as a portrait as a good listener, of somebody who would have been capable of writing the plays, clearly the face of a man of high intelligence," he said.

"It's the face of a man, I think, who betrays a good deal of wisdom in his features. But, of course, as somebody (King Duncan) says in Shakespeare's story Macbeth, 'there's no art to find the mind's construction in the face.'"

It should be noted that Shakespeare's King Duncan paid a price for judging Macbeth to have the face of an honorable man. Macbeth later murdered the king.

The public can read Shakespeare's face from the original painting at Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon where it goes on display for several months starting April 23.

The portrait then returns to the Cobbe family, which inherited it when an ancestor married England's Earl of Southampton -- a friend of Shakespeare who likely commissioned its painting.

The Rest of the Story Rests in Peace - Paul Harvey, 90

One favorite author has died. Paul Harvey, whose voice I haven't heard (his stories were first broadcast by him over the radio) but whose books I have cherished and kept in a special section of my library, is dead at 90.His books are soooo easy to read with its bite-size stories reminiscent of O. Henry surprise endings. His books include Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story, More of Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story, Destiny and 102 Other Real Life Stories and Paul Harvey's For What's It's Worth.

An excerpt from his first book, Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story:

The Mouse that Roared

Steve Morris was not a typical child. But when you're nine years old, the desire to be typical is very strong . . .

Of all the people and things Steve has since forgotten and remembered from those early years, one woman stands out in his mind. One woman encouraged him and gave him the courage to be extraordinary. Steve's elementary school teacher, Mrs. Beneduci . . . With the unwitting aid of a little gray mouse she seized instead upon a particular opportunity, and from that day on Steve knew his greatest pride, the calling of a life.

It happened in a tiny grade school classroom in Detroit, the rest of the story.

(Mrs. Beneduci asked the class who Abraham Lincoln was. Nobody answered except Steve who got the answer right. She continued lecturing about Lincoln but was interrupted by a sound.)

"I hear something like scratching . . . It's very faint . . . It sounds like a mouse!"

(The girls screamed and some stood on their chairs. The teacher tried to calm them. She asked Steve to help her find the mouse.)

Steve sat straight upright in his chair, brightening considerably. "OK." he said, "Now everybody be quiet!"

(Steve cocked his head and pointed to the wastebasket. Mrs. Beneduci found the little gray mouse.)

It was discovered by little Steve Morris, whom nature had given a remarkable pair of ears in compensation for having denied him eyes since birth.

So the class settled back to business. And the little gray mouse became a mascot. In the heart of small, unsighted Steve, a pride was born . . . and that pride is with him still.

(Mrs. Beneduci continued encouraging the talent that the whole world now knows and respects.)

In time, the marvelous ears of Steve Morris gave popular music something to be proud of . . . a singer-composer-musician-producer with 5 Grammys in '75 . . . 17 gold singles . . . 4 gold albums . . . 4 platinum records.

For once upon a time, a little gray mouse roared . . . gave a small boy confidence in what nature had given him. And Steve Morris, from the time he was ten . . . for his gifted ears . . . was never known as anything . . . but Little Stevie Wonder.