Happy Birthday Shellbrook!

You're official 100 years old today! 100 years of heart!

Last Week!

We've reached the last week!

For the 13th of November you readers have added 4,689 more pages. (And with a total like that, it most definitely was not an unlucky day for me!) With last week being 63,744 kilometers travelled, the new total is 68,433!

As I'm not quite home yet, just floating in the Gulf of Alaska at 53 N 153 W, the library will be accepting reading logs until the library closes by 8:00 p.m. on November 18th. That means a lot of pages will have to be read to get me back onto Canadian soil or will the Canadian Coast Guard have to come rescue me?

You readers decide!

Five more days to go!

One Week to Go!

This twenty-second week with November just beginning, you readers added 5,737 pages to last weeks distance of 58,007 making the new total 63,744 kilometers! Wonderful!

I hopped over the Kamchatka Peninsula into the North Pacific Ocean so my new location is 53 N 161 E. I'm currently floating over the continental shelf and the view looks very, very cool when checked out at Google Maps using the "Satellite" choice.

Some more information about the Pacific Ocean:

Along the Pacific Ocean's irregular western margins lie many seas, the largest of which are the Celebes Sea, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, South China Sea, Sulu Sea, Tasman Sea, and Yellow Sea. The Strait of Malacca joins the Pacific and the Indian Oceans on the west, and Drake Passage and the Straits of Magellan link the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean on the east. To the north, the Bering Strait connects the Pacific with the Arctic Ocean. (Can you find all those places on a map or globe?)

The largest landmass entirely within the Pacific Ocean is the island of New Guinea— the second largest island in the world. Almost all of the smaller islands of the Pacific lie between 30°N and 30°S, extending from Southeast Asia to Easter Island; the rest of the Pacific Basin is almost entirely submerged. During the Last glacial period, New Guinea was part of Australia so the largest landmass would have been Borneo–Palawan. (Do you know where New Guinea is?)

The third and fourth types of islands are both the result of coralline island building. Coral reefs are low-lying structures that have built up on basaltic lava flows under the ocean's surface. One of the most dramatic is the Great Barrier Reef off northeastern Australia. A second island type formed of coral is the uplifted coral platform, which is usually slightly larger than the low coral islands. Examples include Banaba (formerly Ocean Island) and Makatea in the Tuamotu group of French Polynesia. (I wish I had time to learn how to sucba dive to see the Great Barrier Reef, though I'm sure that there would be lots of fish who'd think a little centipede like me would look very tasty!)

Important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times, most notably those of the Polynesians from the Asian edge of the ocean to Tahiti and then to Hawaii, New Zealand, and Easter Island. (But as a centipede, I was already here!)

Also, marine pollution is a generic term for the harmful entry into the ocean of chemicals or particles. The biggest culprits are people who use the rivers for disposing of their waste. So keep litter out of the water and in recycle bins!

Twelve days until Shellbrook's birthday! We're almost home again, so read, read, read!

Two Weeks to Go!

It's the twenty-first week, with a new grand total distanced travelled of 58,007 kilometers! Which means that 2,265 pages were added to last weeks total of 55,742.

There was no stop in northern China for me this journey! I'm swimming in the Sea of Okhotsk which is:

• part of the western Pacific Ocean, lying between the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, the island of Hokkaidō to the far south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a long stretch of eastern Siberian coast (including the Shantar Islands) along the west and north. The northeast corner is Shelikhov Gulf.
• it covers 611,000 sq.mi. (1,583,000 km².), with an average depth of 2,818 feet (859 metres). Its maximum depth is 11,063 feet (3,372 metres).
• in winter, navigation on the Sea of Okhotsk becomes difficult, or even impossible, due to the formation of large ice floes, because the large amount of freshwater from the Amur River lowers the amount of salt in the water and raises the freezing point of the sea.

I'm also getting closer and closer to the North American continent! It looks like you'll send me not on one round trip, but two trips around the globe! This is fantastic!

Three Weeks to Go!

As this is the twentieth week of the Centennial Centipede Project, we've only got three more weeks and three days during the week of November 18th when the Grand Prize Draw occurs! So, last week the total distanced travelled was 54,372, well this week you read 2,480 pages for a new total distance of 55,742 kilometers!

I'm now at 53 N 83 E in the near the east boarder of Altai Krai near the city of Barnaul. As I covered Kazakenstan's national anthem last week, this week I'll tell you a bit about the national anthem of Russia.

• The song is an adaptation of the anthem of the Soviet Union of 1944, with music originally composed by Alexander Alexandrov. The lyrics were revised for the anthem of the Russian Federation by Sergey Mikhalkov, who had supplied lyrics for versions of the Soviet anthem in 1943 and 1977. The revision removes any mention of Vladimir Lenin's ideas and the "unbreakable union" of the Soviet state, instead focusing on a country that is vast in area and rich in resources that will be entrusted to future generations.
• The hymn was adopted in late 2000 by President Vladimir Putin and replaced "The Patriotic Song", which had been the official anthem from 1990.
  

More can be learned at wikipedia.

Lyrics (an unofficial English translation)

Russia — our sacred power,
Russia — our beloved country.
Mighty will, great glory —
Your honors for all time!

Refrain:

Glory to you, our free Motherland,

Age-old union of fraternal peoples,

Ancestor-given wisdom of the people!

Glory to you, our country! We are proud of you!

From the southern seas to the polar regions
Spread our forests and fields.
You are unique in the world! You alone are like this —
Our dear land kept safe by God!

Refrain

Wide amplitude for dreams and for living
Gets opened up for us with each passing year.
Loyalty to the Motherland gives us strength.
Thus it was, is, and always shall be!

Refrain

And while I wrote about the French and English versions of "O Canada" this week I'm going to direct you to a recording of Canada's anthem done in Cree by 13 year old Akina Shirt on YouTube. She preformed at a Calgary Flames game in February 2007, the first person ever to perform "O Canada" in a Canadian Aboriginal language at a National Hockey League contest.

Keep on reading like mad! We're getting near the end!

Meniñ Qazaqstanım!

This nineteenth week of the project 2,480 pages were added to last weeks total of 51,892 and adding them up our new total is 51,892 kilometers! Fantastic job reading as always!

My location for this weekend of October 16th is 53 N 70 E, meaning that just as I've re-visited Belarus and Russia I'm once again visiting Kazakhstan. I've decided to share with you Kazakhstan's new national anthem which was adopted in 2006, the song is "Meniñ Qazaqstanım" which translates to "My Kazakhstan." (The"Anthem of the Republic of Kazakhstan" was the title of the old national anthem from 1992 to early 2006.)

Bellow are the lyrics, but you can also listen to it here.

Lyrics
Sky of golden sun,
Steppe of golden seed,
Legend of courage -
Take a look at my country!

From the antiquity
Our heroic glory emerged,
They did not give up their pride
My Kazakh people are strong!

Chorus:
My country, my country,
As your flower I will be planted,
As your song I will stream, my country!
My native land – My Kazakhstan!

The way was opened to the posterity
I have a vast land.
Its unity is proper,
I have an independent country.

It welcomed the time
Like an eternal friend,
Our country is happy,
Such is our country.

Chorus

"O Canada" has a more confusing history:

• The song was originally commissioned by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, Théodore Robitaille, for the 1880 National Holiday of Quebec ceremony. The text was originally only in French, before it was translated to English in 1906.
  
• Since 1867, "God Save the King" (or "God Save the Queen" depending on who's ruling) and "The Maple Leaf Forever" had been competing as unofficial national anthems in Canada. "O Canada" joined that fray when school children sang it for the 1901 tour of Canada by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall (later King George V and Queen Mary).
• "O Canada" was not officially Canada's national anthem until 1980, when it was signed into law on July 1 as part of that year's Canada Day celebrations. "God Save the King/Queen" is now Canada's royal anthem.
  
• Many English versions have appeared over the years while the French lyrics remain unaltered.

There is more to the story of our anthem then just the above text, so check it out at O Canada at the government website or wikipedia for the song history.

Have fun reading!

Once Again, Hello Russia!

This week of October 9th you read 1,503 more pages for me, making the distance I travelled 51,892 kilometers with last week being 50,435 km.

So, where in the world am I now? If you guessed I'm back in Russian, you'd be right! There's a lot of Russian to cover in my journey, after all it is the only nation that's landmass is larger than Canada's.

My exact location is 53 N 46 E putting me in the of Penza oblast south-east of the it's capital city. (Do you remember what an oblast is?) And while our city is much younger then the city Penza which was founded in 1663 the oblast is younger then our province with a founding date of 1939.

Now, what time is it here? The Penza oblast is located in the Moscow Time Zone which means that if its 4:00 pm in Shellbrook it is midnight here! (The time zone I'm in is eight hours ahead of Saskatchewan.) Which means it's way past my bedtime!

Round Trip, Return Trip!

Week seventeen saw 1,457 pages added to last weeks 48,978 for a total distanced travelled of 50,435 kilometers.

So I'm revisiting the country of Belarus again at 53 N 31 E though not right back at my first stay over! Now what can I tell you about my stop over this time? How about some of the heritage sites?

Belarus has four World Heritage Sites:

The Mir Castle Complex began construction in the 15th century in the Gothic architectural style though one of the owners finished building the castle in the Renaissance style. It was also used in WWII by the Nazi who used it as a ghetto for the local Jewish population prior to their liquidation.

The Niasvizh Castle is a residential castle of the a local nobal family, the Radziwills. In 1706, during the Great Northern War, Charles XII's army sacked the castle and destroyed its fortifications. n 1770 the castle was seized by Russian forces and the Radziwill family was expelled. However, it was restored by the Radziwills and between 1881 and 1886.

The Belovezhskaya Pushcha is an ancient woodland straddling the border between Belarus and Poland which means the site is shared with Poland, my last weekend stop over. The forest is home to 800 wisent (known as the European bison) just like the Prince Albert National Park! Their wisent were reintroduced into the park in 1929 and our bison wandered into our park in the 1960s.

The Struve Geodetic Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through ten countries and over 2,820 km. The chain was established and used by the German-born Russian scientist Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve in the years 1816 to 1855 to establish the exact size and shape of the earth. (So I guess it's thanks to him that I know the distance I have to travel to get around the world!)

Please check out the wikipedia entries for more in depth information and pictures!

Keep up your excellent reading!

September Draw Winners

Well, congratulations to the September prize winners! And a huge thank you to everyone who is reading and turning in their reading logs. These three lucky winners can drop by the Library at any time to claim their prize.

First place with a $10.00 gift card for Shellbrook Flowers 'N' More is Jovee D.

Second place is Evan B.. and his prize of Vouageur by Eric Walters.

Third place winner is Emma K. with her Library pen.

Gearing up for the September Draw we have a first place gift certificate valued at $10.00, second place is the book Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel, and third place is a Library pen.

So read lots of pages and hand in your Reading Logs every Friday to have your name entered in the October Draw! I wish the best of luck to everyone!

Dzień dobry Everyone!

Well week sixteen saw 3,671 pages added to last weeks 45,307 for a new total distanced travelled of 48,978 kilometers. Great job everyone!

But, the all important question: where am I now? Well, I breezed through Ireland, Britain, Netherlands, Germany and am camping in Poland at 53 N 17 E. (Don't forget to check my location out with the satellite view on Google Maps.)

Now about the subject line! "Dzień dobry" which you pronounce as "jane dough-bray" means "good day" and is a Polish way of saying "hello." So dzień dobry everyone!

Do you think you readers could try and find a book in the library that is set in Poland? Or set in Poland part of the time? Good luck and hope to hear about your discovery from Ms Carswell!

Keep on and continue having fun reading.

Off the Coast of Ireland

Week fifteen saw 2,120 pages added to last weeks 43,187 for a total distanced travelled of 45,307 kilometers.

So currently I am in the Atlantic Ocean (the water is quite cold here!) 570 km off the coast of Ireland. My exact location is 53 N 19 w for those of you who are interested.

Well, though I say I'm off the coast of Ireland I've still got a few novels to read before touching Irish soil. Maybe three Nancy Drew should get me there at 180 pages each? Well the first two novels are 180 pages, The Secret of the Old Clock and The Hidden Staircase but Ms Carswell has misplaced her personal copy of the The Bungalow Mystery so she can't check the page number for us right now!

Read on!

Swim Time Again

Week fourteen saw 3,873 pages added to last weeks 39,314 for a total distanced travelled of 43,187 kilometers. Which means I'm back swimming in the Atlantic Ocean! Currently floating at "53 N 40 W" until I learn how many more leagues I can swim next week.

So, what can we learn about the Atlantic Ocean from Wikipedia today?

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres (41.1 million square miles). It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface.

The Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between the Americas to the west, and Eurasia and Africa to the east.

On average, the Atlantic is the saltiest of the world's major oceans. Hope I don't end up a pickled centipede if I have to tread water here to long!

The Atlantic Ocean appears to be the second youngest of all five oceans. Evidence indicates that it did not exist prior to 130 million years ago, when the continents that formed from the breakup of the ancestral super continent, Pangaea, were being rifted apart by the process of seafloor spreading.

Which means we centipedes are older then the Atlantic Ocean as we showed up 420 million years in the late Silurian period. That means us centipedes are much older than dinosaurs and we're still around as ourselves too! (No turning into birds for us!)

Quebec and Paper from Trees

Week thirteen saw 1,834 pages added to last weeks 37,480 which means the total distanced travelled is now 39,314 kilometers.

So I'm back visiting in Quebec , which means I'm still in the northern forests of the Taiga Shield but this time I'm south-west of the the Robert-Bourassa Reservoir. Once again, if you want to find exactly where I am, visit Goggle Maps and enter "53 N 78 W" to see my new location.

It's very pretty visiting here in the fall because the leaves of the sugar maple and oak trees turn red as well as the yellow and orange of the birch. How many of you have heard of birch-bark-biting? Well here's a bit of information about it from Wikipedia:

Mazinibaganjigan (plural: mazinibaganjiganan) is an ancient folk art made by the Ojibwa (Anishinaabe) by biting down on small pieces of Birch bark to form intricate designs. In some areas, it is also known as ozhibaganjigan(-an).

Using the eye teeth to bite, the bite pressures can either pierce the bark pieces into a lace or just make certain areas thinner to allow for light to pass through. If the bark piece is carefully folded, symmetrical designs can also be made onto it.

Birch bark bitings can be used in storytelling, as patterns for quillwork and beadwork, as well as finished pieces of art.

What other method is there of storytelling? On paper of course! And birch bark has a history of being used as paper in two very different places.

In India the thin bark coming off in winter was used as writing paper and is known as bhoorj patra. Bhoorj is the Sanskrit name of tree and patra means paper.

This bark also has been used widely in ancient Russia as note paper which is called beresta.

Hope you enjoyed learning about birch bark, I know I did. Have a great weekend and keep up the reading during the week!

August Draw Winners

Thank you to everyone who is participating but a special congratulations go out to our three draw winners for the month of August. These three lucky winners can drop by the Library at any time to claim their prize.

First place with a $10.00 gift card for Your Break Billiards and Amanda's Pizza is Nicholas K.

Second place is Sanoi D. and her prize of The Magic Paintbrush by Robin Muller.

Third place winner is Evan B. with his Library pen.

Gearing up for the September Draw we have a first place gift certificate valued at $10.00, second place is the book Vouageur by Eric Walters, and third place is a Library pen.

So read lots of pages and hand in your Reading Logs every Friday to have your name entered in the September Draw! I wish the best of luck to everyone!

--
04-Sep-2009 edit: Sanoi D. due to her age was give a choice between a picture book and the young teen novel "Silverwing" by Kenneth Oppel. She selected "The Magic Paintbrush" by Robin Muller.

Complete Circuit of the World!

We've reached the twelfth week of my world walk, adding 4,211 kilometers to last weeks total of 33,269 for a new grand total of 37,480.

Which means that not only have I succeeded in circling the world, I've exceeded my goal! THANK YOU! If it hadn't been for all of you reading, reading, and reading these past twelve weeks I wouldn't have been able to take a single step!

We needed 36,800 pages read and with the extra 680 pages you've read me right back into friendly Manitoba on the the east side of Lake Winnipeg. (The coordinates, if you're checking where I am out on Google Maps is 53 N 96 W.) And are you up for another trip? I am!

So, once again, a hug centipede hug (which is very big with one hundred limbs!) to everyone reading. I hope you're still having as much fun reading as I am learning where your reading is going to send me.

Back in Canadian Waters!

I'm still in the North Pacifc Ocean only now I'm located in Canadian waters! I'm at "53 N 138 W" just 377 kilometeres west of Graham Island, BC. So in order to get here for this eleventh week, 5,288 kilometers were added to 27,981 for a new grand total of 33,269 kilometers!

I learned today that there are two Graham Islands in Canada! That's why I added "BC" behind to show that it's a part of the British Columbia province. The other Graham Island is 3,311 kilometers away from my current location. But 3,311 km in which direction? Northeast! The second Graham Island is in the territory of Nunavut.

So a little bit about Graham Island, BC:

Graham Island is the largest of the Queen Charlotte Islands and is also known as Haida Gwaii meaning "land of the Haida."

It is separated only by a narrow channel from the other principal island of the group, Moresby Island which is known as Gwaii Haanas in the language of the Haida people.

It is the 101st largest island in the world and Canada's 22nd largest island.

I hope you found what I had to tell you fun and interesting to learn. So until next week, keep on reading and keep me moving!

Swimming in the North Pacific Ocean

I'm swimming again! Last week the total distance traveled was 24,235 and this week readers have added 3776 for a new total this tenth week of 27,981 kilometers.

You are doing a fantastic job! I've been moving steadily since I started and haven't had to stay too long in one place once!

So, where am I in the North Pacific Ocean? Well I'm at "53 N 170 E" which puts me east of the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula, west of the United States Attu Island, and just on the edge of the Bering Sea.

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.

It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east. At 169.2 million square kilometres (65.3 million square miles) in area, this largest division of the World Ocean – and, in turn, the hydrosphere – covers about 46% of the Earth's water surface and about 32% of its total surface area, making it larger than all of the Earth's land area combined. Could you imagine what our world maps would look like if all the oceans were land and all the land were oceans?

The equator subdivides it into the North Pacific Ocean (where I am!) and South Pacific Ocean, with two exceptions: the Galápagos and Gilbert Islands are deemed wholly within the South Pacific.

The Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the Pacific and in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres (35,798 ft). That means if Mount Everest, the tallest point on Earth at 8,848 meters (29,029 feet), was set in the Mariana Trench, there would be 2,076 meters (6,811 feet) of water left above it!

So it's a pretty neat ocean isn't it? So check out the Wikipedia entry here to learn lots more!

Between China and the Sea of Okhotsk

This ninth week of my journey 3,543 kilometers were added to last weeks 20,662 kilometers bringing the distance I've traveled up to 24,325! Excellent job everyone!

So I was quite thrilled to pass through the northern most province of China, Heilongjiang, before returning to Russia soil to stop for the weekend in Amur Oblast. My exact location is "53 N 133 E" so you can see where I am on Google Maps.

What is an "oblast" you may ask? Well it's esentially Russia's word for province which they define as "regular administrative units with federally appointed governor and locally elected legislature." Different from Candian provinces though is that an oblast is "commonly named after the oblast center—the largest city in the oblast, its administrative center."

The administrative center of Amur Oblast, Blagoveshchensk, is one of the oldest settlements in the Russian Far East, founded in 1856. Which means that it's 153 years old compared to Shellbrook's 100 years. The oblast of Amur was established October 20, 1932 making it 77 years old whereas our province of Saskatchewan is now 104. So the oblast will be celebrating their centennial in the year 2032.

Amur is also in the Yakutsk Time Zone (YAKT) which means it's offset 9 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). So, if it is 11:00 am in Shellbrook it is 8:00 pm here.

See you next weekend!

July Draw Winners

Thank you to everyone who is participating but a special congratulations go out to our three draw winners for the month of July. These three lucky winners can drop by the Library at any time to claim their prize.

First place with a $10.00 gift card for Dee Gee's Confectionery is Jenna B.

Second place is Emma K. and her prize of Playing with Fire (Book 1 - Little Secrets) by Emily Blake.

Third place winner is Emily M. with her Library pen.

Gearing up for the August Draw we have a first place gift certificate valued at $10.00 for Your Break Billards and Amanda's Pizza, second place is the book Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel, and third place is a Library pen.

So read lots of pages and hand in your Reading Logs every Friday to have your name entered in the August Draw! I wish the best of luck to everyone!

Now I'm Stopped in Russia

The total distance traveled has grown from 17,498 to a total of 20,662 kilometers with the addition of 3,164 pages this eight week.

So well, now I'm really on a stay over in the forests of Russia. I'm in the eastern part of the country above Mongolia at 53 N 98 E in the Tuva Republic, a Russian federal subject.

Now just a little bit about this republic:

There are over 9,000 rivers in the republic. The area includes the upper course of the Yenisei River, the 5th longest river in the world. The Saskatchewan River is the 36th with the branch the North Sasktachewan River being 123rd of 165 "long" rivers around the world.

Tuva is located in the Krasnoyarsk Time Zone (KRAT) is 7 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and Krasnoyarsk Summer Time (KRAST) is 8 hours ahead. Which means that when it is 10:00 am in Shellbrook, it's is 9:00 pm here.

Tuva has no railway yet. Shellbrook had it's C.N. Railway Station (currently our museum) constructed in 1909 and the first train came through in January 1910.

The present flag of Tuva was adopted on September 17, 1992. Saskatchewan's flag was was officially adopted on September 22, 1969.

Visiting the Republic of Kazakhstan

Well I've passed through eastern Russia to reach the country of Kazakhstan! So this seventh week, the total kilometers traveled is 17,498 as 4,095 pages were added to last weeks total of 13,403.

Kazakhstan is ranked as the ninth largest country in the world as well as the world's largest landlocked country. Landlocked means of course that none of Earth's oceans touch it's land. I think that's pretty impressive. Also part of it its western territory is considered to be in Europe while the rest is considered to be in Asia.

Kazakhstan as a country is also much younger then Shellbrook! We're celebrating our 100th birthday on November 18th and they declared themselves an independent country on December 16, 1991 which means this year they're only turning 18! Who do you know that is 18?

If you want to learn more, check out Kazakhstan on Wikipedia.

June Draw Winners

The wait is over! The prize books have arrived at the library so the draw can finally be made! (Ms. Carswell says sorry lots and lots!) Thank you to everyone who is participating but a special congratulations go out to our three draw winners for the month of June. These three lucky winners can drop by the Library at any time to claim their prize.

First place with a $10.00 gift card for Subway is Shaylyn K.

Second place is Tyra G. and her prize of Mister Monday (Book 1 - The Keys to the Kingdom) by Garth Nix.

Third place winner is Emma K. with her Library pen.

Gearing up for the July Draw we have a first place gift certificate valued at $10.00 for Dee Gee's Confectionery, second place is the book Playing with Fire (Book 1 - Little Secrets) by Emily Blake, and third place is a Library pen. So read lots of pages and hand in your Reading Logs every Friday to have your name entered in the July Draw! I wish the best of luck to everyone!

(And don't worry, the next draw will be done sharply on Friday, July 31 as soon as the last of the Reading Logs are handed in and tallied up. I'll make sure Ms. Carswell doesn't leave the Library until she does so!)

I've Crossed the Prime Meridian

The fifth Friday has rolled past with 4,168 pages added to the Reading Log count of 7,680 bringing the kilometres I've travelled to 11,848! So I've breezed through Ireland, England and other European nations and have crossed the border into Russia!

I've also crossed the Prime Meridian -- at which longitude is defined to be 0° -- which means I'm my longitude is no longer 'west' but 'east'! Because the Prime Meridian is arbitrary by international convention the modern Prime Meridian passes through the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, in east London, United Kingdom which is why it is also known as the International Meridian or Greenwich Meridian.

So to find out where in Russia I am go to Google maps and enter "53 N 40 E" and it will show the Russian towns and national forest range around me. While here I think I'll pick up a matryoshka doll, which are the Russian nested doll, and listen to some really good Russian fairytales, like the Firebird and The Little Hunchback Horse. Do you think that while I'm in Russian you could find and read one Russian fairytale for your Reading Log? All the Russian bugs I'm meeting would really like that!

Keep up on your reading! I can't wait to see where I go next!

Whee!

Well this is the fourth Friday of my project and I'm gleefully swimming in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!

4,511 pages were added to the Reading Log count of 3,169 meaning I've now travelled 7,680 kilometres. That's a fantastic amount and thanks to everyone who's gotten me this far.

Not much to see here but water and more water! And honestly that's all I want to see! So before I get too nervous centipede-paddling along and see a triangle shaped fin cutting through the surface of the water, read lots and lots and let's see where in Europe I'm going to next!

Reading in Belarus

So for this sixth week of my project, we've added 1,555 kilometers to last weeks total of 11,848 bringing the total to 13,403 and my location is the country of Belarus.

I'm not near any cities or towns at the moment, as my location is 53 N 27 E, so I'll tell you a little bit about the literature of the country I'm visiting:

Belarusian literature began with 11th- to 13th century religious writing; the 12th century poetry of Cyril of Turaw is representative. By the 16th century, Polotsk resident Francysk Skaryna translated the Bible into Belarusian. It was published in Prague and Vilnius between 1517 and 1525, making it the first book printed in Belarus or anywhere in Eastern Europe.

After Belarus was incorporated into the Soviet Union, the Soviet government took control of the Republic's cultural affairs. The free development of literature occurred only in Polish-held territory until Soviet occupation in 1939. Several poets and authors went into exile after the Nazi occupation of Belarus, not to return until the 1960s. The last major revival of Belarusian literature occurred in the 1960s with novels published by Vasil Bykaŭ and Uładzimir Karatkievič.

It's sad to learn that even though they started writing and reading here a thousand years ago, it wasn't until forty-nine years ago that they were able to read like we read in Shellbrook. We're very lucky to had the freedom to read what we want to. So give thanks and sign out those books!

Stop Walking! What Happened to Germany?

Oops. We've uncovered a math error in our calculations. You know during the fifth week of my journey I said I was in Russia? Well I wasn't there yet. I'd actually stopped in Germany!

At 53 N 12 E, right beside the town of Grube. To find it in an atlas or on a globe, it's sort of on a line between the two cities of Hamburg and Berlin.

So, now that the error has been caught and corrected, onward we go!

I'm Camping in the Taiga Shield

Moving onto the third Friday of my project 699 pages have been added to the Reading Log count of 2,470 advancing the total to 3,169 kilometres. I'm now in the wilderness forest of Quebec south-east of the Robert-Bourassa Reservoir. If you want to find exactly where I am, visit Goggle Maps and enter "53 N 75 W" and you can see where I am.

I'm enjoying the camping trip in the forest with it's eastern white pine, eastern hemlock, red pine, yellow birch, sugar maple, and oak treas. I am also very happy I no longer have to worry about the migratory birds on Akimiski Island, NU wanting to make a snack of me. As for what time it is here, I'm still only two hours ahead of everyone in Saskatchewan. So if it's 9:30 am in Shellbrook it is 11:30 am here.

I hope you were all able to get out on Sunday the 27th to enjoy the parade! If you did, did you see the decorated Library car with pictures of me as well as a 'me' made of balloons on the roof of the car? I was only sorry that because I was in the parade, I didn't get to see all of the very neat entries and floats except for the ones in front and behind of me. Hope you all got lots of candy and pictures though!

And did you see the draft horses pulling the stagecoach? Riding it was a fantastic opportunity but I wouldn't want to be underfoot of those horses--their hooves are the size of dinner plates! I sure don't want to be a centipede pancake!

Ms. Carswell was also wondering if any of you made it to the Theatre's Variety Night as she was a part of the production. Not singing, but acting in a skit called "At the Talkies". If you were she hopes you enjoyed the performances and didn't mind too much the trip home in the rain.

The PDF templates will be posted this evening so you can print the Reading Log off at home so keep up your reading!

Out of the Water and Camping

The second Friday and 1,808 pages have been added to last week's Reading Log count of 662 bringing the kilometres I've travelled up to 2,470! So I've crossed Lake Winnipeg and am out of Manitoba, through Ontario, and into Nunavut. Not only did I have a multitude of lakes and rivers to swim through while crossing through the northern forest I've already touched the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. How you may ask? Well I had a short swim in James Bay which is at the bottom of Hudson Bay, onto Akimiski Island and am camped on the eastern shore. It's a good thing that I'm walking during the summer as the eastern portion of Akimiski Island is an important feeding ground for various species of migratory birds, so important that it is a federal Migratory Bird Sanctuary. Not a very safe place for an insect like me during the fall and spring!

One other interesting thing about being on Akimiski Island is I'm in a different Time Zone. Here I'm two hours ahead of all you readers back in Saskatchewan. So if it's 12:30 pm in Shellbrook it is 2:30 pm here and lunch has long since past. Which is a good thing as I don't want to be some bird's lunch!

As you can see on the left of the screen I've gotten my picture up! It took a lot of figuring out and using the Help function of Blogger but I got it worked out and started a photo album inPisaca Web Albums. I hope in future to use it to host the photographs of the Monthly Draw winners and other events that Ms. Carswell will host back at the Library while I'm trekking away.

Things Are Going Swimmingly

This is the first Friday of my project and you helped me walk 662 kilometres! That's a great start and I'd like to give Tyra G. a big centipede hug for being the first person to turn in a Reading Log! It got me out of Saskatchewan into Manitoba and so far into Manitoba that I'm twelve miles off shore from Grand Rapids into Lake Winnipeg! It's a good thing I'm a strong swimmer! So I'll be doing the centipede-paddle while you all read furiously!

During the week I had my helping Librarian visit two of the schools in the area, Wild Rose Elementary (K-8) in the Shellbrook R.M. and Shellbrook Elementary (K-5) in the Town itself. She'd like to tell you she had a fantastic time and that you guys asked some really good and fun questions. She now knows that if I get stuck in any of one of the oceans I'll need an inflatable raft with a hundred paddles and mountain climbing gear with toque and mittens with one hundredwinter boots when crossing any mountain ranges. Ms. Carswell intends on visiting W. P. Sandin School (6-12) later on and hopefully the teenagers aren't too busy with their graduation stuff!

I'll also be posting up PDF templates of the Reading Logs and other material soon so that you can print them off from your computer at home if you have one, instead of coming into the Library all the time to get new Logs because you filled up the one you have.

Welcome to My Project

For a hundred years Shellbrook has invested in teaching children to read and for over fifty it has invested in its Library. That is why I love living here. In the next few months, I’m going to need help walking around the world at Shellbrook’s latitude of 53°. This is my way of celebrating Shellbrook’s 100th Anniversary.

For every page you read I walk a kilometer. For example, to get me to Prince Albert, Shellbrook readers must read 45 pages. The Librarian at Shellbrook is my helper and most willing to hand out Reading Logs. Just write down the title of what you read (book, magazine, manga, etc.) and the number of pages you read. Hand in your Log every Friday. Every page counts and every Reading Log enters your name in a draw.

The exciting prizes are Shellbrook related. Monthly draws are gift certificates for a variety of businesses in Shellbrook. The final Friday of my walk is November 13, 2009. This will give me time to soak my feet and rest up for the big draw for a McNally Robinson Booksellers gift certificate and Shellbrook Centennial Coin Set on Wednesday November 18, 2009.