Nostalgia (n): a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.

As we all stay home, and try to keep ourselves occupied with “new normals” and learn the truth in the phrase “necessity is the mother of invention” with novel recipes and DIYs and more, nostalgia seems to occupy some space in time (at least for me). And while nostalgia sometimes has a poor rep, it is not bad, not at all.

There is the sweetness to it, like reflected in this quote:

“What is the charm that makes old things so sweet?” – Sarah Doudney, Between the Lights, c.1875

And the other sides – humor or sadness:

“Nostalgia is like a grammar lesson: you find the present tense, but the past perfect!” – Owens Lee Pomeroy

“There is no greater sorrow
Than to recall a happy time
When miserable.”
― Dante Alighieri

I look through old photos each day as part of my daily photo challenges on Instagram, and recall cherished memories. I smile fondly and sometimes sadly, and leave my family wondering at all those smiles until they see for themselves. And then we are all in a nostalgic mood together, or LOL together as we recall those goofy or silly things that happened around a particular photo (or the photos themselves!)

“We grow up with dreams in our eyes and songs on our lips and we discover that life is not what we thought it would be. And then, we discover nostalgia.” – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

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The Books

National Parks of the USA: Activity Book

Book Info

My Thoughts

Visiting and enjoying the beauty of the national parks is definitely a favorite family activity, one that we are now doing virtually (of course)! And this book is perfect to add to the fun of virtual vacations in our national parks.

The book is a bundle of cool activities to do as a family, or have the young ones work on them alone(or together, or maybe like a competition too). It includes word games (searches, code breakers, crosswords, jumble etc), mazes, quizzes based on national park trivia, and even a board game as well as a place to plan your own national park. Answers to all the games (where required) are provided at the end of the book.

While this book is one for younger audiences, it is always fun to play games. And as a bonus, there is lots of national park trivia.

Did I mention the stickers??? Yes, there are those too!!

In Summary

Perfect for vacationing in place together! So get it for yourself or your young ones today.

Goodreads || Amazon || Book Depository || Target ||
Barnes and Noble || IndieBound

Side note: This will work well as a companion guide to the book it was inspired by titled National Parks of the USA. In addition, there are other books by the author/illustrator teams that I look forward to reading.

You can find National Parks of the USA online here:

Goodreads || Amazon || Book Depository || Target ||
Barnes and Noble || IndieBound

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Nature All Around: Plants

Book Info

My Thoughts

Pamela Hickman’s easy to follow narrative accompanied by Carolyn Gavin’s aesthetic, colorful and detailed illustrations make this book a great resource for teaching budding plant-watchers and plant-growers.

Yes, you can be a plant-watcher too, and this book teaches you the hows and whats of the same. The book gives the reader glimpses into the plant’s life, what happens to plants across seasons, and an overview of photosynthesis among other things.

While brief enough to not bore the younger audiences, the book includes the right amount of details to keep the readers interested and make them curious enough to learn more. I also loved the fun facts scattered like seeds throughout the book 🙂

Note that the book focuses on flowering plants in North America, but the knowledge gained can still be useful for everyone.

And I found out that this is part of a series so I will be checking out the others as well.

In Summary

A great addition to school and classroom libraries certainly, and all budding botanists will love this on their bookshelves.

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A New Kind of Wild

Book Info

My Thoughts

A New Kind of Wild is simply stunning – both because of the sweet storytelling and the breathtakingly beautiful images.

It is a tale that tugs at heartstrings effortlessly through the message that friendship and the power of imagination are all the magic you need. It shows that different does not mean bad, and looking at new and different things from a different perspective can help one discover magic. I also loved that the story shows that you need to listen well and understand to really help others who are having an issue.

The colors are vivid, and the artwork full of quirky details that will delight the young readers. Through Ren and Ava’s words, and the beautiful illustrations, readers can travel from the forests of Puerto Rico to the concrete jungle of New York. .

In Summary

A glorious and mesmerizing celebration of friendship and imagination.

Pre-order here

Goodreads || Amazon || Book Depository || Target ||
Barnes and Noble|| IndieBound

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Disclaimer: Thank you to Edelweiss and the publishers for the digital ARC of the books; these are my honest opinions after reading these books.

“Nostalgia is a powerful drug. Under its influence, ordinary songs take on dimensions and powers, like emotional superheroes.” – Kate Christensen

My ‘N’ Book Stack

The Books

• The Naughtiest Girl Again
• The Naughtiest Girl
• Nothing Lasts Forever
• A Night Like This
• Nobody’s Baby But Mine
• No Duke of Mine
• Nighttime is my Time
• No Full Stops in India
• Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
• The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency
• Naked Statistics
• The New Kid on the Block
• New York

And I found a couple more ‘N’ books after taking this pic. One is The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, and the other is The Nursery Treasury book with poems and nursery rhymes.

Forgotten days of long ago,
I wonder where you are!
And if perchance we’ll meet again
On some far-distant star!
~George Elliston, “Forgotten Days,” Everyday Poems, 1921

Quick Notes

I have not reviewed any of the books in the N stack of books, thought I have read a few of them. Blyton’s Naughtiest Girl series was a favorite read when I was little. These are however not my copies of the book (those are back in India). The New Kid on the Block is a fun read like so many of the other books by Prelutsky.

Julia Quinn is one of my favorite romance author, while I recall going through a Sidney Sheldon phase at one point in my life (as for this book, I have not read it yet).

Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory. ~Franklin Pierce Adams

Random Thing(s) for ‘N’ Day

How many namelings do you have? That might be a hard one to answer but I am guessing you can answer this one. How many namelings do you know? As for the first question, the 15th of April is anyways ‘National Take a Wild Guess Day’ so you can try that anyway. And oh yes, I forgot, a nameling is someone who has the same name as you.

“People seem to get nostalgic about a lot of things they weren’t so crazy about the first time around.” ~Author Unknown

And now, the end of this post

So, dear reader, as always, a couple of questions for you. Have you read any of the pictured books in my ‘N’ stack? Any comments on them? Any interesting ‘N’ words or facts for me?

For previous posts, click on the links below:

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Linking up to the April A to Z Blogging Challenge, and the Ultimate Blog Challenge (click on the images to learn more about these challenges)