Puzzle: Generalife, Granada, Spain


Size
: 1000 pieces, 1 missing
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben
Location: The Palacio de Generalife (Arabic: Jannat al-‘Arif’ – Architect’s Garden) was the summer palace and country estate of the Nasrid Emirs of the Emirate of Granada, now beside the city of Granada in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain.

The palace and gardens were built during the reign of Muhammad III (1302–1309) and redecorated shortly after by Abu I-Walid Isma’il (1313–1324).

The complex consists of the Patio de la Acequia (Court of the Water Channel or Water-Garden Courtyard), which has a … Read more

Book: Green Baby, by Susannah Marriott

Title: Green Baby
Author: Susannah Marriott
Source: Midwifery Collective
ISBN:
9781402200144
Available online

Notes: This book is packed with generic statements, statistical quotes, and once in a  while some useful tips regarding baby-related cleaning, diet, diapering, toy selection, etc. Each section starts with a description of the most significant ecological problems regarding a particular area of parenting, and goes on to more specific suggestions on what constitutes “light” to “heavy” green choices.

Clothing: the author suggests hemp, bamboo, wool, and organic cotton as best fabrics. For washing clothing, use 40°C for most … Read more

Book: The New Mom’s Companion, by Debra Gilbert Rosenberg

Title: The New Mom’s Companion: Care for Yourself while You Care for Your Newborn
Author: Debra Gilbert Rosenberg, L.C.S.W. with Mary Susan Miller, Ph.D.
Source: Midwifery Collective
ISBN:
9781402200144
Available online

Notes: The author is a social worker and a mother of three. The book is organized as a series of questions from women on a particular topic, and the author providing an answer and/or advice on dealing with the issue raised in the question.

The book is broken into two parts: one that deals with issues that first-time mothers face with … Read more

Puzzle: Decorative plates, Cancún, Mexico


Size
: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben
Location: Cancún is a coastal city in Mexico’s easternmost state, Quintana Roo, on the Yucatán Peninsula. As a rapidly growing city with a quickly changing skyline, the estimated population for Cancún is 705,000 in 2010 an increase 20% from the census in 2005. Cancún is located on the Yucatan Channel that separates Mexico from the island of Cuba in the Greater Antilles. The Cancún region is sometimes known as the Mexican Caribbean or the Mayan Riviera. [Wiki]

Book: The Perfect Baby Handbook, by Dale Hrabi

Title: The Perfect Baby Handbook: A guide for excessively motivated parents
Author: Dale Hrabi
Source: Ottawa Public Library
ISBN:
9780061242915
Available online

Notes: This book is supposed to be a “whimsical parody”, a satirical look at the parents that load the baby’s life with all kinds of stimulation, in order to achieve “perfection”. The author manages to stretch the joke into a 144 page book full of illustrations, graphs, and tables. It is mildly amusing for about the first five pages, after which the jokes become quite repetitive.

So, the book is … Read more

Puzzle: Villandry Castle, Indre-et-Loire, France


Size
: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben
Location site: http://testvillandry.ecritel.net/
Location: The lands where an ancient fortress once stood were known as Colombier until the 17th century. Acquired in the early 16th century by Jean Le Breton, France’s Controller-General for War under King Francis I, a new château was constructed around the original 14th-century keep where King Philip II of France once met Richard I of England to discuss peace.

In 1906, Joachim Carvallo  purchased the property and poured an enormous amount of time, money and devotion into … Read more

Book: Baby Laughs, by Jenny McCarthy

Title: Baby Laughs: The naked truth about the first year of mommyhood
Author: Jenny McCarthy
Source: Ottawa Public Library
ISBN:
9780452287198
Available online

Notes: This book is full of justifications of an “average person’s” complete lack of knowledge of how to deal with a baby, the mother’s changing body, and the family’s change in roles. The author is trying to be funny, but most supposedly humorous statements come across as obnoxious and overstated.

The author’s delivery was described as three and a half hours of pushing with everyone around her chanting “push!” … Read more

Puzzle: Boat Quay, Singapore


Size
: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben
Location: Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, 137 kilometres north of the equator, in the Southeast Asian region of the Asian continent. It is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north, and from Indonesia’s Riau Islands by the Singapore Strait to its south. Singapore is the world’s fourth leading financial centre and a cosmopolitan world city, playing a key role in international trade and finance. The port of … Read more

Puzzle: Iseltwald, Switzerland


Size
: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben
Location: Iseltwald is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. The village lies on a delta at the south bank of Lake Brienz in the Bernese Oberland. It is 14 km (9 mi) from Interlaken, the road mostly running along Lake Brienz. It consists of the village of Iseltwald and the hamlets of Furen, Sengg and Isch as well as scattered farm houses through the woods and into the alps.

Iseltwald has a population (as of 31 … Read more

Puzzle: Aargau Canton, Switzerland


Size
: 500 pieces, 1 missing
Dimensions: 33.02cm x 48.26cm
Producer: Kodacolor
Location: Aargau is one of the more northerly cantons of Switzerland. The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state[1] with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Still Dreaming


Size
: 500 pieces
Artist: Mark Adamus
Producer: Masterpieces
Image: North Cascades, Washington [Original]. A long exposure streaks these clouds sweeping over Whatcom Peak reflected in a small tarn in a very remote region of Washington’s North Cascades range.
Location: The North Cascades are a section of the Cascade Range of western North America. They span the border between the Canadian province of British Columbia and the US state of Washington. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Ascona, Switzerland


Size
: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 33.02cm x 48.26cm
Producer: Kodacolor
Location: Ascona is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It has a population of about 5000 and is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore. The “Monte Verità” (literally Hill of Truth) in Ascona has an important historical background. At the beginning of the 20th century, a colony was founded on it which preached the return to nature. The colony attracted a large number of artists, anarchists and other famous people, including Hermann Hesse, Carl Jung, Erich … Read more