Puzzle: Basler Stadtplan von Matthäus Merian, Historisches Museum Basel


Translation: City Map of Basel by Matthäus Merian, 1615-17
Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 49cm x 36cm
Producer: Historical Museum Basel
Story: “Since it was executed by Matthäus Merian in 1615 and presented to Basel’s City Council, the large map of the city of Basel, a handcolored pen-and-ink drawing now housed in the Historical Museum, has always been greatly admired. Its correct reproduction of numerous details that have since disappeared make the map an incomparable …

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First month baby care – lessons learned

He turned the stiff pages in horrified fascination. They opened into another world, a world of quite stupefying problems… It was amazing, he decided after reading a few pages, that a swamp dragon ever survived to see a second sunrise. Even walking across a room must be reckoned a biological triumph… They lived on a chemical knife-edge the whole time. One misplaced hiccup and they were geography… Omnivores or not, what they must really live on was their nerves, flapping apologetically through the world in mortal fear of their own digestive system. [Terry Pratchett, “Guards! Guards!”]

Below are a few …

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Puzzle: Liguria, Italy


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 35cm x 48cm
Producer: Canada Games, Windsor
Location: Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Liguria borders France to the west, Piedmont to the north, and Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany to the east. It lies on the Ligurian Sea. Liguria is a narrow strip of land, enclosed between the sea and the Alps and the Apennines mountains, it is a winding arched extension from Ventimiglia …

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Book: Sign with your baby, by Joseph Garcia

Title: Sign with your baby: How to communicate with infants before they can speak
Author: Joseph Garcia
Source: Ottawa Public Library
ISBN: 0963622927
Available online

Notes: This is a useful book for people who want to start signing with their babies. It outlines in a straightforward manner the benefits of sign language (in this case ASL) to infants that do not yet talk and the order in which to introduce the terms. The author also covers …

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Puzzle: Dromoland Castle, Ireland


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben
Location: Dromoland Castle is a castle, now a luxury hotel, located near Newmarket-on-Fergus, County Clare, Ireland. The present building was completed in 1835. However the first building constructed here seems to have been a 15th or early 16th century tower house and is recorded as being erected by Thomas, the son of Shane Mac Anerheny. There were at least three houses on the site, at …

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Book: Baby Massage for Dummies by Joanne Bagshaw and Ilene Fox

Title: Baby Massage for Dummies
Author: Joanne Bagshaw and Ilene Fox
Source: Ottawa Public Library
ISBN: 9780764578410
Available online

Notes: This book describes advantages of baby massage for a child’s physical and emotional development, bonding with the caregiver, and as an aid in treating various ailments. Besides discussing the benefits and the overall principles of massage, the …

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Book: How to Have Your Second Child First, by Kelly Colburn and Rob Sorensen

Title: How to Have Your Second Child First: 100 Things That Would Have Been Good to Know the First Time Around
Author: Kelly Colburn and Rob Sorensen
Source: Veddma library
ISBN: 9780811869881
Available online

Notes: Second time parents have to juggle responsibilities of taking care of more than one child at the same …

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Puzzle: Sheffield, Yorkshire, England


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben
Location: Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. The City of Sheffield is built on seven hills and is near the confluence of five rivers. It is estimated that Sheffield has over two million trees, more per person than any other city in Europe; 61% of the city is …

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Puzzle: Agawa Canyon, Ontario


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 48.6cm x 73cm
Producer: Sure-Lox
Series: Chateau
Tour train: http://www.agawacanyontourtrain.com/content/tours/canyontour/
Location: The Agawa Canyon is a shallow canyon located deep in the sparsely populated Algoma District in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created 1.2 billion years ago by faulting along the Canadian Shield and then enlarged by the erosive action of the Agawa River. The Agawa Canyon Wilderness Park is only accessible by hiking trail …

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Book: My Mother Wears Combat Boots, by Jessica Mills

Book: My mother wears combat bootsTitle: My Mother Wears Combat Boots: A Parenting Guide for the Rest of Us
Author: Jessica Mills
Source: Midwifery Collective
ISBN: 9781904859727
Available online

Notes: A very thorough, well-researched, and informative book written by a punk musician and activist interested in raising her child in a way that promotes free thinking and discourages consumerism. This book is so full of …

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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 …

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Book: Green Baby, by Susannah Marriott

Book: Green BabyTitle: 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 …

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

Book: New Mom's CompanionTitle: 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 …

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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 …

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Book: The Perfect Baby Handbook, by Dale Hrabi

Book: The Perfect Baby HandbookTitle: 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 …

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