Penny Lee and Her TV

Peggy Lee loves to watch television so much that she has no time for anything else, but one day when the television stops working, her dog Mr. Barkley shows her some of the other fun things they can do.

If you think your kid has a serious TV addiction, you haven't met Penny Lee. Not only does this girl have 300 favorite shows (including Pinky Poodle's Pool Party and Puppy Puppet's Playhouse), even her dreams have commercial breaks. (Of course, the fact that she sleeps on top of the TV set can't help.)
One morning, Penny wakes up to find the screen cold and dark. "She tried the remote. She shook the TV, but nothing happened. 'Help!' Penny Lee yelled. 'Call 911! Call the fire department! Call the National Guard!'" Fortunately for her, she's got a faithful canine who--not coincidentally, we find out later--has been looking for the chance to get more attention from his owner. Floppy-eared Mr. Barkley helps Penny Lee transport her set to the repair shop, but along the way the two (well, three, including the TV) find all sorts of opportunities for fun: playing hide-and-seek, skipping rope (or power cord, in this case), cloud-watching, even fishing. Could Penny possibly have found a life outside of TV? It's too soon to tell, but "that night, when Penny fell asleep, her dreams were commercial free."
Glenn McCoy puts his newspaper-comic skills to good use here, with an animated pigtailed Penny and excellent expressions from poor, long-suffering Mr. Barkley. (Readers will recognize his style from editorial cartoons in The New York Times and USA Today, or, more famously, his strip The Duplex.) McCoy's storytelling talent might not quite be up to this longer format yet, but he makes a respectable first showing. (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes

The River Ribble, at Cuerdale, Lancashire, where the famous Viking treasure, the "Cuerdale Hoard " was found. Cuerdale is home to the Cuerdale hoard, believed to have been buried by Vikings in approx 902 AD. In 1840 on a bend in the river Ribble the "Cuerdale Hoard" was found valued at approx. half-a-million Pounds in today's terms. There are believed to have been 8,500 pieces of silver, including 350 ingots, weighing 44 Kilogram. The latest coins in the hoard were minted around 905 AD. those of "Louis the Blind of the West Franks". There was also 5,000 Viking silver coins produced in York circa 900 AD, together with 1,000 silver pennies of King Alfred and Edward the Elder 899 AD. Many other coins were also discovered from all over the world, together with silver neck rings from Russia and Brooches from Ireland, in fact approx. 75 per cent of the hoard was Irish in origin. the Hoard was placed in a lead lined chest with the coins bagged inside in leather pouches. The chest was hidden it is believed in the tenth century, by a ford in the river and never recovered. In 902 the Vikings were driven out of Dublin and the hoard may have part of their attempt to establish themselves in the Ribble valley. Viking ships could have reached approx. were the hoard was buried, this being at the tidal limit of the river. Some scholars believe that the hoard was part of a war chest from the Battle of Brunanburgh, but others say this battle did not take place till 937 AD, later than when they believe the hoard was buried. An inscribed stone is located on the banks of the Ribble between church deeps and the Brockholes Bridge by the "Tickled Trout Hotel" marking the location of the find. The above extract is from A history of Walton-Le-Dale and Bamber Bridge by David Hunt why not buy the Book? to read More about Cuerdale Hoard .

A penny per thought hardly seems worth it these days. However in the 1500s and earlier, it may have been a fair trade. The phrase was mentioned in 1522 by Sir Thomas More in his work "Four Last Things." Playwright John Heywood included "a penny for your thoughts" in his catalog of proverbs published in 1546 or 1562. These are the earliest recorded uses, but the saying probably dates further back, as the penny itself has a long history. Britain first made silver pennies around 757 A.D., and by the reign of King Edward III (1327 to 1377), the penny was the most important coin in circulation. At the time, it was worth about one-twelfth of a shilling. The modern value is hard to pinpoint. The Straight Dope calculates a 16th-century penny would be worth $42.67 in 2001. However, a resource for actors and writers suggests two pennies would buy a beer in the 16th century, and a French Renaissance reenactment site lists the purchasing power of a penny as equal to one loaf of bread. So a penny of More and Heywood's era could be worth $2 to $4 in these modern times. Not a bad conversion rate, eh?

Deb figured if he had to clean out Hilde's stall one more time, he'd bust. He wished he knew the hex for making all that manure disappear.
Grandpa said the German folk down in Pennsylvania knew how to do it. But Grandpa could barely recollect the cure for the wanderlust, let alone the more useful hexes.
"Well, maybe I'll just work it out on my own," Deb told himself.

A young boy goes on the journey of a lifetime . . . or many lifetimes

Deb has a bad case of wanderlust. No hex can keep him from yearning for far-off places, and neither can a broken leg. But it can keep him from moving around at all. Deb is so miserable that he even misses doing chores. Nothing cheers him up-not his cousin Tam and especially not that strange boy Bray who's been hanging about.

The only glimmer of brightness in Deb's life comes from Grandpa's lucky silver penny, which keeps mysteriously showing up. Soon its strange powers lead him on a journey that might be just the cure he needs.