Laboyraryan. Storyteller. Demigod.

It's been a long while.

My kids are definitely missing you :)

Just last month, one of my students was left by his dad whose life was already decided upon by the Fates. He told me that he misses his dad so much and that you, Dinosaur, are his only company when he's alone at night. So, everytime he gets inside the library, he runs towards the shelves where books about you are located and borrow some of them. There are even times that he would return a book about you and borrow it again at the same time. I just want to thank you first, for keeping him company, and second, for helping me develop this child's imagination. He even told me that he would soon be an archaeologist or paleontologist so he could know more about you. But for now, he would love to stay inside the library and talk with me to know more about you.

Admittedly, you never fail to get the attention of my dear students. Whenever I hold classes for my Prep students and I bring them to the library, the first thing they would look for are dinosaurs. Girls and boys alike. Pokemons, robots, princesses just come after you. I really don't know what this charisma you have that make children so interested in you [even I, in my youngest years, loved and still love to read about you]. Maybe because your life is so mysterious that people would want to know more about you. I remember one of my students even asked me:

I was surprised and left puzzled and I just told him that that's the way things are supposed to be. Imagine you, Dinosaur, living with us?!? That would be a hell of a survival of the fittest. You may intimidate us with your humongous sizes, trembling roars, sharp claws and grinding teeth but we human, would never back down. Unless you want to be a stuffed roasted Dino, you better stay out of our way. [Especially from Filipinos who are having drinking sessions, you might end up as their pulutan]. Maybe that was why we never existed in the same place and at the same time. You already had your time, give us our chance.

Thank you for imparting knowledge to my kids. Thank you for helping me develop their imaginations. Thank you for making them more curious and never letting them stop asking "Why?". You may not be with us here but I'd say Kudos for a lot of help.

Lotsa' love,

/dmarco

PS: If you're going to ask me what my most messed up shelf is, that would be shelf no. 5 because that is where the dinosaurs are [figuratively].

There is more in this classic fairy tale than the usual damsel in distress and happily ever after.

Originally written by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, this Disney animated classic is [should] definitely [be] a part of everyone's childhood.

Belle is more than a beautiful lady with the kindest of heart. She may not have been born with a golden spoon and a tiara but Belle definitely deserves to be a princess. More than her demure and finesse manner, her captivating beauty, her undying love for her father, and her ability to see the goodness in everyone, Belle is notable because of her love for knowledge. Belle is a bibliophile!

Unlike Cinderella, Aurora or Snow White, [who could afford to have the Library of Congress inside their castles -- with the dwarfs and fairy godmothers helping them], Belle is just a common villager. Living her life within her means. So, she just usually borrows books from the local bookstore just around the corner.

And when the time came that his father left home and never came back and she needed to look for him, she found this majestic but dark castle where she found her father locked inside a room. There she also found the beast, whom she eventually learned to like and love and, the beast, in return, gave her a surprise.

Which of course, is a big big library [aside from the happily ever after, of course]!

Beauty and the Beast"

My adorable students would approach me and most of the time, ask this question:

It must be because they are too young or too tongue-tied to pronounce it properly, but all the while, it makes me giggle a little whenever I hear the way they pronounce it. So, what I would do is tell them to pronounce it properly:

And we would all laugh heartily. Now, more than the "where" part is "who" really is Geronimo Stilton and what makes him so popular with my kids?