Mad Over the Moon!

It's the Autumnal Equinox in the western hemisphere AND the Mid-Autumn Festival in the east - the first time since 1991 that just when the nights start getting loooonger, the moon will be at its biggest and brightest!  Chinese tradition celebrates this time of the year with paper lanterns and moon cakes - yummy breads filled with lotus seed cream and egg custards!  Western traditions celebrate the last and plentiful harvest before the long winter months, which is why the September moon is also called the harvest moon!

So wherever you are in the world, TudyGirls, celebrate the magic of this special time of the year - look up and go moon-gazing!  And when you've got your sights earth-bound again, try out this little quiz on the the loveliest orb in our night sky!

Plant More Rice!

It's better than ever!  I hope you've been testing your mental skills on one of my Tudy raves, FreeRice. It's the "click and give" website where you play educational games and raise money to fight world hunger. Founded by John Breen in 2007,  FreeRice now covers more subjects and is more interactive! Try the 2.0 version where you can tweet your results!  It's all about social networking and social giving!


And it's still all for free, Tudygirls. How smart is that?

Walk Like an Egyptian!

And walk into the fascinating world of Egyptian gods with Rick Riordan's The Red Pyramid!  This isn't your run-of-the-pyramid curse-of-the mummy book.  This is a world of Egyptian gods walking among us. Or at least, really bothering the Kane siblings, Carter and Sadie.  Having siblings is usually enough of a problem, but when you've lost your mom, have been apart for most of your lives, and have a dad who brings back the ancient Egyptian gods, life can't be all frankincense and myrrh!  Oh, and yes, you've got to save the world as we know it in the process!

The Red Pyramid is the kind of book that you finish in one read - you don't want to miss all that action!  And it makes Egytptology a subject you want to really study!  I think that's the best thing Rick Riordan has done - make the myths of ancient cultures fascinating for us all over again!