We’ve pointed out different public domain children’s book sites like Project Guggenheim and the Rosetta Project before, but those might have been too dated and retro-awesome for some modern mommies, daddies and kiddies.
Over at ChildrensLibrary.org they have full color scans of hundreds of kid’s book titles that are a little more current than my favorite from the 19th century, The Children’s Friend!
As you can see from the image above featuring a lovely dung beetle, the buttons at the top make flipping through (and even enlarging) the books easy, though it will never be the same as having a REAL book in your hands. For the price, though, who can complain!
Another great reason to check this site out is the international translations. A book written in both English and Spanish could be great study tool or presentation topic for your high schooler!
NOM!
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Alrighty there campers, it has come to our attention that we’ve been a bit slack lately with “the giving out of free stuff.” So to get back into the swing of things we’re firing up our 2nd Monthly Caption Contest!!! (Please hold your applause ’til the end.)
Since it’s October we figured we’d throw a seasonal image out there for everyone to wrap their heads around. Now before anyone asks…. Yes, this pic has been floating around the internet for ages; but it is still funny. 
The rules again are simple, post the best caption for this picture:
As usual the esteemed, unbiased, and extremely handsome panel of judges will be evaluating the entries. A winner will be announced on Halloween so get those thinking caps on and come up with something funny!
Now we know what you are thinking, “Man, winning a free customized children’s book would be a sweet deal, but I’ve just got too many ideas for that picture.”
Well don’t you fret a bit there, kemo sabe, because we’ve got you covered. Everyone will get one free entry just for fun (that’s just the nice kinda people we are here at MJM!) However, if you want an additional entry… well that’s gonna cost you… but not much.
For every one of our blog articles you “Digg” you will get one additional entry.
For every one of our blog articles you “Tweet” you will get one additional entry.
Also, to make it super easy for everyone to do that digg’n-n-tweet’n we’ve added nifty links at the bottom of each of our articles. Heck, you can even go back through the old articles if you like!
So get out there you crazy bunch of knuckleheads… Digg our articles… Tweet our articles… post something daring and creative that makes us chuckle and you could find yourself the proud owner of a sleek, shiny, one of a kind customized kid’s book that will make you the envy of the PTA!
Sure, the title is an oxymoron, but it can’t be helped. The children’s stories inside the book, however, are composed entirely of words that have just one word sound. Hey, there we go! It should be called “The Book of One Sound Words”.
Published in 1842, the author Esther Bakewell writes: Though in words of one syllable, “The Book of One Syllable” is not meant for a child when first he learns to read; it is meant for him when he knows such words at sight. The tales are told in these small words, that a child need not have to stop to spell, but that he may be led on and on till he comes to the end. May he feel when he does come to the end, that the read has not been a task.
Despite its implication that only little boys should read this book, it is a very nice sentiment. Here is a book designed for kids to enjoy and succeed in.
I particularly enjoyed the “scientifically accurate” entries about the Sun and Moon, such as this one: “No one knows of what the sun is made, nor how it is that it gives so much heat and light; but most wise men think that it is a world like our own, where men can live, and not be burnt more than we are burnt by the heat of the earth.” ummmmm…
Let’s read on!
THE SUN
The sun is a large world of much more size and weight than the earth and all the stars that move round it. It is by its great weight that it draws them all to it, and if they did not move fast and far in a course that takes them from the sun, all those stars that move round it with our world would be drawn to it in a short time. No one knows of what the sun is made, nor how it is that it gives so much heat and light; but most wise men think that it is a world like our own, where men can live, and not be burnt more than we are burnt by the heat of the earth. What makes the light and heat is a thing that seems strange to all. Some think that the clouds round it give out the light; that the black spots which are seen on the sun are large holes in the clouds round it, through which the sun is seen, and that the black spots are parts of the real sun. The sun shines and gives out heat to all the stars, which could not move in their orbs if the sun did not draw them to it; for they would else fly off through space.
THE MOON
What is the bright moon, that shines so in the sky?
It is a world like ours, but not so large; and boys and girls may live there, and go to school and play, as they do on this earth. To boys or girls who live in the moon this earth of ours shines like a large moon, and must give a great deal more light to them than their moon does to us. They could see to read and write by the light of the earth quite well.
The moon gives light from the sun, and does not shine with its own light; and so the earth would give back the sun’s light to the men in the moon.
There are land and sea, and hills and dales, in the moon; and the marks we see on it, like a face, are the lights and shades of the land, the hills, and the sea. There are hills too which are on fire, and they can be seen through a large spy-glass. Some men have thought they could make a spy-glass so large as would let them see the boys and girls in the moon, but they have not yet done it.
What a strange sight would it be if we could see them all at work!
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