Good Reference Websites

Here are some good reference websites:

Visiting Illinois: http://www.illinois.gov/visiting/

Visiting Wisconcin: http://www.wisconsin.gov/state/core/visiting_wisconsin.html

United States Presidents: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/

Illinois Maps: http://www.mapathon.com/il.shtml

Wisconsin Maps: http://www.wisconline.com/maps/index.html

Illinois Museums: http://www.illinois.worldweb.com/SightsAttractions/Museums/

Wisconsin Museums: http://www.wisconsinmuseums.org/

Christmas Mystery Books

Here are some excellent Christmas mystery books by the mother and daughter team of Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark.

The Christmas thief

He sees you when you're sleeping

Santa cruise: a holiday mystery at sea

Silent night

You can find out more about these titles by going to the Prairie Area Library System's online catalog at: http://216.125.140.44/uhtbin/cgisirsi/CzP2pEhoW5/QLL/139940580/60/1180/X

Places to visit in Chicago

Adler Planetarium
1300 S. Lake Shore Drive
http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/

Art Institute of Chicago
111 S. Michigan Avenue
http://artic.edu/

Chicago Children's Museum
700 E. Grand Avenue at Navy Pier
http://www.chichildrensmuseum.org/

Chicago Cubs Baseball
1060 W. Addison Street
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=chc

Field Museum
1400 S. Lake Shore Drive
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/

Lincoln Park Zoo
2200 N. Cannon Drive
http://www.lpzoo.org/

Museum of Science & Industry
57th & Lake Shore Drive
http://222.msichicago.org/

Navy Pier
600 Grand Avenue
http://www.navypier.com/

Sears Tower Skydeck
233 S. Wacker Drive
http://www.theskydeck.com/

Shedd Aquarium
1200 S. Lake Shore Drive
http://www.sheddaquarium.org/

Current favorite books

These are some of my current favorite books.

The Cat Who .... series by Lilian Jackson Braun

Journalist James Qwilleran and his two cats Koko and Yum Yum solve mysteries.

Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Join the crew of the Starship Enterprise as they "boldly go where no one has gone before" and save the universe.

These are some of my childhood favorite books:

The Boxcar children by Gertrude Chandler Warner.

Four orphans run away and live in an old box car. Eventually they are found by their grandfather and move in with him and keep the boxcar in the backyard. They are very independent and can take of themselves and solve mysteries.


Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol

Ten-year-old Encyclopedia Brown is the son of the police chief. When his father can't solve the crime, he tells Encyclopedia about it at the dinner table. Encyclopedia asks his father one question, and solves the crime. During the summer, he runs a detective agency from his garage for 25 cents plus expenses. Each book contains 10 mysteries and the solutions are in the back of the book.


The Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon

Sons of the famous private detective Fenton Hardy, teenage brothers Frank and Joe follow in their father's footsteps solving mysteries.