...for toys, gifts and hobby stuff.
For humorous articles backed by reliable research, you'll want to visit these sites created by author, Marjorie Dorfman.
Choose your topic, click on the image and have fun!
Did you ever wonder where the banana came from or how it got its name? Are you aware that the first people to cultivate potatoes were not the Irish? Do you see what you have missed by not knowing the answers to these and other searing questions? Whether you do or not, the answers are here, well-researched and presented on a humorous platter of anecdotal material about your favorite foods and drinks. A Taste of Funny can only make you look at the culinary cosmos with a new and more discerning eye.
This is the best book ever on carving pumpkin. There are patterns for everything from scary to comical faces. Carving is done only with knives or for those carvers with tools, good directions are available for a really terrific creation. Step-by-step instructions are detailed for using handy household tools to carve dramatic Halloween figures and using professional tools for creating more elaborate and intricate details. Twenty pumpkin carving patterns are provided and include full-color photographs of each finished carving.
by Robert B. Fletcher
with Robert A. Fletcher, Illustrator
This father and son team has produced for all generations a fitting and touching tribute to those who have lost their lives while serving in the armed forces of our nation. This is history with a personal, stirring touch. The delicate subject is handled with the utmost reverance and grace. The reader stands, as it were, in hushed solemnity at the funerals themselves. There is so much not-to-be-lost history to be gleaned as well.
Bright, colorful pages packed with color illustrations and photos chart the art and history of the firecracker, from their construction and advancement to the making of labels and items promoting them.This book shows great insight to the history of the firecracker and the intricate artwork involved with their packaging.
by Jonny Zucker
Jan Barger Cohen, Illustrator Here is a simple and delightful introduction to the festival of Chinese New Year – suitable for even the very youngest child. Follow a family as they set off firecrackers, watch lion and dragon dances, and hang up lanterns to celebrate the start of their New Year.
The latest installment in the Lucy Stone mystery series is fast paced, exciting and very colorful. It is really funny and the perfect mystery to read when one wants to be entertained.
Quite an extraordinary biography and an important public figure. Obama grew up mainly in Hawaii. After college, he worked for three years as a community organizer on Chicago's South Side. Then, finally, he went to Kenya, to find the world of his dead father. This book reads like a wry commentary about all of us.
Foote's disappearance from the Hollywood establishment after his 1963 Oscar for the screenplay of To Kill a Mockingbird, marks the start of work on his cycle of nine plays called The Orphan's Home. These plays are set in small town Texas between the turn of the century and 1928. The three plays anthologized here are the sixth, seventh, and eighth in the cycle.
One of the sweetest, most beautifully illustrated books ever. The message is about love and nature being better gifts than material items. Bunny Gray wants to find a special valentine for his friend, Rosie. On each page, there is a flap to lift. Each flap has cutouts with metallic foil insets, which appears to be some sort of precious gem which Bunny Gray thinks might make a good gift for Rosie. When the flap is lifted, you see that the shiny objects are actually something lovely from nature.
This detailed how-to offers everything anyone would ever want to know about All Hallows Eve. Bannatyne takes us through decorating houses, yards, and ourselves; planning a killer Halloween party; embarking on must-see Halloween pilgrimages and preparing Halloween cuisine. Anecdotes and lifelong obsession with Halloween give the book a readable quality. If nothing else, those who follow this book carefully are sure to win every Halloween contest they enter, whether dressed as an out-of-work superhero or a giant post-it note.
A collection of the very best writing in praise of mothers from authors including: D.H. Lawrence, Louisa May Alcott and Maya Angelou, complemented by the paintings of artists such as Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin and Pierre Auguste Renoir. A fine and beautiful tribute to mothers.
by Susan Burmeister-Brown, Linda B. Swanson-Davies
A thoughtful and powerful exploration of the most mysterious bond in life, the stories demonstrate that motherhood is more than toilet training and tantrum control, as they portray the full, fierce, joyous, and frightening range of experience that marks this state of being.
by Edna Barth (Author)
and Ursula Arndt (Illustrator)
Shamrocks, shillelaghs, reed pipes, and leprechauns– these are some of the many symbols that remind us of St. Patrick's Day. Who was St. Patrick? And what is this early spring holiday all about? With warmth and vitality, Edna Barth tells the colorful stories, legends, and historical facts behind St. Patrick's Day. A book to be discovered and read with pleasure.
Boese, the "curator" of The Museum of Hoaxes (see our Links page), here collects some of the more fascinating hoaxes from medieval times to the dot-com era. This book is a fascinating historical tour of hundreds of documented hoaxes, many collected here for the first time. Read about the curiosities and cons of the most notorious hornswogglers and flimflam men of the nineteenth century; be astounded at the imposters, pretenders, and tricksters of the twentieth.
The Algonquin Round Table. A crackling collection of bon mots, wisecracks, epigrams and gags by such notables as Franklin Pierce Adams, Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker and Alexander Woolcott.
Nothing says "I love you" like gifts made from the heart, and anyone struck with Cupid's arrow will find plenty of inspiration in Valentine Treats. So say it like you mean it with nostalgic Antique Valentines and a Sweetheart Candy Box. Cupid's arrow will hit the bull's eye this holiday with the enchanting ideas in this book.
Celebrations is a beautifully illustrated book that brings families and friends together for a year of happy occasions with unique, modern, historical and traditional touches.
The only Christmas book you will ever need! With simple, straight-forward solutions, this book puts the fun back into holiday preparations with common sense tips about avoiding the December crush.
Even if you are not planning a large holiday party or feast, you will still find Martha Stewart's book useful for information on homemade gifts, gift wrapping and wreaths and garlands. Beautiful photographs tempt and inspire.
From "a man's home was his castle" to "traditional families never asked for a handout," this provocative book explodes cherished illusions about the last two centuries of American family life to expose the falseness, sentimentality, and self-righteousness of our accepted familial morays. If you've been wondering why your family is not 'right' read this book. . . . Karen Sacks
If stupidity were lethal, all of the criminals highlighted in The Stupid Crook Book would be dead. This latest book from highly successful author Leland H. Gregory III captures hilarious tales of captured criminals who are so dumb you almost feel sorry for them. Almost.
A hysterical collection of stories of actual crimes committed by fumbling felons, clumsy crooks, and ridiculous robbers, with their weird weapons, absurd alibis, and daffy defenses, America's Dumbest Criminals is the ultimate assemblage of the most incredibly stupid and painfully dumb attempts at crime ever brought together.
Author Leland Gregory offers a hilarious collection of more than a hundred and seventy actual transcripts of 911 phone calls. No one with a sense of humor should miss this very funny book.
Crazy about casinos, but worried about losing your shirt? Relax! This hands-on guide is filled with insider secrets and tips for maximizing winnings and minimizing losses in the most popular casino games: blackjack, poker, craps, roulette, slots, and more. You get the scoop on everything from game rules and jargon to making the best bets (and knowing when to quit). Seasoned gamblers will reap the benefits of Blackwood's expertise and experience at the felt-covered tables around the world. There is particular depth in the blackjack section, likely a product of Blackwood's long resume as one of the top players in the world.
The Sid Caesar Collection is a treasure trove of 18 vintage sketches from Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour. The exquisite pantomime The Clock, The German General, the movie parody From Here to Obscurity, and the uproarious This Is Your Story (with Howard Morris in his shining quarter-hour as Uncle Goofy) were previously featured in the 1973 compilation film Ten from Your Show of Shows. The rest have been virtually unseen since their original broadcasts.
Author Judith Viorst writes about the foibles of middle age with warmth and honesty. Her funny and compassionate poems shed a new light on the fine art of aging and will delight anyone who is now or forever fifty.
with Jennifer Patterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright
In this great video the late Jennifer Patterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright regularly featured on the Food Network demonstrate a variety of cooking techniques in their own unique and humorous fashion. Interesting recipes and innovative ingredients abound as do many chuckles.
Father's Day Murder
Dreams from My Father
Courtship, Valentine's Day, 1918: Three Plays from the Orphans' Home Cycle
The Very Special Valentine
Halloween How-To: Costumes, Parties, Decorations, and Destinations
Shamrocks, Harps, and Shillelaghs: The Story of the St. Patrick's Day Symbols
Museum of Hoaxes: A History of Outrageous Pranks and Deceptions
The Algonquin Wits
Valentine Treats: Recipes and Crafts for the Whole Family
Celebrations
365 Ways to Prepare For Christmas
Holidays: Recipes, Gifts and Decorations: Thanksgiving and Christmas
The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap
The Stupid Crook Book
America's Dumbest Criminals
Getting Even with the Answering Machine and Voice Mail
What's the Number for 911?
The Sid Caesar Collection
Forever Fifty and Other Negotiations
Two Fat Ladies