~ CLOSED ~ 2012 Canadian Farmer's Almanac and Kids Almanac - Review & Giveaway

Canadian Edition of The Old Farmer's Almanac

   I remember seeing, The Old Farmer's Almanac, in my maternal grandparents farmhouse.  I remember it sitting on the table, looking all dog-eared and well read. 

   I have always been a bit fascinated by the book, but, have never owned a copy.  I guess I must have believed it would only be of interest to "farmers". 

   Well, I was completely wrong.  The first time I opened my book, I flipped through it, reading all types of little tidbits of information and never looked up for over an hour!

   The book is divided into sections titled - 

• Amusement
• Anniversary
• Astrology
• Astronomy
• Calendar
• Food
• Gardening
• Special Report
• News
• Health & Home
• Husbandry (the farmer's type!)
• Outdoors
• Sports
• Weather
• Miscellany

  Reading this list, I'm sure you can see why I was so engrossed in this publication. 

  The calendar pages are the heart of The Old Farmer's Almanac.  They present sky sightings and astronomical data for the entire year and are what make this book a true almanac, a "calendar of the heavens."  In essence, these pages are unchanged since 1792, when Robert B. Thomas published his first edition.  The long columns of numbers and symbols reveal all of nature’s precision, rhythm, and glory, providing an astronomical look at the year 2012.

   My only disappointment was in the left-hand calendar pages.  Unless you live in Ottawa or Halifax, you need to execute some do-able but confusing (at least to me) calculations to obtain the information for your specific region.  You do however; have the option to purchase ($4.95) a 13 month printable chart with times set to your postal code, just visit  MyLocalAlmanac.com.   When I stop to think about it, this makes sense.  If you had a book with information for each postal code it would be a very thick and very expensive tome.

   I can absolutely see myself keeping this almanac on the coffee table and reading it off and on for the entire year.

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The Old Farmer's Almanac for Kids, Volume 4, is a winner in five categories at the 2011 International Book Awards.  

• Best Children's Book Series
• Best Children's Educational
• Best Children's Non-fiction
• Best Young Adult Educational
• Best Young Adult Non-fiction 

  

  The kids almanac is laid out in a similar fashion to the adult almanac. It provides full-colour pages loaded with fun stories, quirky facts, and the type of trivia that kids love...

          "every day your mouth produces 2-3 pints of saliva (also called spit, spittle, or slobber)"...

          "an acre was the amount of land that one man behind an ox could plough in one day"...

          "an ear of corn has, an average, 800 kernels, 16 rows with 50 kernels in each row.  There is one strand of corn silk for each kernel"

...well, you get the idea, and kids absolutely love all these little bits of information! 

   There is a dedicated website, Almanac4Kids, be sure to enter your postal code (top right corner) and you'll receive information specific to your area.  I would think most elementary and middle school aged children; parents of children in these age groups as well as elementary and middle school teachers would love to have this book in their repertoire.

   With the holidays quickly approaching, this book would make a great fun, as well as, educational gift. 


To Buy -
Visit most major book retailers or purchase online at The Old Farmer's Almanac. 
Win Them -

Five very lucky Older Mommy, Still Yummy readers are going to win a Farmer's Almanac giveaway bundle.  Each bundle will consist of one copy of the Canadian Edition of The 2012 Old Farmers Almanac as well as one copy of The Old Farmer's Almanac for Kids, Volume 4.

To Enter -
Fill in the form below with your qualifying entries.  Good-luck!! 

If you are new to Rafflecopter, click here for a 45 sec. tutorial on how to enter.)