Family Fun
Lisa McNamara
In association with Child Magazine
978 1 7702 6696 4
As publisher of Child Magazine, the
author is perhaps perfectly placed to
produce this great guide on fun things
to do, as the title says, with the family,
in some of the country's better-known
centres and surrounds, including Cape
Town, Durban, Johannesburg & Pretoria.
There are maps, pictures and short
write-ups on all locations and possible
fun destinations. Definitely a good one
to pack for the holiday season when
heading off to parts (relatively) new and
unknown.
short, is the author's thesis, which
she applied and found to work, just
as promised: 'Some days it can be
hard to see the good in the world.
Sometimes you feel alone and want
things to change. This book will change
everything – because changing your
attitude really can change your life.'
Kaplan starts as the 'grumpy woman' she
saw staring back to her from a mirror
who was dissatisfied with her life and
pretty much everything in it, unable to
appreciate all she had. Once a happy
child and carefree teenager, she had
become something else entirely – a
jaded adult who carried the weight of
the world on her shoulders, or so it
seemed to her. But she realised there
were people who had far less than she,
and yet were happy. How could that be,
she wondered? She decided to make a
change – she set herself the challenge of
feeling grateful for all the good things in
her life and (here's the key, by the way)
started writing a gratitude diary. It took
her on a journey, as she says, unlike
any she had been on before – a journey
within as much as into different realms in
her outer world and led to meet people
she probably would never have met
otherwise. She met doctors, scientists,
academics, philosophers and many
celebrities, most of whom shared what
they knew and had learnt about gratitude
and how it worked in their lives. She
captured that knowledge and experience
in her diary. This book is the story of
her journey 'from grumpy to grateful'.
Dare one suggest it should be required
reading for just about everyone?
The Illustrated
South African First
Aid Manual
Linda Buys
Struik Lifestyle • 9781 4323 0367 9
This is a great book that should sit
on the shelf (or in the backpack) until
required – at which time it may well help
in someone's life being saved. No-one
sets out for a hike, holiday, day at work
or even a relaxing day at home thinking
that in the course of that day something
is likely to happen that will be potentially
life-threatening and require some
quick action to apply those measures
necessary until more sophisticated and
complete treatment can be provided to
an injury. But with clear illustrations and
some simple explanations of what to