Reading Art: Art for Book Lovers is a celebration of an everyday object — the book, represented here in almost three hundred artworks from museums around the world. The image of the reader appears throughout history, in art made long before books as we now know them came into being. In artists’ representations of books and reading, we see moments of shared humanity that go beyond culture and time.

In this “book of books,” artworks are selected and arranged in a way that emphasizes these connections between different eras and cultures. We see scenes of children learning to read at home or at school, with the book as a focus for relations between the generations. Adults are portrayed (描绘) alone in many settings and poses —absorbed in a volume, deep in thought or lost in a moment of leisure. These scenes may have been painted hundreds of years ago, but they record moments we can all relate to.

Books themselves may be used symbolically in paintings to demonstrate the intellect (才智), wealth or faith of the subject. Before the wide use of the printing press, books were treasured objects and could be works of art in their own right. More recently, as books have become inexpensive or even throwaway, artists have used them as the raw material for artworks — transforming covers, pages or even complete volumes into paintings and sculptures.

Continued developments in communication technologies were once believed to make the printed page outdated. From a 21st-century point of view, the printed book is certainly ancient, but it remains as interactive as any battery-powered e-reader. To serve its function, a book must be activated by a user: the cover opened, the pages parted, the contents reviewed, perhaps notes written down or words underlined. And in contrast to our increasingly networked lives where the information we consume is monitored and tracked, a printed book still offers the chance of a wholly private, “off-line” activity.

Some parents will buy any high-tech toy because they think it will help their child, but researchers said puzzles help children with math-related skills.

The researchers analyzed video recordings of 53 child-parent pairs during every-day activities at home and found children who play with puzzles between 26 and 46 months of age have better spatial skills when assessed at 54 months of age.

The findings were published in the journal Developmental Science.

FIRST AID FOR BURNS

The skin is an essential part of your body and is its largest organ. Your skin acts as a barrier against disease, toxins,   and the sun's rays. It also helps control your body temperature, prevents your body from losing too much water, warns you when things are too hot or cold, and gives you your sense of touch. As you can imagine, getting burnt can lead to very serious injuries. The first and most important step in the treatment of burns is giving first aid.

CAUSES OF BURNS

You can get burnt by a variety of things: hot liquids, steam, fire, radiation, the sun, electricity, acids, or other chemicals.

TYPES OF BURNS

Burns are divided into three types, depending on the depth of skin damage.

·First­degree burns　These affect only the top few millimetres of the skin. These burns are not serious. Examples include mild sunburn and burns caused by other minor household incidents.

·Second­degree burns   These go below the top layer of the skin. They are serious and take a few weeks to get better. Examples include burns caused by hot liquids.

·Third­degree burns　These affect every layer of the skin, and sometimes the tissue under it. Examples include burns caused by electric shocks, burning clothes, or petrol fires. These burns cause very severe internal injuries and the victim must go to the hospital at once.

CHARACTERISTICS OF BURNS

First­degree burns

·dry, red, and mildly swollen

·mildly painful

·turn white when pressed

Second­degree burns

·red and swollen; blisters; watery surface

·extremely painful

Third­degree burns

·black and white

·swollen; the tissue underneath can often be seen

·little or no pain if nerves are damaged; may be painful around the edges of the burn

FIRST­AID TREATMENT

①Place burns under cool running water, especially within the first ten minutes. The cool water stops the burning process and reduces the pain and swelling.

②Dry the burnt area gently with a clean cloth.

③Remove any clothes using scissors if necessary, unless you see the fabric sticking to the burnt skin.

④Cover the burnt area with a loose clean cloth. Applying oil to the injured areas is a bad idea, as it will keep the heat in the wounds and may cause infection.

⑤If burns are on the face, make sure the victim can still breathe.

⑥If the victim is suffering from second or third­degree burns, there is an urgent need to take him/her to the hospital at once.