My mother was telling me about how she and her family got their first television when she was a teenager. Of course, it was black and white. She said she only watched it at night. When I was young, we had only about 3 or 4 different channels. My brothers, my sisters and I would sometimes fight about which channel to watch. But we usually enjoyed the same shows.

   Nowadays, we can get hundreds of channels on TV. There are channels with old movies, cooking, fishing and so on. It's amazing! I wonder how much my brothers, my sisters and I would fight if we had hundreds of channels when I was a child. Of course, we had only one television set. These days I notice families with 2 or 3 or more television sets in their homes. I guess it stops people from arguing over which channel to choose.

    Every year, there is a big day for book lovers. It is World Book Day on April 23. Why not read a new book? Reading is a good habit to have in life. It shows you a different world and makes you think differently. Here are some good books Time for Kids picked out. Let's take a look!

    This Side of Wild (2015)

    Gary Paulsen, US

    If you are interested in nature (自然) and animals, this book is for you! This book tells true stories of the writer and some animals he loved. For example, a dog helped Paulsen during a bear attack (袭击), and another time a horse led him across a desert (沙漠). Surprisingly, animals can do many things. You may laugh sometimes. But these touching experiences may also make you cry.

    Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School (2015)

    Jeff Kinney, US

    You may have heard of this book series(系列). And this is the 10th book from it. Greg Heffley is a middle school student. He has everyday problems. Now things get even more interesting when his town decides to stop using all electronics (电子产品)! Greg faces some new problems without a mobile phone and computer. This book shows there are always a few bumps (崎岖) in the road, but you can laugh about it along the way too.

    Did you know that tea, the most popular drink in the world (after water), was invented by accident? Many people believe that tea was first drunk nearly 5,000 years ago. It is said that a Chinese ruler called Shen Nong first discovered tea as a drink. One day Shen Nong was boiling drinking water over an open fire. Some leaves from a tea plant fell into the water and remained there for some time. It produced a nice smell so he tasted the brown water anyway. It was quite delicious. In this way, one of the world's favorite drinks was invented.

    More than 4,000 years later, Lu Yu, "the saint of tea", mentioned Shen Nong in his book Cha Jing. The book describes how tea plants were grown and used to make tea. It also discusses where the finest tea leaves were produced and what kinds of water were used.

    It is believed that tea was brought to Korea and Japan during the 6th and 7th centuries. In England, tea didn't appear until around 1660, but less than 100 years later, it had become the national drink. The tea trade from China to Western countries took place in the 19th century. This helped to spread the popularity of tea and the tea plant to more places around the world. Even though many people now know about tea culture, the Chinese are without doubt the ones who best understand the nature of tea.

    Iceland is a northern European country with amazing natural beauty and oceans around. There are lots of volcanoes(火山). It has a short summer which lasts from June to August. The long winter starts from September and ends next May.

    Summer in Iceland is a golden season for tourists. Every year, people from all over the world come here to see the beautiful sights and enjoy the exciting whale-seeing(观鲸).

    In winter, when people in Iceland complete their daily work, they will have a lot of special activities to spend the long dark night. Skating, riding snow motorbikes and having parties can really make an exciting night. After all the fun, a hot bath must be the first choice to relax. There are also story telling activities for children, which can teach them to be strong and kind. The most popular stories are about Christmas in Iceland.

    Because of a long cold winter, Iceland has a short growing season. Food problem was always a headache for Iceland in the past. It had to buy most of its food from other countries. Later, when farmers learned to use lights and underground heat to grow crops(庄稼)all year round in the greenhouse, things changed a lot.

    Living in such a nice environment, most people in Iceland live a happy life. According to a survey about happiness made each year in Europe, Iceland is always among the top 3.