Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1011650
| SUNDAY • 5 AUGUST 2018 maltatoday 11 HOW many dinosaur names can you list at the top of your head? If your answer is "Err, um, T-rex… and, um, err" then we know that you are over the age of 30. Ask the same ques- tion to a child and he or she will rattle off the scientific names of dozens, if not hun- dreds, of dinosaurs. As a near-universal rule, children love dinosaurs. Chil- dren can tell you what these creatures ate, what they looked like, and where they lived and what era or period they lived in. Mesozoic era? Cretaceous period? They know it all. So far Maltese children have not had the possibility of knowing the names of the dinosaurs in Maltese. Mer- lin Publishers is changing all that with the publication of the new book Id-Dinosawri. Part of a new non-fiction se- ries: Niskopri, nilgħab u nif- hem, Id-Dinosawri is unique in Maltese children's litera- ture. Aimed at children aged six to eight years, this is the first dinosaur-themed book in Maltese. The book has been adapted to Maltese by Rachel Portelli, co-author of the Tikka Qari series, with the help of language experts who have car- ried out extensive research on Maltese terminology to coin the dinosaur names in Maltese. Id-Dinosawri is not very tex- ty, and the information comes to live with lots of colour visuals. They come in padded hardback cases and quality art paper, which will withstand sticky fingers running over the pages over and over. Several academic studies conclude that children who develop a persistent interest in a concept topic such as dino- saurs, improve their attention span, make better learners and grow up into smarter kids. This book could be a starter for your children. And if you join them in reading it, maybe next time round, your list will go further than T.Rex! Niskopri, nilgħab u nif- hem, Id-Dinosawri is avail- able for sale from all lead- ing outlets or directly from merlinpublishers.com CULTURE ENVIRONMENT Unlike, say, the UK, we are not blessed with a long list of garden birds. So the Sardinian warbler (M. bufula sewda) that regularly makes our gardens its home, is very precious to bird lovers. The bird is easy to love: small, perky, active, smartly 'dressed' and with quite an attitude, making rather free with his scolding chatter! Males and females are also easy to tell apart – the telltale black head (as in photo) clearly indicates a male, the female's being a modest grey. A pair of Sardinians nesting in one's garden really liven up the place, especially if they have a bunch of youngsters in tow, as many of them do at this time of year. Yet it wasn't always like this: a hundred years ago the bird was just a winter visitor. Since then, the species has made Malta very much its year-round home. We're not complaining. Friends of the Earth Malta sup- ports the introduction of the Beverage Container Refund Scheme (BCRS) that the Min- istry for the Environment, Sus- tainable Development and Cli- mate Change has proposed and has submitted recommenda- tion to make the scheme more effective. Accessibility of the Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) is crucial for the BCRS to be ef- fective and also is available to disadvantaged groups. En- suring that they are available where necessary to capture the containers is crucial, and hence we have provided the following recommendations: Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) should be introduced in every locality to ensure ac- cessibility for people with limited mobility (such as the elderly, those with physical mo- bility disadvantages, children, etc.) who may find it difficult to access RVMs in larger retail shops. An alternative for intro- ducing RVMs in every locality in Malta is considering the use of public sites such as school, local councils or other govern- ment premises. RVMs should be introduced at a higher density in localities in Malta where there is a more tourist activity. RVMs should be introduced at the airport to ensure that facilities are avail- able prior to people leaving Malta. All places that do have RVMs should also have a recycling bin next to the machines to en- sure that containers brought by consumers that are not eligible for the return scheme, will still end up in the intended waste stream. Ultimately, it is important that the BCRS is comprehensive, tackles a larger number of pack- aging containers is accessible to all, with no party taking advan- tage, to ensure that it has a posi- tive environmental and social implications 620. SARDINIAN WARBLER Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us. You can also support us by sending us a donation - www.foemalta.org/donate GREEN IDEA OF THE WEEK 523: : Find out more and take our plastic free pledge: http://foemalta.org/plasticfreepledge Text Victor Falzon Photo Aron Tanti Learning about dinosaurs in Maltese FoE Malta proposes a more comprehensive Beverage Container Refund Scheme (continued) many dinosaur names can you list at the top of your head? If your answer is "Err, um, T-rex… and, um, err" then we know that you are over the age of 30. Ask the same ques- tion to a child and he or she will rattle off the scientific names of dozens, if not hun- As a near-universal rule, children love dinosaurs. Chil- dren can tell you what these all that with the publication of Maltese terminology to coin TEATRU Manoel will be staging a new pro- duction of Gioachino Rossini's opera Otello directed by Vivien Hewitt and conducted by Marco Mencoboni. Auditions are now open to professional sing- ers. The roles to be cast are: Otello (tenor), Desdemona (mezzo-soprano/soprano), Rodri- go (tenor), Jago (tenor), Emilia (mezzo-sopra- no), Elmiro (bass), The Doge of Venice (tenor), Lucio (tenor), and a gondolier (tenor). Auditions will be held on Sunday 23 and Monday 24 September 2018. Rehearsals in Malta will start on 1 February 2020, with performances at Teatru Manoel slated for 1, 3, 5 and 7 March 2020. To apply to audition, please visit the event page on the Theatre's website - www.teatru- manoel.com.mt - for more information. Calling all professional singers: Auditions for Rossini's Otello now open