THE BRAIN RUMMAGER

... word puzzles; plurals; homonyms; homophones; words with ie in them; your dictionary; written expression; anagrams; quizzes; creative thinking; creative writing; crossword puzzles; weird pictures; Aesop's Fables; Shakespeare's English; fractal thinking; an ET hamburger; weird creatures; the Mandelbrot fractal; proverbs and sayings; dragons; the Unpeople behind the dark; curious words and spellings; 17th century books; The First Folio of Shakespeare; letters of the alphabet; potions and spells; the Seven Wonders of the World; thinking skills; nonsense verse; and much, much more.

There's another website...

The Brain Rummager Too is a supplement to this site. You can to go back through time and learn a lot more about the development of the English language. Please visit it when you have had a good rummage here. You'll find some surprises. Click here or type this URL in your browser’s search line: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~umbidas/open.htm

About 100 schools & educational websites round the world have linked to The Brain Rummager. Please add both sites to your Links and Bookmarks/Favourites!

What other teachers have said about this website...

'Entertaining as well as educational.'

'A cornucopia of info, hints, tips.'

'Eclectic and fascinating.'

'A treasure house.'

'Amazing.'

Brian Barratt, whose funny face is here, has had half a century of professional experience with books and Education. He’s been a bookseller, editor, publisher, author of schoolbooks, private tutor in English and thinking skills, class tutor in creative writing for adults, writing group leader in several schools, mentor to gifted students, judge of many writing competitions, and curriculum editor for Australian national Tournament of Minds... among other things.

He is a moderately/severely hearing handicapped elderly gentleman who explores the history and usage of the English language; writes whimsical articles; researches and writes about his ancestors, including many in the Book Trade during the past 300 years, and an elusive Gypsy; listens to recordings of Enrico Caruso, John McCormack, Kathleen Ferrier and other great voices from the past; relishes Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphony and the music of the erhu; loves dictionaries; digs into the palaeopsychology of religious beliefs; rummages around in people’s minds; talks to dogs and birds, and to the possums that live in his shed.

Since 1936 he’s lived and worked in four countries, in this order: England, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Australia. He's lived in a leafy eastern suburb of Melbourne since 1971, next to where the rich people live. His house is actually a library-museum-art gallery-wizard's lair. There's a sign which reads 'Persons not wishing to see worlds outside or inside themselves are gently advised to close their minds whilst in this place'.

SOME FACTS AND FIGURES ABOUT THIS WEBSITE

There are about 140 activity and information pages and about 375 working files.

There are over 2,150 internal hyperlinks to help you move around. Wow!

There are about 190 graphics.

There are 20 external links to safe websites.

There are links to The Brain Rummager on about 100 educational websites in Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Britain.

The Brain Rummager has been visited by people in many, many countries. It is not possible to know who the visitors are. This site does not use cookies or spyware.

About one-third of visitors are in Australia.

About one-third are in the USA

About 11% are in the UK.

About 7% are in New Zealand.

There are no pop-ups or advertisements. This is a free service to schools, teachers, students and lovers of words, with no commercial interests.

Please send your comments on how you use this website.

Substitute the usual punctuation in this address, which is formatted to stop spammers from picking it up:

bbarratt(AT)alphalink (DOT)com(DOT)au

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visitors to this Home Page plus thousands to other pages.

First version created by Brian Barratt September 2002.
Revised September 2003, May 2004.

This version April 2005.

Additions May, June, July 2005, March, April, May 2006.

Modifications July, October 2006, May 2008.

Home page & Index revised 19–221/6/09. New sections added 24–28/6/09.