Find holiday gifts for everyone on your list at the Saint Louis Zoo this year. Proceeds from all sales benefit the animals and programs of the Zoo.  For more information, visit www.stlzoo.org or call (314) 781-0900.

Holiday Zootique

Shop Holiday Zootique for animal-related clothing, ornaments, plush animals, toys, books, home décor and many items only available at the Saint Louis Zoo. Holiday Zootique is open through December 24 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Holiday hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on November 24 and December 24.) Gift shops are also open from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. during U.S. Bank Wild Lights on Fridays through Sundays, November 25 to December 11, and nightly from December 16 to 23 and December 26 to 30, 2011. Admission charge applies for Wild Lights.

Zoo Parents Holiday Adoption

Crime crosses borders fluidly in the case of Italian writer Gianrico Carofiglio.

He has been on the prosecuting end of some of the major anti-Mafia trials in Italy and now serves in the Italian Senate but internationally he’s better known for his series of mysteries set in the coastal town of Bari, Italy.  Bestsellers in Italy (the latest sold over 450,000), his books have been critically well received around the world including in this country.  Not only are his novels valued for their suspense, Carofiglio’s evocative powers as a writer richly conjures up both a mystery and a city, Puglia’s Bari, full of characters and neighborhoods that draw his character out of his bookish life and into the streets. 

The ninth annual Herb Days plant sale, presented by the St. Louis Herb Society and the Garden Gate Shop, returns to the Missouri Botanical Garden on Thursday, Apr. 28 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, Apr. 29 and 30 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Choose from a wide selection of over 14,000 fresh herb plants. Browse new and hard-to-find varieties, both culinary and ornamental. Over 100 varieties of herbs including basils, mints, lavenders, rosemarys, thymes and sages will be available. Prices range from $2.75 to $4.50.   

St. Louis Herb Society volunteers will be on hand to answer questions and give personalized advice and guidance on selecting, planting, growing and using herbs.