Image is retrieved from:

http://www.elegantgoldbuys.com/page/1202355

Most of us have heard of Aesop’s fable: The Hen That Laid The Golden Eggs (in some versions, it is a goose). In real life, there are no animals that can lay golden eggs. However, there are blue eggs!

According to Henerson’s Chicken Breed Chart:  
Eggs can come in different colors, such as shades of white, creamy white, brown and blue, depending on the breed of the hen. The most unique egg color will be blue. The hens of Ameraucana and Araucana breed lay blue eggs.

Reference:
Henerson’s Chicken Breed Chart (http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html) Last accessed on 30 June 2010.

If you want to read more on the topic, here are books that you can check out at our libraries.

 
All Rights Reserved, Picture Window Books, c2004

The goose that laid the golden egg : a retelling of Aesop’s fable by LarocheMark White
Publisher: Minneapolis, Minn. : Picture Window Books, c2004.
Call No.: JP 398.2 WHI -[FOL]
Click here to check for item availability

All Rights Reserved, Children’s Press, 2009, c2008.

How an egg grows into a chicken by Tanya Kant
Publisher: New York : Children’s Press, 2009, c2008.
Call No.: JP 636.5 KAN
Click here to check for item availability

All Rights Reserved, Minn. : Millbrook Press, c2007.

Guess what is growing inside this egg by Mia Posada
Publisher: Minneapolis, Minn. : Millbrook Press, c2007.
Call No: J 591.4 POS
Click here to check for item availability

Here are websites for information on the topic:
Title: Egg
URL: http://animals.howstuffworks.com/animal-facts/egg-info.htm

All websites are last accessed on 30 June 2010. Please refer to the terms and conditions on the homepages for use.
For the availability of the above book titles, please check the library catalogue.

Ms Chen Luojia
Associate Librarian, Children’s Services

Isn’t it strange that penguins have wings yet they can’t fly? If you ever wonder why they choose to waddle around instead of flying high, well, penguins cannot fly because their wings are too small and stumpy to lift them into the air. However, the wings which look like flippers are very good for swimming. Penguins are excellent swimmers and they are the only flightless waterbird. Other waterbirds like albatrosses, puffins, pelicans and gulls can fly.

Sources:
1) 100 Things You Should Know About Penguins by Camilla de la Bedoyere
Publisher: Great Bardfield, Essex : Miles Kelly, c2007
Call Number: J English English 598.47 DEL
2) Waterbird Fact Sheet: http://www.fws.gov

For more information on penguins, do check out these books!

All Rights Reserved, A & C Black, 2007.
Title: Penguins Of The World
Author: Wayne Lynch
Publisher: London : A & C Black, 2007
Call Number: English 598.47 LYN -[ANI]
Click here to view item availability

All Rights Reserved, PowerKids Press, 2010
Title: Swimming With Penguins
Author: Miriam Coleman
Publisher: New York, N.Y. : PowerKids Press, 2010
Call Number: J English 598.47 COL
Click here to view item availability

All Rights Reserved, Weigl Publishers, c2009
Title: Penguins
Author: David Whitfield
Publisher: New York, N.Y. : Weigl Publishers, c2009
Call Number: JP English 598.74 WHI
Click here to view item availability

Posted By:

Ms Chen Wanying
Children’s Librarian
Children’s Services

Image courtesy of The University Of Aberdeen
(http://www.abdn.ac.uk/)

Is the idea of vampirish bats real? Or do these blood sucking creatures belong in the dark gothic fiction world of Dracula and Twilight?

Well, there are bats that suck blood and they are aptly known as vampire bats.

A vampire bat bites other animals and drinks their blood. A vampire bat may bite a sleeping horse, cow, or even a person, without being noticed. First, its sharp teeth make a shallow cut. Then the bat simply laps up a small amount of blood and flies away. The chief danger to the victim, (unlike what most gothic movies and books suggest) is not loss of blood but rather infection. This is because vampire bats are known carriers of rabies, a   “fatal viral disease that infects domestic and wild animals and is spread through people through close contact with infected saliva”.

Sources

Land, B. (2008). Bats. (K. F. Koopman, Rev.). The New Book of Knowledge®. Retrieved September 6, 2008, from Grolier Online http://nbk.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=a2002420h
World Health Organization http://www.who.int/

For more information on vampire bats, do check out these books!

All Rights Reserved, New York: Power Kids Press
Vampire bats: hunting for blood by Barbara A. Somervill
Publisher: New York: Power Kids Press/Rosen Publishing Group, 2008
Call no.: JP English 599.4 SOM
Click here to view item availability

All Rights Reserved, New York; Londer: Kingfisher
Dangerous Creatures by Angela Wilkes
Publisher: New York; London: Kingfisher, 2003
Call no.: J English 591.6 WIL
Click here to view item availability

All Rights Reserved, New York: Power Kids Press
Vampire Bats by Emily Raabe
Publisher: New York: Powerkids Press, c2003
Call no.: J English 599.4 RAA
Click here to view item availiability

Extracted By:

Ms Chen Wanying
Children’s Librarian
Children’s Services

[My favourite wolf-boy will always be Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli of The Jungle Book, together with the Disney movie remake which I watched countless of times as a child: "Look for the bare necessities/ The simple bare necessities/ Forget about your worries and your strife..."]

Image is a picture of Baloo and Mowgli from Disney’s The Jungle Book 2 movie, and is retrieved from: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808413751/photo/462850

There have been reports about children being raised by animals, more commonly by bears and wolves.  According to ‘The Rough Guides to Unexplained Phenomena’, most accounts of wolf-children recorded since the early nineteenth century have come from India, mostly from the jungles of Bengal. One example would be the documented history of the Midnapore children written by The Revd J. Singh (Wolf Children and Feral Man, 1942), who had discovered and later on brought up the children. Singh was a missionary of the Minnapore Orphanage who made regular evangelical trips to the aboriginal tribes of his district. In 1920, people from a village reported to Singh about two small ‘ghosts’ with big eyes always walking with the wolves back to the den. After investigating, those ‘ghosts’ were actually 2 little human girls aged 1 & 1/2, and 8 years old respectively. Singh took them back with him to the orphanage. Unfortunately the younger one died within a year and she never spoke or walked upright however the other girl learnt to stand, eat human food and speak a few words under his care.

 Other accounts include the two Syrian gazelle boys reported in The Sunday Times, August 1973 and in London’s Daily Mirror, February 1971. One of them could run at 50mph with the gazelles and had superb eyesight and very sharp hearing. The other one would approach gazelles and lick their foreheads as though saying hello and showing that he recognizes them.

There is also the ostrich boy, Sidi Mohamed, who told his story, and is quoted by Armen from Notes Africaines (April 1945), about how he came upon an ostrich nest in North Africa at 5 or 6 years old and stayed there. The parent birds returned to the nest and they became used to him. For ten years, he stayed with them and survived by eating grass and learning how to match their speed in running. At night, the two ostriches would extend a wing over him as shelter. Sidi was found by hunters one day and returned to his parents. It took him a long time to readjust to human ways and he was always wishing for his old way of life among the ostriches.

Reference:
Rickard, Bob, & Michell, John. (2007). The Rough guide to unexplained phenomena 2nd edition. Strand, London WC2R 0RL: Rough Guides Ltd.

If you want to read more on the topic, here are books that you can check out at our libraries.

All Rights Reserved, Minn. : Stone Arch Books, c2010

Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book retold by Carl Bowen

Publisher: Minneapolis, Minn. : Stone Arch Books, c2010.

Call No.: J BOW

Click here to check for item availability

All Rights Reserved, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, c2001.

The wolf girls: an unsolved mystery from history by Jane Yolen and Heidi Elisabet Yolen Stemple

Publisher: New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, c2001.
Call No.: JP YOL
Click here to check for item availability

All Rights Reserved, Dial Books for Young Readers, c2005.

The boy who ran with the gazelles by Marianna Mayer
Publisher: New York : Dial Books for Young Readers, c2005. 
Call No: JP MAY

Click here to check for item availability

All websites are last accessed on 24 Feb 2010. Please refer to the terms and conditions on the homepages for use.
For the availability of the above book titles, please check the library catalogue.

Ms Sharifah A. Latif
Assoc. Librarian, Children’s Services

Which is which? Can you tell the difference?
Images courtesy of Seed Magazine (seedmagazine.com) and The Cellar Image Of The Day (http://cellar.org)

Turtles, tortoises, and terrapins all belong to a division of reptiles, called chelonians.

In general, turtles live in or near the water and have adapted to swim by holding their breath underwater. Tortoises live primarily in arid regions, built for storing their own water supply and walking on sandy ground.

Biologically, a tortoise is a kind of a turtle, but not all turtles are tortoises.

Turtles have flatter backs than tortoises, and may spend all or part of their lives underwater. They mate and lay eggs underwater or on the shore. During cold weather, they burrow in mud and go into torpor, a state similar to hibernation. Sea turtles migrate great distances. They are more often omnivorous, eating plants, insects, and fish.

Tortoises, however, live entirely above water, only wading into streams to clean themselves or to drink. In fact, they could drown in deep or swift current. Tortoises, unlike turtles, are mostly herbivorous, eating cactus, shrubs, and other plants that have a lot of moisture. They rarely migrate. Their shell forms a rounded dome, allowing the tortoise’s limbs and head to withdraw for protection.

Source: WiseGeek (http://www.wisegeek.com)

For more information on turtles and tortoises, check out these books!

All Rights Reserved, New York : Marshall Cavendish Benchmark
Turtles and tortoises by Renee C.Rebman
Publisher: New York : Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, c2007
Call No.: J English 597.92 REB
Click here to view item availability

All Rights Reserved, Irvine, Calif. : Advanced Vivarium Systems
Turtles & tortoises by Russ Case
Publisher: Irvine, Calif. : Advanced Vivarium Systems, c2007
Call No.: J English 639.392 CAS
Click here to view item availability

All Rights Reserved, Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press
Life in cold blood by David Attenborough
Publisher: Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 2008
Call No.: English 597.9 ATT -[ANI]
Click here to view item availability

Posted By:

Ms Chen Wanying
Children’s Librarian
Children’s Services

[I watched a scene on 'Animal Planet' a few years back that I can recall very clearly today because it was scary yet magnificent- the way the female black dragonfish tempted the shrimps with its brightly lit, long bristle hanging from its chin. The shrimps were attracted to the glow and swam closer, only to end up too close and...YUM! They became dragonfish's dinner. I guess it mirrors life too, always practice caution no matter how pretty things are looking on the outside. Have you seen bioluminescence at work?]

Image is a picture of a ctenophore / comb jellyfish taken from ‘Green-eyed Frederick’s Memoirs from Dauphin Island’ blogpost. It is retrieved from: http://www.mwra.com/harbor/graphic/comb%20jelly.jpg

Bioluminescence is the ability in some animals to create their own light, through chemical reactions in their bodies.

According to The Usborne Book of Knowledge:  ”Animals use it to communicate with each other, to find mates, to catch prey or to defend themselves. For example, glow-worms light up their bodies to attract a mate. Many deep sea fishes produce light for defence. Comb jellyfish release clouds of brightly-glowing particles when they are being attacked by a predator. The particles temporarily blind the attacker, providing a chance for escape.”

Reference:
Peterson, Tom. (2008). Light Messages. (2008). The Usborne book of knowledge. Saffron Hill London England: Usborne Publishing Ltd.

If you want to read more on the topic, here are books that you can check out at our libraries.

All Rights Reserved, Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2006.

In the deep sea by Sneed B. Collard

Publisher: New York : Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2006.
Call No.: J 572 COL

Click here to check for item availability

All Rights Reserved, KidHaven Press, c2005.

Creatures that glow by Kris Hirschmann
Publisher: Detroit, Mich. : KidHaven Press, c2005.
Call No.: J 572 HIR

Click here to check for item availability

Glow worms: magic lights by Lanka Devi Sinniah
Publisher: Selangor, Malaysia : Ilmiah Publishers, 2004.

Call Number: J 572 SIN
Click here to check for item availability

All websites are last accessed on 11 Feb 2010. Please refer to the terms and conditions on the homepages for use.
For the availability of the above book titles, please check the library catalogue.

Ms Sharifah A. Latif
Assoc. Librarian, Children’s Services

[Congratulations Marcus Chua of P 4-Diligence from Opera Estate Primary, for winning the Primary 4 level Kids ASK! Competition held in his school!

This question stood out and got me thinking- if you could create a new image for pirates, what pirate pet would you pick for them?]

Image is a picture of Parrot Jack from Pirates for parties.com, performing a parrot show for a children’s birthday party with the Parrots of the Caribbean & is retrieved from: http://piratesforparties.com/images/parrot_show_4.jpg

There are no historical accounts to show that real pirates of the past carried parrots. However there are fictional accounts and many assume that this started from the popularity of the book ‘Treasure Island’ in 1881 by Robert Louis Stevenson. In the book, there is a pirate named Long-John Silver who kept a parrot for a pet. 

According to Tobias Gibson of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean, in Fact and Fiction’, it is safe to conclude that pirates probably had parrots as pets even though there are insufficient written accounts. This is because historical evidence shows that it was common for animals to be transported by ships, and during the time of the Golden Age of Piracy, selling and buying exotic animals was a common business and was popular among royalty in Europe.

Tobias Gibson wrote: “The more exotic the animal, the more in demand and the more valuable the animal would be. A talking bird would fetch a few doubloons in the Royal Courts of Europe, as would New World Monkeys. We also know that if something was of value, then pirates would plunder it. Some pirates were known to emulate the lifestyles of royalty. Whatever was good enough for the royal courts was also good enough for the well-to-do Pirate. To own an exotic animal would have been a status symbol. If parrots were popular with the upper class, then pirates would want them for either status or financial gain.”

Reference:
Tobias Gibson . (January 16, 2007). A Pyrate’s Life: pirates, parrots and pets. In Pirates of the Caribbean, in Fact and Fiction. Retrieved 26 November 2009, from http://blindkat.hegewisch.net/pirates/pirates.html.

Cecil Adams. (October 12, 2007 ). Why are pirates depicted with a parrot on their shoulder? . In the Straight Dope. Retrieved 26 November 2009, from http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2729/why-are-pirates-depicted-with-a-parrot-on-their-shoulder.

If you want to read more on the topic, here are books that you can check out at our libraries.

All Rights Reserved, Franklin Watts, 2008.

Pirate ship by Julia Bruce
Publisher: London : Franklin Watts, 2008.
Call No.: J 910.4 BRU

Click here to check for item availability

All Rights Reserved, Capstone Press, c2008.

The golden age of pirates : an interactive history adventure by Bob Temple
Publisher: Mankato, Minn. : Capstone Press, c2008.
Call No.: J 910.4 TEM
Click here to check for item availability

All Rights Reserved, PowerKids Press, 2008.

A day in the life of a pirate by Emma Helbrough
Publisher: New York: PowerKids Press, 2008.
Click here to check for item availability

All websites are last accessed on 26 November 2009. Please refer to the terms and conditions on the homepages for use.
For the availability of the above book titles, please check the library catalogue.

Ms Sharifah A. Latif
Assoc. Librarian, Children’s Services

Have you always wondered why roosters crow in the morning? Do they have an internal alarm clock and are able to mark the start of the day?

Well roosters do not mean to wake the whole world up at the crack of dawn but they crow in the morning because of several reasons.

Roosters crow in the morning because they need to clear out rival males at the start of the
day by crowing loudly and exerting their authority.
They also crow when they detect predators prowling around. Hence, when you hear the rooster crowing in the morning, the rooster is just communicating with the others and trying to keep members of the flock together.

Roosters also crow when they hear other roosters crowing (in the morning) or when they are awakened by sudden flashes of light.

According to Janet Hinshaw of the Wilson Ornithological Society, roosters crow in the morning because “that is when the birds are most active, and most of the territorial advertising takes place then.”

Roosters do crow at all times of the day, ” for other types of communication, including flocking calls”, but it is definitely more obvious in the morning because that’s when we are forced to get up!

Sources:
1) When Do Fish Sleep? by David Feldman
2) Nemec, Jennifer (Jan 2008). Secret of the Rooster’s Crow. Retrieved September 4, 2009, from ANIMALS:Livestock and wildlife from rural America Web site: http://www.grit.com/

Posted By:

Chen Wanying
Children’s Librarian
Children’s Services

A leopard’s spots are essential for its survival as it helps the leopard camouflages itself with the savannah landscape, enabling it to catch its prey much easier.

For a mathematical and scientific explanation, leopards have spots due to the “reaction-diffusion” process that is used by animals to generate patterns during their development as an embryo.

According to Alan Turing, a mathematican, animals start out as a single cell which will divide many times over to become a full size individual. It is during this stage of cell division that the patterns of leopards, zebras and giraffes come about.These animals have an embryo with two types of chemicals in it. These two chemicals will interact to generate patterns.

How do the patterns come about? The chemicals in the embryo can diffuse left and right, from an area of high concentration of chemicals to an area of low concentration, thus creating the patterns that you see on leopards, zebras and giraffes.

Source: Dartnell, Lewis (May 2004). How the leopard got its spots. Retrieved August 3, 2009, from Plus Magazine Living Mathematics.
Website: http://plus.maths.org/

Posted By:

Even though lions are not the biggest or fastest animal in the jungle, they earned the nickname of “King of the jungle” probably because of their magnificent looks and muscular bodies

“When the 18th Century British author Samuel Johnson wrote the first dictionary of the English language, he defined lion as “the fiercest and most magnanimous of the four footed beasts” Since ancient times, people have associated lions with strength and domination and also with noble, royal, even godlike dignity. These quailities earned the lion the nickname “King of the beasts.”

(Source: Lions by Rebecca Stefoff
Publisher : Tarrytown, NY : Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2006
Call Number : 599.757)

With the upcoming National Day, we should be proud that our country of Singapore was named after this majestic animal.

If you wish to read further, here are some titles:

Lions by Cherie Winner
J 599.757

Face To Face With Lions
J 599.757 JOU

Lions by Richard & Louise Spilsbury
J 599.757 SPI

Originally answered by Hussain Bachek
Librarian
Children’s Services