ASK!

Kids ASK! about History

Robert Pershing Wadlow is the tallest man in history. He stood at 2.72 m tall when last measured on June 27, 1940.

On his 21st birthday, he weighed nearly 222.71 kg .

At the age of nine, he was able to carry his father Harold F. Wadlow who was 77kg up the stairs of their home.

The tallest woman, on the other hand, is Sandy Allen who is 2.31 m tall. She is still alive and holds the record since 1999.

Sources :
“Guinness World Records – Human Body – Extreme Bodies – Tallest Man.” Guiness World Records. 8 Aug 2007 .

If you want to find out more information about world records and amazing facts, you may refer to the following books :

You’re tall in the morning but shorter at night : and other amazing facts about the human body by Melvin and Gilda Berger
Publisher : New York : Scholastic, c2004
Call No. : J 612 BER
Click here for item availability.

Facts and records : amazing achievements; editor: Matthew Turner
Publisher : London : Kingfisher, c2003
Call No. : J 032.02 FAC
Click here for item availability.

Amazing facts about animals 2 by Ronnie Kueh, Chai Tsun Thai ; edited by Ee Ewe Hock
Publisher : Singapore : System Publishing, 2003
Call No. : JP 591 KUE
Click here for item availability.

All websites are last accessed on 8 August 2007.

Answered by Mr Zulkifli Bin Amin, Librarian, Children’s Services

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If you have a different question, please email to mailto:ask@nlb.gov.sg?subject=ASK_blog- instead of sending a comment.

ASK! about Singapore

Let’s find out from the precedence reported in the news!

I’M WAITING TO COLLECT YOUR ASHES
Tay Shi’an
2 July 2007
The New Paper
Man floods her with SMSes: Says he’ll use acid, black magic Sends her obituary and threatens to kill her
HE seemed like a regular customer, with four young nieces and nephews in tow. So Rani, a sales executive for children’s books and encyclopaedias, had no qualms giving out her namecard – which had her handphone number on it – to this man. But that encounter at a temporary sales booth near an MRT station soon turned into a nightmare, with the man pursuing her relentlessly after that. Rani (not her real name) asked not to be identified.
The man, Ganesh Eyamalai, 29, was sentenced to two months’ jail in May for sending death threats via SMS..

Anti-stalking law needed.
27 October 2001
Straits Times
IN A landmark ruling recently, the High Court granted an injunction against a stalker who had been harassing his ex-colleagues. This was the first time such an order had been issued to protect victims from acts that caused emotional distress, without physical harm. Domestically, a victim may resort to the Criminal Code to take out a private summons against someone who threatens harm or trespass, or the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act for abusive, insulting or threatening behaviour or words. However, it is not an offence to utter the same words over a mobile phone, by e-mail, fax or SMS. As Judicial Commissioner Lee Seiu Kin rightly noted, this loophole needs to be looked into. Still, with no anti-stalking law here, stalking is technically not an offence.

Stop harassment, stalker ordered.
Alethea Lim.
19 October 2001
Straits Times
In landmark ruling, High Court hands out injunction to protect ex-boss, colleagues from acts causing emotional distress. THE High Court has issued an injunction to stop a stalker from repeatedly harassing his former boss and colleagues. This is the first time such an injunction has been issued, to protect people from acts that cause them emotional distress, not just physical harm. Making the landmark ruling, Judicial Commissioner Lee Seiu Kin said the time has come for the courts to go to the aid of victims of harassment.

Source: Factiva

Answered by Roy Won, Librarian, Public Library Services

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ASK! about Fiction

Here’s some recommendations that hold similar plots to “To kill a mocking bird” :

1) Title: Beautiful dreamer : a novel
Author: Christopher Bigsby
Call number:English BIG [TH]

Abstract: “A Faulknerian parable set in early twentieth-century Tennessee follows a tragic evolution of race relations along the claustrophobic forests, rivers, and railroads of the region’s back country.”

2) Title: The Madonna of Excelsior
Author: Zakes Mda
Call number: English MDA

Abstract: “A new novel by one of South Africa’s most talented authors takes readers deep into the heart of apartheid in the early 1970s, focusing on a mixed race family that is trying to survive on the closely regulated line between black and white.”

3) Title: Pushkin and the Queen of Spades
Author: Alice Randall
Call number: English RAN

Abstract: “Explores the racial divide in America through the character of Harvard-educated African American professor Windsor Armstrong–a liberal black woman who is troubled by her son’s romantic interest in a white Russian stripper.”

4) Title: Daughter : a novel
Author: Asha Bandele
Call number: English BAN

Abstract: “Miriam finds her world shattered when her daughter is shot by a white police officer in a case of mistaken identity, a situation that forces her to confront her past, her identity as an African American woman, and her widowhood.”

5) Title: The legend of Buddy Bush
Author: Shelia P. Moses
Call number: Y English MOS

Abstract: “In 1947, twelve-year-old Pattie Mae is sustained by her dreams of escaping Rich Square, North Carolina, and moving to Harlem when her Uncle Buddy is arrest for attempted rape of a white woman and her grandfather is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor.”

6) Title: The road to Memphis
Author: Mildred D. Taylor
Call number: Y English TAY

Abstract: “Sadistically teased by two White boys in 1940′s rural Mississippi, a Black youth severely injures one of the boys with a tire iron and enlists Cassie’s help in trying to flee the state.”

Source: Novelist, last accessed on 11/07/07.

Please use our online catalogue at www.nlb.gov.sg to check for availability in library holdings.

Contributed by Norah Binte ISMAIL, Librarian, Public Library Services

If you need further fiction-related information or reading suggestions, drop us an email at ask@library.nlb.gov.sg.

Found this question interesting? What do you think? Post your comments.
If you have a different question, please email to ask@library.nlb.gov.sg instead of sending a comment.

ASK! about Fiction

Here’s some recommendations that hold similar plots to “To kill a mocking bird” :

1) Title: Beautiful dreamer : a novel
Author: Christopher Bigsby
Call number:English BIG [TH]

Abstract: “A Faulknerian parable set in early twentieth-century Tennessee follows a tragic evolution of race relations along the claustrophobic forests, rivers, and railroads of the region’s back country.”

2) Title: The Madonna of Excelsior
Author: Zakes Mda
Call number: English MDA

Abstract: “A new novel by one of South Africa’s most talented authors takes readers deep into the heart of apartheid in the early 1970s, focusing on a mixed race family that is trying to survive on the closely regulated line between black and white.”

3) Title: Pushkin and the Queen of Spades
Author: Alice Randall
Call number: English RAN

Abstract: “Explores the racial divide in America through the character of Harvard-educated African American professor Windsor Armstrong–a liberal black woman who is troubled by her son’s romantic interest in a white Russian stripper.”

4) Title: Daughter : a novel
Author: Asha Bandele
Call number: English BAN

Abstract: “Miriam finds her world shattered when her daughter is shot by a white police officer in a case of mistaken identity, a situation that forces her to confront her past, her identity as an African American woman, and her widowhood.”

5) Title: The legend of Buddy Bush
Author: Shelia P. Moses
Call number: Y English MOS

Abstract: “In 1947, twelve-year-old Pattie Mae is sustained by her dreams of escaping Rich Square, North Carolina, and moving to Harlem when her Uncle Buddy is arrest for attempted rape of a white woman and her grandfather is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor.”

6) Title: The road to Memphis
Author: Mildred D. Taylor
Call number: Y English TAY

Abstract: “Sadistically teased by two White boys in 1940′s rural Mississippi, a Black youth severely injures one of the boys with a tire iron and enlists Cassie’s help in trying to flee the state.”

Source: Novelist, last accessed on 11/07/07.

Please use our online catalogue at www.nlb.gov.sg to check for availability in library holdings.

Contributed by Norah Binte ISMAIL, Librarian, Public Library Services

If you need further fiction-related information or reading suggestions, drop us an email at ask@library.nlb.gov.sg.

Found this question interesting? What do you think? Post your comments.
If you have a different question, please email to ask@library.nlb.gov.sg instead of sending a comment.