ASK!

Nothing beats having a huge salad bowl of colourfully arranged yellow peppers, luscuious green lettuce topped off with slices of deep red tomatoes for a hearty meal! The myraid of colours present in a normal salad is enough to whet the appetite of anybody!

Some believe that fruits and vegetables are colourful so as to entice children to eat more of these healthy food——but contrary to this popular belief, vegetables and fruits look colourful because of the natural plant pigments found in them (and that is how the ancient cavemen got their paints to draw with!).

For instance, red fruits and vegetables like tomatoes and strawberries are coloured by pigments known as “lycophene” or “anthocyanin”. These pigments also act as powerful antioxidents that protect our body cells from damage. Similarly, dark fruits like grapes and raisins also have “anthicyanin” present in them.

On the other hand, orange fruits like pumplins and carrots are filled with “carotenoids” which are then converted to Vitamin A in our bodies.

 ”Lutein”, another important pigment that helps keep our eyes healthy  is present in green vegetables like celery, cucumber and spinach.

That is why scientists, dieticians and your mother keep reminding you that eating more vegetables and fruits is good for you!

In fact, nutritionists also explain that the more brightly coloured the fruit or vegetable, the more vitamins it has!

For more information, read these wonderful books on fruits and vegetables!

1)  Fruits by Ann Thomas
Call Number: English 641.3 THO

2) Growing Colours by Bruce McMilan
Call Number:English 535.6 MAC

3) Salad On Your Plate by Honor Head
Call Number: English 641.3 HEA

Originally answerd by Mr Kweh Soon Huat
Librarian
Adult & Young People’s Services

Yes dear readers, the answer to your question can be found here below… Well, the best part of this Book Exchange is that it’s totally free-of-charge!! So, if you can get a new read in exchange for a old one, it’s free, and it helps to spread the love of reading to other book lovers in the spirit of sharing, then what are you waiting for my friend…

Date: Sat, 25 Apr 2009
Time: 10.30am to 6pm
Venue: The Plaza, National Library Building,100 Victoria Street

3 easy steps to exchange your used books for new reads:
1. Bring your used books to any Public Library from 11 to 24 April, 11am to 8pm. On 25 April, used books are accepted only at the National Library Building.
2. Drop off your used books and get a book exchange coupon indicating one-for-one exchange for the books accepted.
3. Bring your coupon to The Plaza, National Library Building, on 25 April to redeem for used books dropped off by other book lovers.

Terms and Conditions:
1. Each person can exchange up to a maximum of 30 used books. There is no age limit for participation.
2. We accept children’s and adults’ fiction and non-fiction books (eg. cookbooks, travel guides and romance novels) in any of the four official languages. We also accept used library books bought from previous Library Book Sales. Textbooks, magazines and audio-visual materials will not be accepted.
3. Used books for exchange should be in relatively good physical condition.
4. Only coupons issued with a Book Exchange stamp are valid. Please check your coupons carefully after they are issued to you.
5. Coupons issued are transferable. You may pass them on to your family members or friends to help you redeem.
6. Lost coupons are not replaceable. You are advised to keep your coupons properly till the event on 25 April.
7. Plastic/carrier bags and delivery service will not be provided on Sat, 25 April. You are advised to bring your own carrier bags and/or arrange for transportation of books redeemed.

Note: NLB reserves the right to change the terms and conditions at any time.

You can refer to this poster as well, for details:

book-exchange-poster.pdf

If you have any enquiries or comments, please drop us an email at ask@nlb.gov.sg and we will reply within 3 working days.

Posted by Mr Justin Tan
Librarian
Adult & Young People’s Services

Kids ASK! about Pets & Animals

If you think that the chameleon changes its colour to match the place which it is standing, then you are wrong!

The chameleon’s usual colour can match the environment that it spends most of its time. So why does it change its skin colour? The chameleon changes its colour due to changes in environmental factors such as light and temperature. Its colour also reflects its emotions such as fright and those associated with victory or defeat in a battle with another chameleon. A male chameleon will also change its colour to attract a female.

There are many species of chameleons and each species can change its skin colour to a particular range of colours. Many chameleons are capable of turning their skin to green, yellow, cream or brown. Some of them can even turn to more striking colours like red and blue.

Other interesting facts about the chameleon:
- it can grow to 60 cm (24 inches) long.
- many species are found only on the island of Madagascar.
- its tongue can be longer than its body length.

Sources:
i) chameleon. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 28, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online Library Edition:

http://library.ebonline.com/eb/article-9022335

ii) Miller, Jake (2003). The Chameleon. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

Read these books to find out more about the chameleon:

Chameleons and other animals with amazing skin by Susan LaBella.
Call number: JP 573.5 LAB

Chameleon, chameleon by Joy Cowley.
Call number: JP 597.95 COW

The chameleon by Jake Miller.
Call number: J 597.95 MIL

For the availability of the above book titles, please check the library catalogue.

All book covers were extracted from www.barnesandnoble.com.

Posted by Adeline Tan
Librarian
Children’s Services.

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

[1]
Oxford English Dictionary Online gives the etymology (word origin) of “mayday” as such: “French m’aidez or m’aider ‘help me!’ (the latter being either the imperative infinitive or short for venez m’aider ‘come and help me!’” (“Mayday”).

Source: “Mayday.” Oxford English Dictionary Online. .

[2]
There are other universal distress signals in use. Encyclopedia Britannica has this to say about distress signals:

“a method by which a ship at sea can summon assistance. Distress signals are fixed by custom and by internationally agreed-on rules of the road at sea. The most important are: (1) visual signals, such as a flame, a red flare, an orange smoke signal, or a square flag displayed with a ball below; (2) sound signals, such as a gun or rocket fired at regular intervals, or a continuous sounding of a fog-signal apparatus; and (3) radio signals such as the Morse group SOS, the international code signal NC, or the spoken word “Mayday” (from French m’aider, “help me”), by radiotelephone . . .” (“Distress Signal”).

Source: “Distress signal.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Library Edition.

 Answered by Goh Peck Keong, Librarian, Adult and Young People’s Services

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

Yes fret not, help is on the way now… Realising that Factiva is one of the popular eDatabases patrons use in NLB to access for newspaper article retrievals, we Librarians have specially prepared this user guide:

factiva-guide.pdf

Please feel free to download it, but do note that the materials and their copyrights belong to NLB, and the downloads are for personal use only. Drop us an email at ask@nlb.gov.sg for further enquiries on the Guide.

Please also visit NLB eResources webpage to access other eDatabases as well as eBooks, eJournals, eNewspapers and eMagazines.

Posted by Mr Justin Tan
Librarian
Adult & Young People’s Services

Kids ASK! about Pets & Animals

Here are some differences between Hedgehogs and Porcupines.

When in danger, a hedgehog rolls itself into a spiny ball while the porcupine defends themselves by striking attackers with their quilled tails. Hedgehogs hibernate when cold weather comes, while the porcupine does not. Porcupines are rodents (gnawing animals) but not hedgehogs. In addition, hedgehogs live only in the Eastern Hemisphere.
(Source: World Book 2001. Call number: YR q031 WOR)

Can you tell the hedgehog from the porcupine?
(Image source: www.chevroncars.com)

You may wish to read these books on hedgehogs and porcupines:

Hedgehog, by Michael Leach
Publisher : London : Hodder Wayland, 2003.
Call no. : J 599.33 LEA

Prickly porcupines, by Shannon Zemlicka
Publisher : Minneapolis, Minn. : Lerner Publications Co., c2003.
Call no. : JP 599.35 ZEM

For the availability of the above book titles, please check the library catalogue.

Originally answered by Lynn Chua
Librarian
Children’s Services

Posted by Galvin Soh
Librarian
Children’s Services

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

Yes, this month’s winning question has been selected. Our congrats to the lucky chap!! We’ll contact you separately for your prize collection.

Question: Why do public toilets split in the middle?       

Answer: “Open-front” or “split-front” seats with the little gap came in around 1940 to mitigate the errors. If standing males don’t lift the seat, they can drip urine onto its front; the gap supposedly eliminates this. It also keeps the penis from touching the seat when a man is seated. Though hardly making toilets much better, open-front seats were instituted as code almost everywhere by the 1950s. They didn’t catch on in private homes because of the public-toilet stigma. Also, men are theoretically more conscientious at home and will always lift the seat (though many do so in public toilets as well). But different societies have different concerns. In Mexico, new toilet seats are almost all open-front, whether public or private, even though there’s no seat code at all.

Source:

http://archives.stupidquestion.net/sq82699toiletseats.html

Stupid Question ™, Aug. 26, 1999
By John Ruch

An interesting read if you would like to find out more about technology and inventions:

Cool Stuff 2.0 and how it works/by Chris Woodford and Jon Woodcock.
J English 600 WOO

Great inventions of the 20th century/ by Peter Jedicke
Y English 609.04 JED

Gadget nation: a journey through the eccentric world of invention / Steve Greenberg.
Y English 609 GRE

 Posted by Yen Yen Toh, Librarian, Adult and Young People’s Services

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

Kids ASK! about Pets & Animals

We all know that bats have a weird habit of hanging upside down, but do you know why do they do it?

Bats are not capable of taking-off like most birds as their wings are not able to generate sufficient lift. They cannot even boost their energy by running as their hind legs are too tiny and therefore, inadequate. So what do bats do? First, they use their front claws to climb their way up to a high spot and when it is necessary for them to fly, they drop themselves from that height and take-off from there.

That is not the only reason why bats hang upside down. Being nocturnal creatures, bats need a place to roost during the day. To avoid wandering predators, bats congregate at a secluded area and remain out of reach. Being able to hang upside down also ensures that there is no need to compete with other birds for a spot to roost.

So how exactly do bats hang upside down? Interestingly, once the bat has found a spot to hang, it uses its muscles to pull its claws open and then relaxes its body to hold on to the surface. The weight of the upper body of the bat forces the tendons connected to the talons to clench. That essentially means that the bat does not have to do anything to hang! It just has to exert energy to get a grip on a surface. If a bat dies while roosting it actually carries on to hang there! The bats continue to rest in peace until something comes along and jostle it loose.

Reference:
“How and why do bats hang upside down all day?.” 28 June 2001. HowStuffWorks.com. 09 March 2009.

If you want to read more about bats, here are books that you can check out at our library.

Image retrieved from www.amazon.com

Bats: hunters of the night by Elaine Landau
Publisher: Berkeley Heights, N.J. : Enslow Publishers, c2008
Call No.: J English 599.4 LAN

Image retrieved from www.amazon.com

Bats by Julia Vogel
Publisher: Minnetonka, Minn. : NorthWord Books for Young Readers, c2007.
Call No.: J English 599.4 VOG

Image retrieved from www.infibeam.com

Vampire bats: hunting for blood by Barbara A. Somervill
Publisher: New York : PowerKids Press/Rosen Pub. Group, 2008.
Call No.: JP English 599.4 SOM

All websites are last accessed on 09 March 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.

Originally Answered by Kavita Ilangovan
Librarian, Children’s Services

Posted by Ms Felicia Chan
Librarian, Children’s Services

Kids ASK! about Science & Technology

Or “Why are carrots orange, broccoli green and eggplant purple? “

Light is a form of energy that behaves in some ways like waves. Light waves have a range of wavelengths. Different wavelengths of light appear to us as different colours. For example orange objects reflect ‘orange’ light, which is light with a long wavelength.

Vegetables appear coloured because they contain special chemical compounds named carotenoids. These compounds have an area called choromophore, which absorbs and gives off particular wavelengths of light, generating the colour that we see.

Carrots are orange because of the natural pigment called betacarotene, while brocolli is green because they contain chlorophyll.

Sources:
1. (2001). The World Book encyclopedia. Chicago : World Book.
2. (2005, Oct 16). Silviamar: Vegetables, chemistry and colour. Retrieved February 6, 2009, from New Civilization Network Web site: http://www.newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/
_v434/__show_article/_a000434-000021.htm

For more information on light and colour, here are some recommended library books:

What colour is an orange? by Tristan Boyer Binns
Publisher: Oxford : Raintree, 2007
Series Title: Fusion
Call No.: J 535.6 BIN

Light and dark by Angela Royston
Publisher: Oxford : Heinemann Library, c2008
Series Title: My world of science / Young explorer
Call No.: J P 535 ROY

Experiments with light : light energy by Rachel Lynette
Publisher: Oxford : Heinemann Library, 2008
Series Title: Do it yourself
Call No.: J 535 LYN

Light & sight by Jon Richards
Publisher: New York : PowerKids Press, 2008
Series Title: Science factory
Call No.: J 535.078 RIC

All websites were last accessed on 3 March 2009. Please check the websites’ homepages for the terms and conditions of use. All book summaries were taken from the book descriptions. All images were extracted from www.amazon.com.

For the availability of the above book titles, please check the library catalogue.

Originally answered by Ms Noriahni Binte Ismail
Children’s Librarian
Children’s Services

Posted by Ms Elizabeth Lee
Children’s Librarian
Children’s Services

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