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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

For those who celebrated Father’s Day a few days ago with your dads, you must be wondering how this special occassion started!

Well, some 4000 years ago, a young boy named Elmusu carved out a father’s day card on a clay tablet, wishing his father a long and healthy life. And in 1910, Miss Sonara Louise Smart Dodd, whose mother died at childbirth and was brought up by her father started the campaign to pay tribute to her father who brought up six children on his own. She succeeded in lobbying for this occassion to be celebrated and in 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed a Presidential Proclamation to declare the third Sunday of June as Father’s Day and this was also reiterated by President Richard Nixon in 1972 who helped to establish Father’s Day as a national occassion.

Sources:
History of Father’s Day -www.enidnews.com
History of Father’s Day-www.lankanewspapers.com

For books on dads, you can check out these books!

All Rights Reserved, New York, N.Y. : NorthSouth Books

Daddies by Lila Prap
Call Number: JP English PRA
Publisher: New York, N.Y. : NorthSouth Books
View item availability here

All Rights Reserved, New York, N.Y. : G. P. Putnam’s Sons

Your Daddy Was Just Like You by Kelly Bennett
Call Number: JP English BEN
Publisher: New York, N.Y. : G. P. Putnam’s Sons
View item availability here

All Rights Reserved, New York, N.Y. : HarperCollinsPublishers

It’s The Best Day Ever, Dad! by Brooke Shields
Call Number: JP English SHI
Publisher: New York, N.Y. : HarperCollinsPublishers
View item availability here

Posted By:

Ms Chen Wanying
Children’s Librarian
Children’s Services

Nobel Prize winning author, José Saramago, has passed away on 18 June 2010 at age 87. The Portuguese writer is known for his controversial novel, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ. After the Portuguese government barred The Gospel According to Jesus Christ for a literary contest, Saramago left Portugal and made home on the Canary Islands.

Saramago grew up in poverty. He had to work part time to support his studies. Before becoming a full time writer, Saramago has worked as a mechanic, production manager and journalist. A long time member of Portugal’s Communist Party, his works showed his unfaltering support for communism and his experimental ideas.

 His latest book titled The Elephant’s Journey is scheduled for release later this year.Here’s a listing of his books available in NLB:
1) The Notebook
Call No.: 869.842 SAR
2)Small Memories
Call No.: 869.842 SAR
3) Death With Interruptions
Call No.: SAR
4) Seeing
Call No.: SAR
5) The Cave
Call No.: SAR-[TH]
6) The Double
Call No.: SAR
7) Blindness
Call No.: SAR
8 ) The Tale of the Unknown Island
Call No.: SAR
9) Baltasar and Blindmuda
Call No.: SAR
10) The History of the Siege of Lisbon
Call No.: SAR
11) Manual of Painting and Calligraphy
Call No.: SAR
12) The Stone Raft
Call No.: SAR
13) The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis
Call No.: SAR
To check the availability and locations of the above titles, please use our online catalogue.
Originally 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

Yes indeed, you have heard it right..

There’s an upcoming anniversary (50th in fact!!) of the publication “To Kill a Mockingbird”, which will happen on 11 Jul 2010. More details can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/books/25mock.html?ref=books

In the local context, it appears that some schools have used Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” as text/readings for the students in their curriculums:

“All students will study Romeo and Juliet, Oedipus Rex, and Of Mice and Men. Additional readings may be taken from the following: To Kill a Mockingbird…”
Source: http://www.sas.edu.sg/hs/Catalogs/English.html

“Teacher initiated inquiry into the understandings of how societies have evolved or what factors have shaped the nature of societies through the study of your Literature texts, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and…”
Source: http://www.chijsec.edu.sg/main/history_1.html

“The course will force students to analyze one core text in depth (for now either The Crucible by Arthur Miller or To Kill a Mockinbird by Harper Lee) while training them to…”
Source: http://www.hci.sg/studies/highSch/literature/?page=blurbs

There’s also a posting done up by my colleague Reena, about this publication at Y.O. blog from NLB as well.

If you wish to borrow a copy of this “Pulitzer Prize” title (print or AV format), please check our online catalogue for its availability and holdings.

** All websites above are last accessed 18 Jun 2010 **

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

The World Cup is soccer’s biggest event and it is held once every four years. The first World Cup was held in Uruguay in July 1930. Only thirteen teams from North America, South America and Europe participated in the event. Back then, the teams travelled by sea and some teams even travelled on the same ship to Uruguay. In the final match, the host nation defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of a crowd of 93000 people and became the first country to win the World Cup.

Today, 204 teams partipate in the tournament and 32 teams were shortlisted after gruelling matches in the qualifying rounds. Since 1930, the 16 tournaments have seen only seven different winners with Brazil leading the pack, having won the World Cup five times. The World Cup is now the most watched sporting event with millions of supporters from all over the world.

(Source: www.fifa.com/classicfootball/history/index.html
Last accessed: 17/6/2010)

(All Rights Reserved, Haynes, 2010)

World Cup Football
by Jason Ludditch
Call Number: J English 796.334 LUD
Click here to check for item availability.

(All Rights Reserved, Scholastic Children’s Books, 2010)

Wicked World Cup
by Michael Coleman
Call Number: J English 796.334 COL
Click here to check for item availability.

(All Rights Reserved, Heinemann Library, 2010)

World of Football
by Michael Hurley
Call Number: J English 796.334 HUR
Click here to check for item availability.

Originally answered by Rosjihanah Mon
Associate Librarian, Children’s Services

Yes, all you book lovers out there.. The details you have been waiting for!!

Library Book Sale 2010
Date: Saturday, 10 July 2010 – Sunday, 11 July 2010
Time: 9.30am – 8.00pm
Venue: Singapore Expo Hall 6A
Free Admission

Select from a large collection of used library books at bargain prices at the Library Book Sale 2010!

Books and magazines in all the four official languages will be on sale. Prices range from $1-$5. Each customer can buy up to a maximum of 60 items. Payment can be made by NETS, CashCard or cash only.

For more information or enquiries on the Library Book Sale 2010, please visit www.nlb.gov.sg or contact us via:
Tel: +65 6332 3255
Email: helpdesk@nlb.gov.sg

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