[LM_NET] HIT TWO: MORE BEST reference questions ever

[Toni Buzzeo <tonibuzzeo@TONIBUZZEO.COM>]

ORIGINAL REQUEST: I'm working on a new manuscript and find myself 
wondering what is the BEST (funniest, strangest, coolest) reference 
question you've ever had from a kid.  I'd like something related to 
an animal, if possible, and very obscure.

To start the ball rolling, mine was from a transitional first grader 
whose teacher (laughing hysterically, I might add) sent the child 
down to ask, "Mrs. Buzzeo, I'm researching sloths and I found out 
that they only poop once a week.  But I can't find out whether they 
come down out of their trees to poop.  Mrs. Brady said that YOU could 
probably find the answer."  (Actually, we ended up INFERRING that the 
answer was yes.  Those crazy reference sources didn't address this 
and it was pre-Internet days :>)

SECOND ROUND OF RESPONSES:

This past spring a class of fifth graders was asking when the fourth 
book in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver would be 
coming out. I looked it up and told them that it was already out in 
England but wouldn't be in eth US for a month or so. A student then 
asked, "well if its published in England will I be able to read it?" 
I thought that she meant, will she be able to get her hands on it. 
She clarified by asking would it be published in English. I asked her 
what language she thought they spoke in ENGland and she responded by 
saying, "French?"

***

A little girl came up and asked me to help her find the book about 
the monkeys. She didn't know the title or the author, so I asked her 
what the book was about.  She thought for a minute then looked right 
at me and shook her finger "Tsz, tsz, tsz". I didn't get it right 
away so she, stamped her foot and  shook her finger again "TSZ, TSZ, 
TSZ!"  And then of course I got it: Caps for Sale by Slobodkina. 
Still makes me smile to think of her.

***

A second grader asked for a book about frogs.  He had a new pet frog 
and wanted to learn how to take care of it.  As we talked, I learned 
that he had found the frog at the bus stop that morning, was pretty 
sure his mom was not going to let him keep it, and had been storing 
it in his book bag all day.  He thought maybe it could just live 
there and his mom wouldn't know about it.  With the use of some books 
about frogs and encyclopedias, I was able to convince him that it is 
not healthy for frogs to live in book bags. Since it was 2:00 in the 
afternoon, I went to his classroom with him and explained to the 
teacher that I was there on a frog rescue mission.  The teacher is 
not a frog-friendly kind of teacher so she screamed and told me to 
get the frog out of her classroom.  I went outside with the little 
boy where he surprised me by very dramatically shouting "Live free 
and happy!", threw the frog in the air as high as he could, and ran 
back inside the building, trying not to cry.....the frog died on impact....
(and maybe someday, Khalil will get beamed back up to his home 
planet---what an unusual little guy---gifted, of course!)

***

A Kindergartener asked me where butterflies sleep.

***

During channel One the commentator mentioned that the average age of 
the soldiers in Iraq is 21 years old.  A class sent a request to know 
what the average height and weight was.

Having no clue as a starting point, I called the local recruiters 
office and asked them.  The young man on the phone responded we 
reflect society, average height is 5'11" and weight is 170.  Right 
off the top of his head!  Must be a recruiter tidbit they have to 
learn if somebody is questioning if they are tall enough for the military.


Toni Buzzeo, MA, MLIS <mailto:tonibuzzeo@tonibuzzeo.com>
Maine Library Media Specialist of the Year Emerita
Buxton, ME 04093
http://www.tonibuzzeo.com
R is for Research, illustrated by Nicole Wong (Upstart 2008) BRAND NEW!  

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