Student Questions - Answered!

This week I had the pleasure of spending some time with students at Cloverdale Traditional School in Victoria. And a pleasure it was, indeed, in no small part to the fantastic preparation done by classroom teachers and Sarah Mcleod, teacher-librarian extraordinaire!! It makes such a difference when students have had a chance to look over my books, talk about them in class, have something read aloud... Every child also had to think up a question for me, each of which was written on a slip of paper. I received the stack of questions ahead of time, which was handy as I was able to answer a couple that wouldn't normally have been covered in the presentations.

Each talk does cover a lot of ground, but there were a few questions we didn't get to, so I thought I'd post some student questions (and my best effort at answers) here on the blog over the next little while. Here goes with the first couple:

What is your favourite colour?

The tulips in my garden come in
some pretty spectacular colours!

This should be a simple question, but my favourite colour changes with the seasons. In the spring, I cannot get enough of the various shades of pink that grace the different varieties of cherry and plum trees here in Victoria. Driving into town the other day, I noticed the very first pale blossoms starting to appear! That means the glorious pink blossoms on the trees at our place won't be far behind. I also love the deep crimson red colour that I see all the time in the barnyard - the colour of rooster combs and the fleshy bits on the heads and throats of my tom turkeys. There is a very particular intense blue of a hot summer sky that I adore. Maybe because all those bright colours are so, well, bright, my favourite colour of clothing is black.



Do you like turtles?
Certainly. What's not to like about turtles? As an animal lover, I can't actually think of an animal I don't like. Except for mosquitoes, perhaps - though even those nasty little nibblers provide feasts for other, much lovelier creatures like bats and barn swallows. What I like most about turtles is the way they look (some of those shell patterns are works of art, don't you think?) and the way they deeply appreciate the warmth of the sun. I love how they crawl up out of the water and snooze on logs or rocks... I am also very impressed by the turtles that dig holes in the sand where they bury their eggs. That's pretty cool. One of my favourite stories is the one about the turtle and the hare. The idea that slow and steady wins the race certainly applies to anyone who ever hopes to finish a book!!