Questions Anyone?

Fourth graders certainly do have questions, that I know. Childhood curiosity is a given across all grades levels, but ten year olds are blessed with a tween kind of innocence in their questioning. They aren't held back by peer pressure found in older children, and better than that, their thirst for knowledge has not been stifled yet is more refined than the preschool "Why?" bombardments. Still, they often have no filter as to what is politically correct to ask. They want to know what they want to know.

I've had all kinds of questions thrown at me, the raise your hand, wag it around kind of oh-oh-oh burning ones, the walking down the hall in the morning polite ones, and the whispered, stand by teacher's desk kind of private discussions. No matter which, those I remember most are the out of the blue, what does that have to do with anything blurtings. If you ever read Jef Mallett's comic strip, Frazz, you know the kind I'm referring to. Teacher Ms. Olsen hasn't learned yet NOT to end the day with, "Any questions?" even though main character, eight year old Caulfield, reaches for the sky in his questions. I wasn't on the receiving end of any way-out Caulfield-style questions these past weeks as visiting author, but I did get some well planned ones that were to the point and not out in left field with Caulfield.

I faced all kinds of questions from the children. I learned a couple years ago not to reveal my age (yes, I'm frequently asked) beyond "Think about your grandmother, I'm about the same age." As a part of the lead-up to my time with them, the children learned how to interview our generation about memories of Apollo Eleven. One teacher brought a stack of questions the children created for me to answer. We didn't have time during the presentation, but I brought them home to respond individually. I scanned and snipped and pasted to a document and then replied. Many questions overlapped each other and many I answered during my presentation. For your reading enjoyment, here are a few samples, and my replies:

Q

A
Finding my book for sale in a store was thrilling. I moved it to the front of the stack so more people would see it. I love to go into libraries and find my books on the shelf, but that isn't such a good thing. Not finding them would be better because that means someone has checked them out and is reading them!

Q

A
From the last research I did, I found that Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins are still alive but Neil Armstrong is not. I have not been fortunate enough to meet any of these men. I have not researched the kind of metal on the rocket, but that would be an interesting fact to find. Yes, I have been to the site in Florida where the rocket was launched, but I was not there on that day. I was in college when I watched Apollo Eleven on television, so that gives you an idea of how old I was.

Q

A
Gold! Isn't that a beautiful color to enjoy. I have a pair of gold tennis shoes that I wear for fun. Most of my jewelry is gold.

Q

A
I tried. I honestly tried, but I have no sporting talent. I was tall enough that the girls' basketball coach in eighth grade put me near the basket to block other people's shots, but that's about all I could do. I prefer to watch and go home and write about it. I do play golf, so I'd consider that my favorite sport.

And finally questions about my illustrator:

Surprise here, Bobbie is a girl, Roberta, but Bobbie to her friends. She married my cousin, so I guess we are related that way. She illustrated my book, Hoop Hike, and I asked her to do this one too. She had to do a lot of research, just like I did, because she wanted to be exact in her drawings. I did not tell her what to draw because I wanted her to come up with her own story through the art work. She is working on a third book with me, but this one is completely different. It's about a girl picking peas in a garden. Thank you for asking about the illustrator. She will be happy to know someone noticed her work.

I love questions. Good, deep, thought provoking questions. Superficial fun questions. Being a visiting author in elementary schools has set me up for some dillies, but at least I know the children are listening.

Questions anyone? Bring them on!

Catch of the day,

Gretchen