Kris Pugh

May 31, 2006

Post #1974 – 20060531

‘Way back in 1980 when I taught 5th grade, I required my students to hand in a book report every month. Timmy Moran turned in a report each month and all of them were on the book Fat Men From Space. This led to my reading the book. I have read it to or with my students every year since.

One year we wrote to our dentists to see if they had ever installed a radio tooth and most said it was a bunch of hooey. The next year we wrote to the dental school faculty at the University of Minnesota and found out that there was such a thing – even received dental journal articles chock full of interesting information.

I would just like to thank you for your contributions to the world of children’s literature. It’s a richer place because of you! If you would kindly reply to this missive, you will greatly thrill 25 2nd graders here in Anoka!

Daniel replies:

So happens that when I was living on Long Island in the late 1970s there was an item in the local papers. A man called the police, saying he was hearing music in his head. A policeman came to his house, and listened to the man's head. The policeman heard music. They both listened to the man's head for a while, and learned that it was a radio station in nearby Connecticut. The following day a dentist replaced the filling that was receiving the signal, and the music stopped. When asked, dentists tend to deny the existence of radio teeth, because they are mostly quiet people who shun attention. If your students would like to do some research on crystal radios, they may find that it is possible to receive radio signals on a razor blade! I have written 99 books other than Fat Men From Space. Anyone who reads all of them is likely to start hearing music in his head.