Do Penguins Have Knees?

One thing that I didn't fully understand before I became a mother - was the things one has to know! I'm always amazed at the interesting questions kids come up with. They range from the mundane, "Mom, what does that sign mean?" to really quite intriguing: "Mom, why is the zipper on your pants called a fly?"
Today I was making dinner. My 8 year old daughter was reading a Spider man comic book at the table when suddenly she got up and started pacing around the kitchen. Then she stopped and said, "Mom, do penguins have knees?" I gave my regular, "That's a great question. Why don't you go write that down so we can look it up later." and also added, "Why do you want to know?" She replied that she was trying to figure out why they waddle like they do and perhaps they don't have a place to bend at their knees. Good reasoning if you ask me!
Personally, I used to love to come up with questions like that. My personal favorite from my youth was, "What would furniture look like if your knees bent the other way?" My mom used to just shake her head at me.
I don't know what parents did before the internet! Luckily there is an answer to everything on the internet. We did a search and found a book with a title Do Penguins Have Knees. Not only that, we have found a kindred spirit: David Feldman. He has a number of books on questions like this! I think we've struck a goldmine!