perhaps i should explain that glinda's great book of records is a marvelous book in which everything that happens, from the slightest detail to the most important event taking place anywhere in the world, is recorded the same instant that it happens. no occurrence is too trivial to appear in the book. if a naughty child stamps its foot in anger, or if a powerful ruler plunges his country into war, both events are noted in the book, as of equal importance.