Growing Versions

The other night, when I could not sleep, I stumbled on a copy of Stuart Little. I picked it up and started to read.  I was instantly delighted by its sweetly spun absurdity.  Stuart Little is the story of a mature-for-his-age mouse in an otherwise human household and how he navigates the world with a jaunty self-possession, despite his small stature.  The story charmed me unrelentingly. On a quest to find his little bird friend who had flown north (because she had been warned in writing  by a pigeon that she might be in danger by nesting in a Boston Fern), he drove a mouse sized car (supplied by a dentist with a love of model boats and cars) and ends up becoming a substitute teacher on route.  I know, its ridiculous, but it all makes sense when E.B. White tells it. He asks one of his temporary students if he can " tell us(the class) what is important." Henry Rackmeyer responds that what is important is "A shaft of sunlight at the end of a dark afternoon,...

In Valentine creation mode,   I decided that some of those discarded books  would make adorable Valentines but after making a few, I stopped having the heart to actually cut into a book and put it aside for Christmas present for next year instead. (All images from "The Christmas Bunny" by William Lipkind and Nicolas Mordvinoff)

When I was about 8, my mom read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe out loud to me.  I can still picture a stand alone wardrobe positioned to the right of the entrance of a stark whitewashed room across from a single window, through which the children travelled into a magical world.   Beyond that, the only other thing I remember is the emphasis put on Turkish delight.  It was a really big deal in that book. I was drooling listening to it being described and by the end of it, I couldn't stop thinking about it.  It seemed like a delectable treasure drenched in sugar that would be well beyond my expectations. One day, my mom went to the city and came back with some Turkish delight.  It did not meet my expectations. The disappointment was staggering. What?  Sure it is drenched in sugar, but as far as I was concerned, there was a reason for that, it wouldn't be particularly edible without it. "Edmund    was already feeling uncomfort...

I thought I would go crazy if I heard it said one more time. "Do you have a copy I could borrow?" "No, but the library should have one." "Have you seen that movie, I'd like to see it." "No, but the library should have it." Those words became the bane of my existence. Every time I heard it or thought it, I would get rigid.  I was both riddled with guilt about the fines I had already incurred that prevented me from going there anytime soon and glazed over with inertia. The concept of me "nipping" down to the library, given the tight schedule we ran, was inconceivable.  So improbable,in fact, that I literally had to laugh out loud anytime it was casually suggested. I knew all the great reasons we all need a library.  Libraries have often been there for me in my  hour of need .  For me they are like a holy place, with the added bonus of being impartial  with a mandate to serve everyone. It is a public institution designed to...