Together With Hannah

The photographer was the resident six year old - but I like them!

From the crowded, disorganized shelves of the used book store I pulled an old library copy of Thee, Hannah. When I stood at the counter to pay, the owner announced it too old to charge for and gave it to us free, with our other books. I intended Kara to read it by herself. I've already read it twice in my "career." But she asked so sweetly and it's hard to resist De Angeli's illustrations. Then, too, this girl is growing so fast our days of dolls and read-alouds are numbered.

Together we wonder at Friends who say "thee." We admire the simple dresses. We wish aloud for a doll's tea table, just like the one in the book. I think, silently, the bitter-sweet thought: soon there will be nobody to sit at it. Together we're delighted to find another girl who hates to brush her hair, and always looks like a scarecrow in back. Not alone, this is what we love to know.

The best things in life are free. Reading aloud on the couch and books so old no one else will buy them. These are my irresistible pleasures.