I Don't Get It

We all know that sometimes kids make stuff up.  My group of students at reading camp have wild imaginations and I am constantly delighted by all of the crazy ideas they come up with.  Whether it's designing their own story, pondering why a character did something, or coming up with ideas to put into our ocean mural their thoughts are so original, and it makes me wonder when do adults stop thinking like that? But I also have to admit, sometimes I don't get it.  Sometimes they have to explain it more and even after that sometimes I still don't get it.

Carolyn Sherwin Bailey's Miss Hickory is kinda like that.  It's original and unique and kind of a crazy idea but I have to admit I don't get it.  It is the story of Miss Hickory who has some sort of twiggy homemade body with a nut for a head-I think.  The story takes place in the woods as Miss Hickory has to move out of her corncob house and into an abandoned nest. It chronicles her adventures adjusting to her new "country" life and all of the friends she makes along the way.

The story has some endearing moments, especially when describing Christmas festivities.  Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, I love everything about it and I was thrilled to read about how the woodland animals celebrate.  Also Miss Hickory has a very endearing point of view.  Take this for example when she discovers that groundhog is afraid of his shadow, "what makes him do that? I find my shadow, on a night when the moon is high, very pleasant company."

But while parts of the story are simply charming, other parts seem to hit you over the head with their morals.  This book was published in 1946 so I think its a sign of how times have changed.

Creating a crazy story...that's kids stuff.