One of my all time favorite authors. She has a way of weaving a moral into a story in such a lovely manner. ( )

Nuanced and belovable (is that a word?) kids book that I wish got the attention it deserves. Picked up a secondhand paperback copy for this reread, but when I was a kid I listened to it on audiobook which I highly recommend! Great full cast production that I love, even though the scene with the winds scared the crap out of me when I was younger. ( )

A wise little fairytale for children. Some of the wisdom is stated and some of the wisdom is lived.

I've been pondering lately the anxiety epidemic our children seem to be experiencing (this connects, I promise). I'm sure that electronics, styles of living that don't allow for healthy attachment, and our own conditioning do their part.* But part of it might be that we infantilize our children. In some ways, it's good. The overstress of teens doesn't help. But, at the same time, I really enjoyed this main character. He is 12, and thinks of himself as almost grown-up. He is sometimes nervous. But he deals with it healthily. I loved it. None of the Harry Potter drama.**


*We tell kids not to be anxious, but we take them to the Dr for every sneeze, take them to the Dr for check-ups so that the Dr. can tell them they're fine, etc. If that doesn't help with anxiety conditioning, I'm not sure what is.
** Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Harry like the rest of them. I just enjoy the simplicity of stories for a younger age group sometimes. ( )

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