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Ida B: . . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World
Ida B: . . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World
Ida B: . . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World
Ebook145 pages2 hours

Ida B: . . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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About this ebook

The New York Times bestselling debut novel from acclaimed children's author Katherine Hannigan is both very funny and extraordinarily moving.

Who is Ida B. Applewood? She is a fourth grader like no other, living a life like no other, with a voice like no other, and her story will resonate long after you have put this book down.

How does Ida B cope when outside forces—life, really—attempt to derail her and her family and her future? She enters her Black Period, and it is not pretty. But then, with the help of a patient teacher, a loyal cat and dog, her beloved apple trees, and parents who believe in the same things she does (even if they sometimes act as though they don't), the resilience that is the very essence of Ida B triumph...and Ida B. Applewood takes the hand that is extended and starts to grow up.

This modern classic is a great choice for independent reading.


LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperCollins
Release dateJun 21, 2011
ISBN9780062112514
Ida B: . . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World
Author

Katherine Hannigan

Katherine Hannigan studied mathematics, painting, and studio art and has worked as the education coordinator for a Head Start program and, most recently, as an assistant professor of art and design. She is the author of True (. . . Sort Of), Emmaline and the Bunny, and the national bestseller Ida B . . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World. She lives in Iowa with a bunch of cats and the occasional bunny or bird visitor. Her backyard hosts an additional array of creatures, including deer, raccoons, possums, and sometimes a skunk. But no alligators . . . yet!

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Rating: 4.01626903340564 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    My daughter really enjoyed this book. It does an excellent job of showing how a girl works through her anger and grief when many changes occur in her family's life.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I thought this would be a fun book. It wasn't fun. It was sad and depressing. It was well written but I don't like sad children's books. Ida B. is both lovable and annoying. The characters were well written and fleshed out. I can see this helping other children get through a parent's diagnosis. It just wasn't my thing
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ida B has been home shcooled, and out of touch with other children, and she likes it that way. But when her mother gets cancer, she not longer has the energy to teach Ida B at home. Now, not only does Ida have to go to public school, but to pay for the cancer treatments her father is selling off part of the family farm that she so loves.Ida B is angry with her parents, the school, and basically the world, and she is determined not to allow anyone or anything to intrude on her anger and disappointment with everything. Which makes her one miserable little girl.The saving grace is Mrs. Washington, her teacher in the public school. Even without knowing any specifics about what Ida B is going through, she intuitively understands a great deal, and slowly and patiently gives Ida B exactly what she needs.I would have liked to have seen Ida B come out of her anger mode a little sooner, and have a little more reconciliation time. She is pretty horrid to her parents and one of her school mates especially. All kids have these angry-at-the-world episodes, but for most kids they don't last as long and hang on as tenaciously as Ida B's did.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ida B is a sweet story about a girl who loves nature and has to deal with some difficult issues: her mother's illness, loss of the land, trying public school. An enjoyable read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I absolutely loved this book when I was younger.Its been a while since I last read it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It is impossible not to love Ida B. I'm not talking about the book, I'm talking about the girl herself. Unique and exhuberant, Ida B lets readers tag along as she makes plans to "Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World."Ida B Applewood is a bright, witty, home-schooled girl, constantly planning for all possible outcomes while rambling around her parents' apple orchard. Ida talks to nature, and it talks back! Readers skip along with Ida B, fascinated by her bubbly enthusiasm for life. When Ida B's mother is diagnosed with breast cancer, Ida B's whole world turns upside down. Readers now walk sulkily beside Ida B while she works out her pain, anger, and frustration at the unfairness of life in ways that even grown-ups can relate to.Hannigan captures the 8-9 year old voice perfectly, and readers will be thankful they were able to get to know Ida B!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Ida B is an extraordinary girl with a wonderful imagination. Her strength is tested when she finds out that her mother is sick and everything in her life will change.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a great book- the main character is a fascinating person with a fascinating life. I wasn't big on the way she responded to her problems, but that is how some people, even fascinating people, respond. I loved her interesting forms of schooling, and her connection to nature. This book also reminds us of the things that school can be- good and bad.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    My favorite thing about this book is the fact that Ida B talks to the trees in her family's orchard! Beyond the obvious sweetness of that, I feel like the trees are really Ida B's essence, her soul or subconscious . . . and I think by talking to the trees Ida B is really trying to talk to the deepest part of herself. Of course there are big changes with her mom's cancer, going to public school for the first time, dealing with her anger, friendships and her teacher. I love how Ida B's teacher draws her out and how the story ends.I enjoy using this book as a read-aloud, but in truth, I get a little emotional when I read it, but it is a beautiful story.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I think this is a very emotional book that is very enjoyable. It is a realistic-fiction that alot of people can relate to.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    At times I really did not like the main character of this book, Ida B., but I'm glad I didn't give up on the book because of her behavior. It is a good book about a little girl dealing with life changes that she nor her family have control over. Good read, although I felt the author over did trying to sound common or child-like; however, when I read excerpts to my husband he thought it was well done. It's worth giving it a try.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ida B... and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly)Save the World is an emotional book. It may be funny in the beginning, but when you start getting near the end,you're going to need a tissue. The only reason I did not cry was because I was laying down in my bed when I was reading it. Ida B... and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly)Save the World is mainly about Ida B. Applewood, who wants to be called Ida B. because "Ida", I suppose, is just too boring of a name(according to her)."Ida B.", now, has a nice rhythm to it. Anyway, Ida B.'s parents own an orchard with many apple trees. You soon find out that Ida B. can talk to apple trees, but in the beginning, you find out that all of the trees have names. Paulie T. is the mean tree, and he is the one to accidentally spread the bad news to Ida B. You will find out what the news is later, and I would tell you, though I dislike giving out spoilers. This book seems very real to me, and I think that there is a real Ida B.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ida B lives a comfortable, home-schooled life on a farm with lots of land, until her mother starts a battle with cancer.A sweet little story that does a nice job describing childhood anxieties and coping reactions when a loved one gets sick and life changes.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Ida B is a heroine in the mold of some of my all time favorites - Laura Ingalls Wilder: Pippi Longstocking; Ramona Quimby; even the more recent Clementine - although I'm most sure that she would be bosom friends with Anne Shirley (of Green Gables fame). The things that I loved best about Anne Shirley are the things that I love best about Ida B: Her connection to nature - talking with the apple trees, chatting with the brook; Her curiousity and ingenuity - tired of having to constantly wash her face, Miss Ida B tries to come up with an ill-fated plan for a Soap Mask; Her troubles with conformity - her first interaction with schooling and all its rules and 'wonderful things everywhere that you couldn't touch or take time for' was such a soul-crushing experience that her parents decided to homeschool her, to everyone's benefit.


    But when something unexpected happens, and Ida B's mama gets cancer, everything changes. Between the money troubles that lead to selling off parts of their land, Ida B's daddy turning into some tense and promise-breaking stranger, and her mama's sickness & treatment stealing not only her energy and her health, but what Ida B perceives as her 'real mama': her spirit, her light. Things get truly difficult in their household when Ida B has to return to public school, because her mom is just not well enough to teach her anymore.

    And when that happens, there's a passage so simple and concise, but breathtakingly true, about how you learn to cope when people let you down or betray you (as Ida B sees it). About how you have to harden your heart in order to just go on. I'm going to include it here, just so you can see how spectacular it is, how sad and awful and... right.

    "But as I cried, my heart was being transformed. It was getting smaller and smaller in my chest and hardening up like a rock. The smaller and harder my heart got, the less I cried, until finally I stopped completely.
    By the time I was finished, my heart was a sharp, black stone that was small enough to fit in the palm of my hand. It was so hard nobody could break it and so sharp it would hurt anybody who touched it.

    Armed with this new heart, Ida B concots a plan to "just shy of death and dismemberment, to fight the craziness that had taken over my family and was invading my valley. I'd come up with a plan, and they'd be sorry, every single one of them, that they had to reckon with Ida B."

    How Ida B puts that plan into action - and the strength it takes her to carry it out, and then to learn to open her heart back up - are what the rest of the book focuses on.

    And I loved it because A) Ida B is stubborn & she can stick to that plan of making everybody sorry for as long as humanly possible (and you, as a reader, can't blame her)

    B)The other characters in the book deal with Ida B & her stubbornness in different ways - with patience, anger, distrust, confusion - All appropriate responses to a girl who is determined to not have any fun, or be happy, because then it might prove her parents right in sending her back to school. But none of the characters are characitures - Her dad gets mad, but he also tries to stay calm. Her mom is disappointed, but tries not to push to hard. Her teacher (and boy do I love me an awesome teacher) just sits, and schemes her own schemes, and waits Ida B out.

    C) When Ida B finally realizes that maybe she's got some apologizing to do, and maybe she's gone too far in this whole campaign, there are no miracle fixes. She has consequences to her previous behaviors, and they're not ridiculous either - no blood feuds or instant bonding here - Just realistic sucking it up and saying you're sorry, and having the other person maybe not looking at you out of the corners of their eyes all the time.

    Anyways, Ida B is amazing, and everybody should read it, and then figure out a way to put Lucy Maud Montgomery next to Katherine Hannigan on your bookshelves, just so Ida B and Anne can coexist somewhere besides my brain.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I read this book so long ago, I can't remember much about the when. What I do remember is how much I loved the story and the quote that was printed at the top of the front cover from Kate DiCamillo that caused me to read the book in the first place. It read, "I feel a deep gratitude that Ida B exists." At least, that's how I remember the quote having gone. In any case, it's a good quote and a true one. I feel the same way. Ida B is one of the few unparalleled joys that children's literature has given me over the past decade. The aspect that I like the most about this book is the gentle competent nature of its adults. So many children's books depend on buffoonish, possibly evil adults to build a plot around. This story focused instead on life handing out a lemon and everyone dealing with it as well as they could. I think my favorite adult character was her teacher, and not because she was one of those uncontrolled brilliant geniuses full of quirky Ms. Frizzle-like antics. For once, a teacher was presented in the most honest of terms, as someone who exhibited endless patience above all else. In reality, teachers typically show greatness when they offer patience more than any other quality. It's the general acceptance that teaching is two or three parts listening for every one part sharing advice. My favorite scenes all came on the recess yard when Ida sat with her teacher, who would inevitably ask if there was anything she wanted to talk about only to be answered with silence. She would never get upset. She wouldn't walk off. She'd just sit there with her, not pushing, just waiting until the time was right for Ida. That is great teaching. That is great parenting. That is what is means to be truly worthwhile adult. I feel a deep gratitude that Ida B exists. I feel a deeper gratitude that Katherine Hannigan created a world where someone of Ida's depth could exist. This book is a masterpiece.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Ida B. lives happily on her farm with her parents. She spends her days being home-schooled and talking to the trees. Then, however, her mother is diagnosed with cancer, and everything changes. Ida must learn to deal with the public elementary school and to accept disappointment without anger. Ida B's realistic voice is the most compelling aspect of this book. She has a capacity to explain complex emotions in a way that is completely understandable to children. Thus, although this book targets older elementary students, it can be read aloud to younger students.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is about a young girl who lives, learns and plays on a farm. Her family raises crops and makes thier money off the farm. Ida B is a very imaginative little girl, who is a free spirit. She plays along the trees and her imagination takes her places. Her mom becomes ill and she has to return to school, which she does not like. I loved this book and I loved Ida B!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Ida B. is a character I will remember long after I have closed the book. Getting into Ida B's head and sharing her thoughts and feelings was a most remarkable experience. Katherine Hannigan is a very gifted writer and I look forward to reading more of her work. Highly recommended!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Ida B. by Katherine Hannigan is about a girl who has to come to terms with some huge changes in her life. First and foremost, her mother has been diagnosed with cancer. Second, she can no longer be home schooled. Third, and perhaps, worst, for her, her parents have sold off a portion of their apple orchard.Ida B. spends most of her free time in the orchard. She has names and personalities for each of the trees. Ida B. has her way of doing things. Being a precocious, only child, she has until now, gotten her way. Now, though, to her dismay, she has to adjust. It takes her nearly the full year at school to finally warm to her teacher.I listened to the audio, a short three discs, performed by Lili Taylor. She just brought Ida B. to life. The things Ida B. goes through are just heart breaking and Taylor brings all that emotion to her performance.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I enjoy the book and I think Ida B accomplished everything she was trying to accomplish, like when she scared her freind from school that was moving in next door. In the end she said sorry.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is about a girl named Ida Applewood. Ida is called Ida B. Ida B is a fourth grader who is home schooled. Ida lives on a farm with her parents. Ida B is a bright girl. Her life could be called perfect. All that changed when her mom was diagnosed with cancer. Ida B's life is torn apart. I recommend this book to girls and boys who like a good story. I would also recommend this book to boys/ girls who can relate to how Ida B is feeling. Readers who know how it feels to have your world torn apart. This book is a very good book. I rated this book a 4 1/2 because it wasn't great but I foiund it interesting. Katherine Hannigan, the author did a great job writing this book. SHe deifintely touched the readers.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    HEART WARMING SAD
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The narrator of the audio book did a great job as Ida B. Ida B's plans, especially to maximize fun reminded me of Bud, not Buddys, rules for a funner life. The book starts out like an update version of the Moffats - very sunny and carefree, but it soon changes with the introduction of the mother's cancer. It doesn't get too gloomy, but I'm wondering if there are any books written for children and young adults that are just for fun.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Ida B will always be on of my favorite kid's books. I love how quirky and real Ida B is. Dealing with her mom's cancer, Ida B has a very realistic response of lashing out at the world out of fear and missing her old life. I really appreciate that the conflict in this book is primarily internal as Ida B struggles to deal with the changes of her life. I think this book would be a great way to teach metaphor and simile to students as these literary devices are used throughout Ida B's internal monologues to compare and contrast what Ida B is familiar with to things that she isn't to help her cope with the changes.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A fun book despite the serious issues it addresses. Ida B is an entertaining, vivacious character.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ida always has a big amagination and she loves to play and she never think there is enough time to play but after her mom get sick things turn around and she has to go back to school instead of being homeschooled
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a good book how a girl of that age might think. I think we all feel that way at time. I want to try and have that thinking myself.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Great read. Ida B is a keeper.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was an enjoyable book about 9 year old Ida B Applewood. Ida is an only child who loves nature and the outdoors. She is a thinker and can be quite stubborn. I would definitely recommend this one for upper elementary and middle school aged children.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is my favorite book of all time. Ida B's character is not only inspiring, but incredibly relatable. Everyone has gone through something like her, no matter how life-changing it was. You know, when everything is righter than right and suddenly you find everything is wrong in the blink of an eye? We've all been there. It is Ida B's journey to coping with her situation that is truly inspirational. This is a must-read.

Book preview

Ida B - Katherine Hannigan

Chapter 1

Ida B, Mama said to me on one of those days that start right and just keep heading toward perfect until you go to sleep, when you’re done with the dishes, you can go play. Daddy and I are going to be working till dinner.

Yes, ma’am, I said back, but I said it like this, Yes, MAY-uhm! because I couldn’t wait to get on with my business. I could already hear the brook calling to me through the back door screen. C’mon out and play, Ida B. Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up. I had three places I wanted to visit, six things I wanted to make, and two conversations I hoped to have before dinnertime.

Mama was washing, Daddy was drying, and I was putting away the dishes from lunch. And I knew that the moment I set the last pan in its place, I was free. But the way those two were chatting and laughing and acting like we had till next week to finish up, I could see it was going to be a while.

My insides started itching and my feet started hopping, one then the other, because they were ten minutes past being ready to go. So I decided to speed things up a bit.

Daddy’d hand me a dish, I’d sprint to the cupboard and put it away, race back again, and put my hand out for the next one, with my right foot tap, tap, tapping the seconds that were ticking by.

Hold your horses, Ida B, Daddy told me. There’s plenty of time to do whatever you’re planning. And he passed me a plate, slow and easy.

Well, that stopped me in my tracks. Because what Daddy said might have seemed all right to him, but it was sitting about two miles beyond wrong with me. I wasn’t going to be able to put away another tiny teaspoon till I set things straight.

Daddy, I said, and I waited till he was looking at me before I went on.

Yes, Ida B, he answered, turning toward me.

And staring right into his eyeballs I told him, There is never enough time for fun.

Daddy’s eyes opened wide, and for a half second I wondered if I was in for something close to trouble. But then the two ends of his mouth turned up, just a little.

Ida B, he told the ceiling while he shook his head.

Hmmmmm, Mama said, like a smile would sound if it could.

And as soon as Daddy handed me the big frying pan, I set it in the drawer next to the oven, and I was on my way.

Come on, Rufus, I called to Daddy’s old floppy-eared dog, who was napping under the table. You can come, too, so you’ll have some company.

Now, a school of goldfish could go swimming in the pool of drool that dog makes while he’s sleeping. But as soon as he heard his name and saw me heading for outside he jumped up, cleaned up the extra slobber around his mouth, and in two and one-half seconds’ time, he was waiting for me at the back door.

Chapter 2

On my way out of the house, I grabbed a pencil and enough paper to make four good drawings and one mistake. And in my right pants pocket, I stuffed some string to tie the sticks together for the rafts I build and send down the brook with notes attached to them saying things like:

What is life like in Canada?

Please respond.

Ida B. Applewood

P.O. Box 42

Lawson’s Grove, Wisconsin 55500

or

If this raft reaches the ocean,

will you please let us know?

Thank you very much.

Applewood Raft

Construction Company

P.O. Box 42

Lawson’s Grove, Wisconsin 55500

It is my belief that the brook ends up at one of those two places, but I haven’t heard anything back yet to prove that. The best I’ve gotten so far is some old man from way up in Roaring Forks called up Mama and Daddy and told them I was sending out notes with my name and address on them and they might want to discourage that.

And a teacher from Myers Falls, which is the next town over, got ahold of one of my notes and made her whole class find out things about Canada. Boring things like, There are thirty-two million people, and Some of Canada’s main exports are timber and aluminum, and they sent all those facts and figures to me in an envelope.

Mama made me write a thank-you note back, so I drew a picture of a Canadian Mountie holding the Queen of England in his arms and they’re going over Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel, waving aluminum maple leaves, just screaming with glee. Thank you very much for the information, I wrote. Let’s all hope they’re having some fun over in Canada, too. Yours truly, Ida B. Applewood.

So I had my string, my paper, Daddy’s dog, and three pieces of bubble gum so I could blow a bubble as big as my face while being careful to keep it away from Rufus, because the last time he got near one of those, we were cutting pink gum out of his fur for about a month after. And I headed out to the apple orchard.

Hello, Beulah. Hello, Charlie. Hello, Pastel, I said, which are some of the names I’ve given those trees. All of the apple trees were full of blossoms, and when you stood right in the middle of them you could smell their prettiness, but not so much it’d bother you.

I was already sitting down under Henry VIII, getting to work on a drawing I’d started the day before. It was the orchard after the harvest, with bushels of apples under all of the trees. There were Mama and Daddy, me, Lulu the cat, and Rufus, each sitting in our own tree, eating slices of apple pie. I was working on Rufus, who had a mix of slobber and crumbs all over him, and Lulu was giving him a look of the utmost revulsion, when I realized that not one of those trees had said anything back to me.

Now, some people might stop me right there and say, Ida B, you could wait for eternity and a day and you’re not going to hear one of those trees talking to you, let alone a brook. Trees don’t have mouths, and they don’t speak, and you might want to take yourself to the doctor’s and get a very thorough check-up real soon.

And after I took a minute to give my patience and forbearance a chance to recover my mouth from the rudeness that was itching to jump out of it, I would just say this: There’s more than one way to tell each other things, and there’s more than one way to listen, too. And if you’ve never heard a tree telling you something, then I’d say you don’t really know how to listen just yet. But I’d be happy to give you a few pointers sometime.

So I gave those trees another chance to reply and hollered, I said, ‘Hello,’ everybody. Didn’t you hear me?

But instead of the usual chorus of His and Hey theres, only Viola said, How are you doing today, Ida B?

I’m just fine on such a getting-to-perfect day, I said. What’s the matter with everybody? Why are you all so quiet?

But they stayed silent. Even the loud ones. Especially the rude ones.

Hey, what’s going on? I yelled.

Finally I heard Gertrude whisper, You tell her, Viola.

All right, Viola whispered back, very discreetly.

Viola hemmed and hawed for a bit, though. Well ... she started, and Hmmm . . . ahhh . . . ummm . . . she tried again until she finally got something out. Ida B, how’s everything going at home? How’s your fam—

But before she could finish, that punk Paulie T. was interrupting. We heard a rumor that something bad’s headed your way, Ida B. And if trees could grin like jack-o’-lanterns with bad intentions, that’s what Paulie T. would have been doing right then.

And who told you that, Paulie T.? I asked, because I didn’t trust him with a thimbleful of water, let alone the truth.

I’m not revealing my sources, he said.

"Did you hear something, Viola? How about you, Beatrice? Or is Paulie T. just talking out of his branches?"

Ida B, don’t pay him any mind, Viola told me. We heard something on the wind about a storm headed your way, and we were all settling in and hoping you were okay, too. That’s all.

There’s no storm coming today, I said. Can’t you feel how beautiful it is?

You take care of yourself now, Ida B, said Viola. And then they all just stood there, like they were sleeping standing up.

Well, I got tired of feeling like I was alone in that particular crowd, and I was peeved about Paulie T.’s pleasure at my expense. All right then, I’m headed off to have some fun somewhere else, I said.

And none of them said a word back.

Once Rufus and I got to the brook, I asked right off, Did you hear something about me and some trouble?

Did you bring the rafts? Are you ready to play? Get ’em ready and get ’em in so we can play, Ida B, said the brook, ignoring my question.

In a minute. First I want to know if you heard something about trouble heading my way.

My-oh-my, and will you look at that, the brook replied. "I’m late for an appointment, Ida B. Gotta go, gotta go.

Better talk to the old tree, the brook went on as it rolled away. Yep, yep, that’s a good idea, it called as it tumbled over the rocks and around the mountain and was gone.

Now, by that time I’d just about lost my patience with the bunch of them. But talking to the old tree was a good piece of advice, so I didn’t mind the brook’s rudeness too much.

Rufus and I hiked up the mountain—which isn’t really a mountain, but hill is just too tiny a word for it—till we got to the old tree that has no leaves and hardly any bark. That tree’s bare and white, and people think it’s dead but it’s not; it’s just older than old. It hardly ever speaks, and even if it does you often have to wait awhile. But when it does you want to listen, because it’s also wiser than wise. And it always tells the truth, unlike some of the young

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