Taylor and I read Flora and Ulysses last week. It was so whimsical and random (as it is about a squirrel who had superhero powers and who could type poetry), but also it was a very moving book... Not sure if you have read it, Abby. (And Jens- we think it's worth a read even for someone who is not a 2nd grade teacher!)
"It begins, as the best superhero stories do, with a tragic accident that has unexpected consequences.
The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, but self-described cynic Flora Belle Buckman, who has read every issue of the comic book Terrible Things Can Happen to You!, is the just the right person to step in and save him. What neither can predict is that Ulysses (the squirrel) has been born anew, with powers of strength, flight, and misspelled poetry—and that Flora will be changed too, as she discovers the possibility of hope and the promise of a capacious heart."
Anyway, I was reminded of the beauty of this quote in particular
last night after a series of family events yesterday:
“I promise to always turn back toward you,”
― Kate DiCamillo, Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures
― Kate DiCamillo, Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures
a few other favorite parts of the book to share:
“Nothing
would be
easier without
you,
because you
are
everything,
all of it-
sprinkles, quarks, giant
donuts, eggs sunny-side up-
you
are the ever-expanding
universe
to me.”
“So many miracles have not yet happened.”
“All things are possible. When I was a girl in Blundermeecen, the miraculous happened every day. Or every other day. Or every third day. Actually, sometimes it did not happen at all, even on the third day. But still, we expected it. You see what I'm saying? Even when it didn't happen, we were expecting it. We knew the miraculous would come.”
“When the other Dr. Meescham was alive and I could not sleep, do you know what he would do for me? This man would put on his slippers and he would go out into the kitchen and he would fix for me sardines and crackers. You know sardines? Little fishes in a can. He would put these little fishes onto crackers for me, and then I would hear him coming back down the hallway, carrying the sardines and humming, returning to me. Such tenderness. To have someone get out of bed and bring you little fishes and sit with you as you eat them in the dark of the night. To hum to you. This is love.”
may you both turn back toward one another today over and over again...
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