"Whoosh Went the Wish!"

Until Alisdair began homeschooling, we hadn't availed ourselves of the resources available at the public library for a long time.

Now that we are going regularly to drop off books and videos, we have begun taking extra books out just for Isobel to enjoy. We can order titles, that our small Neilburg branch does not have on their shelves, through the interlibrary loan program and obtain any item in any of the libraries in the province (with the exception of DVD's). And it is all free of charge! Tuesday afternoons are now exciting because we never know what materials will be arriving, that we have requested, in the weekly shipment.

Isobel happened to pick up the book "Whoosh Went the Wish" (by Toby Speed) recently when we were in the North Battleford Library. It is about a man, who lives alone, named Henry. He longs to have a cat and wishes for one. There is a fairy on top of a nearby mountain that grants wishes on a regular basis. So Henry wishes for a cat. Unfortunately something always happens to foil his wish. On one page, Henry says "I wish for NOTHING BUT A CAT!" However, fate intervenes and the words "BUT A CAT" get stuck in a bramble bush or tree and the fairy only hears Henry "Wish for nothing!" And so his house disappears and so does his clothing. This was Isobel's favourite page as Henry was simply covering himself with a couple of pages of an oid newspaper. (She is pointing to the nearly naked Henry in this photo). Of course, in the end, he gets his cat, and lives happily ever after.

Currently we have borrowed a couple other titles by the same author - "Two Cool Cows" and "Hattie Bakes a Wedding Cake." Behind every book cover is an adventure just waiting to be taken!