Alan W. Armstrong

Kind-hearted Bernie’s barn is filled with rescued animals- two horses, a rooster, some hens, and Muscovy duck. One autumn day, a rough looking tom cat named Whittington ambles into Bernie’s barnyard and convinces Lady, the duck-in-charge, to let him stay. The old battered tom quickly solves the barn’s rat problem and secures himself a home. When a huge snowstorm hits, the animals are stuck in the barn. To ease their boredom, Whittington tells them the story of his namesake Dick Whittington, a fourteenth century orphan turned merchant and traveler who becomes quite wealthy by following the advice of his traveling companion- a cat. Dick’s cat was the Whittington’s direct ancestor. Soon Bernie’s grandchildren, Ben and Abby, join in the daily storytelling session. Ben is dyslexic, and his struggles at school often leave him angry and discouraged. As Ben listens to the tales of courage and industry, he decides that he, too, can work hard to overcome his reading problem.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com… (més)

About one year's description in the life of a unofficially retired lawyer deciding to sell books at flea markets, book fairs, and impromptu garage sales. He and a friend took to reciting favorite passages from the books he was trying to sell. Apparently it sometimes worked to sell the book. A lot of description on what books to take in his old VW van, how to display the books and how he got to the location and set up at the location. The amount of books sold and the amount of money made each day, what was eaten for food and break even points were also thoroughly discussed. The quality of his books was interesting rather than high and, of course, the number of books brought to each sale was limited only to several hundred at most. This kind of detail has its own charm, I think, as one really gets a good feel of his overall experience. The year ends and so does this book. It is unclear whether bookselling was still a part of his life after this interlude… (més)