I love the intoxicating feeling of falling in love with a good book, and I love talking with others who’ve been just as captivated by the same reading experience. In the past few weeks I have had several gushing/bonding sessions with booksellers and librarians who, like me, have fallen under the spell of Graceling by Kristin Cashore. I know for a fact that I am not the only one who was COMPLETELY and utterly swept away by the fantastic adventure on this book’s pages and wonderfully, blissfully seduced by its romance.

It’s been a long time since I read a book in which the sexual tension between its two main characters was so deliriously exhilarating as it is in this one. It was a complete and utter delight watching Katsa, a headstrong girl "graced" with a talent for killing, fall for Po, a level-headed, kind-hearted guy who can crack wise in the best of spirits. So charmed was I by their witty, tension-filled banter that I was almost sorry to see them eventually give in to their passions and discover their love for one another. I say almost, because there was little time to feel disappointed. Mere pages after the story’s buoyant sexual tension takes a dip, the tensions in the story’s overarching plot take over and send readers barrelling their way to the finish, where plenty of surprises remain in store. 

I could go on and on about the reasons I loved this novel, but what I’d rather do here is ask you to ponder this: Based on the expectations set for us by other young adult authors, can we expect Kristin Cashore’s next novel (a companion to Graceling) to be just as good as this, her first?

I ask this question because soon after I’d first fallen under Graceling‘s spell I remarked to Gareth that, because the book is so good, I couldn’t believe it was Kristin Cashore’s first novel. He responded with the frequently made observation that an author’s first novel is often their best, at which point I looked at him askance, the wheels in my head spinning furiously. I don’t suppose I’d ever stopped to think about this "first book = best" notion in relation to children’s and young adult books before, but hearing it applied directly to a young adult novel I was enjoying got me thinking about all the others I’ve loved and how many of them were from first-time authors versus veterans. In the end I reached this conclusion: whether or not it’s often true that an "adult" author’s first novel tends to be their best, I DON’T think that’s the norm in the world of novels for young adults and children. It happens… but not often.

The matter of time invested in any writing project could have something to do with this. If you spend many years honing the language and pruning the plot of your one big novel, it stands to reason that you’re going to pour a lot of energy and expertise into the one investment — you’re going to grow as a writer over the course of those 800 pages, just as a children’s writer is going to grow after writing four books at 200 pages a pop. But many children’s and young adult authors take a long time to create their first work too, and that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to outshine their others later down the line.

Does anyone believe that the first novel written by M.T. Anderson (The Game of Sunken Places) exceeds the quality of his more recent works? I don’t doubt that Geraldine McCaughrean’s first few books paled in comparison to her award-winning The White Darkness, the brilliant Cyrano, or Peter Pan in Scarlet. Sharon Creech’s first novel was Absolutely Normal Chaos and Jerry Spinelli’s Space Station Seventh Grade. Their best? Not in my opinion.

I don’t diversify my adult reading enough these days to take a stab at the "first novel = best" rule and see if it still largely applies in the world of writing for adults. Maybe it’s time we scrapped the stereotype altogether?

Whatever the case on that end, I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this one. Are you often wowed by a children’s or YA author’s debut novel then disappointed by those that follow, or do you think those novellists who start strong usually get even stronger? Could you please share some examples? And please also make a point of reading Graceling!

It’s time again for me to post a question that originally appeared on the walls of the "graffiti stall" in our store’s women’s bathroom. (See my 6/18/08 post if you don’t know the "graffiti stall" of which I speak!)

Poor, poor you! You’re a literary orphan with no parents to call your own. What fictional family would you like to have adopt you?

After giving this one lots of thought I’m going to go with either the March family of Little Women or… the Mysterious Benedict Society, which certainly counts as a "family" if you ask me.

Now it’s your turn.

Several years ago, our store carried birdhouses designed by Dave Vissat for his company Wild Wings Literary Lodgings. Made from repurposed library books, they were sturdy and beautiful and clever as can be — I especially loved the delightfully fitting objects Vissat chose to use for perches. Unfortunately the birdhouses were also pricey, so at the time I didn’t invest in one, but… I frequently think of them and wish that I had. A recent seach found a few Wild Wings Literary Lodgings online that I thought I’d share with you so that you can covet them along with me or (better still) secure one for your own literary lodging.

The Winnie the Pooh birdhouse to the right, above, is available from Art Effect, Figpickel’s Toy Emporium (what a great name!), and Uncommon Goods: 

Figpickel’s Toy Emporium and Uncommon Goods also sell this To Kill a Mockingbird birdhouse, which would have fit right in at the wedding I blogged about a couple months ago.

The same two companies carry the Wizard of Oz birdhouse: visit Figpickel’s Oz page or the Oz page at Uncommon Goods.

Uncommon Goods carries an Adventures of Tom Sawyer birdhouse, but you can also purchase it from (how appropriate!) the Mark Twain House and Museum, which I recall visiting as a child and being VERY enchanted with. (Clearly I’m due for another trip…)

And now we hit the disappointing part where I show you birdhouses that are NOT currently available online but have been in the past. (I know this might be torturing you, but it’s the only way I can showcase a bit more of Dave Vissat’s work.)

This butterflies birdhouse was formerly carried by Kate’s Paperie, but is currently sold out:

as is this birdhouse made from Wild Birds and Their Music:

and not available anywhere that I could find is this birdhouse made from The Field Guide to the Birds:

Lorna and I have been scheming for years about trying to make similar birdhouses ourselves, but (as one blogger who tried it soon discovered), it’s not as easy as you might think to produce anything that looks half so professional as the ones featured here. For one thing, it looks SO MUCH COOLER to have an actual book functioning as the roof of the house, rather than a book (or its covers) glued to the top of an existing wooden roof, like the ones you can sometimes find on Etsy. But, hey? If you’re not picky about such things, I say try making your own. And let me know how it turns out!

I recently bought a prefab, unfinished birdhouse, not thinking I’d attempt anything as elaborate as a Wild Wings creation, but that it might make fun fodder for a collaborative art project at our house. First I yanked out the pegs that came as perches, painted the whole thing (robin’s egg blue for the sides and taupe for the roof), and collaged the face of it. I then handed it off to Gareth so that he could draw birds on the sides, which he did using colored pencils. 

Eventually (as this is just "pick it up when I feel like it project") Gareth will draw birds on the roof and we’ll attach some funky perches — probably a fountain pen and a paintbrush, to represent our twin talents and favorite pasttimes. It may never look half so polished as any of Dave Vissat’s creations, but hopefully it will have the same sense of fun, as that’s just what we’re having while making it.

This time of year, the pace of events in our store and in my larger life is so swift I can hardly stay on top of things! Blink once and I’ve missed my chance to record my thoughts on any of it. Blink twice and a year goes by in which I still haven’t blogged about HALF the things that happened the previous fall. I’m TRYING not to let that happen this year, but…? Already there are signs of me slipping! Here, then, is my week-and-a-half late recap of my time at the the New England Independent Booksellers Association fall trade show. (Visit the blog of The Alphabet Garden in Cheshire, Connecticut to read another bookseller’s report!)

This year NEIBA took place in downtown Boston. On Thursday, the day of education, I made it to the convention center in time to speak on a panel of booksellers about upcoming favorite books to handsell for the holidays. I then helped set up for and attended our wonderful NECBA dinner, at which I had the pleasure of sitting with lovely booksellers, lovely Random House folks, and authors Richard Michelson and Jeanne Birdsall. Jeanne was one of this year’s three delightful dinner speakers, in excellent company with Laurie Halse Anderson and Norton Juster. All three of their speeches were unique and lively and replete with love for we booksellers (which is always a good way to win us over!). Before the start of the dinner I had a lovely time chatting with Laurie, Jane Yolen, new author Jack Ferraiolo, veteran author/illustrator/bookseller Leo Landry, and many other folks who came by to say hello and visit during one of our few path-crossing opportunities for the year.

Friday was my only day at the trade show this year, and I spent much of it bumping into fellow booksellers and talking with them about how things are going at their stores, or bumping into sales reps and catching up on the latest news in their lives. For me the trade show itself is rarely about the books, as I’ve already bought the fall list from everyone by this point in the season, so there’s little left to surprise me as I linger beside assorted booths and pick up the occasional poster or (better still) foil-wrapped chocolate. It is also, though, about meeting authors and illustrators who are attending the show to do book signings. In particular this year I had a terrific time talking with the always delightful Barbara McClintock, who was at the show signing copies of Adèle and Simon in America — one of my favorite picture books of the year. Gareth and I were both also thrilled to be introduced to Barbara’s partner, David A. Johnson, whose illustrations we’ve admired for years.

Months ago now, in May, Barbara came to one of our NECBA meetings and did a wonderful presentation about her books, in which I learned (among other things) that she is SELF-TAUGHT as an illustrator!! This still astonishes me, as the perfection of her execution smacks of years of schooling. But no. Barbara got her art education by borrowing art books from the library and meticulously replicating the paintings she found in them before returning one batch of books and bringing home another. Grace Lin wrote a wonderful blog post about Barbara after hearing her speak at an event sponsored by the Foundation for Children’s Books here in Boston last May. Read Grace’s post to learn the OTHER things I should have told you about Barbara months ago. (Bad blogger! Bad!) Here’s a photo I took during Barbara’s visit to our NECBA meeting . That’s Barbara McClintock on the left, librarian Bina Williams in the middle, and Flying Pig bookstore owner/Candlewick author Elizabeth Bluemle on the right.

But back to the topic of NEIBA. The only educational session I had time to attend even briefly on Friday was "How to Make Publishers Love You," in which various in-house experts talked about what makes bookstores stand out in their minds and how we booksellers can best work with publishers (and vice versa). Sadly I caught only about 15 minutes of the chatter from this esteemed panel before I had to head off to our store’s Brisingr-related festivities. I just have to hope that doesn’t make me any less loved with those publishers that aren’t Random House!

Urban Outfitters prides itself on its knowledge of (and catering to) what’s hip and trendy with edgier teens and the college-age crowd. I was therefore happy, at first, to see that some literary classics had a place in their current product mix. (Click on any of the photos to here to be directed to their product page.)

Along with the Fitzgerald and Kerouac options above, the stores’ selection of "graphic tees" for men also includes a few salutes to "required reading" for the younger set. They offer three Sendak-y designs and one ode to Seuss in Italian.

And (hooray!) a salute to "Reading Rainbow," a show I dearly wish was still on the air, and not just because I dreamed of cohosting it with LeVar Burton. (Ah, maybe in my next life…)

So, here’s the reason I’m feeling cranky about Urban Outfitters. While I’m happy that these reading-inspired tees appear in the stores’ offerings for men, I find it both odd and irksome that they don’t also appear in the selection of "graphic tees" being marketed to women. Does Urban Outfitters believe that hipster girls are less likely than their male counterparts to actually read and enjoy books? Do they think girls don’t WANT to announce their own love of literature? 

No, I think it’s less complicated than that, and the ONE book-inspired tee aimed at women browsing the Urban Outfitters website pretty well confirms that: tell me this t-shirt doesn’t have a blatantly suggestive subtext.

Like SO many others nowadays, the Urban Outfitters brand appears to be more concerned with making girls and young women appear sexy than making them appear smart (or confident or capable or… where to start?). I won’t go into all the reasons I’m offended by the rampant sexualization of girls and women that’s so readily evident in the marketplace nowadays, because this is neither the time nor the place. I will observe, though, that if sexualizing girls and women is their aim, Urban Outfitters seems to have missed one crucial point when they decided to market just one book tee to women rather than the full range available to men — it’s a point expressed well on THIS t-shirt designed by Sarah Utter — which is currently NOT available in Urban Outfitters stores:

Last Friday I left the NEIBA trade show (more on that to come!) in the early afternoon and hustled back to Wellesley, for a sweet, sweet line-up of events at our store, leading up to the midnight launch of Christopher Paolini’s Brisingr. While our turnout was much lower than we’d hoped, those who did join us for the evening’s festivities seemed very pleased to have done so — and they were probably just as happy they didn’t have to share the evening’s "special guests" with a large crowd!

The fun started at 6 p.m., when Ologies author Dugald Steer answered questions from a crowd of about 35 kids and grown-ups about all kinds of monsters and dragons. At times he tossed questions their way too. My favorite exchange went like this:

Dug: "Does anybody know where Yetis come from?

Kid (with great enthusiasm): "The Bahamas?" 

Below, the affable and highly intelligent Dug illuminates the characteristics of a creature featured in his newest book, Monsterology.

Below, (young) twin fans watch as Dug inscribes a book with their very own names!! Their excitement was palpable. 

Following Dug’s presentation and signing, illustrator Gareth Hinds (my… ahem… FIANCÉ!) did a demonstration in which he drew dragons and other objects/creatures/oddities by request, while kids drew along with him. Among other things, the young onlookers asked him to draw a blackberry (no, not the edible kind), Bart Simpson, Mario, Voldemort, a puppy, and a squirrel. (What a combination!) The consensus was he passed each test with flying colors.

A little after 9 p.m., fencing master Zoran Tulum educated AND entertained a rapt crowd in the back parking lot of our bookstore with his explanation of the history of sword-fighting, complete with antique swords from his own collection. HE WAS FANTASTIC! I honestly believe it would be worth your while to HIRE Zoran to come to your child’s birthday party, your sales conference, your family reunion, your next bookstore event — anything, anywhere. He’s easily one of the best, most entertaining speakers I’ve seen, which explains his overwhelming success as a coach and teacher. Just how much success has he had? Here’s the bio that appears on the site for his fencing studio (Zeta) in Natick, Mass.:

Zoran Tulum, head coach, has been a fencer for over 40 years and a coach for more than 27. His career has taken him from winning the Yugoslavian National Championships to coaching the International Olympic Games and US National Teams. In 1996, he was coach for the US Olympic Team.

Zoran founded Zeta Fencing Studio in 2001. Since that time, thousands of student fencers have participated in Zeta’s programs. Many have gone on to fencing in leading college programs. In the last six years, the club has won four national titles and fielded countless finalists in US National Championships.

Below Zoran wields a broadsword before a crowd of slack-jawed onlookers.

Following his explanation of fencing’s origins and some of its traditions, Zoran and 13-year-old Juliana Van Amsterdam (whose sister Katrina is my teenage sidekick!) then demonstrated some basic fencing techniques. 

I ask you: What Brisingr party could be cooler than this??

Following our fencing fun (during which we raffled off seven weeks of fencing classes, worth $225 — a very generous donation from Zoran!) many in our crowd of Brisingr devotees moved down to the store’s Used Book Cellar for a screening of the Eragon movie. They emerged at about 11:45 p.m. and joined other excited Brisingr fans (about 50 or 60 parents and adults) lining up to get their hands on this long-awaited book.

Each kid receiving his or her copy of Brisingr at midnight was also given a cool souvenir to commemorate the occasion: a foam sword bearing the slogan "I braved the night for Brisingr at Wellesley Booksmith." These souvenirs may not have the coolness of, say, Zoran’s broadsword. Or his rapier. Or his court sword, cavalry sabre, or katana. But we think these were a pretty good use of our Random House co-op, nevertheless!

In short, OUR ENTIRE EVENING WAS AWESOME!! Thanks go to neighboring restaurant Alta Strada, which made food available throughout the evening for families attending the festivities. And kudos go to my colleague Mayre Plunkett, who helped put things together and made sure they ran smoothly. Things went so well and we all had such a good time that it’s easy to forget this unfortunate bookselling reality: on Friday night we sold only 35 copies of Brisingr. Even after all that work, and with all that fabulousness. (Thank goodness we’ve sold another 75 or so copies in the days since.)

That reality begs the question: was the midnight party worth it? I suppose that depends on whether you’re asking the store’s coffers (which had to cover the cost of paying extra employees to be at the store long into the evening, plus cover the hours we spent planning this fun), or the local kids who are suddenly desperate to take up the sport of fencing and raving to their friends about our event. Our best hope is that the goodwill generated by those six hours (!) of entertainment will generate more in the long term than it did in the short. But if not? Well, we’ve got a lot of foam swords at the store, and I’ll sell them to you for less than it costs to take seven weeks of fencing!

I don’t watch a lot of television, as a rule, but this season I am (once again) hooked on Project Runway, as is almost everyone I talk to nowadays. I was recently pondering the challenges they’ve had on the show during the current and previous seasons and it occurred to me that one challenge I haven’t seen them do and would enjoy watching is a challenge in which the designers have to incorporate text and/or letter-forms into their designs. Wouldn’t that be cool? I’d like to see Tim Gunn escort them to the New York Public Library to find "inspiration," send them off to Mood for fabrics, then tell them to "make it work!"

During the times I’ve hunted down funny t-shirts and the like to post here, I’ve stumbled across a lot of really POOR uses of text in clothing designs, and I would say very few of them could be labeled as "fashion." But there are people who have created reading material in wearable form and (to quote Tim Gunn again) "made it work." One of my favorite examples is the dress created by Robert Ryan that appears at the start of this post and originally debuted on the pages of Vogue UK. Robert Ryan does elaborate, beautiful cut-paper designs — each cut from a single sheet of paper — and this dress is one amazing example of the magic he can work with a pencil and knife. Other examples include his cover illustrations for books like Dara Horn’s The World to Come and John Connelly’s The Book of Lost Things. To see more visit Rob’s website and blog, or pick up a copy of his own book This Is For You.

I hunted around for other fashion featuring text in creative ways but apparently didn’t come up with the right string of words to Google, as my searches yielded nothing. This is all the more evidence, I say, that Project Runway ought to put some readable garments on the runway.

The Montague Bookmill in Montague, Massachusetts, is easily one of the prettiest, most peaceful places I’ve ever purchased a book or spent an afternoon. A used bookstore housed in an 1842 gristmill overlooking the Sawmill River, it’s a little over half an hour’s drive from the town of Northampton, where I attended Smith College as an undergrad.
When Gareth and I attended a wedding in Western Mass. a few weeks ago I insisted on taking him to the Bookmill, to revisit the place that became one of my favorite studying haunts during my senior year. Who wouldn’t love a bookstore with the slogan “Books You Don’t Need in a Place You Can’t Find”? Especially when it’s in a spot that’s perfectly picturesque during every season of the year AND it now shares the mill with a café, a restaurant, an artist’s studio, and an antiques store!
Because I’m such a huge fan of this place, it gets such PERFECT light, and I wanted to be sure to share it with you in grand style, I took a ton of photographs during our Sunday afternoon visit. Most of them, though, are focused on the architecture and comfortable stylings of this place, rather than on its book selection. You’ll just have to trust me when I tell you that the selection is just as appealing as the space itself.
Here’s how the Bookmill looks when you first see it, from the rise of the road above.

And here’s how it looks if you cross that road and step onto the bridge that beats an elevated path to the bookstore’s second floor.

Cross that bridge and you’re greeted by the welcome sight of books, big windows, and comfortable chairs. Heaven! This how the second floor looks when you enter and turn to your right.

If you’d entered and turned to your left, you’d have been greeted by the sight of more rooms, filled with more books.

Straight ahead of you (photos above and below) are the art books.

The the left are the stairs that lead down to the 1st floor, flanked by a display of old typewriters.

To the right is a room that houses a number of non-fiction subjects…

and the perfect little reading alcove…

with THIS view of the Sawmill River below.

Now on to the first floor, which looks like this as you leave the stairwell. That’s Susan Shilliday, the owner of the Bookmill, walking directly in front of me toward the point of sale counter (on the left). The doorway directly in front of her leads to the fiction and poetry room — more on that shortly.

Here’s how the counter (and main entrance) looks if you enter from the ground floor:

And here’s the fabulous display of Bookmill swag on the left side of said counter. (I confess I had to own a t-shirt myself and went with the purple one.)

If you walk around to right side of said counter you’ll see this lovely sight: the children’s section — picture books on the left, middle grade and YA novels on the right.

At the back of that corner sits the most inviting pair of threadbare chairs you’ve ever seen.

And the view from that window? The Sawmill, of course.

Lest you think these the only comfy chairs on the bookmill’s first floor, allow me to point out to you the green velvet couch that sits to the left of them, with its back to the river.


And to the left of that couch? This alcove with windows overlooking the river on one side and windows overlooking the café on the other.

Back now to that doorway I pointed out above — the one that leads to the fiction and poetry room. Here’s that room.

Walk through the fiction and poetry room and straight out the door at the opposite end. Walk about ten paces then turn around. Here’s how the bookmill looks from that vantage point.

Now step about ten paces to your left and take another, wide-angle look. That’s the antiques store on your left, with the art gallery above it. See the bridge crossing the “alley” in front of you? That’s the one we crossed from the road above, to enter the Bookmill on the second floor. If you continue under it you’ll reach the entrance to the café.

But what about the restaurant? Did you notice the white tent in the two photos above? It’s sitting on the restaurant’s patio, clearly in anticipation of some summer event happening out there. A wedding perhaps? Let’s walk down the ramp and check it out.

The carved wooden sign featuring a crescent moon tells you you’ve reached The Night Kitchen. And see that guy in the window just behind and above that sign? He’s a customer browsing the middle grade novels in the children’s section. Seems fitting that the children’s section should look out over the The Night Kitchen, doesn’t it? You could sit on a bench and read In the Night Kitchen, periodically glancing out the windows that overlook The Night Kitchen. Perfect!

Here’s my reflection in the restaurant’s door.

From the patio outside said door (the one sporting a tent on the day we were there) you can take in this view of the Bookmill and the Sawmill River… beautiful!!

Now let’s go back up to that “alley” I showed you above, and walk up it, passing the store’s ground floor entrance on our right, and passing under the bridge we walked across earlier. Just pass the Bookmill’s entrance is the entrance to The Lady Killigrew, the aforementioned café.

Here’s how it looks as you enter. You can sidle up to the bar and order a cold one, or try one of the many tasty items on the Lady Killgrew’s menu.

Carry your tasty treats down the steps and take a seat in my old studying space, where you can stare down at the Sawmill.

Now go back to the beginning and do it all over again!! (But be sure to buy lots of books this next time through.)

So the big news in my life this week is this: GARETH AND I ARE ENGAGED! He popped the question last Friday when we were at the top of Cadillac Mountain in Maine’s Acadia National Park, taking me completely by surprise.

There is presently is no fancy ring on my finger but rather a twist-tie in the shape of a ring, which was delivered to me in an actual ring box. Gareth gave me the twist-tie as a temporary substitute, figuring I should have the pleasure of choosing my own ring, but there’s a sentimental reason for it too: A year or so ago we were listening to a friend relay the story of a penniless pal of hers who was engaged to a woman demanding a very expensive engagement ring. I was appalled by my friend’s description of this woman’s demands and remarked that I thought her attitude was ridiculous. "If you truly love someone," I said, "they could give you a freakin’ twist-tie for a ring and that would be enough!!"

Let it never be said that my (now) fiancé doesn’t listen to the things I say…! 

While it’s true, the twist-tie would have been "enough," Gareth also included a little bonus in my ring box that will strike the strongest chord with of you who’ve read Shaun Tan’s book The Red Tree (one of the books I shared with Gareth on our first date when we were discussing our favorites). Inside the lid of my ring box Gareth taped a tiny print of the illustration that appears on The Red Tree‘s last page, along with the words that bring its text to a conclusion:

I can’t imagine a more fitting or beautiful sentiment for this occasion.

And there you have it — the end of my dating adventures and the start of something even better. Gareth and I have only just begun to discuss wedding plans (any advice and/or money-saving suggestions are welcome!) and we don’t anticipate tying the knot until at least a year from now. First we’ve got to find me a ring so people can stop asking if I’m wearing a twist-tie to remind myself of something! (Yes — that I’m engaged!)

Today I give you a book excerpt that contains some very entertaining advice for writers. What follows are the first two paragraphs of the second chapter of The Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit.

I am afraid the last chapter was rather dull. It is always dull in books when people talk and talk, and don’t do anything, but I was obliged to put it in, or else you wouldn’t have understood all the rest. The best part of books is when things are happening. That is the best part of real things too. This is why I shall not tell you in this story about all the days when nothing happened. You will not catch me saying, "thus the sad days passed slowly by" — or "the years rolled on their weary course" — or "time went on" — because that is silly; of course time goes on — whether you say so or not. So I shall just tell you the nice, interesting parts — and in between you will understand that we had our meals and got up and went to bed, and dull things like that. It would be sickening to write all that down, though of course it happens. I said so to Albert-next-door’s uncle, who writes books, and he said, "Quite right, that’s what we call selection, a necessity of true art." And he is very clever indeed. So you see.

I have often thought that if the people who write children’s books knew a little more it would be better. I shall not tell you anything about us except what I should like to know about if I was reading the story and you were writing it. Albert’s uncle says I ought to have put this in the preface, but I never read prefaces, and it is not much good writing things just for people to skip. I wonder other authors have never thought of this.

Thanks to the Victorian Women Writers Project at Indiana University, you can read the full text of this and other E. Nesbit stories online.