The Power Of One Book

I was just sitting there, minding my own business, when the thought the power of one entered my head. Confused, I asked myself, "You mean the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle?" "No," was the answer, "the power of one. If you had the ability to give the power of one book to children, what would it be?"
Well, I knew what my answer was. But when I went to work this morning, I decided to ask several coworkers.
Miss Norma said she'd give them Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, a Newberry Honor Book that was made into an enchanting movie. It's about ten-year-old India Opal Buloni, who moves to Naomi, Florida, with her father, a preacher...and she's lonely. Her mother left when she was three, and her father won't talk about her mother at all. When Opal finds an unusually friendly dog at the Winn-Dixie supermarket, she adopts him and calls him Winn-Dixie. From that point on, her whole life changes. Soon she finds herself making more than a few unusual friends. And ultimately, she and her father realize that although they have had quite a bit of melancholy in their lives, they still have a whole lot to be thankful for. The Boston Sunday Globe said: "Books like this give us hope for the world, and a fine blueprint for surviving childhood."
A Taste of Blackberries by Doris Buchanan Smith is the power of one book that Miss Cray selected. The story is about Jamie, a special boy, whose exuberance and harmless prank ended in sudden tragedy. The boy who is narrating the story must find the strength to bear his grief and his guilty feeling that somehow he might have saved his friend. It is the story of an often ignored subject and a courageous young boy. The author is mother to five school-age children, four of her own and one for whom she and her husband are permanent guardians. The Smiths have also been parents to more than 22 foster children. Her experiences have given her exceptional insight into the problems of being young, as well as those of growing up.
When I asked Miss Edna about a power of one book, she grinned and said, "Little Red Riding Hood." Now, most everyone knows the story about the little girl wearing a red riding cape with a hood. She met a large wolf while on her way to visit her sick grandmother. The wolf, of course, turned the story into trouble. He gobbled up the grandmother and then pretended to be the grandmother when Little Red Riding Hood showed up. But, lo and behold, a woodsman with an axe rescued Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother, and I won't tell the rest. I asked Miss Edna why she picked that particular book and she said, "Because the story shows that people can get through difficult circumstances." How true!
Another fairy-tale-like story was the selection by Miss Aileen. She said she would give The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper (a pseudonym by the publishing house Platt & Munk). That's the story of the little railroad engine that was asked to pull a long line of freight cars up a steep mountain, because two larger trains felt they could not. The little locomotive went up the steep grade with the encouraging words, "I think I can - I think I can." When it went down the other side, it congratulated itself by saying, "I thought I could - I thought I could." Miss Aileen said, "So much of what you do depends on how you think of yourself." Her power of one book is about bravery and determination, among many other things.
The last person I asked was Miss Johnnie. I was surprised to find out that she and I had picked the same book, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. The story is a short morale tale about the relationship between a young boy and a tree in a forest. They become best friends, and the tree always provides the boy with what he wants: vines to swing from, shade to sit under, apples to eat, etc. In the ultimate act of self-sacrifice, the tree lets the boy cut her down so he can build a boat. The boy leaves the tree, now a stump. Many years later, when he is an old man, he returns and the tree says it has nothing left to give him. But the boy replies that he only needs a quiet place to sit and rest as he awaits death. And the tree happily obliges. That was our power of one book. A story about giving and giving and giving, but happily.
Now it's your turn to think about what book you'd select. There are so many to choose from. Give it some thought, then select your power of one book and let us know what it is. You can post your comment at the end of this blog.