The Droning Voice had no idea what to expect when she snagged this small book from a box of old books belonging to a friend.  It was clearly old, and the inscription on the front cover read, “Presented to Angelo Scott by his teacher Hannie Adam – March 1892”.  The Droning Voice was quite impressed with the flourishes of the teacher’s cursive writing, and firmly believes THAT particular art form would be well-worth bringing back to our school rooms, complete with India ink and quill pens.  She adds that “Comet” brand cleanser will remove most of the ink stain from your fingers, if not the skin itself.

But she digresses.

The problem The Droning Voice faced was that there was NO copyright date inside.  So off to Amazon she went, and was delighted to find that there was not just one, but TWO copies of this same book for sale, listing the publishing date as 1870.  They were also for sale for the rather princely sum of $34 each, in case you simply must possess one.  The Droning Voice might be able to procure you a copy for considerably less, if her friend will give her a cut of the swag.

ANYWAY…..

Inside the book are 7 stories, of sorts.  They are certainly not of the swashbuckling adventure type, nor soppy romances, nor anything remotely like what you would expect ANY best-seller to be composed of.  One story is about a grandfather taking shelter in a convent in Switzerland during a snow storm, another is about how exciting it was for children to anticipate playing in snow, another is about various roses, another is a grim reminder that, during the 1870s, dead babies were kind of a regular, though sad, thing that happened.  Yes, these are stories for children.  Or so The Droning Voice assumes.

The Droning Voice has faithfully read all of the stories with the enthusiasm of asphalt.  She sincerely hopes they put you right to sleep, or at least lulls you into a stupor.

Pleasant lulling stupors!