Customer Reviews

Miss Little's Gift

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Douglas had moved from Kentucky to Iowa and was having trouble fitting in. The other kids poked fun at him claiming he "talked funny." He didn't like the other kids, they didn't like him. He didn't like reading because he couldn't and he didn't like Miss little because he wouldn't. She made him stay after school so he would learn to read. The only thing he managed to learn out of those "line and blobs and squiggles that didn't mean anything" was that teachers sure knew how to torture kids. He DID NOT like that Miss Little . . . not even a tiny little bit. It was a discouraging thing to be stuck in after school every day. "I can't do this . . . "

"Oh, yes, you are Douglas. You're going to become a good reader." The playground spoke to him. Baseball, football . . . "Douglas." No, he couldn't do it. Lines and blobs and squiggles he couldn't decipher were sheer torture. Miss Little gave him a book about an island that interested him and brought back fond memories of Granddad and Lake Kabetogama. Miss Little was sooooo persistent, but now something started to click. "A juh-gen-tell--gentle! A gentle wind." There was something about this book. The kitten was going the island and some people were going to have a picnic. What was going to happen? Help, Miss Little . . . he needed to find out what secret things that kitten was going to find and he needed to know the secret of reading!

I loved this heartwarming tribute to Miss Little several times and each time I felt the elation one might feel at the end of a movie when the underdog succeeds. Many children would never have made if they didn't have a Miss Little in their lives. The greatest gift that Douglas probably ever had was the gift of his teacher's time, patience and love for a little boy with ADHD. She knew he had something special in him. In the back of the book the author talks about his Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and his own personal battle with it. If you or anyone in your life has ADHD you are NOT going to like this book . . . you're going to LOVE it!

Douglas Wood has given us many gifts over the years. Non better than Old Turtle..a classic.
I have used Miss Little's Gift in my read-aloud presentations for First through Fourth grades, and they all have the same reaction, they are amazed that the author had a reading problem in Second grade. Many can identify with some of the same problems with recognizing those lines, dots and squiggles that Douglas encountered. Thank you Douglas Wood..you have given us numerous gifts over the years,and Miss Little Gift is a very special book that honors all of those heroes who taught us how to read!