The children's book, Paper Boy, which I read at
a sidewalk book cupboard Little Free Library location, appears to feature a
child in the middle, his experience framed only in one morning of the job. Not only are rainy and snowy mornings not
shown, also not shown is his job loss, perhaps when, at school, his head nods
and nods and his teacher asks him to visit the school office.
Children's stories are often idealized
portraits. Among the lovely
illustrations in Paper Boy are sunrises that could be sunsets in an earlier
time when paper boys worked after school.
Newspapers might be correct to locate student jobs after school in other
areas of their systems, because the association of youth with the news is so
long-term and was so enduring.
This book reminds me of a favorite from
childhood, Little Owl Indian. One reason
Little Owl Indian is reserved for historic children's literature collections
is, I am sure, narrative. In the
narrative, Little Owl Indian tells the forest animals that a fire is
coming. Probably Little Owl Indian was
alerted to the fire by the animals. But
in Little Owl Indian the horses are beautiful.
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