"When I reach the lane, I remember the piece of parchment and unfold it carefully. Grace has drawn me a picture: a black cat with ears and whiskers. Underneath she has scratched in charcoal the letters C-A-T. The sight of the carefully spelled word fills me with such joy that I want to jump in the snow like a child. Grace Harding has started to read and write. No one, not even sour Mrs Edwards, can take that from her.
Trudging up the lane, I pat the parchment in my pocket. I will fold it inside a book. How wonderful to bring the pleasure of reading and writing to one little girl. It is a small success, one small word, but like each new word Middy acquires, it has a greatness about it.
Teach all your children to read, you said, Mamma."
'In the margins,' Gail Holmes