Hannah by Gloria Whelan
I couldn’t believe my ears. I just stood where I was. “Go on up and get your prize, Hannah,” called Papa. Miss Robbin gave me a hug, and Mama reached down and squeezed my hand.
Verna pulled me toward Mr. Herman. “How could I be the one to win?” I asked him.
“All I know,” Mr. Herman said, “is that you filled the most baskets of potatoes. Here’s the prize. Five dollars!” He counted five one-dollar bills into my hand.
All the children from school crowded around me, asking to see the dollar bills. “Verna, tell me what happened,” I said.
“Carl turned over the dirt, and all of us helped fill your basket. We wanted you to win the money. Now you can get that thing that makes dots and lets you write.”
“Where’s Carl?” I asked.
“He was here a minute ago,” Effie said.
“He ran off,” said Miss Robbin. I could tell from her voice she was smiling. “He’s afraid he’ll lose his reputation for being a bad boy.”
Mrs. Herman called, “Time for supper.” I suddenly felt hungry. I went running off with Verna and Effie toward the Hermans’ house. All the while I was running I was thinking that this was the happiest day of my life and I would never forget it, because soon I would be able to write it down.
About the Author
“Near my home in northern Michigan is a one-room schoolhouse,” says Gloria Whelan. “Old blackboards hang on the walls. Maps show the world as it was a hundred years ago. Across from the schoolhouse is the farm where the schoolteacher boarded.
“I began to think about what it was like to attend such a school. Then I imagined the farm family, the teacher, and a very special student whose life would be changed by meeting the teacher. And there were Hannah and Miss Robbin!”
Gloria Whelan is a poet and short-story writer. She has also written many books for children, including Goodbye, Vietnam; Next Spring an Oriole; and Silver.
About the Illustrator
Leslie Bowman was born in New York City, grew up in Connecticut, and graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design. “I like the nineteenth-century setting of Hannah,” she says, “and I had a lot of fun doing research to make sure I created the right historical atmosphere in the drawings.” She has illustrated many children’s books, including Balloons and Other Poems, Snow Company, and The Canada Geese Quilt, an ALA Notable Book. Leslie Bowman lives in Minnesota.
Gloria Whelan, Hannah