Little Men

At this countryside school, love is the whole curriculum. Mrs. Jo is the merry headmistress who reforms troubled children simply by loving them and letting them see it. Her husband, the stout, kind professor, teaches truth and self-control through patience rather than fear. Around them gathers a houseful of children: gentle, bookish Demi and his rosy twin Daisy, the baby Teddy, and later the wild, sullen Dan, whose hidden goodness only the smallest among them seems to sense.

The days fill with gardens each boy tends and a willow-tree hideaway over a brook. There is a museum room strung with birds' eggs and a swinging stuffed parrot, and a dollhouse kitchen with a real fire and a singing kettle, staged by Aunt Jo to catch a sunbeam for the children. There are lies confessed and forgiven, a runaway and a return, a stolen dollar and a loyal friend who stands watch.

Under kind hands, green shoots spring up out of unpromising soil, "in the warmth of love and care, the best climate for young hearts and souls all the world over." The door is open. Come in and sit by the fire.