What Happened to Fluffy
Virginia Cunningham ~ Florence Sarah Winship ~ Whitman, 1948
Those of you who were reading last summer know that I spent those months nursing my mother back to health in Virginia and raiding my childhood book collection, many of which were actually her childhood books. You might also remember that Miss Sniff was my mother's absolute favorite book growing up. If so, then you will think it incredibly sweet and thoughtful that my mom found and purchased another book by the same illustrator and of the same "Fuzzy Wuzzy Book" pedigree as Miss Sniff for my son for Christmas. I had almost forgotten it until I saw it poking out from under a stack of books on the bottom of my bedside table tonight. I was if fact wondered what happened to Fluffy...
This story is hugely white bread, but you can't help fall in the love with the innocence of a small girl moving to a new house... and the old school father insisting that they leave the cat behind when it goes missing during the move."Here, Fluffy," Jill called. But no little black cat came to answer her. Jill called again. Then Ted called. They looked all over the yard. They looked all over the house--upstairs and down. No Fluffy. Father stood by the taxi with his watch in his hand. Mother helped the children look for Fluffy. In the rose garden. Behind the evergreen shrubs. Under the lilac bush. No Fluffy. There were fluffy gray pussies on the pussywillow bush, but there wasn't a live pussycat, not anywhere. What had happened to Fluffy?
"We'll have to go without her," father said at last. "The train won't wait."
Hardcore, right? In today's child-centered/focused day and age, the world would probably stop spinning altogether until little Jill's feline was returned to her safe and sound. But really, who is to blame the adorable little Fluffy for wanting to sleep in her beloved dollhouse once again? I won't give too much of the intrigue away in case you find yourself in possession of this suburban 50s fairy tale. One can only hope that the copy you find has its Fuzzy Wuzzy intact.
Also by:Miss Sniff
This was one of our (my family's) childhood favorites. We had this and The Book House Books. I still have my Fluffy. But, all my life it has lacked the cover- I had 2 tough big brothers. Now I know what the cover looks like. If I close my eyes and sit with this book, I am 5 again- not my current 55! Nice reading this post.
ReplyDeleteI still have my Fluffy book too, and mine also is missing the hard cover (due to my younger siblings not taking care of it). My family moved when I was 9, so I identified with Jill. We didn't move by train, but we did move our black cat. Last year two of my granddaughters discovered this book on my bookshelf. We had a nice cozy read!
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