Miss Fannie's Hat
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You'll want to gather all the kids around for a touch of Mitford as you read Jan Karon's first picture book for children, Miss Fannie's Hat. Of course, Mitford, the town that is the setting for Karon's best-selling adult series is never mentioned, but the charming story and Toni Goffe's child-friendly illustrations give the same warm-hearted feeling. We know this place.
Karon knew the real Miss Fannie well -- she was Jan's grandmother who lived to be 100 years old. Like the book's character, Miss Fannie was a tiny woman of great spunk and faith, who loved wearing colorful hats. The story seems rather quiet in the beginning. Miss Fannie lives with her daughter Miss Wanda, who prepares her meals, helps her shampoo and curl her hair, and, after Miss Fannie has decided which of her many hats to wear, takes her to church on Sundays. One Sunday, the young preacher asks Miss Fannie to donate a hat to the church fundraiser for pre-Easter repairs. She agrees, but deciding which one to give is not easy. Miss Fannie asks the Lord what she should do, remembering past episodes involving each hat as she considers which one to give. Finally, she selects her very favorite -- her Easter hat. When Easter arrives, Miss Fannie goes to church with only her curls on her head. The surprise that awaits her there makes her gift more than worthwhile. When you and your children have finished reading Miss Fannie's Hat, you'll be delighted to discover that the back-inside cover holds a storyboard with a sheet of removable stickers depicting Miss Fannie and her favorite dresses, hats, and shoes. You will also find a couple of hat-wearing cats who have appeared throughout the story. This "dress up" idea has passed from the book into real life. As Karon appears in bookstores across the country to autograph the book, many children in her audiences appear in large, flower-bedecked hats. Karon's personal saga as an author is fairly well known. She left the vice presidency of a high-powered ad agency to listen to her own inner voice, urging her to pursue writing. Some two years and much personal struggle later, Father Tim and the townsfolk of Mitford appeared in the local weekly newspaper in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Readers clamored for more, and Karon began shaping a book from the massive amounts of material she had written. Eventually five titles were published and several audio tapes, which Karon recorded in her subtle southern drawl. She is now working on a Mitford novella, a Mitford cookbook, and a new fiction series. She will also record Miss Fannie's Hat along with memories of her grandmother "for families to listen to the story together." "I wrote the story to give both children and adults a sense of family, to give them the grandmother or great-grandmother they never had, or always wished they had," says Karon. "People want Mitford to be real, and they want Miss Fannie to be real. I love to say that both are real. There are Mitfords everywhere, and a few Miss Fannies as well. Simple decency and goodness are very much alive and well and living in America."
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