WhatcanUdo?

I named this blog based on a question from one of our family's favorite stories, "Jenny and the Cat Club." In this endearing book by Esther Averill, a shy black cat named Jenny Linsky, with the help of her kindly captain, comes to make friends and have adventures....

"Well, Jenny, wouldn't you like to join the Cat Club?" asked the twins. They did not give her time to answer. They whisked her off between them. But when they reached the meeting ground, fear overcame her. All the other cats were there, staring at her with their gleaming eyes, as if to say,

"And what can you do, little black cat? WHAT CAN YOU DO?"

This was too much for Jenny. She gave a yowl of terror and fled home.

I feel so much like Jenny. There are so many beautiful things I am interested in: writing, drawing, sewing, crochet, and dolls (lots of dolls, especially cloth ones); but I am afraid - as many of these things I am untested in, few have I even given a good serious try. But here I am with the longing and the fear to move forward.

The sweet drawing above comes from The Cat Club written and illustrated by Esther Averill, first published by Harper in Row, 1944. Some other editions include one published by Scholastic Book Services and, more recently, by New York Review Children's Collection. Esther Averill wrote many other delightful cat stories as well.