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“Moment.”
“Moment: she looked up, but it was all dark—overhead?”
“Yes.”
“Overhead; before her was another long—” She stopped and met his eyes.
“Passage,” he offered.
“...passage and the White Rabbitwasstill in—”
“Sight.”
“That’s how the wordsightis spelled? Why are thegandhin it? They aren’t pronounced.”
“You’re right, they aren’t. The English language can be very confusing at times.”
“I agree. Let me start this part over.The White Rabbit was still in sight—what’s this word?”
“Hurrying.”
“Ah. Okay.The White Rabbit was still in sight, hurrying down it.”
She read on, stumbling occasionally, stopping to ask him about unfamiliar words and spellings she found puzzling, as in the wordtaught.
“Anothergandhthat have no business there,” she said a bit testily.
He smiled and chose not to bring up the similarly pronouncedtaut.
She read a few paragraphs more and handed the book back. “I’ll let you finish. As slow as I am, I’ll never know what the rabbit is late for, or who the queen is angry with.”
“You did well though. I think you just need more practice, is all.”
“That’s kind of you to say.”
“It’s true. The more you read, the more comfortable you’ll become and the more words you’ll learn to pronounce.”
He spent a few minutes explaining how to sound out words, how looking for the little word within a larger one could prove helpful, and how the letteryoften had the sound of the letterein words likeveryandmerry. “Are you enjoying the story?”
“I am.”
That pleased him. He was also pleased by her efforts. He wanted her to be as confident withthe written word as she was with life. With all of that in mind, he picked up the story where she’d left off.
At the end of chapter one, he closed the book and asked, “So? What do you think of Alice’s adventure so far?”
“Bottles labeled Drink Me that make you shrink. Cakes with the words Eat Me to make you taller. This sounds like a fever dream. Was Carroll an opium smoker?”
He threw back his head with laughter.
“I’m serious.”
“I know you are, I just didn’t expect you to ask that. However, further along in the story we do meet a caterpillar with a hookah.”
“I knew it.”
He chuckled. She was indeed adorable.
She asked, “Is this really a book for children?”
