Do Bee Good

Remember “Romper Room”? We watched it every day--which is saying something since my mom was rabidly anti-television. I was drawn to Romper Stompers, badgering my mom into making some with coffee cans and string. But the pivotal moment was always when the Magic Mirror came out. The picture is still sharp in my memory: all those lucky kids in the studio and exponentially more kids at home in an expectant semi-circle waiting to get “seen.” Miss Sally would hold that unique-in-all-the-world mirror up and it was magic because she could see all the children in the world. And then she would start calling some of them by name. “I see Billy, and Susie, and…” It seemed she would eventually see me. But she never did. Not once. I was an avid fan, wearing my Romper Stompers in the den to prove my loyalty. At first, I would even wave my arms, but when I got a little older I realized how childish that was. She just didn’t see me. The funny thing is, I seem to encounter a number of adults who felt similarly shunned, hearing only other names, not theirs. Who were all these kids that did get called then?! My husband can never claim he didn’t get recognized by name, though. In Ole Risom’s I am a Bunny, the main cottontail introduces himself as “Nicholas,” which is probably why Nick’s beloved aunt and uncle gave him the book for his first birthday. Some kids have all the luck.

http://www.amazon.com/Am-Bunny-Golden-Sturdy-Book/dp/0375827781

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/24/arts/ole-c-risom-80-publisher-of-children-s-books.html?pagewanted=1