Jessie — Reading Companion

Ambition Measured in Small Acts

The preface declares the book's purpose: to encourage children to strive for 'that good name whose price is far above rubies.' But the narrative does not dramatize ambition through dramatic triumphs. Instead, it shows Jessie resolving to keep a journal after a cutting remark from Abby Leonard, and later conquering Abby by kindness. The diary itself becomes a tool of self-improvement, not a record of great events. The chapter on diaries offers three whimsical 'specimens'—a diary in dry measure, long measure, and solid measure—suggesting that the habit of reflection matters more than the content. Jessie's first entry records Benny's death, a quiet grief that anchors her resolve.

Wordplay and Domestic Noise

The Page household is filled with verbal energy. Ronald recites a long alliterative exercise—'Andrew Airpump asked his aunt her ailment'—until Marcus tells him to take it 'back to the barn.' Kate produces 'univocalic verses' using only the vowel e, and Marcus counters with a poem by George Herbert that drops a letter from each line. These interludes are not mere diversions; they show a family that values wit and verbal play. Yet the same chapter includes a rainy-day scene where Kate's piano notes are 'dull and spiritless,' and Otis stares dreamily out the window. The contrast between lively word games and flat domestic moments gives the household a realistic, uneven rhythm.

Making Do: The Flag and the Snow-House

Two projects illustrate the children's resourcefulness and their conflicts. The first is an American flag for a Washington's birthday celebration. The children debate how to make it, and the repairs are completed only after 'an unexpected difficulty.' The flag is hoisted, but the scene ends with 'crying before breakfast' and 'two sober ones.' The second project is a snow-house, which sparks disagreements and 'obstinacy.' The narrator describes Esquimaux snow-houses and a traveller's testimony, blending instruction with story. Both episodes show that collaboration is hard, and that making something—whether a flag or a shelter—involves frustration as much as pride.

Readers will find that the book's subtitle, 'Trying to Be Somebody,' is taken literally: the story is about the trying, not the arrival. The excerpts show a world where ambition is tested by flagpole disputes, alliteration recitations, and the weight of a trunk. Pay attention to the small moments—the diary entries, the word games, the quarrels over snow—because that is where the book's real work is done.

Jessie’s quiet, persistent striving for a good name stayed with me long after I closed the book—her homemade flag felt like a small, honest prayer. Something in that patient hush carries over to Little King Davie — A Closer Reading, which holds the same tender gravity. I keep thinking about how both stories measure worth not by noise, but by steady care.