Description

Houghton Mifflin, 1954. Hardcover, 181 pp. First Edition. Good in acceptable dust jacket. Blue cloth covered boards with gold lettering and illustration on little girl on front. Light bumping and scuffing to edges of covers. Binding tight. Previous owner's name in ink and address label on front free end paper. Otherwise pages are lightly aged but unmarked. Dust jacket has several large chips and tears, many of which have been repaired from the back side of the jacket with old tape. Moderate to heavy overall scuffing, aging and soiling to jacket as well. NOT price clipped Now in an archival-quality (removable) Brodart Cover. NOT Ex-Library. NO remainder marks. A good reading copy. A personal account of the adoption process in the 1950's. Charming illustrations by Katherine Bernard. [From jacket flaps] Harry Bell and his wife Peggy had been married for six years and had no children. In the eyes of their neighbors, they were the smart young couple with nothing to worry about except a cocker spaniel. No need to worry about baby sitters or sticky little hands on the living room upholstery. But the Bells wanted a child desperately. This is the story of how they set about adopting one. It turned out to be a little girl, Barbara, two and a half years old, who looked rather like Harry when he was a child. This is a loving and detailed account of the Bells' new life and times with Barbara, of the actual red-tape of adoption, and of the difficulties and rewards of persona] adjustment - including the spaniel's. Any couple who have ever thought of adopting a child will find here a close-up preview of an experience that could be their own; and anyone who loves children will find it a heart-warming story. Harry Bell is thirty-five and an advertising agency executive. He and Peggy live in Los Angeles with their adopted daughter Barbara, who is now five.