First Grade

DAVID lived on an island on the coast of South Carolina. It was the first day of school and David was in first grade. The island schoolhouse, that had looked so empty and desolate all summer long, with tall grass growing in the schoolyard, was now brimming over with children. The grass was cut, and the big windows were opened wide.

David sat at his own desk, in his own chair. The mothers who had brought their children to school had all gone away, David's mother, too. And now it was Miss Joyce, the teacher, whom David must mind.

The story tells of David's experiences in First Grade - learning how to write his name on the blackboard, making friends, doing the things that a first-grader does. The story also tells of David's younger brother Timothy, who watches what David does, and can't wait to join him in school, which he does towards the end of the book.

The boys have many adventures. They make Jack-O'Lanterns and dress as ghosts for Halloween, adopt a stray dog they name Spot, catch tree-frogs, toads, and a large land turtle, called a "Cooter," build a playhouse, catch crabs in a creek, and plant a garden - something that both boys had always wanted.

David and Timothy's father is away in the Army, so the boys' family consists of their mother and her aunt Beulah, from Philadelphia, whom the boys call Aunt Beulah. Their home is called "Oak Farm," a rather fancy name, but it is really just an ordinary house. Both boys want it to become a real farm, and little by little it does become more and more like a real farm with the addition of rabbits and plans to raise chickens. Much more happens during the story as the reader will find out.