Fiction_L Archives story/memoir about old-fashioned kindergarten teacher Dates: 1/7/05,12:38 PM  through  1/7/05,12:38 PM  (1 posting) Search for: Select one or more indexes to search: 2011-current     2009-2010     2004-2008    1995-2003    (Matches from each index will be displayed separately in the results page.) Return to January 2005 thread menu   |   Fiction_L Archives Menu

FROM: "Bergstrom, Jennifer" <[removed]@sdcounty.ca.gov>
REC'D: 1/7/05, 12:38 PM

Hi all

I remember reading this back when I was in elementary school in the 1980s. It was either a short story or a memoir of some kind, a man reminiscing about his kindergarten teacher. It seemed to take place in the early 1900s.

He said she gave them coffee and oatmeal every day and encouraged them to drink their coffee black. She gave them various useful life lessons, e.g. they should always give a false name to strangers. Girls were supposed to say their name was "Polly Johnson", and the boys had a similar generic name. The man said to this day he still gave the false name with much more confidence than his own.

Does this ring a bell for anyone? I was wanting to read it again but I can't find anything on the web that sounds like it.

Thanks,

Jenne Bergstrom
Reference and Young Adult Librarian
San Diego County Library, El Cajon Branch
201 E. Douglas Ave.
El Cajon, CA 92020
(619) 588-3703

"For the librarians everywhere, who spend their lives in battle against the forces of darkness."
--Laurie R. King, dedication to her novel The Game

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