Barbara Cooney Quotes

“The story of Alice Rumphius, who longed to travel the world, live in a house by the sea, and do something to make the world more beautiful, ...”

“The book opens with the narrator telling readers about a little old woman nicknamed “The Lupine Lady”who ‘lives in a small house overlooking the sea.’ The story of her Great Aunt, Miss Rumphius, begins to unfold, starting from when her aunt was just a little girl named Alice.”

“In illustrations depicting the late 1800s, a young Alice lives with her grandparents near a waterfront shipping town.”

“Alice made a promise to make the world a more beautiful place, then a seed of an idea is planted and blossoms into a beautiful plan. ”

“Her grandfather, an immigrant who arrived by boat to America himself, now carves the figureheads for sailing ships in his old age.”

“At night, he regales his granddaughter with stories of exotic places across the sea. Inspired, Alice tells her grandfather that, when she grows up, she will travel to faraway places and settle down by the sea when she grows old, just as he did.”

″ He agrees that her plans are “all very well,” but goes on to tell her that she must do one more thing: ‘You must do something to make the world more beautiful.”

“For a time, life goes on normally and, eventually, Alice grows up. She goes to work in a library where people call her Miss Rumphius and she helps them find books they’re looking for.”

“It is in the library where she learns about more faraway places. Time continues to pass, and streaks of gray appear in her hair.”

“In her spare time, she likes to visit the local conservatory where she can linger among the exotic plants and dream of the places from which they originally came. She decides she finally needs to go see those places for herself.”