Father Quotes

“Father laughed, which upset Bruno even more; there was nothing that made him more angry than when a grown-up laughed at him for not knowing something, especially when he was trying to find out the answer by asking questions.”

″‘It’s so unfair,’ said Bruno. ‘I don’t see why I have to be stuck over here on this side of the fence where there’s no one to talk to and no one to play with and you get to have dozens of friends and are probably playing for hours every day. I’ll have to speak to Father about it.‘”

“Nothing my Father and I have made is ever wasted,” he said quietly, “and the little wild flowers have a wonderful lesson to teach.”

“Sometimes we want things we were not meant to have. Because he loves us, the Father says no. Faith trusts that no. Faith is willing not to have what God is not willing to give. Furthermore, faith does not insist upon an explanation. It is enough to know His promises to give what is good-he knows so much more about us than we do.”

“Looking handsome in your fine uniforms. Dressing up and doing the terrible, terrible things you do. Its makes me ashamed.”

I worried about the girls’ father and wondered about how much the mother relied on Uncle Paul. I really enjoyed the news headlines and how Ms Dubosarsky built aspects of those stories into this book.

Griffin Silk is an uncommon sort of boy, from an uncommon sort of family. The warm, loving home he shares with his father, grandmother and five big sisters (The Rainbow Girls) is marked by the aching absence of his mother and baby sister

“Well, dear Marie, since you seem so fond of friend Nutcracker, he shall be entrusted to your special care, though, as I’ve already told you, Louise and Fritz have as much right to make use of him as you.”

“Was there nothing to look at...no people to greet?Did nothing excite you or make your heart beat?”

“ ‘What’s the matter with Leo?’ asked Leo’s father. ‘Nothing,’ said Leo’s mother. ‘Leo is just a late bloomer.’ ‘Better late than never,’ thought Leo’s father.”

“Every day Leo’s father watched him for signs of blooming. And every night Leo’s father watched him for signs of blooming.”

“ ‘Are you sure Leo’s a bloomer?’ asked Leo’s father. ‘Patience,’ said Leo’s mother. ‘A watched bloomer doesn’t bloom.’ “

“The snows came. Leo’s father wasn’t watching. But Leo still wasn’t blooming. The trees budded. Leo’s father wasn’t watching. But Leo still wasn’t blooming.”

“Her father didn’t have time to take her to see one at the zoo. He didn’t have time for anything. He went to work every day before Hannah went to school, and in the evening he worked at home. When Hannah asked him a question, he would say, ‘Not now, I’m busy, maybe tomorrow.’ “

“They’ll look after you—they promised they would. And I need the money, Joey; I need the money bad.”

“Terrified, I knew I could not run, for there was nowhere to go, so I put my back to him, and lashed out behind me. I felt my hooves strike home.”

“When [Albert’s father] came back into the stable afterward and began to sweet-talk me and held out a bucket of sweet-smelling oats, I was immediately suspicious. But the oats and my own inquisitiveness overcame my better judgment.”

“The night before her birthday, Hannah went to bed tingling with excitement – she had asked her father for a gorilla! In the middle of the night, Hannah woke up and saw a very small parcel at the foot of the bed. It was a gorilla but it was just a toy.”

“Hannah rushed downstairs to tell her father what had happened. ‘Happy birthday, love,’ he said. ‘Do you want to go to the zoo?’ Hannah looked at him. She was very happy.”

“The monster bit Bernard’s father. ‘Not now, Bernard,’ said Bernard’s father.”

“On Saturdays Claudia emptied the wastebaskets, a task she despised. There were so many of them. Everyone in her family had his own bedroom and wastebasket except her mother and father who shared both—with each other.”

“Little Toot was so excited he puffed more and more smoke balls. They gave him a wonderful idea. Those smoke balls could probably be seen all the way up the river, where his father and grandfather were. So he puffed a signal…S.O.S.”

″ ‘But there are other kinds of eggs. There are sunny-side-up and sunny-side-down eggs.’ ‘Yes’, said Frances. ‘But sunny-side-up eggs lie on the plate and look up at you in a funny way. And sunny-side-down eggs just lie on their stomachs and wait’. ”

″ ‘There is a tiger in my room,’ said Frances. ‘Did it bite you?’ said Father. ‘No’, said Frances. ‘Dd he scratch you?’ said Mother. ‘No,’ said Frances. ‘Then he is a friendly tiger’, said Father. ‘He will not hurt you. Go back to sleep.’ ”

″ ‘Carry me to my room, Father,’ said Frances. ‘All right,’ said Father. ‘Piggyback,’ said Frances. So Father carried her piggyback to her room.”

“She jumped out of bed and went to tell Mother and Father. When she got to their door, she thought about it some more and decided not to tell them. She went back to her room.”

“Little Toot was right in the middle of all the excitement. He watched his father work hard. Big Toot was the biggest and fastest tugboat on the river.”

″ ‘What a lovely egg,’ said Father. ‘If there is one thing I am fond of for breakfast, it is a soft-boiled egg.’ ‘Yes’, said Mother, spooning up egg for the baby, ‘it is just the thing to start the day off right’. ”

“The sight of the brave, bustling tugboats made Little Toot think. Suddenly a great new idea came to him. ‘I don’t want to be a silly tugboat anymore,’ he thought. ‘I want to be a real tugboat, the best tugboat on the river. Then I’ll make my father proud of me.’ ”

“Against the black sky climbed a brilliant, flaming rocket. It was a ship’s danger flare. Little Toot looked hard and saw a ship jammed between two huge rocks. It was an ocean liner his father had towed many times down the river.”

“Rock-a-bye baby, thy cradle is green; Father’s a nobleman, Mother’s a queen. And Betty’s a lady, And wears a gold ring; And Johnny’s a drummer, And drums for the king.”

“I can only stay a week. I’ve arranged it all beautifully, and I shall live here in this loft; Father never dreams of coming here, so it will be quite safe, and you can all bring me food.”

“For she was seeing the peacocks through a great, barred gate, with a funny little boy in a sailor suit and a wide-brimmed hat, whose wistful eyes looked sadly out between his odd tufts of red hair.”

“I love America more than Maggie Bunn or Lida or Jane! I’m more American than all of them. because- because they were unkind to Father in England.”

“Whatever can that be?′ said Little Spook. Very slowly Little Spook pushed open the door and they peeped round. But inside the room there were only Mother and Father spook”

“One morning in Maine, Sal woke up. She peeked over the top of the covers. The bright sunlight made her blink, so she pulled the covers up and was just about to go back to sleep when she remember, ‘today is the day I am going to Buck’s Harbor with my father!’ ”

“I was winding it up one night, when suddenly it gave a little gasp and a long sigh, like a soul departing from the body; and it wouldn’t go after that. Sometimes, from force of habit, I take it out at night and start to wind it. Then I miss its genial tick, and I feel as if I am looking at the face of a dead friend.”

“I want you to let Caddie run wild with the boys. Don’t keep her in the house learning to be a lady. I would rather see her learn to plow than make samplers, if she can get her health by doing so. I believe it is worth trying. Bring the other girls up as you like, but let me have Caddie.”

“Lord Lundy from his earliest years Was far to freely moved to Tears. For instance if his Mother said, ‘Lundy! It’s time to go to Bed!’ He bellowed like a Little Turk. Or if his father Lord Dunquerque Said ‘Hi!’ in a Commanding Tone, ‘Hi, Lundy! Leave the Cat alone!’ ”