På det sluttande planet med Gutenberg

 This uphill work is slow, indeed,

But down the slant—ah! note the speed!

 Where Bobby lives there is a hill—

A hill so steep and high,

'Twould fill the bill for Jack and Jill

Their famous act to try

 

Once Bobby's Go-cart broke away

And down this hill it kited.

The careless Nurse screamed in dismay

But Bobby was delighted

 

He clapped his hands, in manner rude,

And laughed in high elation—

While, close behind, the Nurse pursued

In hopeless consternation

The longest night must have an end
As well as a beginning;
And so this Cart, you may depend,
Was bound to cease its spinning 
It crashed into a hemlock Stump
That chanced to block its way,
And Bobby made a flying jump
And landed in the hay!

från "The Slant Book", 1910 av Peter Newell

Så snart jag ser illustrationerna i den här boken, är jag säker på att det är samma illustratör, och även författare, som skrivit och illustrerat ”hålboken”. En av min mammas första böcker. Som därmed också torde ha varit en av mina första böcker, snarare än boken om”Den bortsprungna kattungen”.

 Tom Potts was fooling with a gun

(Such follies should not be),

When — bang! the pesky thing went off

Most unexectedly!

Tom didn't know 'twas loaded, and

It scared him 'most to death — 

He tumbled flat upon the floor

And fairly gasped for breath.

The bullet smashed a fine French clock

The clock had just struck three),

Then made a hole clean through the wall,

As you can plainly see.

 A pear-tree, seen above the wall,

With fruit was laden down,

And Ned, below, appeared to be

The saddest boy in town;

Just then the restless bullet passed,

And clipped a branching limb

Which bore a doezen pears or more

And passed it down to him!

Mis* Newlywed had made a cake,

With icing good and stout — 

The bullet struck its armor belt,

And meekly flattened out.

And this was lucky for Tom Potts,

The boy who fired the shot — 

It might have gone clean round the world

And killed him on the spot.

från "The Hole Book", 1908 av Peter Newell

Det är alltså ett riktigt hål, som går igenom nästan hela boken. Och jag upptäcker i dag att jag borde ha skrivit om Peter Newell (1862 - 1924) för ett par dagar sedan — han hade nämligen födelsedag den 5 mars. Han var en välkänd konstnär och författare, som illustrerade många kända författares böcker, författare som till exempel Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, John Kendrick Bangs, och Lewis Carroll