LA Trip #5: If I could talk to the animals

Perhaps Mrs. Gruen ran out of material to teach us. At the end of first grade, instead of further teaching, she read us the first Dr. Doolittle book. I was entranced. Up until then, reading was painful. I did not care about Dick and Jane and their boring pets. My parents used to read me stories about imperilled animals that made reading seem even less appealing. Suddenly, there was the story about a man who could talk to animals. Maybe reading wasn't such a bad idea. Thanks, Mrs. Gruen.