I was driving down the road , on my way to the rather mundane purchase of a new toilet, listening to NPR’s “Backseat Bookclub” as Norton Juster answered questions and talked generally about The Phantom Tollbooth. Occasionally I glanced up at the geese “v”-ing across the sky.

Juster has an easy-going, down-to-earth way that I could have listened to for miles. But too soon he finished up the interview by saying that sometimes “writers feel like their job is to communicate a specific idea or a finite point of view.” [But]”I think the idea rather is to open up a piece of the world to a more creative encounter.” That statement was a good unexpected gift and I was satisfied.

But then they announced the next book for Backseat Bookclub– Breadcrumbs! The NPR website says: “Anne Ursu’s big-hearted story about friendship and snowy adventure is perfect for wintry reading.”

I swear those Vs of geese re-shaped themselves into “Y-E-A-H A-N-N-E!”