Everybody has had happy moments and sad moments, and the book They Loved to Laugh by Kathryn Worth brings many of these different moments together. Published on 1942 by Random House Children’s Books, it came at just the time where people needed it – after war and a changing economy.
The 254 page book is about, to put it simply, being happy even when the times are not happy themselves. Martitia, an orphan girl, is lodging with Dr. David Gardner, who has five boys, three girls and women, and several dogs with him in the house. There, she starts out a life of disliking the boys, who on the outside are funny and do ridiculous things – to her. She does learn, with time, that the boys are actually grave souls on the inside, with humor to lighten the load of life. She also learns that working as a part of the family is good and, yet unbelievably, enjoyable. She becomes their weaver, and grows proud of her work. By the end, she is adopted into the family – mentally and legally. I like this book because it makes you think about happiness. We choose it, for we do not become happy when the body has a whim. The book brings this up through the grave Ruth, “’Tis we in our human weakness who manufacture the sadness,….(p. 139)” The book gives out the feeling of happiness, of joy, of living in the now, not the then or the later. The book has few things in it that some people would disagree with, however, and I want to point them out. People do not really care for others as much anymore, and that brings up that this was written in a different social time. People would give up time to help others, no questions asked. Some of the boys gave up field work to lug leaves for Martitia’s silkworms. They would give up alone time to show her something. The most stunning in our community – she herself became their weaver because of love and friendship. Some things in the book I dislike, however, are illustrations. Sure, the cover and title page illustrations by Marguerite de Angeli and Theodore Schluenderfritz respectively are good – but sometimes showing something a little confusing in a picture is really helpful. The only description I found hard to understand was about the silkworm table and how they would “nail wood in the middle.” Overall, I love this book, and I think that anyone with a wacky sense of humor would love it, as it has some interesting moments in the vein of humor. If you have trouble with being happy, this would bring lots of wisdom in – that is the stunning part of the book. I would recommend it to everyone of all ages, and I hope that you grab a copy soon!
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