A Hatful of Dreams

The Mile End Road once sparkled in sunshine and children's laughter, until hard times came and all the people left, taking with them the sun, moon, and stars. But one family stayed on this broken-down street: the Andersons, in their house with a warm little glow, where kids bounce happily on Dad's back, and Grandad's fingers squeak on guitar strings as he jokes about all the secrets and dreams he keeps under his hat. "Grandad, I've seen you without your hat," insists Millie, "and nothing was there except your hair." But what will the children see the next time he doffs his hat? As always with Bob Graham, the tenderness is in the details: strewn-about stuffies, tumbling children, a blue-jeaned grandad with one leg thrown over his chair arm. It's a story where even a derelict neighborhood can spark back to life, and where the love of a playfully bantering grandad can conjure a whole universe of light.