Harrison Loved His Umbrella

Harrison liked to hold his umbrella in the rain. He also held it in the sun. He found it very helpful in the snow. But most of all he loved to hold it open in the house.

In fact, Harrison was the only child on his block to hold an open umbrella in his hand ALL THE TIME. How his friends admired him!

Then one rainy day, after the rain was over, all the children held umbrellas, and they, too, continued to hold the umbrellas open. They all found them useful in the sun, helpful in the snow, and loved them in the house.

Complications? Of course! But that’s all part of the story.

Rhoda Levine has directed on and off Broadway and in London’s West End. She has also worked for CBS and WNET and has staged operas for Dutch, Belgian, Scottish, and American opera companies. She staged the world premiere of Victor Ullman’sDer Kaiser von Atlantis, and, in 1996, the South African premiere of Porgy and Bess. New York premieres at New York City Opera includeLittle Women, Mathis der Maler, X—The Life and Times of Malcolm X,From the House of the Dead, Of Mice and Men, Lizzie Borden, andDie Soldaten. She is currently on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music, and was also on the faculty of Yale Drama School, the Juilliard School, and the Curtis Institute. Along with Philip Glass and George Abbott, she was the recipient of the National Institute of Music Theatre Award for her contribution to American musical theater. Levine is the author of seven children’s books, includingThree Ladies Beside the Sea and He Was There from the Day We Moved In, both illustrated by Edward Gorey, available from The New York Review Children’s Collection.

Karla Kuskin (1932–2009) was the author of more than fifty children’s literature books, includingThe Philharmonic Gets Dressed (1982), which was nominated for a National Book Award, as well asAny Me I Want to Be (1972) and James and the Rain (first published in 1957, reissued in 1995).