George's Store

George's Store shows us how love gives depth to our whole lives. George is a man who loves his job--waiting on the customers at his general store. When a customer walks into the store, George's eyes twinkle, and he says he will guess what they want. George delights and charms his customers with this guessing game, at which he is quite good. One day, a pretty young woman walks into the store, and George sets about trying to guess what she wants. He guesses one thing after another, and each time, the young woman says, "No." "No." "No." After George has guessed every item in his store, the pretty young woman points to him, smiles, looks him directly in the eye, and takes George completely by surprise when she declares, "George, I want you!" In short order, they are shown married and living happily with their children in back of George's beloved store. As a parent, I appreciated this very positive representation of someone with an ordinary job dedicated to making his life's work extraordinary for the pleasure of himself and his customers. I was quite impressed by the modern young woman who could confidently declare what she wanted. And I appreciated the closing images of a close knit family happily interacting with each other in the apartment behind the store. I read this story to my children when they were in pre-school and elementary school, and now, at 19 and 22, it is one of the books they remember best. Recently, my daughter was describing a young man who had charmed her with his engaging manner and imaginative wit. I told her she sounded like the woman in George's Store, and she said, "Yes! George, I want you!" This book, which is now out of print, deserves to be re-issued: it's an excellent model for today's children (and adults)in many respects.