If Only I Had a Little Girl - If You Do, Check This Out!

I still have occasional moments, when my heart hungers for a little girl. Today, this may have been brought on by an ES who cannot stay away from lighters and flammable aerosols! But, viewing this two and a half minute You Tube video of a new children's book out by Neil Gaiman (author of Coraline - a movie in theaters now) really brought it home. It has such a gentle lyrical quality (appropriate since it was written for a singer, Tori Amos, to celebrate her pregnancy) and is so refreshing to hear it read by the author (with his British lilt). He fleshes out the deepest hopes we have for our children.

Now, perhaps I need to write a testosterone-driven version and market it to the same publisher. Ha, my name linked with Neil Gaiman! As if.

Still, I know what I'd call it: Firecracker Boy. It would be a prayer (not to vague ladies, but) to God (ah, right there the publisher might reject it) asking him to protect the Firecracker Boy from the mirage of immortality, the wounding of coy girls, the pit of selfishness, the costume of faux-manliness, the slippery slope of dishonesty, and the trick of false fulfillments. Ladies of darkness and ladies of light wouldn't have a prayer of protecting my firecracker boys! I'm convinced they need the protection of Almighty God!

For more information on how Neil came to write this book, and how he finally agreed to share it with the masses, go here. Thanks John, at Grasping for the Wind, for leading me to this fabulous video!