Tonight I read John Bird's version of Prince Oleomargarine to my
10-year-old son Tomas in a single go before bed. I tried to stop at
the natural half-way mark and resume tomorrow, but my son wanted to
hear the whole story.
Tomas likes John Bird's version better. While he could not articulate
why (he was tired, should a 10-you be going to bed at 10pm on a school
night?!) he identified many of the differences between John's version
vs. the Stead version.
In response to the ending of John's version, with MT as frame
narrator, my son concluded, "Mark Twain is pretty smart. He knows what
we're doing."
And I hoe you have a good night too! :)
Taylor