We have been reading Clever Queen, one of my favorite childhood books, Elder Eric B. Hare, also known as “Dr. Rabbit” by the Burmese Karen people, wrote this classic.

This wonderful story recounts tales of devil worshipers and the jungle, including a young girl known as Clever Queen. As a baby, Clever Queen was sold for two bags of rice. Sick and in need of a doctor, she was taken by her new mother to the God worshipers Dispensary where she eventually finds help and healing.

Students were amused by the repetition and spontaneous dialogue that Elder Hare uses. He turns even the smallest event into something thrilling and spell-binding. One chapter he devoted to his Victrola and camera where a superstitious nature suggests that these “boxes” hold the spirits of dead villagers. We laughed along with the villagers as they hear music from the Victrola and for the first time see themselves in a photograph.

Clever Queen is so much like you and me. She is looking for peace and safety from the evil in the world. We too, can have the peace that passes all understanding, by following in the footsteps of Jesus, and guiding our own children out of the menacing jungle of this world. Please consider placing your child in our school where even our books whisper of God’s powerful love.

Susan Zimmermann