Strawberry Dress Escape

The story behind the story

A little girl, wearing a dress with a strawberry print, escapes a stultifying classroom for a private, outdoor idyll. Does she really, or is it a daydream? This was my second children’s book, written when I was sixteen, and published by the now-defunct Charles Scribners Sons. The little girl who’s the book’s protagonist? Largely drawn on me. And now you know why I dropped out of school as soon as I was legally able!