It has a lot of sweet illustrations of girls of different ages and ethnicities and it's basically a poem of wishes a new mom has for her baby daughter. I love reading it to Clara, both because it has a kind of cadence to it and because it includes a lot of wishes I have for her. Sometimes reading it gives me goosebumps. I've read it to her well over a dozen times already, and I'm sure I'll read it countless more times. And she seems to like it well enough, even though she's too little to have any idea what I'm saying.
Here is the text:
"Ladies of light
and Ladies of darkness
and Ladies of never-you-mind,
This is a prayer for a blueberry girl.
First, may you ladies be kind.
Keep her from spindles and sleeps at sixteen,
let her stay waking and wise.
Nightmares at three or bad husbands at thirty,
these will not trouble her eyes.
Dull days at forty, false friends at fifteen--
let her have brave days and truth.
Let her go places that we've never been,
trust and delight in her youth.
Ladies of grace
and Ladies of favor
and Ladies of merciful night,
This is a prayer for a blueberry girl.
Grant her your clearness of sight.
Words can be worrisome,
people complex,
motives and manners unclear.
Grant her the wisdom to choose her path right,
free from unkindness and fear.
Let her tell stories and dance in the rain,
somersault, tumble and run.
Her joys must be high as her sorrows are deep.
Let her grow like a weed in the sun.
Ladies of paradox,
Ladies of measure,
Ladies of shadows that fall,
This is a prayer for a blueberry girl.
Words written clear on a wall.
Help her to help herself.
Help her to stand.
Help her to stand.
Help her to lose and to find.
Teach her we're only as big as our dreams.
Show her that fortune is blind.
Truth is a thing she must find for herself,
precious and rare as a pearl.
Give her all these and a little bit more:
Gifts for a blueberry girl."
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