Chimes From A Jester’s Bells - Robert Jones Burdette

Part I. The Story of Rollo; Mr. Holliday knows all there is to know about raising children, or at least he thinks he does. His attempts to train his son, Rollo, "in the way he should go," are well-meant, but hilariously unsuccessful--or are they? I believe this is a sort of spoof of the “Rollo” series for children, that was written by Jacob Abbot in the mid 19th century. The characters have the same names and the chapters have a little Q&A at the end like the Abbot books, except these are definitely tongue-in-cheek. These Rollo stories use humor (and a bit of pathos) to teach plain home truths to parents, rather than children.

Part II. Stories and Sketches; It is difficult to give this part a better description than the title implies. It is an assortment of short works. Some are humorous, some thought-provoking, some have a bit of both, and some are, I think, just a tad demented (but in a good way.)(Introduction by Debra Lynn)