Gemma Burford

    Gemma was born in 1978 in a quiet village in England. Her mother worked in a library and her father worked in a hospital. When she was a student at Oxford University, she traveled (旅行) to Tanzania and met her husband (丈夫), Lesikar, for the first time. They got married (结婚) in 2003 and had their daughter, Lucia, two years later. Now Lucia studies in a small primary school, and Gemma and Lesikar also teach her at home.

 Judy Boehmer

    Adam is Judy's first child. She now has four sons, seven daughters and a pet dog, Bosco. Judy and her husband, Larry, live in Atlanta, Georgia, but they also have a motorhome (野营车). The Boehmers are a circus (马戏团) family and all the children are performers at the circus. The children don't go to school, but study at home. The family travels more than 40,000 kilometers a year for their work. The first show of the Boehmers was at a park in Lowa in 1989, and they now perform all over America.

    Once upon a time, there was a tree which wanted to become a treasure box. One day, a farmer cut it down and sold it to a carpenter(木匠). The tree was happy because he thought the carpenter would make it into a treasure box.

    To its surprise, the carpenter made it into a feed box for animals. The tree felt very disappointed because that was not its dream. Several years later, the feed box was thrown away. Someone picked it up and placed it into an old temple. The tree forgot its dream little by little.

    One day, a couple came to the temple. The woman gave birth to a baby boy. There wasn't a bed in the temple. So they placed the baby in the feed box. They loved him and regarded him as their treasure. The tree suddenly realized that it became a real "treasure box" at that time.

    Sometimes you may think your dream will not come true. Don't forget your dream. It may be realized in another new way.

    Long ago there was a man with the name Smith. He made a living on making caps. One day he went to sell his caps. He went through a forest. There were many monkeys in it. It was very hot and the man wanted to rest a little. He came up to a large tree, put his caps on the ground, took one of them and put it on his head. Then he lay down and soon fell asleep.

    "Where are my caps?" Smith cried when he woke up. He looked up and saw many monkeys in the trees and each monkey had a cap on its head.

    "Give me back my caps!" The man shouted at the monkeys. But the monkeys didn't understand him. They only laughed. The man got very angry, took off his own cap, threw it on the ground and cried, "If you want all my caps, you may take this one, too!"

    And what do you think happened? The little animals did the same. Each monkey took off its cap and threw it on the ground. The man was very glad. He quickly collected all his caps and went on his way.

    Dad was walking around the house seriously. He walked here and there in a hurry. He needed his glasses so he could read the newspaper. He likes reading. But he could not remember where he had put his glasses.

    First, Dad looked in the bedroom. He looked on the bed and under the bed. Next, Dad opened the closet. He looked in the pockets of his brown coat. He even looked inside his winter boots. Then Dad went outside to the car. He looked on the seats of the car. He searched under the car seats, too. Dad came back inside. He walked into the living room and looked around. Then he sighed loudly.

    Mom and Wendy were sitting there, and they heard Dad sigh. "What's wrong?" asked Mom. "I've looked everywhere for my glasses, but I can't find them," he said. Wendy and Mom looked at Dad. Then they smiled at each other. Dad was always losing his glasses, but this time they were not lost. Mom and Wendy knew just where they were. "Maybe Mom and I can help you," said Wendy. "That would be great," said Dad. "I've looked in the bedroom, in the closet, and in the car. I don't know where else to look."

    Now Mom and Wendy started to laugh. Dad looked surprised. "What's so funny?" he asked. When Dad looked in the mirror, he laughed, too. His glasses were on top of his head.