Ithinka and The New York City Library Lion

The story

Ithinka is a helpful bookworm, but when she thinks deep thoughts, the propeller on her hat spins and she can't hear anyone. On the way to the library with Worry Willie, she gets so lost in thought that she lifts right up into the clouds.

She crash-lands on the steps of the New York Public Library before it opens, and one of its marble lions, Patience, is not happy about the clever way she sneaks inside.

The real place: New York Public Library

Three things to tell your kid after the story.

1. 1Two marble lions guard the library's front steps. Their names are Patience and Fortitude.
2. 2The lions got those names in the 1930s from Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, who wanted New Yorkers to have patience and fortitude during hard times.
3. 3The library's huge Rose Main Reading Room has long wooden tables, brass lamps and a ceiling painted with sky and clouds.

Next stop

EP 57 · Tasman Bay, New Zealand

Worry Willie

Worries about everything.

EP 58 · Prague, Czech Republic

Perfecta

Has to be perfect.