Summary

Chapter 7 is titled “The Slow-Eater-Tiny-Bite-Taker Cure.” Allen is a little boy who is sitting down to breakfast one morning. Instead of eating as he usually would, he begins eating his mush by putting one grain on the fork at a time. His mother enters with his egg and is surprised to find that he has not finished his mush. She takes the fork from him, gives him a spoon, and expects him to finish quickly. As soon as she is out of the room, he begins eating one grain at a time with his fork again. After a while, he begins breaking each grain in half before eating it. When his mother returns later, she takes the dishes away though he has eaten almost nothing.

At lunchtime, Allen's mother makes tomato soup. Allen begins breaking tiny pieces of cracker into the soup and eats...