At this point in my life, I love Hal and the satin borders of blankets better than I love any of the humans I know. My mother puts Hal up next to my head as soon as I lie down, which is exactly where I don't want him. I smack him in the face.
-- Jo, First Person Narration (Preface)

Importance: This passage, in which Jo is so young that she is still sleeping in a crib, foreshadows the mischievous attitude she will display throughout her childhood. While Jo will grow up to maintain positive relationships with her entire family as an adult, she was constantly causing small problems as a child. Jo's relationship to Hal will be the primary focus of the essay "Bulldozing the Baby," later in the collection.

Jars of buttons, every kind imaginable, homemade ones, bone ones, small pink and what ones ('Them're for a baby's dress,' she told me), enormous black...
-- Jo, First Person Narration ("Bonanza")