選篇和插圖
　　頭髮
　　我們傢裏每個人的頭髮都不一樣。爸爸的頭髮像掃把，根根直立往上插。而我，我的頭髮挺懶惰。它從來不聽發夾和發帶的話。卡洛斯的頭髮又直又厚。他不用梳頭。蕾妮的頭髮滑滑的——會從你手裏溜走。還有奇奇，他最小，茸茸的頭髮像毛皮。
　　衹有媽媽的頭髮，媽媽的頭髮，好像一朵朵小小的玫瑰花結[ 玫瑰花結是指玫瑰花狀的圓形花飾。]，一枚枚小小的糖果圈兒，全都那麽拳麯，那麽漂亮，因為她成天給它們上發捲。把鼻子伸進去聞一聞吧，當她摟着你時。當她摟着你時，你覺得那麽安全，聞到的氣味又那麽香甜。是那種待烤的面包暖暖的香味，是那種她給你讓出一角被窩時，和着體溫散發的芬芳。你睡在她身旁，外面下着雨，爸爸打着鼾。哦，鼾聲、雨聲，還有媽媽那聞起來像面包的頭髮。

　　Everybody in our family has different hair. My Papa's hair is like a broom, all up in the air. And me, my hair is lazy. It never obeys barrettes or bands. Carlos' hair is thick and straight. He doesn't need to comb it. Nenny's hair is slippery--slides out of your hand. And Kiki, who is the youngest, has hair like fur.
　　But my mother's hair, my mother's hair, like little rosettes, like little candy circles all curly and pretty because she pinned it in pincurls all day, sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you, holding you and you feel safe, is the warm smell of bread before you bake it, is the smell when she makes room for you on her side of the bed still warm with her skin, and you sleep near her, the rain outside falling and Papa snoring. The snoring, the rain, and Mama’s hair that smells like bread.

　　大流士和雲
　　你永遠不會擁有過多的天空。你可以在天空下睡去，醒來又沉醉。在你憂傷的時候，天空會給你安慰。可是憂傷太多，天空不夠。蝴蝶也不夠，花兒也不夠。大多數美的東西都不夠。於是，我們取我們所能取，好好地享用。
　　大流士[ 也是古代波斯帝國國王的名字。一代雄主大流士大帝在位期間（前522—前486），對內強化君主專製，對外實行大規模軍事擴張，使得波斯帝國進入全盛期。自命不凡的他曾在貝希斯敦的懸崖上刻下銘文：“我，大流士，偉大的王、萬邦之王、波斯之王……我是國王。”後世因此尊他為“萬王之王”。]，不喜歡上學的他，有時很傻，幾乎是個笨人，今天卻說了一句聰明的話，雖然大多數日子他什麽都不說。大流士，喜歡用爆竹，用碰過老鼠的小棍子去追逐女孩，還以為自己很了不起的他，今天卻指着天空，因為那裏有滿天的雲朵，像枕頭樣的雲朵。

　　You can never have too much sky. You can fall asleep and wake up drunk on sky, and sky can keep you safe when you are sad. Here there is too much sadness and not enough sky. Butterflies too are few and so are flowers and most things that are beautiful. Still, we take what we can get and make the best of it.
　　Darius, who doesn't like school, who is sometimes stupid and mostly a fool, said something wise today, though most days he says nothing. Darius, who chases girls with firecrackers or a stick that touched a rat and thinks he's tough, today pointed up because the world was full of clouds, the kind like pillows.