Kate knew her daughter's trick and said, "Blue whale."

"Right. Okay, 10 points."

Unlike her contemporary, Cathy had no interest in stories of prince and princess. Her bedtime reading was a children's encyclopedia. They read it the night before, and then the next morning, they quizzed each other on the way to school.

Fifteen minutes' drive to Cathy's school. Five-year-old Cathy had not been to kindergarten in the States, and when they came over here, she went to the primary ...