SO WHAT?

It's enough to squash any young ego. When Jim tries to start a club at recess, everyone quits. When the first grade goes to be measured, he is the shortest in the class. At square dancing, which he loves, the teacher confuses him with a boy in her other class because ""he can't keep in step either."" Jim is dejected. But to each disappointment Elinor Woodman, an independent new girl from Chicago, offers a consoling ""So what?"" Once, she elaborates: ""Look. Some things are easy for some people and hard for other people. So what?"" It's not until he hears that Elinor Woodman has gone back to Chicago that Jim really thinks about her message and fianlly breaks out with his own ""So what?"" Among the pastel lessons of the series, this may be the subtlest. For kids who give it the same chance to sink in, it may also be the most durable.