Carol Phillips! age 12 of Hopkinton, Mass. for her question:

Is there such a think as beginners luck?

Andy knows you will love the story of Lucky Blackie who is! of courses a fluffy black kitten, all sorts of wonderful things happen to the people who shelter the little lost cat. The mystery is whether this was because the black cat was lucky or because her friends were sensible kind, hard working people. Maybe Blackie herself knew but, being a mysterious cat, she wasn't telling. So, you may figure it out for yourself.

And let 1s figure out some more good luck stories. Twenty seven children ran safely under a ladder on their way to school. Then came Pete, who ran under just in time to get splashed with paint from the brush of the busy man painting the roof. Is it unlucky to walk under ladders? It wasn’t so for twenty seven persons, And if Pete had taken a peek to see that all was well up the ladder, it may not have been unlucky for him.

Blackie opened her new plaid umbrella in the kitchen. It poked into dishes pots and pane and broke a green saucer. Is it unlucky to open umbrellas indoors? Andy thinks it's just plain careless. Indoors is usually too crowded to find room for an opening umbrella.

Some numbers are supposed to be unlucky. But would you feel unlucky when you found 13 pennies when you were sure there were only one dime’s worth? Certainly you would not,

Some people talk a lot about beginner's luck. A fellow they heard about had never played baseball. He took a bat and hit a home run first time he tried. But in all fairness, before you call this beginner's luck, you must count up all the fellows who tried and tried and tried and missed the ball a hundred times before they ever hit it anywhere at all.

Anyway, you may be sure that this beginner s luck fellow didn't march right up and hit a home run for the Giants or the Dodgers the very first time he tried to play baseball. What's more, no beginner ever won his first game of chess playing against a master. No singer ever sang a perfect aria in the opera house the very first time she opened her mouth.

Andy who is a pixie and therefore likes to talk a lot about what's lucky and unlucky, is old enough and wise enough to treat it all as a kind of game. Its fun to play games that depend on luck, end it’s far far more fun to play games that depend upon practice and skill. If your first try at a new game is a good one, then enjoy it, But don’t stop practicing till you can  depend upon your very own self made skills. Because, even those who believe in beginner’s luck have to admit that it doesn’t last.