- For the item in Kit's Collection, see Tree House.
Kit's Tree House is part of the Short Stories collection. focusing on Kit Kittredge.
Characters[]
Only in Kit's Tree House[]
Story Summary[]
Kit, Ruthie, and Sterling are raking leaves while Kit dreams of her perfect tree house.
Kit, Ruthie, and Stirling are raking up the leaves in Kit's backyard when Kit looks up to the top of the tree and says that someone can really see what a tree is like when the leaves are gone. Ruthie jokes someone can also get to know the leaves as she throws a pile of them at Kit and Grace. Kit points to the top of the tree and says dreamily it would be wonderful to have a tree house all the way at the top. Stirling agrees with Kit, but Ruthie points out the branches at the top are too weak to hold up a tree house and the fall would be too high; it would be smarter to build it on the lower branches. Kit agrees, though her gaze still went to the top of the tree.
Kit continues raking and says she's determined to have the tree house of her dreams. Ruthie and Stirling smile, knowing Kit's always wanted a tree house; she came close to having one a year ago, but once the Depression hit, she sacrificed the wood so her dad could turn the sleeping porch into an additional room to rent. Kit knows her family struggled to keep their own house and couldn't afford a tree house, but Kit hadn't given up her hopes.
Once they finish raking, Stirling suggests they make tree house plans and the girls agree. Kit thinks how much of a good friend Stirling is, a guy who draws excellent tree house plans and is nice about drawing so many of them. Their tree house designs have varied from a Tarzan-themed tree house that would have a swinging vine, to a Robin Hood tree house that would have multiple levels. Today, Ruthie suggests a castle tree house and Kit loves the idea. Ruthie is describing how it would look with flags and a drawbridge to Stirling when Mother tells Kit it's time to set the table. Kit tells her friends they'll work on the plans again tomorrow and the castle tree house is her most favorite design so far.
Ruthie leaves for home and Stirling leaves for his newspaper job; Kit helps in the dining room. Grace, the basset hound, follows Kit closely and trips Mother as she helps Kit. Margaret scolds Grace away and the dog complies; they hear Grace settling into her mother's favorite armchair and Margaret sighs. She says Grace can shed and drool on the chair as much as she wants to, as she has a plan to reupholster the furniture with her old curtain material. Mother then looks at Kit and says her plan actually depends on Kit. A friend of hers, Beatrice Pew, knows how to reupholster and is willing to help if Margaret would lend her curtain material. But she has three children -- twins and a baby -- and thus needs a babysitter for the week she would spend working on the Kittredges' furniture. Mother asks Kit if she can babysit the Pew children, and Kit--after a moment of hesitation--agrees. While she knows the Pew kids are terrors, she can't say no to her mom. Margaret thanks Kit and lets her know she'll start tomorrow after school. Kit thinks it's a shame the castle tree house didn't exist --if it did, she could stick the Pew kids inside and close the drawbridge.
Babysitting for the kids the next day is worse than Kit expected. Mrs. Pew insists for the house to be kept spotless, so the twins spill things over on purpose and move things around, making Kit chase and clean up after them. The kids are also very loud and by the time Mrs. Pew returns, Kit's all but fed up with them. Ruthie sympathizes with Kit the next day on the way to school, having spent time with them before. Kit admits she's not the babysitting type and the only time the kids kept quiet was when she read; they like stories about ogres. Ruthie says they must be taking hints. She asks Kit how much longer she has to babysit and Kit says a week -- and she can't wait for the furniture to be done. Ruthie agrees, saying they can make some more tree house plans.
Over the next couple of days, Kit doesn't even have time to rake the leaves since she has to go to the Pew's house straight after school and help with dinner as soon as she gets home. The only reward for her work is seeing how delighted Mother is over the chairs. She also notices that home improvement fever is spreading as Stirling and her dad are working on something inside the garage; she assumes they're building a new roof for the chicken coop and is happy they're working together. Jack loves to build and Stirling's dad has disappeared, so Kit thinks it's nice they spend time together.
Kit and Ruthie cover their eyes before the tree house is revealed.
Kit walks home from babysitting one day, happy she managed to find a way to make the Pew kids behave: she told them stories about ogres named after the kids and the more gruesome the story was, the better. Kit thinks how imagination can make anything better, even babysitting. When she gets home, she's surprised to see her dad, Stirling, and Ruthie waiting for her on the driveway. Kit asks Ruthie what's going on and Ruthie says she doesn't know, Stirling excitedly just told her to come over.
Dad announces happily he and Stirling want to show Kit something and think Ruthie will enjoy it as well. He tells the girls to cover their eyes and the girls, cheerful from his and Sterling's excitement, shrug to each other and put their hands over their eyes. The boys lead them to the backyard, and then Dad says she can look -- they built her a treehouse. Kit opens her eyes and gasps, not believing her eyes. Dad explains that since Kit was such a good sport about babysitting, he and Stirling made the tree house as a surprise for her. Stirling says they built part of it in the garage, then finished it today on the tree.
Kit's heart thuds and tears start to form in her eyes as she stands in silence--she thinks the tree house is terrible. It's too close to the ground, too small, clunky and awkward, and has none of the imaginative features she's talked about with her friends. She thinks that while Dad and Stirling likely think Kit's speechless from happiness, Ruthie wasn't fooled.
They all climb into the tree house and Ruthie asks where they got the wood (to cover for Kit's silence). Stirling explains that a boarded up store near his newspaper corner opened up recently and the new owner gave the extra wood to Stirling for free. Ruthie pokes Kit, and Kit manages to give a weak thanks and a wobbly hug to her dad, who says she's welcome, calling her sweetie and sounding happy and satisfied before saying it's getting dark and they better go inside. Ruthie tells Sterling and Jack to go ahead, trying to sound as if the tree house is so fantastic she and Kit can't leave.
When it's just the two of them Ruthie says this isn't the tree house Kit was expecting at all. Kit admits that--while some of her plans were unrealistic--this tree house looks awful and she can't think of a way to make it better. She asks what to do--she hates the tree house, but knows Dad and Stirling wants her to love it. Ruthie suggests that if they ask her how she likes it, then Kit ought to lie.
Sterling and Kit in the tree house at night.
Later that night, Kit looks at her tree house from her attic bedroom window and thinks it looks terrible even in the moonlight. She sighs, wondering whether she should lie about her thoughts or ask very politely for Dad to take it down and make it closer to what she wants. She then notices a flashing light in the tree house and curious about what it is, goes outside and into the tree house to find Stirling inside with her lantern.
Stirling tells Kit she didn't fool him; he knows she hates the tree house. He admits he knew from the beginning Kit wouldn't like it--but quietly explains it was great working with Kit's dad and he didn't want to say anything to her. He looks at Kit and asks if she'll tell her dad the truth about how she feels. Kit says she doesn't know; she didn't mind settling for things like an old, small coat and babysitting ogres, but she doesn't want to give up her dream tree house. Stirling nods, understanding what she means. A wind blows into the tree house and Kit hears the sound of rustling papers; she looks at the walls to see Stirling's put up the drawings of their tree house designs. She asks Sterling why he did that--the pictures will only remind Kit of her disappointment. Stirling says Kit shouldn't give up her plans and dreams of a perfect tree house, and the pictures are a reminder of that.
Kit takes a deep, shaky breath and looks around the tree house. She realizes that her dad would build her dream tree house if he could, but all he has is time, scraps of wood, and love. Stirling suggests to hang a rope ladder out the back and Kit says it'll take more than that to improve the tree house--it's a terrible tree house and even imagination and ingenuity may not even save it. But she loves her dad and is stuck with a terrible tree house--but only for now, as she eyes the drawings on the wall and smiles.
Kit calls to her friends and dad to come up into the tree house.
The next day at noon, Kit invites her dad, Stirling, and Ruthie into the tree house, saying she has a surprise for them this time. Ruthie is wowed with genuine enthusiasm as they all enter: Kit has made curtains and set up a picnic inside. Kit says her mother will help her make pillows out of the old furniture fabric. Kit's father compliments Kit's ingenuity, looks around the tree house and says happily to Kit that the tree house is great, isn't it? Ruthie and Stirling both looked hard at Kit--and Kit grins and agrees with her dad with her whole heart.
Meet The Author[]
Looking Back: Houses in 1934[]
Discusses how people lived within their homes during the Great Depression. Topics covered:
- Children that learned to appreciate private places as their household expanded to included family members and friends.
- People who used their homes to keep boarders and earn money to help pay the mortgage, and the benefits of boarding with a family.
- Difficulties boarding houses had with accommodating their members, resulting in newer bedrooms being built in attics, basements and porches.
- The difficulty kids had sharing their homes, with some having to give up their rooms to paying guests or having to do more chores in bigger households.
- Alternate homes for those who were either evicted or couldn't afford a proper house, resulting in many to settle in makeshift places or Hoovervilles.
- Homeless families having to move from various place, such as soup kitchens and hobo jungles, in order to find a place to stay and find food.
- The gratitude children felt after seeing those who were homeless, learning not to complain about their cramped homes and using creativity to make their own rooms.
Activity: Make a Jewelry Tree[]
Learn how to make a jewelry tree.
Items Associated with Kit's Tree House[]
Trivia[]
- While Kit's Tree House does exist, it is tied more to the [[movie than to this short story.
- ↑ It has been a year since the events of Kit Learns a Lesson.