"As a child (Alice Rumphius) dreamed of travel . . . and of a house by the sea; but Grandfather had made one further request: 'You must do something to make the world more beautiful.' The simple story is accompanied by glowing pictures".--The Horn Book. American Book Award. Full-color illustrations. As a child Great-aunt Alice Rumphius resolved that when she grew up she would go to faraway places, live by the sea in her old age, and do something to make the world more beautiful--and she does all those things, the last being the most difficult of all.