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The Wind in the Willows — a tale of wanderlust, male bonding, and timeless delight

<p>Like several classics penned during the golden age of children’s literature, The Wind in the Willows was written with a particular child in mind.</p> <p>Alastair Grahame was four years old when his father Kenneth — then a secretary at the Bank of England — began inventing bedtime stories about the reckless ruffian, Mr Toad, and his long-suffering friends: Badger, Rat, and Mole.</p> <p>Alastair, born premature and partially blind, was nicknamed “Mouse”. Small, squinty, and beset by health problems, he was bullied at school. His rapture in the fantastic was later confirmed by his nurse, who recalled hearing Kenneth “up in the night-nursery, telling Master Mouse some ditty or other about a toad”.</p> <p>The Wind in the Willows evolved from Alastair’s bedtime tales into a series of letters Grahame later sent his son while on holiday in Littlehampton. In the story, a quartet of anthropomorphised male animals wander freely in a pastoral land of leisure and pleasure — closely resembling the waterside haven of Cookham Dean where Grahame himself grew up.</p> <p>In peaceful retreat from “The Wide World”, Rat, Mole, Badger, and Toad spend their days chatting, philosophising, pottering, and ruminating on the latest fashions and fads. But when the daredevil, Toad, takes up motoring, he becomes entranced by wild fantasies of the road. His concerned friends must intervene to restrain his whims, teaching him “to be a sensible toad”.</p> <p>Unlike Toad’s recuperative ending, however, Alastair’s story did not end happily. In the spring of 1920, while a student at Oxford, he downed a glass of port before taking a late night stroll. The next morning, railway workers found his decapitated body on tracks near the university. An inquest determined his death a likely suicide but out of respect for his father, it was recorded as an accident.</p> <p>Kenneth Grahame, by all accounts, never recovered from the loss of his only child. He became increasingly reclusive, eventually abandoning writing altogether.</p> <p>In his will, he gifted the original manuscript of Willows to the Bodleian Library, along with the copyrights and all his royalties. Upon his death in 1932, he was buried in Oxford next to his first reader, Mouse.</p> <p>A ‘gay manifesto’?<br />Biographical readings are a staple in children’s literature, and the criticism surrounding The Wind in the Willows is no exception. First published in 1908 — the same year as Anne of Green Gables and Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz — the novel was initially titled The Mole and the Water-Rat. After back and forth correspondence with Grahame, his publisher Sir Algernon Methuen wrote to say he had settled on The Wind in the Willows because of its “charming and wet sound”.</p> <p>Today, one of the mysteries surrounding the novel is the meaning of the title. The word “willows” does not appear anywhere in the book; the single form “willow” appears just twice.</p> <p>When Willows was first released in Britain it was marketed as an allegory — “a fantastic and whimsical satire upon life”, featuring a cast of woodland and riverside creatures who were closer to an Edwardian gentlemen’s club than a crowd of animals. Indeed, the adventures structuring the novel are the meanderings of old English chaps nostalgic for another time.</p> <p>The four friends, though different in disposition, are bound by their “divine discontent and longing”.</p> <p>Restless enough to be easily bewitched, they are rich enough to fill their days with long picnics and strolls. Most chapters are sequenced in chronological order, but the action revolves around different types of wandering – pottering around the garden, messing about in boats, rambling along country lanes.</p> <p>With the exception of a brief encounter with a jailer’s daughter, an overweight barge woman, and a careless mother hedgehog, there are no women in Willows. And excluding a pair of young hedgehogs and a group of field mice, all male, there are no children either.</p> <p>Given the novel’s strong homosocial subtext and absence of female characters, the story is often read as an escapist fantasy from Grahame’s unhappy marriage to Elspeth Thomson. Peter Hunt, an eminent scholar of Willows, describes the couple’s relationship as “sexually arid” and suggests Grahame’s sudden resignation from the bank in 1908 was due to bullying on the basis of his sexuality.</p> <p>Indeed, Hunt ventures to call the book “a gay manifesto”, reading it as a gay allegory heavy with suppressed desire and latent homoeroticism. In one scene, for example, Mole and Rat “shake off their garments” and “tumble in-between the sheets in great joy and contentment”.</p> <p>Earlier, while sharing a bed in the open air, Mole “reaches out from under his blanket, feels for the Rat’s paw in the darkness, and gives it a squeeze.” “I’ll do whatever you like, Ratty,” he whispers.</p> <p>For this reason, and others, some critics suggest that Willows is not a children’s book at all, but a novel for adults that can be enjoyed by children.</p> <p>Conservatism<br />Whether we read Willows as a simple animal story or a social satire, the narrative reinforces the status quo. Badger, for instance, resembles a gruff headmaster whose paternal concern for his friends extends to an earnest attempt to reform the inebriate Toad.</p> <p>Toad is a recognisable type of schoolboy, charming and impulsive but wildly arrogant and lacking self-control. In the end, he is punished for his foolish behaviour and forced to forgo his flamboyant egotism in humble resignation at Toad Hall. Similarly, Mole and Ratty are afflicted by wanderlust, but inevitably retreat to their cosy, subterranean homes. All of Grahame’s animals return to their “proper” place.</p> <p>This return to civility and quiet domesticity exemplifies a criticism often levelled at children’s literature: that such stories are more about the fears and desires of adults than those of children. (Alice in Wonderland, for instance, emphasises the importance of curiosity and imagination, but is also an attempt to socialise children into responsible citizenship.)</p> <p>Willows is a story about homecoming and friendship, but also a psychodrama about uncontrolled behaviour and addiction in Edwardian England.</p> <p>Creatures of habit<br />Perhaps the most famous scene in Willows — now also a popular ride at Disneyland — is Mr Toad’s Wild Ride. In the novel, the incautious Toad, who is oddly large enough to drive a human-sized car, is frequently in trouble with the law and even imprisoned due to his addiction to joyriding.</p> <p>At times delusional, the self-proclaimed “terror of the highway” writes off several vehicles before spiralling into a cycle of car theft, dangerous driving, and disorderly behaviour.</p> <p>Eventually, Toad’s motorcar mania becomes so unmanageable that his exasperated friends are forced to stage “a mission of mercy” – a “work of rescue” that contemporary readers might recognise as an intervention. This subtext of addiction underpins the arc of recovery, and is crucial for understanding the novel’s key themes: the limits of friendship, the loss of pastoral security, and the temptations of city life.</p> <p>Interestingly, in Badger’s attempt to help Toad break the cycle of withdrawal and recovery, and in Toad’s temporary abatement and relapse, the text points to another form of addiction: to alcohol.</p> <p>When Toad is banished to his country retreat — a typical “cure” for upper-class alcoholism at the time — Badger stresses he will remain in enforced confinement “until the poison has worked itself out of his system” and his “violent paroxysms” have passed.</p> <p>Again, the biographical foundation of the work is clear. Grahame’s father, Cunningham, was an alcoholic whose heavy drinking resulted, like Toad’s intoxication, in social exile, financial strain, and the loss of the family home.</p> <p>In The Wind in the Willows, Grahame employs animals to render all the ups and downs of human experience. In doing so, he captures the conflict and consonance between freedom and captivity, tradition and modernity.</p> <p class="p1"><em>Written by Kate Cantrell. This article first appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/guide-to-the-classics-the-wind-in-the-willows-a-tale-of-wanderlust-male-bonding-and-timeless-delight-151091">The Conversation</a>.</em></p>

Books

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Father's reason for leaving little Willow Dunn to die in her cot

<p>A man accused of leaving his four-year-old daughter to starve to death, has told police why he left his little girl in her bed for so long she had developed sores that went right to the bone. </p> <p>Little Willow Dunn's body was found malnourished and decomposing in her bed at her Brisbane home on Monday.</p> <p>Reports say her face was partially eaten away by rats.</p> <p>Her father, Mark James Dunn, 43, has since been charged with murder after he allegedly found the toddler dead on Saturday and didn't call emergency services.</p> <p>“We just can't wait to meet her,” Ms Dunn had written to a friend who had commented on how heavily pregnant she was in photos from a party.</p> <p>Instead of Ms Dunn being able to meet her baby, she died in childbirth - which Dunn says sent him into a spiral.</p> <p>Dunn allegedly told police after his arrest he couldn't handle his daughter’s condition - Down Syndrome - and was depressed about the death of his wife.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7836269/willow-dunn-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/65a5fc93ee6b44e4859effad6c7ee5b7" /><span class="CmCaReT" style="display: none;">�</span></p> <p>Reports say Willow was sent to live with relatives when she was born.</p> <p>It is also understood the toddler had Down Syndrome.</p> <p>A year later, Dunn took his daughter and her brother, who is now seven, back to live with him despite relatives attempting to take custody of both children.</p> <p>He allegedly left the helpless toddler lying in her bed long enough for her to have infected sores on her hips that went right down to the bone.</p> <p>Her body was reportedly found in a back bedroom inside the Brisbane home on Bent Street in Cannon Hill, where she lived with her father, stepmother and stepsister.</p> <p>Willow's stepmother and stepsister are not facing charges. There is no suggestion there was any wrongdoing.</p> <p>Ms Dunn also had an adult son and daughter from a previous relationship, who mourned their baby half-sister on Facebook.</p> <p>“Rest in Peace Willow. It's so heartbreaking things have turned out this way, but you will forever be in our hearts. Fly high with mum,” her son wrote.</p> <p>Neighbours began leaving flowers for the sweet toddler on Tuesday, with many saying they had never seen the little girl themselves despite the family moving in over a year ago.</p> <p>“They’ve been there for that long and we didn’t know a little girl lived there,” one neighbour said.</p> <p>“That’s the big take-home for me. I can’t believe it.”</p> <p>Dunn is being charged under a new definition of murder in Queensland which targets child-killers who showed a “reckless indifference to human life”.</p> <p>The case has been adjourned until July 20 after it was briefly mentioned in Brisbane magistrates court on Tuesday, although Dunn did not appear in person.</p> <p>Queensland’s tough new law was introduced on May 1, 2019 and permits that a person can be charged with murder if death is caused by a “reckless indifference to human life”.</p> <p>To be found guilty under the new law would mean the accused doing an act has foresight that death will likely arise from the act.</p> <p>Child Safety Minister Di Farmer has given no detail over the department's contact with the family.</p> <p>“The death of any child is a tragedy,” she said in a statement.</p> <p>“I know the death of this little girl has had a profound impact on our community and my deepest sympathies go to those who knew and loved this child.”</p> <p>One neighbour, Kathy Cowell spoke with 10 News while after laying flowers outside the house in honour of Willow.</p> <p>”It's just a sad way for a little girl to go,” she told 10 News.</p> <p>“I’ve got grandchildren, it's just very, very sad. No four-year-old deserves to pass like that.”</p>

Family & Pets

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Pink’s daughter Willow debuts new “punk rock” haircut

<p>Carey Hart has taken to Instagram to share his love and pride for his daughter’s “punk rock” makeover. </p> <p>The 44-year-old pro motocross competitor shared a special photograph of his eight-year-old daughter Willow’s brand new half-shaved haircut. </p> <p>The proud papa, who is married to pop star Pink shared a sweet message of support by saying: "Loving my punk rock daughter.</p> <p>"Remember everyone, fly your own flag. There is no box to be put in. It's better to be your own self. Own it, and love it. </p> <p>“And if anyone has a problem with it, tell them (politely) to move on. Can't wait to see the woman you grow up to be. </p> <p>“I have a feeling you are gonna be strong, fierce, compassionate, and caring. I'm so proud of you, Willow," he concluded.</p> <p>Hart also shared a meaningful message for his wife’s 40th birthday on September 8, thanking her for constantly inspiring him. </p> <p>"Welcome to 40 baby. I've celebrated 18 birthdays with you, and I can say it's amazing growing up with you,” he wrote. </p> <p>“The person you have grown into is inspiring. You have become a successful business woman, superstar, dedicated mother, philanthropist, supportive wife, wine maker, motorcycle mama, and amazing friend to all around you,”. </p> <p>He and Pink also share a two-year-old son Jameson and have been married since 2006. </p> <p>Scroll through the gallery above to see the pop star’s family throughout the years. </p>

Music

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Pink's daughter Willow rushed to hospital

<p>Singer Pink was faced with a quite a scare yesterday as she had to rush her 7-year-old daughter to hospital after an accident in the playground.</p> <p><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/entertainment/music/it-runs-in-the-family-pink-s-7-year-old-daughter-willow-can-seriously-sing" target="_blank">Willow Hart</a> was playing on the monkey bars like all children do before she fell and sprained her arm. But despite the mad rush to the hospital, the young girl has a positive attitude.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BpjFxJGh4fK/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BpjFxJGh4fK/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank">Monkey bars from hell. ER convos with my soulchild. #shesfine Her fav part of all of this is that she doesn’t have to do her chores.</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/pink/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank"> P!NK</a> (@pink) on Oct 30, 2018 at 12:07am PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>“Monkey bars from hell. ER convos with my soulchild. #shesfine,” the singer wrote underneath a photo showing the mother and daughter in a deep conversation while in a hospital room. “Her fav part of all of this is that she doesn’t have to do her chores.”</p> <p>It didn’t take Willow long before she was running around again, but this time, there was an added sling.</p> <p>Her dad Carey Hart gushed over his girl, saying she’s as tough as they come.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BpioUzkHuaI/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BpioUzkHuaI/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank">Willz has her first ER trip today due to a crash and burn on the monkey bars. She is tough as nails and left w/ a sprain. #ProudPapa #BubbleWrapYourKids</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/hartluck/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank"> Carey Hart</a> (@hartluck) on Oct 29, 2018 at 7:49pm PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>“Willz [had] her first ER trip today due to a crash and burn on the monkey bars. She is tough as nails and left w/ a sprain,” wrote Hart, as he posted a photo of Willow with a sling around her arm.</p> <p>This isn’t the first health scare the family has had to deal with this year, as only two months ago, Pink and Carey’s 22-month-old son Jameson fell ill with with hand, foot and mouth disease during the pop star's tour in Australia.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BnBI56QDsYB/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BnBI56QDsYB/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank">Wanna know how glamorous tour can be? Jameson has hand, foot, and mouth; and willow has a 102 temp. Both kids laid up and mama @pink still has to push through and do shows. I had Jameson at breakfast yesterday and this vile woman at the table next to us kept staring at him with a shitty look on her face. I told her it was bed bugs 😂. #NoRestForTheWicked #LifeInHotels</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/hartluck/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank"> Carey Hart</a> (@hartluck) on Aug 28, 2018 at 2:37am PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>“Wanna know how glamorous tour can be? Jameson has hand, foot and mouth; and Willow has a 102 temp,” Carey shared on Instagram during the time of the incident. “Both kids laid up and mama @pink still has to push through and do shows.”</p> <p>And it wasn’t only her kids that had suffered with health problems. Pink also fell sick during her time in Australia which resulted in a number of cancelled Sydney shows. She was admitted to hospital twice, once for dehydration and then the second was due to a gastric virus.</p> <p>“We were absolutely planning on going ahead with the show, and about 20 minutes before I left for soundcheck, I was rushed to the hospital, in excruciating pain,” she wrote. “That was the reason for the late cancellation. It was out of anyone’s control, and of course, wasn’t planned that way."</p> <p>The singing sensation added, “I was discharged from hospital last night and am following doctors’ orders of liquids and rest.”</p>

Music

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It runs in the family! Pink’s 7-year-old daughter Willow can seriously sing

<p>A newly-released YouTube video gives a revealing glimpse into how the daughter of music superstar Pink has inherited her mum’s impressive vocal talents.</p> <p>Recording her track <em>A Million Dreams</em> for <em>The Greatest Showman – Reimagined</em>, an album of covers from the hugely successful Hugh Jackman-starring movie musical, Pink and her 7-year-old daughter Willow Sage Hart engage in playful banter between takes.</p> <p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V1weVGUmNTA" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>“I think you’re fun,” the 39-year-old tells her daughter, who replies, “Why?”</p> <p>“Because you’re fun, I’m glad I had you.”</p> <p>Willow is also a guest artist on the album, and fittingly, sings <em>A Million Dreams (Reprise)</em>. And boy can she sing! </p> <p>Kneeling beside her daughter, Pink supportively mouths the words to the popular song, as Willow belts out the tune. The pair also sing together as part of the recording.</p> <p>During the footage, the singer and mum of two, who gives a typically powerful performance on her version of the song, told <em>The Greatest Showman </em>director Michael Gracey of her gratitude to him for making the film.</p> <p>“I grew up watching Annie,” Pink explained to Gracey. “To have her [Willow] finally have something like this …You made our favourite movie ever.”</p> <p>On Twitter, users wrote of how moving they found the mother-daughter performance.</p> <p>“I watched this early this morning when it first aired and I watched it again just now and choked up with happy tears each time,” said one.</p> <p>“Willow has a beautiful voice, Pink’s joy in working w/her daughter &amp; the song itself are a great way to begin &amp; end the day!”</p> <p>“Honestly the most heartwarming cutest thing I’ve seen ever!” said another.</p> <p>“The bond you both have is amazing and priceless, the best of friends. It’s so amazing to see such a connection between a mother and a daughter! You rock @pink”</p> <p>The album <em>The Greatest Showman – Reimagined</em> will be released on November 16.</p>

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