The Doll Book of the Month Club: The Bad Times of Irma Baumlein/Irma's Big Lie

   It's time I caught up a little bit here, and delivered last month's Doll Book of the Month Club entry. It's "The Bad Times of Irma Baumlein", also produced in a Scholastic version as "Irma's Big Lie". 

That's the version I have from when I was a kid. That's the version I read to my kids when they were little. For my refresh to my memory, since I was at Emma's, I used a second hand hardback copy I rescued from the books from the fire. Luckily it didn't suffer any damage, and is in really nice shape.

  Whichever title you want to use, I always liked this book. It's by Carol Ryrie Brink, who  I didn't even realize wrote the famous "Caddie Woodlawn", and another kid's book I read a couple of years ago, just because it looked like the kind of book I liked as a kid, "The Pink Motel". She published her first book in 1934. 'Irma' is one of the last books she wrote, published in 1972. 

The illustrations are by Trina Schart Hyman. Her work was used in a lot of kid's books when I was growing up, so her illustrations always give me a warm, familiar feeling. She illustrated about 150  children's books, and her art included black and white illustrations like the ones in 'Irma', as well as beautiful colour illustrations in editions of  "Snow White", "The Secret Garden", and  "A Christmas Carol".  

  "Irma's Big Lie" concerns a girl named Irma Baumlein. Irma has moved with her father, from her 'cozy' apartment in New York, to the huge Baumlein mansion in another town. 

Irma and her father, (Her mother is finishing painting a mural and is supposed to join them when she's finished.), now live with Irma's grouchy great uncle and deaf great aunt, as well as their two servants.

 Irma's father has come to help his uncle modernize the family department store, founded by Irma's grandfather. The Baumleins are big names in town, but Irma doesn't feel big. She feels lonely as the new kid in school, and in the big house, where her father doesn't have time to talk to her very much, as business and his uncle have been taking all his time.

  Irma makes a habit of trying to look disinterested. But one day, weeks after their move, one of the girls from school strikes up a conversation with Irma, and invites her to her house on the way home from school. She's  a very friendly girl, who explain she has a big family, with a baby, a dog, and a bunch of hamsters. After reeling off all that news she asks Irma, "What do you have?" She wasn't trying to brag, just explain her family. She very likely meant, did Irma have any siblings, or, a dog or cat. But Irma feels pressured to top her, and blurts out, "I have the biggest doll in the world.". Irma doesn't even like dolls, preferring chemistry sets. She has no idea why she said it, but she goes on with the pretense, explaining that the doll can wear her clothes, has hair the colour of ripe oranges, and eyes that are cerulean blue.

  After her lie, Irma feels terrible, and doesn't know why she said it. She wishes she could take it all back, but the lie spreads to all the kids at school. 

  Irma is asked to bring her doll for a fundraising exhibit at school. She can't let her class down, as the class who raises the most money wins a prize. Irma searches desperately for a doll that can pass for the biggest doll in the world. Her great aunt offers Irma her old doll, which is, she says, very large. Irma gets excited, but the dolls turns out to be old and somewhat big, but can no way pass for the biggest doll in the world, and definitely does not have hair the colour of ripe oranges or eyes that are cerulean blue. Irma takes her anyway, and bonds with her great aunt, who obviously loved her doll very much.

  Irma's father mentions that the new shipment of dolls is in at the store. Irma puts together all her money, including birthday money she's been saving, and would rather spend on a chemistry set, and goes off to her great uncle's store. Her search of the doll department is fruitless, but on her way out, Irma sees a mannequin that has been removed from the window, a mannequin the size of Irma, with hair the colour of ripe oranges and eyes that are cerulean blue...and she's standing right by the exit door. You can guess where this is going.

  Irma's experiences with the doll are funny and tense. Does she get it home undetected? Does she manage to get it to school undetected? What happens at the school exhibit? Does Irma's lie get exposed? I won't say. It's an enjoyable book though, with a satisfying, if unlikely ending.

  That's the book for January! I'll be back very soon with February's book, and maybe a doll or two.

  

The Doll Book of the Month Club: The Mystery of the Silent Friends

  First of all, here's an update on the leg situation. I pulled an Elephant Man last night, and decided to 'sleep like a normal person'. I laid on my right side. Big mistake. A few hours later my leg was hurting bad enough to distract me from sleep, so I had to switch. It's afternoon now, and I have been stretching my leg, pressing the spot on my leg that feels like a tensed muscle to try to relax it, and laying on my left side, but today that's just not working. I am still having leg pain even when I'm laying still, and now my lower back is hurting too from laying on my back trying to stretch out my leg. This leg is definitely a work in progress! 

  This month's Doll Book of the Month Club entry is one I am pretty sure I read as a kid. It is called "Mystery of the Silent Friends" and is by Robin Gottlieb. 

  As a kid I read A LOT, and I would read almost anything that had a title that began with  "Mystery of the". This book was originally published in 1964, and the copy I would have read, and the one we have now, is a Scholastic paper back. I found our copy at the library book sale when the kids were little, and I read it to them. I don't remember any of their reactions to it, but Ivy says she thinks she remembers it, and she liked it. And I like it!

  The story begins in Mr. Martin's antique shop, where his daughter Nina is playing with a pair of 200 year old automatons. (Automatons are mechanical figures that perform a specific action, or series of actions. Kind of like Horsman's 1970 doll Peggy Pen Pal, 1989's Susie Scribbles doll by Wonderama, or Mattel's 1970 drawing doll Sketchy.)  In this case, the figures are a boy, that writes, and a girl that draws pictures. Oddly, the girl draws four pictures of Swiss scenes, and one picture of a 'See no evil' monkey.) Nina's father has owned the automatons for years, and no one has ever been interested in them. That suits Nina, as she loves the automatons. 

She asks her father to never sell them, and he says that isn't very likely anyway, since nobody seems to want them. So of course the next thing that happens is that a man walks into the shop, asking about the automatons. (You know how these old books go!) He claims to be the son of the previous owner, and that he has the third doll in the series, and he wants to reunite them.

  The only thing is, the next day another man comes in, giving the same name: George Ballentine III!  (I had to laugh when one of the girls puts forth the idea that maybe the men are brothers, and the other says, "But who would have two sons and name them both George?" Uh, George Forman? Maybe he read this book.) But George the third the second offers to have them come to his house and see his doll. The father and daughter go, and are amazed by the guy's collection of automatons, which includes birds in cages, acrobats, jugglers, and the supposed 'third doll', who plays a spinet.

  Nina and her friend Muffin, a devotee of practical jokes, decide that the only thing to do is to ask the first man to show them his 'third doll'. This guy is kind of suspect anyway, since when he came in he was wearing a hat over his red hair, and seemed very upset when he bumped into some antlers in the shop and his hat was tipped. 

Nina tips one of the George's hat with a spear, to check his hair colour.

He also claims to be well off, but Nina, who was apparently born to be a detective, notices that he has a broken shoe lace that's been knotted back together. And it only gets more confusing. When the red haired man comes back to hear Mr. Martin's final word on selling the automatons, he now has brown hair, like the second man. And even more weird, he takes them to the exact same 5th Avenue Brownstone, and shows them the exact same doll playing a spinet. But he doesn't give them the full tour as the other man did, and whisks them out hurriedly after the doll plays her tune.

  Now what?! Mr. Martin has told both men he's not selling, as he wants to distance himself from the whole strange situation. But, of course, this is a 1960's kid's book, so Nina and Muffin, who have to know what the deal is with the two George's, do some detective work on their own, strolling unchaperoned around New York City and Central Park. 

  I won't tell you how the book ends and spoil the fun. And it is a fun book. Do kids these days like this kind of book? I don't know. If you're considering reading it to you own child, or grandchild, (or some random kid on the street. I don't know what you do...), you know them and what they'll like or put up with. As I said, Ivy liked it, but then Ivy was raised on the Scholastic kid's books of my childhood, and also has most of the tastes of an old person, so there you go.

  It's a short 154 pages, and an easy read. The illustrations are by Al Brule, and are fun pictures typical of the period. If anybody wants a copy of this book, I managed to get an extra copy recently, so let me know. I will ask you to pay shipping though. If you aren't into physical books, and you have an account with the Internet Archive, you can read the book HERE. 

  There is a sequel to this book, called "Secret of the Unicorn", which features Nina, but unfortunately not her more colourful friend Muffin. Muffin has been replaced by a girl named Polly. No word on Muffin's whereabouts... 

The Doll Book of the Month Club: The Noble Doll

  Happy new year! This month's Doll Book of the Month Club entry is "The Noble Doll", by Newbery Award winning author, Elizabeth Coatsworth, and illustrated in black and white and colour by Leo Politti.

  I found this book recently at an antique store. It had interesting, colourful pictures, and was not expensive, so I decided to buy it and share it with all of you.

  The story begins with Doña Amalia, an elderly lady, living alone in her formerly grand house that is now run down. Doña Amalia's family had once been well to do. now, Doña Amalia is the only one left. She is very old, and her only means of income is the mending she does. Her eyesight is failing, and Doña Amalia wonders how long she will be able to earn a living with her mending.

  One day a lady appears at Doña Amalia's door with a little girl. The lady explains that she is the daughter of  Doña Amalia's former cook, and  Doña Amalia immediately recognizes her as the little girl who used to live in her house years ago. The lady explains that she was very happy living in Doña Amalia's house, and that she has brought her daughter Luisa to live with Doña Amalia, and serve her, as her own mother and grandmother served Doña Amalia's family.  She asks for no wages for Luisa, merely room and board, saying it would be an honour for Luisa to serve Doña Amalia.

  I was kind of disturbed by this. For one thing, the woman is just giving her daughter to this woman. Later in the story we find that Luisa goes home for visits when she can, but STILL! Also, Doña Amalia can barely feed herself. How can she care for the little girl? Her house is in disrepair. It would have made way more sense for Luisa's mother to have taken Doña Amalia into her home and cared for her in her final years. Whether or not Doña Amalia would have accepted the offer is another thing, but if she wasn't too proud to take this woman's daughter even when she couldn't properly provide for her, maybe she would have accepted. Just a point, but this book was originally published in 1961, and from what we learn in the ending, I don't think it was set in olden times. So it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

  Doña Amalia and Luisa come to care a great deal for each other. Luisa does the marketing, cleaning, and helps Doña Amalia by threading her needles. She loves to listen to Doña Amalia tell stories of the past while she sews. 

 

Luisa, at the bottom of the picture, does the marketing.

 Doña Amalia tells Luisa how she would love to take Luisa to see the large ranch that she owns, out in the country. The buildings were burned down long ago, but when Doña Amalia was growing up, her father owned the ranch. Now it belongs to  Doña Amalia. She has  a lawyer who has been trying to sell it for years, but no one wants the land because it is so far from town, and there is not enough water there. 

  At one point Doña Amalia fondly mentions someone named Rosita. She speaks of Rosita with such affection, that Luisa wonders who Rosita is, (Does she live somewhere in the huge house?), and if Rosita is more loved by Doña Amalia than herself.

  Doña Amalia loves having Luisa with her, but she wonders how she is going to provide for Luisa, and what will become of her crumbling mansion.

  As the Christmas season and Posada arrive, Luisa helps Doña Amalia set up the creche Nativity.

  Doña Amalia has been working on a large stack of mending for a wealthy client. She tells Luisa that when she is paid for the mending she and Luisa will have money to pay for the food for the coming year, and maybe Christmas treats. But when the wealthy lady arrives in her big car, she makes little Luisa carry it out for her, where she examines the clothing, and decides that the mending will not be good enough for her to pay the full agreed upon price. She gives Doña Amalia only a few coins, and tells her that most of the mending will need to be redone by someone else. Before she speeds off in her big car, she gives Luisa a few pesos out of guilt, to buy Christmas sweets.

  Doña Amalia is devastated. How will she buy food? What will happen to her, and to Luisa?

  Finally, Luisa meets Rosita. Rosita is a doll, and she and two other dolls are brought out for the holiday. Doña Amalia explains that the two other dolls were bought new for her, but Rosita has been passed down from Doña Amalia's mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. She is the most beautiful doll, grandly dressed and well cared for.

   All the dolls are tied in their chairs so they don't fall out and break. This was a relief, because I thought Rosita was going to get broken! I thought that was the big thing that was going to happen. I'm a pessimist, I guess!

  Rosita is displayed in the front window of Doña Amalia's home. Luisa suggests that Rosita be dressed as St. Francis, so that maybe St. Francis, being the patron saint of the poor, will look kindly on her. So Doña Amalia sews a plain brown robe for Rosita. 

  One day a gentleman appears, admiring Rosita, and offers Doña Amalia a great deal of money for Rosita. Doña Amalia turns him down, but feels inside that when he returns she must accept his offer, as there is no other way to buy food and take care of Luisa. She is heartbroken.

  If you're interested in reading the book, and don't want any spoilers, skip to my final thoughts on the book, below the second set of spoiler warning starts below. But if you want to know what happens to Doña Amalia, Luisa, and Rosita, read on.

**********************************The rest of the story************************************************

  Just when all seems lost, and Doña Amalia will have to sell Rosita, at the point in the Posada song where the door opens, she and Luisa get a sudden visit from the lawyer, who brings a huge swan Pinata and some really good news.

  The lawyer tells Doña Amalia and Luisa that the new airline company has bought her property for a new international airstrip, and they have offered such a good price that Doña Amalia will be comfortable for the rest of her life, and be able to give Luisa a very nice dowry. So everything ends happily, and Doña Amalia will NOT have to sell Rosita.

***********************************************************************************

 

  Author Elizabeth Coatsworth attended Vassar College, graduating in 1915, and got her Master of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1916. She won the 1931 Newbery medal for her book, "The Cat Who Went to Heaven". She was a great traveler who took interest in the cultures of the places she visited. She wrote many books of poetry, and over 90 books for children, including "Runaway Home", one of the series of  school readers known as The Alice and Jerry Books, and the 'Sally' series of historical fiction books. (You can see all the titles in the Sally series and read their synopsis' HERE.)

   My kids always tease me that a lot of the books I loved as a kid were about somebody having to save a house. (Some of them you may have read about here on the blog, like Sea View Secret, The Ghost of Dibble Hollow, Magic Elizabeth, and Ginnie and the Mystery Doll. So this book would have fit right in with a lot of my favourites. It is a nice warm book, with a Christmas theme and a happy ending. If you don't think your child would be upset by Luisa's mother basically giving her away, I think it could be enjoyed by small children. It's a short book of only 47 pages, and an easy read.

The Doll Book of the Month Club: The Best Loved Doll

   This month's Doll Book of the Month Club entry was a recent suggestion from our reader, RagingMoon1987. It's a book I read to my kids when they were little. This month's book is "The Best Loved Doll", by Rebecca Caudill.

  The book concerns a little girl named Betsy, who is invited to a party at her friend Susan's house. The invitation says each guest should bring a doll. At the party there will be prizes given for the Oldest Doll, the Best Dressed Doll, and the doll who can do the most things. Betsy debates which doll to take. She has a beautiful bride doll, in a gown that might win best dressed. She has a mechanical doll that can sew, who might win the prize for the doll who can do the most things. She even has her great grandmother's doll, who might win oldest doll. And then there is her doll, Jennifer. Jennifer is well loved and well worn. Her face is damaged, she has lost a shoe, and her dress is ragged. Betsy considers which doll to take, and ultimately decides to take Jennifer, knowing she won't win a prize. 

"You aren't my oldest doll, Jennifer," said Betsy. "Your dress is a fright. And you can't do a single thing. But I do love you, dear Jennifer."

  At the party all the girls have brought their dolls. The girls play games while the dolls watch from the couch. 

  The girls and the dolls enjoy cupcakes, and later, Susan's mother awards the prizes. 

  It's a surprise when she decides to award an extra prize to Jennifer, as, you guessed it, 'The Best Loved Doll'. It's a wonderful lesson about valuing love and friendship over appearances. 

  I remember reading this book to my daughter Emma, whose favourite doll was a very worn, bald doll, who was given all the best doll stuff Emma had, and who Emma took everywhere.    

Here she is getting off the plane after a 'trip' to Doll Paris.

  It's a sweet, old fashioned story. I might also add that not everyone at the party wins a prize, and they're all okay with that. Not like these days when everyone gets a prize, so no one feels left out or cheated. It used to annoy me senseless when my kids were little, and everyone always got a prize at school events. On 'Fun Day' there were games of chance, but there was no chance anybody was going to go home without a prize. It was supposed to be so that none of the kids got upset that somebody won and they didn't. I thought that taught a bad lesson. Nobody had to earn anything, and in life, sometimes you don't win. You aren't always going to win. Did those kids grow up expecting everything to be handed to them, whether they deserved it or not? I also thought it devalued the effort some kids put in. Why bother if even the kids who don't try or care win anyway? Sorry. Rant over.

  Apparently "The Best Loved Doll" was based on something that actually happened to Rebecca Caudill's own daughter.

  The book is illustrated with simple drawings by Elliot Gilbert, coloured only in a couple of colours. It might be bland to kids these days, when everything has to be neon and sparkly, but it's quietly and calmly beautiful. Gilbert wanted the illustrations to 'reflect the timelessness of the story', and while they may look a bit dated art-wise, I think they are perfect for the story, which is, itself a bit old fashioned these days. Not that that's a bad thing.

  The book was originally published in 1962, an excellent year, which also produced me. I think it's still in print, or, at least, was not many years ago. It is a thin book, of only 64 pages, and is recommended for ages 5 to 8, grades Kindergarten through third grade. It's also recommended by me.

  That's it for this month's book. My shoulder has kept me from typing much lately, but hang in there. I'm still around, with more to show you.

The Doll Book of the Month Club: The Scrap Doll

   This month's book is an early post and a short book, since I have had a plethora of things to do this month, and am heading off tomorrow to Georgia to my friend Lori's, where I'll be celebrating her 60th birthday with her. So, this month our book is "The Scrap Doll", by Liz Rosenberg.

   Originally published in 1991, "The Scrap Doll", is a sweet, simple story, with soft, simple illustrations by Robin Ballard. The story concerns a little girl named Lydia, who longs for a doll she has seen on tv, a doll with beautiful yellow hair and shiny blue eyes. 

  There's no money to buy the doll, but Lydia's mother remembers her own beloved doll Sarah, made for her by father when she was small. She brings the doll down for Lydia, but Sarah has seen better days. Her hair is missing, and her face paint is faded away. Lydia hates the doll and, thinking 'Sarah' is far too pretty a name for such an ugly doll, refers to her as "Ugly Old Thing".

 Little by little Lydia makes changes to Ugly Old Thing. As expected, eventually she has made Sarah beautiful again, and when she brings her to breakfast and her mother asks the name of her doll, Lydia replies, "Sarah. I thought you knew."

  It's predictable to jaded old people, but kids might not be expecting the turn of events. The book is a brief 32 pages, and is recommended for ages 4 to 8. 

The Doll Book of the Month Club: The Doll In the Garden

   If it's not one thing, it's another. You won't believe what happened to us now. Before we get to this month's book, let me tell you a tale. 

  Saturday afternoon I was talking to my sister on the (land line) phone, when  all went silent. Turns out, our electricity was off. We assumed it was everybody's electricity, and it would soon be back on. So we went on with our lives. Ken went to work. The fact that he didn't come back home should have tipped me off to the fact that, at least, it wasn't the whole town. I just thought of that. But at the time I was thinking when it started to get dark, and neighbours' lights were coming on, that, 'maybe it's just our block'. Unfortunately, it was not our block, but just us. 

  Ken worked late Saturday  night, and went in early Sunday morning, so he didn't really have a chance to figure out why we had no electricity until Sunday evening. I know nothing about the electric, so I wasn't even going to try. When Ken sorted it out it appeared we need a new main breaker. We went to try to find one Monday, after helping Emma and Fuzz move Fuzz's stuff to a new apartment. Nobody seemed to have one. As we were waiting at a red light to turn onto the street to Home Depot, an electric repair van drove past. I joked that maybe he had our part, and Ken said maybe even that guy was going to Home Depot for supplies. So the light changed and we drove to Home Depot right behind the electric guy! He was going to Home Depot for supplies! Home Depot didn't have the breaker, but Ken talked to him in the electrical aisle, and he confirmed what Ken thought was the problem, He also said that since the pandemic it has been really hard to get supplies like the breaker we needed. He said it might take months to get the breaker. Noooooo!!! He told us about an electrical supply place we could try. They also didn't have the breaker, and called loads of other stores, including competitors, to see if anybody had it. Nobody did. So we resorted to ordering one from Amazon. We paid extra for expedited shipping...a LOT extra. It was supposed to come between Wednesday and Sunday. I thought it must be coming from China or somewhere. Well, it turned up today and it only came from FLORIDA! It should not have cost $30 to expedite something from Florida to Ohio, and still have taken 3 days! 

  Anyway, it was worth it. We have our electricity back. While it was out, there was no house phone, no internet, (because it goes through the phone line and there was no electricity to the phone base), so, no sound, and no light! I have a heavy duty flash light, so I could get around. But by Tuesday night I was talking to the cats, to myself, anything for some sound. And the dim light was causing me to nearly have a panic attack. I was trying to take a shower in the dim light and started freaking. I kept saying to myself, "I can't do this. I can't do this." I'm not afraid of the dark. It was just that I couldn't see clearly. At the best of times I like a super well lit room. If I can't see properly it just drives me crazy. I don't like candle light, or dimly lit restaurants. I need to SEE! I had to keep myself from starting to hyperventilate. I've had panic attacks. I had them every day at the end of my school days, (which finished early because of it.)  I knew one was coming on. I did have some tears, but managed to settle myself and get through the shower. When I went in my bedroom I turned on every battery operated light we had. Ken came home and saw the bedroom window and thought the electricity had come back on. Seriously.

  Anyway, once we got the electricity back on today, not everything came back on, and we had to go out and get one of the lesser breakers too. Luckily Lowe's had one.

  So, we got our internet back just in time for this month's book. Talk about coming down to the wire. But, continuing Ken's luck, tonight he locked the car keys in the trunk! He had gotten off work and put something in the trunk and left the keys in it. The police had to come and get into the car for him.

  This month's book is "The Doll in the Garden", by Mary Downing Hahn.

  From the cover you'd think this book gets pretty gory and scary. But read on.

  The story begins with an 'almost 11' year old Ashley moving to a new apartment with her mother. Ashley's father has recently died and she and her mother are still coming to terms with their loss. The apartment was rented from a real estate agent, but the house belongs to the occupant of the downstairs half of the house, a crotchety old woman named Miss Cooper. 

  Miss Cooper hates Ashley on sight, and Ashley can't seem to stay out of trouble with her. She forbids Ashley to go into the weedy old garden at the back of the property. Of course, Ashley goes anyway. There she finds a statue and fish pond amongst the weeds. and a white cat. When Ashley meets her new neighbour, Kristi, Kristi tells Ashley that the white cat is a ghost, and connected to mysterious crying that's heard every summer.  

  Ashley talks Kristi into coming into the garden with her, even though Kristi is very afraid of the 'haunted' garden and the mysterious white cat. While clearing out the weeds Kristi uncovers a wooden box, buried in the garden. The box contains a very old doll, and a note from someone named Carrie, apologizing to someone named Louisa, and asking for her forgiveness. Kristi is afraid of the doll and insists that Ashley leave the doll in the box. But both girls later feel sorry for the doll, and Ashley retrieves her.

  Okay. From the moment they find the doll anybody could figure that the crying is a ghost girl wanting her doll back. But this story goes further, and deals with death and grief, and regret. It's not a super scary story, but  has just enough eerieness to get things going. The end is a sad/happy one. It may not end the way we wish it could end, but it ends realistically and satisfyingly.

  I don't think the book will be too sad for kids, although it did make me cry. (I cry at anything. Just ask my family.)  It's sad, but in the end we learn that it's okay to be sad sometimes. It's also not too scary, as I said. In fact, those looking for a horrifying story might be pretty disappointed. I liked the book. I think most kids will too.

  There are no illustrations. The book was originally published in 1989, (...which makes the timeline of the book more understandable. You have to read it to know what I mean.) , and has been published with a few different covers.

  That's the doll book this month. See you soon.

The Doll Book of the Month Club: Hitty, Her First 100 Years, and A Problem You Might Not Be Expecting

  Well, if any of you are curious, my black eye is fading fast. It's in a nice state of yellow and green at the moment, so hopefully it will be gone in a few more days. The lump on my temple doesn't seem to be fading with quite as much speed. It's maintaining it's size. Luckily it was never very big to begin with after the first night. And, on to the Doll Book of the Month!

  I suppose a  lot of you have been wondering just when  I was going to get around to this one. "Hitty, Her First 100 Years", a Newbery Award winning book, written by Rachael Field, and originally illustrated by Dorothy Lathrop, is one of the most famous doll books ever.

Mine is a bit old and cruddy. I got it at a thrift store.

  The reason I'm only just getting around to it is, I only just read it. I actually started reading it to the kids years ago, but after one sitting or two, it was deemed boring by Fuzz and Ivy, so we never continued. If they had stuck with it a little longer, I think they would have enjoyed it...except for...well, we'll get to that. Hitty's life was full of adventure. Carved by a peddler in the 1820's, she gets kidnapped by a crow...

...left on a burning ship, is shipwrecked on a tropical island, worshiped by island natives, lost in India, travels with a snake charmer, attends a concert by soprano  Adelina Patti and goes on stage with her, gets stuck inside a horsehair sofa for years, sits in a hay loft for years, is part of a cotton expo in New Orleans, floats on the Mississippi in a basket 'a la Moses, travels by ship, train,wagon, coach, and automobile. You name it, Hitty survives it, and goes on to write her memoirs, in an antique store in the 1920's.

     You may wonder how, after being lost so many times, and going from one owner to another over 100 years, how all of her owners could have known that her name was Hitty. The answer in the story is that her name was embroidered on her chemise, (an undershirt or loose cotton dress worn under clothes to protect them from body odor and sweat.), by her first owner, Phoebe Preble, and every owner since left the chemise on her, while changing all of her other clothes. 

  I did mostly manage to enjoy "Hitty", but there is a problem with this book. Remember it was published in 1929. Those were different days, and unfortunately Hitty  has some ideas about, and uses some names for, indigenous peoples that are far from appropriate or politically correct today, (nor should they have been then!). From calling Native Americans 'Injuns', and the native inhabitants of the Pacific, who steal her, 'savages', to describing the language of India as 'heathen gibberish' just because she didn't understand what was being said, to the phonetic spelling of the stereotypical Southern African American way of speaking, that is worse than the Brer Rabbit stories, this book is going to have to come with some conversation if read to kids today. Several times Hitty describes African Americans as having 'rolling eyes' and 'flashing teeth'. (I also have a problem with how nice Hitty thinks the (post Civil War) plantation owners are, and how wonderful the Christmas party they give for their workers, (undoubtedly their former slaves), is, when she has just finished describing the overcrowded cabins, with dirt floors, in which the rag clad workers live. A party once a year is nice, but maybe they could live decently all year long too.) It's one thing to tell a child that yes, people did have those opinions in the past, and it was wrong then and is wrong now. That is how most people thought in those days, and you can't just say they didn't. (Denying it or ignoring it would be wrong too.) But you can't just read this book to kids and not mention the 'elephant in the room'.  Doing that is like approving of the terms and opinions, and thus, passing them along to a new generation to use. 

  So, do I recommend the book? I'm a bit unsure it should be read to or by today's children, especially without an accompanying conversation, as I mentioned above. While enjoying Hitty's adventures, I was made very uncomfortable by the things I mentioned. It made me feel that maybe I should be throwing the book in a corner instead of giving it the honour of being read. (Talk about 'eye rolling'! I was doing a lot of that myself.) I know if I were a person of colour the book would bother me even more. I kept having to keep in mind that Hitty was from the 1800's. That didn't make it all right, but it somewhat explained it. But are kids going to think of that? Maybe, if read aloud to kids today, certain words and ways of describing people could be omitted, and the book could still be enjoyed. Maybe the book should be scrapped altogether. I suppose this is a subject for discussion, so I welcome your comments. 

  Hitty has been so popular that  actual Hitty dolls are very popular collectibles now. There are  handmade ones, with some artists specializing in Hitty dolls. There was even a Robert Raikes Hitty. There are all kinds of dolls inspired by Hitty. You may have seen my post on what I referred to as 'Hitty grandparents'. (If not, you can see it HERE.) Artists sell  their versions of Hitty's possessions, or even things Hitty didn't have, but can use. (And there are plenty of items Hitty once owned, to make. Hitty's little owners made her new clothes practically every time she went from one to another, and the things that were given to Hitty or made for her by friendly adults can at times leave you very upset when they're lost in one of Hitty's adventures. The fabulous wardrobe made by Miss Pinch, her coral beads that she managed to keep through several owners, the magnificent wedding dress made from a family heirloom...

... and I want the chest, with her name in tiny nailheads, made for her by one of the men on the whaling ship. All of it gone!)

  Hitty, the book character, was based on a real life doll that author Rachel Field and illustrator Dorothy Lathrop found and bought in a New York antique shop in 1927. As the story goes, they discovered Hitty separately, and both wanted her, but neither could afford her. Finally they visited Hitty together, and decided to pool their  monies and buy her to share. They dressed her and bought her furniture  and other things a doll needs. And the truth of the real Hitty is that she does actually have her name, 'Hitty', embroidered on her chemise.  Hitty is a common nickname for the name, 'Mehitable', an Old Testament name, and Hitty's full name in the book. (You may have read my review of the book, "Merry, Rose, and Christmas Tree June", in which there is a doll named Mehittable, that takes the name literally.)  She was assumed to be about 100 years old at the time she was purchased by Field and Lathrop, so that's how old she is in the book. However, some people speculate that she might be younger, made in the 1860's or so, based on her hair style. Of course, that still puts her way over 100 years old now days. 

  One thing that may be different from how Hitty is described in the book, is what she's actually made of. Although in the book Hitty repeatedly refers to how special she is because she's made from Mountain Ash wood, there is some speculation that she is actually made of White Ash. 

  Today the original Hitty lives in the Stockbridge Library Museum, in Stockbridge Massachusetts   She came from the estate of Dorothy Lathrop, but I'm not sure if she was left to the library, or they obtained her somehow though other means. (Lathrop passed away in 1980, nearly 40 years after Field, who died in 1942.)  She is 6 1/4 inches tall, with painted stockings, boots and hair, and was possibly painted all over. She's now so worn it's hard to be sure. She can be viewed by the public, but because she is delicate these days, photography is no longer allowed. (Gee, they could have allowed non-flash photography. That wouldn't hurt her.) You can see some very good detail pictures of her HERE though.

The real Hitty has a bench like this.

  For a good page with lots of Hitty information I recommend you go HERE. For lots of detail about all of Hitty's physicality, you should go HERE. It's especially handy if you would like to make a Hitty of your own. You can buy blank precut wooden Hitty dolls for carving the details into. 

  Rachel Field grew up in Stockbridge Massachusetts, where Hitty now lives in the Library Museum. She wrote books for adults as well as children. One of her books,  "All This and Heaven Too"  was based on the true story of Field's great aunt, Henriette Deluzy Desportes, a governess who fell in love with her employer, and was implicated when his wife was murdered. It was made into a movie, starring Bette Davis and Charles Boyer, in 1940. Field also wrote poetry, plays, and the English lyrics for Schubert's  "Ave Maria", used in Disney's "Fantasia".  If you want to read more about Rachel Field, you can check out a biography of her written by Robin Clifford Wood HERE.

  Dorothy Lathrop illustrated many books, in various styles. 

  She did some beautiful work that I would never have expected from the "Hitty" illustrations. Not that the "Hitty" illustrations aren't good, but some of her other work is amazing. I have another artist to add to my favourites!

  That's the book for the month. See you again soon.

Doll Book of the Month Club: The Tub People by Pam Conrad

  This month's Doll Book is "The Tub People", by Pam Conrad, with beautiful illustrations by Richard Egielski.

 "The Tub People" is a short picture book, which can be read in a few minutes, but there's quite an adventure included. The book tells the story of a group of toys who live on the side of a bathtub. They include, "The father, the mother, the grandmother, the doctor, the policeman, the child, and the dog", and that's the order they always stand in. 

  I wondered why the child didn't stand with his parents. It should have been a tip off to the payoff of the story. I won't tell you the end of the story, but I will tell you that it's quite touching. Before the end comes the adventure. One evening, instead of being lined up along the tub as they usually are, the tub people are left floating in the water. Suddenly the water is drained from the tub, and the hapless Tub People go spinning toward the drain. The poor Tub Child disappears down the drain, and the Tub People are unable to save him.

Will the Tub Child be rescued? 

The sad Tub People, (and dog), after the loss of the Tub Child.

Is this too scary for a small child? I don't think they'll be scarred by it. It's a sweet, old fashioned story that is reminiscent of books like "The Doll People", (no relation.).

Giving away the ending...

 My kids liked it very much when they were small. Emma has a book called, "The  20th Century Children's Book Treasury", a huge book with many children's books included within one volume. "The Tub People" is included in that. 

 

There have been two sequels, "The Tub Grandfather", and "The Tub People's Christmas". 

  You can hear "The Tub People"  read aloud HERE. You can hear "The Tub Grandfather" read aloud HERE, and "The Tub People's Christmas" can be heard HERE.

  Pam Conrad is also the author of  the 1986 ALA Best Children's Book of the Year and 1985 ALA Golden Kite Honor award winning children's novel "Prairie Songs", and the 1991 Edgar Allen Poe Best Juvenile Mystery award winner, "Stonewords". Richard Egielski is a Caldecott Medal winner and has illustrated many other children's books, including "Hey, Al", and the Tub People sequels, He has written and illustrated books including "Buz and Jazper", and "The Magic Balls", and "The Gingerbread Boy", both New York Times Best Illustrated Book award winners.

  That's it for this month's book. See you soon.

The Doll Book of the Month Club: The Doll People Series. Plus, A Giveaway!

   I'm way late with this month's Doll Book of the Month Club entry. I'm still coughing, headachy, tiring and running out of breath easily. I don't even have my Christmas tree up yet! As the saying goes though, better late than never. This month's book is actually a series of books, The Doll People series, by Ann M. Martin, (Author of the Babysitter's Club books.), and Laura Godwin, and illustrated by Brian Selznick. (You may remember Brian Selznick as the author and illustrator of  "The Invention of Hugo Cabret", the basis for the movie "Hugo".) There are five books in the series, four chapter books, and one younger children's book. Ivy and I read most of them when she was small. She outgrew them, and I read the 4th one without her, because I loved the books and wanted to know what happened to the characters. 

  The first book in the series is The Doll People. 

  We meet the two doll families we know throughout the books. The first family we meet is the Dolls. They are a family of antique dollhouse dolls, over a hundred years old. They, and their house, have been passed down through the same family for generations. They currently belong to Kate Palmer, but used to belong to Grama Katherine, who lives with the Palmers.  At one point Grama Katherine admits to a curious Kate, that she also thought the dolls might actually be alive when she was a child. Kate's sister, Nora likes to come in and play what she calls 'rancher family' with The Dolls and her own farm animal toys. 'Rancher Family is pretty rough, (One session ends in a talcum powder snow storm that covers everything.), and the Dolls hate it. But, of course, they can't do anything about it: They're dolls. If they are caught moving or talking in front of humans they go into what's called 'Doll State': 24 hours of being unable to move or talk. (The dolls take an oath when they are made, to never give away the lives of dolls to humans.)  Worse yet is  'Permanent Doll State', which happens when a doll does something especially bad to give away the secret lives of dolls. Once a doll goes into 'Permanent Doll State, they will never be alive again. From then on, they are only a regular doll. 

  The main character is Annabelle, perpetually eight years old, with green hair because of a past owner's artistic efforts. Her best friend arrives in Nora's new Fun Craft dollhouse. She's a very modern, plastic doll named Tiffany. The Funcrafts are the other family of dolls the books follow. Tiffany, being a modern girl, and made of worry free, unbreakable plastic, is maybe even more adventurous than Annabel. (Or at least more reckless.)

  Annabelle lives with her parents, her brother, her baby sister, (who was sent by mistake all those years ago, and came from a different set of much larger dolls.), their nanny, and Uncle Doll. Uncle Doll's wife, Auntie Sarah, has been missing for the last forty five years. When Annabelle finds Auntie Sarah's diary, she uncovers some clues, and is determined to find Auntie Sarah. Fortunately, the house the Palmers live in has also been passed down in the family for years, so Auntie Sarah might still be on the premises. 

  Annabelle and Tiffany risks cat attacks, breakage, (Well, Annabelle, at least, is made of porcelain.), and Doll State to find Auntie Sarah. Do they find her? How would her reappearance be explained? Where has she been all those years? 

  The second book, "The Meanest Doll in the World", finds Annabelle and Tiffany eager to see what school is like. 

They hide in Kate's back pack and travel to school. When it's time to return home, the dolls climb into the wrong back pack by accident, and end up at another house, where they meet several other dolls, including Mean Mimi. Mimi follows Annabelle and Tiffany back home, where she threatens everyone's lives by being seen moving. 

  In the third book, "The Runaway Dolls", a package from one hundred years ago is discovered behind a piece of furniture in an old shop. 

It shows up at the Palmers house, but it's addressed to the inhabitants of one hundred years ago, and the Palmers have gone on vacation. Annabelle, ever curious, investigates. She hears a tiny voice coming from inside the package. Is it her long lost baby sister? (Remember, the wrong baby sister was sent with the rest of the family, leaving them with a giant baby that barely fits on her parents' laps. But they love her anyway.) Annabelle can't resist letting her sister out of the package, (What if it gets returned because it's addressed to someone else?!), even though her parents don't believe that's who she is. Since her parents won't accept the new daughter, Annabelle decides the only thing to do is run away. This seems out of character for Annabelle, who usually has more sense than that. Even Annabelle doubts her decision pretty quickly.

  The dolls, (Tiffany came with Annabelle and her sister Tilly.), are joined this time by their brothers. The dolls have many adventures, but I won't spoil the ending. I liked this book just slightly less than the first two. Not that it wasn't good, but the books seemed to be falling into the old sequel trap of not being as good as the original.

  The last full length book, (So far.), is "The Doll People Set Sail". 

I have to say that this story of the Dolls and the Funcrafts getting accidentally donated to charity,(Shades of Toy Story 3!), and shipped to England, is my least favourite of the series. It isn't bad. It's just the weakest of the four full length books. They also lost their long time illustrator with this one, which sees Brett Helquist taking over the duties. 

His illustrations aren't bad, but lack the magic of Selznick's.

  I haven't even seen the short book, "The Doll People's Christmas" in a store, so I can't tell you much about it.

                                               I can tell you I hate the way Tiffany and Annabelle look on the cover.

 The illustrations are by Brett Helquist and are in colour this time. There are 48 pages. Annabel is looking forward to showing Tiffany a traditional Christmas when Kate and Nora decide to use the dolls in a nativity scene DOWNSTAIRS. Will they get back to the dollhouse in time for Christmas?  Can  they get past Captain, the cat? What about the broken Christmas star on the dollhouse tree?

  The reading level for the first four books is listed in one place as 7-10, and in another as 8-12. I think even younger kids could enjoy having the books read to them. Warning though: Mimi is pretty frightening!

  And now for that giveaway! I'm sorry it will only be open to residents of the continental United States, but no fear. In the new year there will be a contest open to everybody. As for this competition, a hardcover, (first edition I think!), copy of  "The Meanest Doll in the World" will go to a winning reader. Comment with your favourite Doll Book of the Month Club post of the year to enter. A winner will be pulled from a 'hat' on December 24th, so get your entries in. I apologize the book won't arrive in time for Christmas, but the original plan was, of course, to have posed this on December first, and give the readers two weeks to enter. Things don't always go as planned.

  As this is the last Doll Book of the Month Club entry for the year, I wanted to remind everyone of a doll book I posted about several years ago. It's one of my favourites from my childhood. You can read about "Merry, Rose, and Christmas Tree June" HERE.

  I'll see you again soon!