Experience Miss Hickory Scripted By Carolyn Sherwin Bailey Available In Readable Copy
Hickory, with her applewood twig body and her hickory nut head, in this utterly charming New England pastoral fantasy, This was a book that was as twee as it was realistic, as weird as that seems to say, The idea of a living doll with a hickory nut head and appletree twig body who lives amongst woodland creatures sounds charming, and it definitely is to some extent.
The descriptions of the weather and nature made me ache inside for happier days, But along with the charm, the animal characters of this book can communicate like humans would, but also completely in context of their own natures.
This does, of course, lead to the rather shocking climax to the end that seems to be a bit controversial amongst readers,
I cannot predict how childme would've feel about the end, Probably sickly fascinated. Perhaps unhappy. But I still imagine she would've read this many times, As an adult, it did make me gasp especially since I saw the illustration first!, but I do rather appreciate the meaning that Miss Hickoy finds in her new purpose.
Still, perhaps not the ending I would've chosen, Such is life! Miss Hickory had an applewood twig body, hickory nut head, and wore a rather smart checked gingham dress, She lived a fine and comfortable life under the lilac bush in a corncob house, Before winter set in, GreatGranny Brown would bring Miss Hickorys house and her along with it into the Old Place and set both on the windowsill to pass the time amiably until springtime.
But this year, Crow had brought some terrible news, It seems that GreatGranny Brown has closed up the Old Place for the winter and has decided to spend the winter in Boston in some place called the Womens City Club.
Abandoned, dismayed, and soontobe evicted, what is Miss
Hickory to do Leave it to her old friend Crow to not only offer up a solution, but an adventure to boot!
Newbery Medal Winner, "Miss Hickory" is NOT to be confused with some runofthemill childrens story.
Oh no! For author Carolyn Sherwin Bailey advises her readers at the beginning of her story that all of her charactersfrom Miss Hickory to Crow to Squirrel and even HenPheasantare very much real and alive save for one, but I dont wish to spoil the story.
Bailey gives us a wonderful adventure tale that centers around one very prissy, selfcentered, judgmental, and rather pretentious Miss Hickory, We follow her seasonal exploits in the orchard that sits beside the Old Place, Readers get to meet many colorful characters such as fearful Ground Hog, spoiled Chipmunk, and worldly WildHeifer, As Miss Hickory encounters each of these wonderful creatures, she grows a bit in experience, character, and selfactualization,
"Miss Hickory" is a beautifully told story complemented by Ruth Gannetts exquisite lithographs, Her drawings give an earthy and rustic feel to a tale celebrating nature and wildlife, Bailey spent her summers at a home in New Hampshire that adjoined an apple orchard, Her keen observational skills allow readers to be transported to a world where you can delight in the purple asters, smell the fragrant pine needles, taste the berries and nuts, and feel the crunch of autumn leaves beneath your feet.
SPOILER: Although younger readers may find the ending a bit sad, "Miss Hickory" is truly a celebration of discovering your personal worth and finding your place in the world adults may have to help them look for this silver lining.
In the endalthough Miss Hickory was a bit “hardheaded”she discovered that home is more than a structure, its a sense of belonging, And although she was a bit of a nut sorry!, Miss Hickory shows us that is does pay to listen to your heart rather than your head, that you cant always judge a book by its cover, andmost importantlythat you should always, ALWAYS be nice to squirrels because making them angry would be just plainnutty.
Do you want to know a secret
I really rarely ever HATE books, I might despise them or wish I hadn't read them, but hating a book That's really extreme for me,
Except for Miss Hickory, This book I HATED. With a passion! So bad that as a child before I realized I didn't have to keep books I didn't like I would put sticky notes on it that had skulls and crossbones that said things like "Read this and you will die.
" tear Just like Miss Hickory!!! What kind of children's book ends with the doll dying!!! I'm still traumatized almost ten years later, Really sad book. I would recommend this to absolutely no one,
Quaint, strange, natureappreciative, symbolic, . . these are my descriptors for theNewbery winner "Miss Hickory, "
Opinionated, prickly, at times ungrateful, but also brave, creative, natureloving, at times helpful are adjectives that describe the strong character of Miss Hickory herself.
She grows well throughout the short book,
The last two chapters are, in turn, startling and quietly majestic,
I'm glad I read "Miss Hickory, " I'm also glad much of Children's Literature has improved greatly over the years, Most dolls lead a comfortable but unadventurous life, This was true of Miss Hickory until the fateful day that her owner, Ann, moves from her New Hampshire home to attend school in Bostonleaving Miss Hickory behind.
For a small doll whose body is an applewood twig and whose head is a hickory nut, the prospect of spending a New Hampshire winter alone is frightening indeed.
In this classic modern day fairy tale, whats a doll to do Miss Hickory, a stick doll made from an apple twig with a hickory nut for a head who lives in a corncob house, has many quaint adventures until a major event alters the course of her life.
One summer during my childhood, my mother decided I was watching too much television, and she insisted, under threat of harping on this point nonstop until I gave in, that I turn off the TV and read a book.
She presented me with Miss Hickory chosen for no other reason than because it won a Newbery Award, This book gave me nightmares, You wonder how something that appears so wholesome could possibly give a child nightmares, Well, let me tell you, . .
Miss Hickory is a tiny little stick doll whose head is a hickory nut, Because this is a story, she is magically alive and sentient, and she lives a happy life and goes on cute little outdoor adventures until the fateful day when ! There is a detailed illustration depicting the scene in which .
A similar scene in the film adaptation of Return to Oz involving also terrified me years later, so perhaps it is just me.
At any rate, even the quasihappy resolution in which did not atone for the seriousness of the tragedy that befell Miss Hickory.
I spent the entire rest of the summer dreaming about .
By contrast, I can't remember a single television program I watched that summer, I was hoping this would be as good as HITTY it's also from a doll's point of view, but it wasn't, . . in fact, it was basically what I always thought HITTY would be, . . cheesy. And the illustrations are sort of creepy, Okay, but it's ALMOST worth reading the whole thing it's pretty short for the totally bizarre ending, A lot of reviewers found the story too weird, . . but that's it's charm in my opinion, Lot's of great stories are weird, just ask the Grimm Brothers, I loved Miss Hickory. She is a cranky, insecure nut who eventually finds her way, and that's a character I can relate to, I loved that she is mean, . . how refreshing and real! The weirdest part for me was the strange religious chapter in the middle of the book that seemed out of place and a bit heavyhanded, but I skipped it, since it irritated me.
The chapters follow the seasons, and nature is described in way that emphasizes it's magic, Just what my city kids need, She will give us a lot to talk about, .