One of the most difficult books for me to read in my goal of reading all the Newbery Award Winners was this one, Hitty: Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Fields. It's about a doll of all things (not the only Newbery winner about a doll--I read Miss Hickory before I started blogging about my reading, but I definitely need to talk about that one later because it was by far the creepiest Newbery winner). And not only was it about a doll, but in all the libraries I searched, I could only find this new illustrated version where there's multiple pictures of this unblinking doll on every page.
One of my quirks that few people know about me is that I'm afraid of dolls. I bought a plush doll for my daughter for Christmas with no problem, but I'm freaked out by dolls that are made to look or act like real babies. The worst are porcelain dolls and the ones that really pee on the potty. So I approached Hitty with much trepidation.
I'm sure the illustrations were lovely, but I did my best not to look at them. Other than that, it wasn't too bad really. I read it all during my daughter's morning nap. As the title indicates, it's the story of a doll, Hitty, from the time she is made and how she wanders from owner to owner, good and bad, in her first hundred years. Though some of her time is spent stuffed away in attics or forgotten on shelves, Hitty is also privy to some major events in history, even meeting Abraham Lincoln.
While I read this book, I kept having the feeling that I had read it before, likely as a very young girl--back when a story about dolls wouldn't have scared me so much. And if you're not weird and afraid of dolls like I am, this isn't such a bad old story to read to a little girl.
No comments:
Post a Comment