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Miss Hickory
Miss Hickory is very worried. Her owner has moved to Boston, and how can Miss Hickory survive a harsh New Hampshire winter all alone? After all, she is just a doll whose body is an apple -wood twig and whose head is a hickory nut, and whose house is made out of corncobs. But Miss Hickory has ingenuity, and the help of neighbors like Crow, Bull Frog, and Ground Hog to see h...more
Hardcover, 123 pages
Published
September 20th 1946
by Viking Juvenile
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What a weird, strange book! Initially, I liked the idea of a small woodland woman, made of an apple tree twig with a hickory nut for a face. A dated idea, yes, but charming nonetheless. But each of Miss Hickory's adventures got a bit stranger and she just never seemed to learn how to be a nicer person.
The first part of the book didn't seem too strange -- Miss Hickory finds a new place to live, helps hen-pheasants create a Ladies Aid Society, and designs some delightful new winter clothing. But...more
The first part of the book didn't seem too strange -- Miss Hickory finds a new place to live, helps hen-pheasants create a Ladies Aid Society, and designs some delightful new winter clothing. But...more
In this 1947 Newbery Medal award winning book, Miss Hickory is indeed a hard nut to crack. She is a stick figure doll composed of a fork-like twiggy body and a hickory nut for a noggin. Her humble, but clean, abode is made of corncobs nestled beneath a lilac bush.
Miss Hickory is deemed alive by the family who made her and the forest animals who befriend her.
When the family temporarily moves from New Hampshire to Massachusetts, Miss Hickory is left behind to fend for herself in the bitter cold wi...more
Miss Hickory is deemed alive by the family who made her and the forest animals who befriend her.
When the family temporarily moves from New Hampshire to Massachusetts, Miss Hickory is left behind to fend for herself in the bitter cold wi...more
I've learned my lesson. When the Newbery girls all say a book is weird and I, after 50 pages or so, disagree with them and privately think they're getting just a bit too picky with these old children's books, I really should just keep my thoughts to myself until I actually finish the book.
Because ending the book by having your main character's (view spoiler) -- EVEN IF she was just a little doll made out of a twig -- is a really bad idea. Really, REALLY...more
Because ending the book by having your main character's (view spoiler) -- EVEN IF she was just a little doll made out of a twig -- is a really bad idea. Really, REALLY...more
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I liked this book until the end. The book is episodic, rather than having one main storyline. Miss Hickory is a twig doll with a nut for a head, and she is indeed hard-headed. When the people in the Big House go away for the winter without taking her along, Miss Hickory must brave the winter by herself. I liked the cozy domesticity of her cleaning and preparing food stores and making her own clothes. She is rather sharp with her fellow forest dwellers, however, and this ultimately leads to her r...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Miss Hickory was my favorite children's novel when I first read it as a girl, and reading it again now...now I remember why I loved it so much. Miss Hickory is an outdoor story, a talking animal tale that makes exquisite sense of the natural magic that brings the twig-bodied, acorn-headed doll to life.
The animals in the story are both confounded and drawn to the fiesty no-nonsense Miss Hickory. They learn from her as much as she learns from them, sometimes acts of friendship, sometimes dangerous...more
The animals in the story are both confounded and drawn to the fiesty no-nonsense Miss Hickory. They learn from her as much as she learns from them, sometimes acts of friendship, sometimes dangerous...more
A little girl's doll, made of twigs and a hickory nut head, tells the story of nature and its wonder throughout a calendar year. Everything in nature has its plan, even if sometimes it feels cruel. As the little girl returns after a long, cold winter, she looks for Miss Hickory, but finds only her twig legs and spindly body. Little does she know that squirrel ate her hickory nut head. But, in time, her headless ramblings take her to the apple orchard where she become a tree's scion in hopes of r...more
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 heavy-handed, but I skipped it, since it irritated me. T...more
So here's what I wrote as a status update in about the middle of the book:
... and I don't have much else to say.
I appreciated what the author tried to do with Christmas, but honestly? T...more
Here's my take at halfway through: check out Rabbit Hill instead (if you're looking for personification of woodland creatures and want to stay in the Newbery family). I don't know what's up with this one, and it's probably not fair that it's just 2 years after Rabbit Hill, but it's falling short and awfully weird.
... and I don't have much else to say.
I appreciated what the author tried to do with Christmas, but honestly? T...more
Sep 15, 2010
Jill
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
read aloud to kids age 4+
Shelves:
newbery-medal
Didn't think I'd be saying this, but I really enjoyed this book! In part it's because the book takes place in New Hampshire very close to where Dan grew up. I think this would be an excellent book to read to a four or five year old and I'm already looking forward to Holly being old enough to understand the story. Carolyn Bailey explains the real behavior of different animals through lovable characters. At first I thought the writing was a little old-fashioned and stodgy, but the more I read the...more
Oh, golly, not another book about a doll! This is not the world-traveling china doll of other Newbery books. No, this is the creative Miss Hickory, with a body made of a twig and a head made of a hickory nut. Miss Hickory is able to conquer potential predators like Squirrel using her clever little hickory mind. She visits the barn at Christmastime and sees a glorious sight. She helps the Hen-Pheasants figure out a way to make it through the winter without their husbands. And when she loses her h...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
One of the WORST books I've ever read.
Miss Hickory is a doll made from a forked twig from an apple tree and a hickory nut for a head. She lives in a tiny doll house made of corncobs outside her human owners home, but her world is turned upside down after the family decides to spend the winter in Boston leaveing her behind. Miss Hickory is aided during the long cold winter by farm and forest animals. A little stubborn, she slowly learns to accept help from others, and to offer some assistance herself. I would use this book in the cl...more
Quaint, strange, nature-appreciative, symbolic (?)...these are my descriptors for the 1947 Newbery winner "Miss Hickory."
Opinionated, prickly, at times ungrateful, but also brave, creative, nature-loving, 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 gre...more
Opinionated, prickly, at times ungrateful, but also brave, creative, nature-loving, 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 gre...more
All I have to say… is that a SQUIRREL ate her freaking HEAD. Any way you look at it, there is something wrong with having the main character’s head eaten. I don’t care how hungry the squirrel was or how tasty her hardhead looked. Her head still got eaten. And for some reason there’s some light to the situation? I do NOT understand. Other than that though… it was an enjoyable book. Breezy read, not too difficult. Just not my style. And I still don’t think a squirrel should have eaten her head.
I revisited this childhood favorite because it reminds me of Hitty: Her First Hundred Years which was a recent group read. I enjoyed both of these, and The Borrowers series, more than once. Wouldn't it be nifty to wear lady-slippers, and sleep in a bird's nest, and use a needle as a sword, etc.?
These books are holding up well - I'm 4 decades older and I still enjoy them. In a way they're almost like science-fiction, in that they explore what it means to be a not-quite-human Person. This one is...more
These books are holding up well - I'm 4 decades older and I still enjoy them. In a way they're almost like science-fiction, in that they explore what it means to be a not-quite-human Person. This one is...more
If memory serves, this was my first experience of just not being able to finish a book. I started it when I was around 9, I think, gave up on it, and then went through this phase when I was 14-15 of suddenly wanting to finish every book I had ever started, just so I didn't leave anything hanging. So I finished it as a freshman in high school, and it was no less weird or more understandable then than it had been when I was 9. Of all the books I read as a kid, this is one I will definitely never r...more
The charm of this book was completely lost on me. It's about a doll, made from a hickory nut and an apple twig, who gets left behind when the family moves back to Boston and must find her own way in the chilly New England countryside. If you are doing a study of the flora and fauna of New England, this could certainly help to further your study but for someone who has never really spent any time in New England, a lot of the plants were unfamiliar to me. Won't be choosing this one any time soon.
This book has beautiful lithograph illustrations done by the always highly-skilled Ruth Chrisman Gannett, and the style of language employed by author Carolyn Sherwin Bailey is equally beautiful. The style of the story is highly unusual, and very different from what I was expecting, but it will make a good read for all sorts of people for a long time to come. I would not have given Miss Hickory the Newbery Medal in 1947 (in deference to the amazing "The Wonderful Year" by Nancy Barnes), but I d...more
Jul 15, 2010
Joann
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
childrens-chapter,
newberry-winners
This is a sweet book about a doll made from a Hickory tree. The doll's personality was engaging and fun. It is an older book (1947) and has an old-fashioned air that is soothing and enjoyable. I love these older Newberry winners as they are, on the surface, simple but always carry beautiful messages. This reminded me of the "Hitty" book though I did not like it quite as much as I did "Hitty". I am looking forward to reading this aloud to my girls.
I can imagine as a young child being more accepting of the meandering path this book takes, and finding interest in the dilemmas of little Miss Hickory, a doll made of twigs with a hickory-nut head. But only as a very young child. As a more discriminating reader, I'm wondering what the heck went on here. It's hard to like the harsh and unbending Miss Hickory, and the story lacked ebb and flow. I did, however, enjoy the illustrations by Ruth Gannett.
I read this book back in 1973 and I still remembered it. I think the artwork burned into my brain.
I reconnected with a friend, recently, from thirty years and we were talking about books. I noticed on her book list was Miss Hickory. WE had a discussion and I found this review: http://www.kindertrauma.com/?p=205
which was followed by a trip to the library for the book.
Ah, the good old days of warped children's stories.
I reconnected with a friend, recently, from thirty years and we were talking about books. I noticed on her book list was Miss Hickory. WE had a discussion and I found this review: http://www.kindertrauma.com/?p=205
which was followed by a trip to the library for the book.
Ah, the good old days of warped children's stories.
Do you know how many forms of "doll with a nut head" I googled before I found the title of this?
I don't know how I got my hands on the book originally, but I loved this as a child. Despite the other reviews below, I was not disturbed by the ending, I thought it was actually quite nice. But I was a morbid child, so that might explain things.
Loved it. Wanted to live in a bird's nest. Wish I still owned it.
I don't know how I got my hands on the book originally, but I loved this as a child. Despite the other reviews below, I was not disturbed by the ending, I thought it was actually quite nice. But I was a morbid child, so that might explain things.
Loved it. Wanted to live in a bird's nest. Wish I still owned it.
Aug 25, 2012
Barbara VA
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-read-2012,
newbery
A charming little book that I remember having read to us in elementary school. I love the nature stories and a doll made from apple branches (MacIntosh - my favorite apple) and a hickory nut living in a corncob house. In Germany, I bought my daughter dolls made from apples and plums dressed with faces and hats- very popular. The animals and flowers and views were described so perfectly!
I quite liked Miss Hickory, the hardheaded old country woman surviving her first winter alone outdoors. Her episodic adventures are clever, straightforward, and sometimes include a pinch of sweetness -- as Miss Hickory herself. The conclusion is shocking and strange, but fitting and, even, dare I say? Lovely.
Cute, but almost annoyingly. Homemade doll left outside, meets hazardous weather, variety of animals and ends in disaster. The doll really never learns or comprehends her situation and is rather pompous and ill-mannered. She makes no friends. Rubbed me the wrong way.
Jun 21, 2008
Becky H.
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
ages 8 and up
Her body is made out of an apple wood twig and her head is a hickory nut, however, Miss Hickory was no doll: she was a person. Join Miss Hickory as she learns to trust her friends Crow, Squirrel and Mr. T. William-Brown, the cat who help her find a new home and survive through winter. Along the way she helps others too. With her help Hen-Pheasant starts the Ladies Aid Society for pheasants during the winter and Ground Hog, who is afraid of his shadow, comes out of his hole so spring will arrive....more
Just finished reading this with my 7 yr old, and I was surprised at how much I had forgotten from when I read it as a child. Chapter 14 was a little rough emotionally, but Chapter 15 resolves it so much. I love how strong and at peace Miss Hickory becomes.
1947 Newbery Winner
Slightly bizarre animal fantasy about a twig with a hickory nut for a head. Often the chapters did not seem to flow together. Also, it is just a little outlandish at times. It was okay, but not one I would willingly re-read.
Slightly bizarre animal fantasy about a twig with a hickory nut for a head. Often the chapters did not seem to flow together. Also, it is just a little outlandish at times. It was okay, but not one I would willingly re-read.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What's The Name o...: lady with an acorn head, moss skirt, and twigs for limbs [s] | 3 | 22 | Jan 27, 2013 09:04pm |
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