Little Plum

Japanese Dolls #2

by Rumer Godden, Jean Primrose (Illustrator)

When Gem moves into The House Next Door, Nona & Belinda think she's stuck up & vow to have nothing to do with her. But the beautiful Japanese doll in her window soon attracts their attention. They name her Little Plum, but unlike Nona's dolls, Little Plum seems unloved & uncared for. Will the three girls ever become friends?

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, Japan, Juvenile, Friendship, Fantasy, British Literature

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Margaret Rumer Godden was an English author of more than 60 fiction and non-fiction books. Nine of her works have been made into films, most notably Black Narcissus in 1947 and The River in 1951.
A few of her works were co-written with her elder sister, novelist Jon Godden, including Two Under the Indian Sun, a memoir of the Goddens' childhood in a region of India now part of Bangladesh.

Reviews

[Carol, She's so Novel ꧁꧂ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this book was the escapist read I needed in troubled times!

I read Little Plum in my childhood and loved this exquisite cover but the cover of my edition works in a different way. It shows the character of the untidy, boisterous Belinda and her cousin, the neat as a pin Nona.

Miss Happiness and Miss Flower was Nona's story. This is Belinda's.

& what a believable little girl Belinda is. Rude, tactless, aggressive and a bully. Probably not the sharpest knife in the drawer either! Yet her determination to befriend the wealthy but lonely Gem shows endearing side to her character.& she tries so hard to fix things, when - to no one's surprise but Belinda's her methods don't work.

If I could make one tiny criticism it would be that Japanese doll Little Plum remains - a doll. Yet Miss Happiness & Miss Flower still have their personalities.

A wonderful tale from an author who understands that real children are not PC. (although Ms Godden would have despised that term if she had ever heard it!)

https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is about two little girls, Belinda and Nona, that do not get along with the new neighbor, a little Japanese girl named Gem. Her new neighbors are very rich and they believe Gem is stuck up because she keeps to herself. They constantly look out their window and into the little girl's room to see a little Japanese doll owned by Gem. Nona and Belinda covet the Japanese doll and thus the doll war commenced. They named the little Japanese doll "Little Plum", hence the name of the book. They quarrel about the little doll but can Plum bring them together?They start leaving mean little notes with gifts for the doll in the girl's window. The notes were about how she wasn't being a good mother to the little doll. Gem's own mother was absent because she was sick with polio and took great offense the the notes. They eventually come to blows with each other when Belinda takes Gem's doll from her. Eventually, they make amends and befriend the new, lonely neighbor and get to play with Little Plum and her owner. And Gem's mother comes back home where she can take care of her.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the first of Godden's "Doll Stories" that I checked out of the library at about age 10. I remember long car trips across the Midwest with my older siblings bickering and sometimes coming to blows, while I buried myself in a book to escape. One day I had this book along, and suddenly my mother asked me to read it aloud. This meant I got to sit in the front seat instead of in back between the fighters (as the youngest and shortest, I always had to sit in the middle on the axle bump). I started where I was, and was told, "No, wait, go back to the beginning." I did. It held their attention all the way to our destination, and all the way back. (By that time it was night, and I was reading by the light of a flashlight.)No one got bored or complained or fought.

I was surprised that my sister aged 13 and brother aged 15 could be interested in a "kid's story" about dolls, but they were. Perhaps because Belinda is a real child, who makes mistakes, fights with a new girl she's never spoken to, acts without thinking, and is selfish and totally unlike her obedient, "perfect" siblings and cousin Nona, who apparently can make anything she likes, no matter how miniature or difficult. Tom too is capable of building a Japanese doll's house, while sister Anne plays the violin (just like my older sister, also a Little Miss Perfect.) Belinda is untidy, clumsy, blunt and blissfully unaware of her bumptious personality until she meets the Tiffany-Joneses, the upperclass family who move in next door. ("Gem Tiffany- Jones", hyphen and all...ugh. Overkill. But for a "perfect" princess with private ballet lessons and her own grand piano and pony, I guess it fits.)

The book got me interested in Japan, and established the custom of me reading aloud on car trips. Thanks to Little Plum, our frequent road trips were much more peaceful and we discovered a lot of very good writers. From there it was a short step to Dickens, Austen and co. Thank you, Ms. Godden.

[Gale · Rating 3 out of 5]

LITTLE GIRLS AT WAR OVER JAPANESE DOLLS

Rumer Godden specializes in creating a gentle fantasy world where dolls have Lives--or in this case, Thoughts--of their own. Nona and Belinda Fell treasure their three Japanese dolls: Miss Happiness, Miss Flower and Little Peach. These special "persons" enjoy their own Japanese dollhouse and clothes, beds, foods (green paint water tea) and celebrate many traditional customs. While the dolls converse privately, the sisters (who are unaware of theri dolls' commuications) plan and dream of a new friendship. They themselves are very different: nine-year-old Nona is neat, polite and very talentd with her creative fingers. While eight-year-old Belinda is a fearless tomboy, a reckless daredevil who defies parental authority, common sense and even the laws of gravity, to satisfy her whims.

But things get really interesting when a rich family buys and improves the big House Next Door. What delicious opportunities to observe the doings and possessions as they move it--and there is a daughter too! Gem proves to be a "motherless" only child, waited on by her personal nanny and a large household staff--all supervised by an authoritarian aunt. The kindly father is often away on business, but after one trip he brings his daughter a Japanese doll of her own. Poor Little Plum--as the spying girls name her and discover--is neglected by her lonely mistress.

Belinda decides to teach the proper care of Japanese dolls to the sulking snob next door, but soon the teasing and critical notes escalate into a non-verbal war between the headstrong young ladies. Will that "rough child" ever be allowed in the front door of the wealthy but isolated Tiffany-Jones' mansion? And will Gem ever accept cultural tutelage from mere middle-class English children? This is a delightful read-aloud story for Girls Under Ten. And all women who fondly remember the dolls of their girlhood.

(June 16, 2011. I welcome dialogue with teachers.)

[Chris Browning · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Firstly many thanks to Jae for lending me this!) Godden possibly foolishly decides to jettison the quiet and thoughtful study of acclimatisation and culture from the first book, but it’s churlish to complain too much when she decides to replace it with a very, very funny farce. Deciding that uppity Belinda was the breakout star of the first book - and Nona essentially acts as her straight man - she decides to turn the book into something approximating a war of attrition that’s deeply absurd but also frequently genuinely hilarious. Godden has obviously been squirrelling away some dialogue from her own kids here, because a lot of Belinda’s dialogue and messages are brilliantly observed. It’s a bit weird to take a thoughtful book and follow it up with an ever growing series of bitter battles between two eight year olds, but there’s a nice party at the end which might suggest Godden hadn’t got much else to say about Japanese culture but a lot to say about eight year olds being glorious little shits

[Trudy Pomerantz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Miss Happiness and Miss Flower as a child and I always wanted to read the next book in the series. Finally, nearly 45 years later, I ordered in a copy from Amazon. While it is still a sweet story, I found it better written than Miss Happiness and Miss Flower (which will always have a special place in my heart because I read and remembered it for so many years).

p 61 "There came a half-holiday at the beginning of February, one of those still, sunny February days that seem as if spring had come. The snow had melted, there were snowdrops in the garden beds, and a bee buzzed around the catkins. Belinda was in the garden quite alone."

[Maisie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel so cheesy giving all these children's books 5 stars, but I can't help it, they're all so good! Considering I read them all years and years ago, they must be that good if I still love them so much after all this time.

Little Plum is the sequel to Miss Happiness and Miss Flower, and just as faboo (maybe just a teeny bit less faboo), but highly enjoyable if, once again, you like dolls, dollhouses (especially Japanese ones), and the little girls who own them.

NOT FOR PEOPLE WHO GET CREEPED OUT BY TALKING DOLLS

[Alison S ☯️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely. A childhood favourite.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A childhood favorite that is even better revisited.

[Flora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Demi, how could you besmirch the good name of this minor but beautiful writer? Please, people, if you aren't yet familiar with Rumer Godden, don't judge her guilty by association. It's not her fault.

[Jenna Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an adorable book! This one is different from the first in the series, but just as cute. This story focuses on the girls in the story rather than the dolls, and it was a lovely change to see Belinda's character development compared to the first book. I LOVED it :)

[Suzanne Maley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely to read a book I remember from my childhood. Miss Happiness and Miss Flower and this book started my love for all things Japanese.

[slauderdale]

I liked this book very much. No sequelitis here. I think Ms. Godden must have fallen in love with Belinda, the little belligerent from the first book, who is less Mean Girl here and more Perverse Hoyden. She gets wrapped up in a very weird quarrel with the "poor little rich girl" next door, who is leading a much restricted life in the care of her aunt while her mother is in the hospital. Funny thing: it's not meant to be a fight in the beginning, but Belinda's amazing lack of tact and enthusiasm for a fight (once she realizes that it *is* a fight) make Things Escalate.

I wondered if we would get anything from the dolls' POV in this book. It took a while and at first feels more cursory in this book, although there is some as Miss Happiness and Miss Flower experience bewilderment and dismay at the actions of Gem and Belinda. Less so than the first book, though, and we never get a hint of interior life from Peach Boy or Little Plum. This book is quite emphatically a story about children, although the doll fantasy element remains faintly there.

[Gina House · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5🌟 A sweet book about friendship, patience, and misunderstandings. I really enjoyed this book and loved it even more because it was a thoughtful gift from my friend Beth 💝☺️

I loved the Fell family members so much - they are really portrayed in such a down-to-earth and caring way. I would be so grateful to have neighbors or friends like them!

I thought that the life of the lovely Japanese dolls, along with the ups and downs of the girls’ interaction with their new neighbor, Gem, was so interesting and felt utterly natural.

The descriptions of the dolls, the domestics and the people was just perfect. The author did an amazing job writing this children’s book. So happy that I have this book in my collection! 🥰❤️

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember how much I loved this story and I must've read it often. It's been at least 50 years since the first time, and I could still recall what was coming up next. Many of our family's retorts originated here: calling someone a 'rotter', 'intresinger and intresinger', an understanding of 'double-barreled' names. And this was, I think, where I first comprehended the meaning of RSVP, 'please answer'.

Again, Becky must've selected this book because of the strong female characters. Belinda, who, like me, is hardheaded and a tree climber and roller skater. This may also have come along the same year that my dad built my dollhouse that was bigger than me. Which I still have, it's in the basement. As are the well loved (and worn) Sound of Music Madame Alexander dolls that lived in it. Although I guess the USAF was paying rent for our off-post house in San Antonio, I don't know how they afforded it.

[Capn]

Belinda and Nona vow to have nothing to do with Gem, the new girl next door - she's so stuck up! But the beautiful Japanese doll in Gem's window soon attracts the girls' attention.

Nona loves her own Japanese dolls, Miss Happiness and Miss Flower, and she and Belinda name Gem's doll Little Plum becuase her clothes are decorated with plum blossom.

But Little Plum seems so sad, unloved and uncared for. Will the three girls - and the three dolls - ever become friends?

First published in 1963, Little Plum is a charming story which revisits the characters from Rumer Godden's classic tale Miss Happiness and Miss Flower

[Toni Wyatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a new family moves into the house next door, Belinda finds it strange that the little girl is not allowed to play or go to school. Seeing all the girl has: a pony, fancy furniture, elegant clothes, and enough toys for several children, she becomes jealous and creates trouble.

There are some problematic issues with it in the form of the dolls, but I think the author tried to be respectful. One thing about yellow paint toward the end was in poor taste.

[Kelsey Chambers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ava really took to this one and finished the second half on her own. It was SO cute and simple plot but we loved the banter between Belinda and Gem next door. I loved the family dynamics of Belinda's family and as I didn't finish I'm relying on Ava's retelling of the ending and I'm satisfied. So glad we picked this one up.

[Kelsey Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I didn’t like it as much as the first book because the focus was less on the Japanese dolls and their house and more on Belinda’s war with Gem. It’s still fun to revisit all the characters, though.

[Von · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didnt liked this book. Well, i liked the first part and the last part. I was bored at the middle part of the book. But i loved the ending, and the friendships in this book that blossomed. Wil def read more from this author.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Children’s book; sequel to (or stand alone) “Miss Happiness and Miss Flower. A book that has stayed with me since my childhood, causing me to seek it out even though I could not recall the title or author! In other words: read this book to your daughter!

[KerryT · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story but it is full of descriptive paragraphs. I did a lot of skipping. Not sure how that would hold a child’s attention! Parts of it were good enough to hold my interest, but it’s not a keeper got me. I give it 3 stars.

[Janilyn Kocher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another delightful whimsical book I never got to read as a child. The character of Belinda was quite annoying.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I should ever decide to reread this for a third (?fourth?) time, it's avl. via openlibrary.org.

[Becky Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading this sweet little book when I was in elementary school.

[Anwai · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you love stories about dolls this would be just your cup of (Japanese) tea.

[Leonie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utter joy.

[Verity McLoughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this at the beginning but lost interest about half way through. Cute quick read though.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book.

[Autumn Fortier]

I'm pretty sure I've read this book when I was a little girl!