Presented for the first time in audio, here are the charming and adventurous memoirs of an exceptional doll named Hitty. Her story begins in Maine in the early 1800s, where she is transformed from a piece of sturdy mountain-ash wood into the valued playmate of a young girl named Phoebe Preble. When the inseparable pair join Phoebe's father on a journey aboard his whaling ship, Hitty's one hundred years of exciting adventures begins! Join this doll of great charm and character as she travels all over the world, from India to Philadelphia to New York. Whether she is traveling with a snake charmer, attending the opera, meeting Charles Dickens, becoming a doll of fashion, posing as an artists' model, or being stolen away on a Mississippi riverboat, one thing is certain... no doll has led a life like Hitty's! The 1930 Newbery Award winner.
Hitty: Her First Hundred Years ANNOTATION A doll named Hitty recounts her adventures as she moves through a continually changing string of owners.
FROM THE PUBLISHER Hitty is a doll of great charm and character. It is indeed a privilege to publish her memoirs, which, besides being full of the most thrilling adventures on land and sea, also reveal her delightful personality. One glance at her portrait will show that she is no ordinary doll. Hitty, or Mehitable as she was really named, was made in the early 1800s for Phoebe Preble, a little girl from Maine. Young Phoebe was very proud of her beautiful doll and took her everywhere, even on a long sailing trip in a whaler. This is the story of Hitty's years with Phoebe, and the many that follow in the life of a well-loved doll.
FROM THE CRITICS Children's Literature - Gisela Jernigan In this new adaptation of the 1930 Newbery Award winner, Rosemary Wells shortens and re-works the original novel into sixteen brief, fast-paced chapters, while preserving much of its flavor and charm. She explains in an author's note how she also created new adventures concerning Hitty's adventures in the South during the Civil War. Told in the first person, from Hitty's point of view, we accompany her to many places with a variety of owners, from her creation by a peddler in 1829 Maine, to voyages on a whaling ship, to a sojourn in the Shop of Dreams in 1929 watching an airplane flying over. The beautiful watercolors on every page add to the book's appeal. The many illustrations and large format make this book seem like a cross between a picture book and a novel and should make it suitable for a wide age range. A map of Hitty's travels is included.
Children's Literature - Childrens Literature A book about a doll took top honors in 1930 when Rachel Field won the Newbery Award for Hitty. Now, Rachel's book has been reinvigorated by the talented team of Rosemary Wells and Susan Jeffers. The result is a grand adventure that children of this new century will enjoy. Hitty: Her First Hundred Years follows the original tale closely until Hitty is almost sent to a southern girl just before the Civil War. At this point Ms. Wells thought, "What would have happened if Hitty was sent behind Confederate lines? These new adventures fit tightly into the original story. Following Hitty's journey is living a slice of America's history through the eyes of this remarkable doll. The full color illustrations add a new dimension to the story. The combination of first-rate storytelling enhanced with detailed paintings giving the settings historic reality makes this a fine recommendation for family reading. 1999, Simon & Schuster, Ages 9 to 12, $21.95. Reviewer: Jan Lieberman
School Library Journal Gr 1-5-Purists may balk at this revision of the 1930 Newbery winner, but many modern readers will be charmed by this repackaged memoir of a century-old wooden doll. Many of Field's characters, destinations, and phrases remain intact, and Wells does an admirable job of matching her voice. Hitty's story still begins with a peddler's carved gift for a sea captain's daughter and concludes with the doll's anticipation of future adventures as she views an airplane. Much, however, has changed. Wells shortens the chapters, edits the wordiness, omits the black dialect, and changes the South Sea "Injuns" to "Islanders," with the overall effect of a quickened pace and heightened action. She departs completely from the original after the outbreak of the Civil War. Hitty is now mailed south of the Mason-Dixon line and encounters her first violence when the post office blows up. Jeffers's full-page gouache paintings and the smaller details carry much of the meaning, portraying with dramatic perspective the danger of a storm at sea or using architecture, flora, and fauna to create locale. The generous use of space between lines of text, the sheen of the creamy paper, and the oversized format lend luxury to the telling. Hitty is in good hands for the next 100 years.-Wendy Lukehart, Dauphin County Library, Harrisburg, PA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
New York Times Book Review - Elizabeth Spires Hitty is charmingly illustrated by Susan Jeffers, with large, colorful pictues on every double-page spread that compliment the vivid historical dimension of the story.
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