Ellis Island Days (Hitty's Travels) [Paperback]

Ellen Weiss (Author), Betina Ogden (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2002 | Series: Hitty's Travels (Book 4)

Meet Hitty.

She may be just a doll, but she has lived in many places and seen incredible things. Here is one of her adventures, as told by Hitty herself!

Hitty travels to Italy in style with a spoiled little rich girl, but soon falls into the hands of Fiorella Rossi, a kind girl whose poor family longs to reach America. Will the Rossis survive of their difficult journey?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-3-This series features the doll from the 1930 Newbery Medal winner, Hitty: Her First Hundred Years. Hitty, who has been sitting for six months in an antique store in New York City, is purchased by a wealthy man for his spoiled daughter. Louisa thinks Hitty is ugly and useless and won't play with her. However, to spite her friend who wants to play with her new toy, she takes the doll on the family's trip to Italy, where Hitty is lost in Naples and found by a man who gives her to his niece, who loves her. When Fiorella and her family leave for the United States, she takes the doll with her. Unfortunately, the characters are wooden; using Hitty to tell an immigrant's story falls flat, and the telling is dry and uninteresting. Buy only if you have readers desperate for immigration doll stories.
Susan Lissim, Dwight School, New York City
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Aladdin (August 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689849451
• ISBN-13: 978-0689849459
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,503,042 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ellen Weiss has lost count of how many kids' books she's written, that's how long she's been doing it. There are probably over 200, from board books to chapter books to middle-grade novels, fiction and nonfiction, silly and serious. They have won many awards, and have been adapted into a Disney TV movie and a BBC radio play. Two of them, THE TAMING OF LOLA and PORKY AND BESS, were named Bank Street Best Books of 2010. She loves to collaborate, and she often writes with her husband, Mel Friedman. She also loves to rescue stray dogs, but she had to stop when the aforementioned Mel Friedman told her he would divorce her if she brought home one more filthy, un-housebroken, weird mutt.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gem of a book!, May 12, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Ellis Island Days (Hitty's Travels) (Library Binding)

I saw this and showed it to my 6yo daughter because of the cover - a young girl with the Statue of Liberty in the back. She was captivated and asked me to go back to reading it with her after having to stop for a while. Written in the doll's narrative, it's a very age-appropriate representation of some of the challenges and experiences of the immigrants to Ellis Island. Gently interspersed are themes of family and responsiblity.