Miss Happiness and Miss Flower [Turtleback]

Rumer Godden (Author)

Book Description

England is the last place Nona Fells wants to be. No one asked her if she wanted to leave sunny India to live in a chilly English village with her aunt's family -- and her cousin, Belinda, just hates her! But when two dainty Japanese dolls arrive at Nona's doorstep, everything begins to change. Like Nona, Miss Happiness and Miss Flower are lonely and homesick, so Nona decides to build them their own traditional Japanese house. Over time, not only does Nona create a home for the dolls, but one for herself as well.

Originally published in 1961, Rumer Godden's classic story of friendship and being part of a family is now back in print for a new generation of readers to cherish.

--This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rumer Godden is the author of many much-loved books for both children and adults.These include The Diddakoi (winner of the Whitbread award for children's books), A Kindle of Kittens, Four Dolls, and Great Grandfather's House. She lives in England.

--This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

Product Details

• Turtleback
• Publisher: Demco Media (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0606246029
• ISBN-13: 978-0606246026
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A perfect book for can-do kind of little lonely girls, March 8, 2003

By 

Dragon Lady "a film student" (DeSoto, MO United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Miss Happiness and Miss Flower (Paperback)

As "Harry Potter" calls out to today's young bright outsiders looking for somewhere to truly belong, this book spoke to me. It mesmerised me as a little girl. As an USAF "brat" I very much understand Nona's ache and anger as the "weird" outsider. I fell in love with the dolls as well. Their "voices" sounded like two little doting "aunties" as they subtly manipulated Nona and Belinda into seeing past their differences and fears and into finding friendship. If only I had had such a wonderful pair of guardian angels of my own back then.

Rumer does a great job of painting two total opposites of little girls with warmth and sympathy while never truly turning either into either a villian or a bad joke (way too rare). She showed that even our flaws can become strengths when they are accepted and we are willing to be loved.

One thing that really grabbed me as a child was that the book included all the plans for the house and the furnishings the girls eventually build for their little foriegn guests. I spent hours pouring over the school library copy back then. I nearly wore it out. Now my girls will be able to indulge in the same pleasure without having to always be on the look out for the due date.

This time we'll be building the Japanese doll house together.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Enchanting!, April 30, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Miss Happiness and Miss Flower (Paperback)

This book is still one of my favorites. I read it when I was 10 years old and in 5th grade. I fell in love with the idea of creating a home for my dolls, so I begged my dad to build me the same dollhouse, which he did. I spent many weeks searching for items to put in it, but I had some trouble finding things that looked Japanese. This book inspired me to learn more about other cultures and languages. I still have the dollhouse, and am planning to refurbish it this summer. I bought a copy of the book about 18 years ago, but it was very hard to find. I'm glad that it is more easily avaiable today. This would be a fun book to read with a child, and the house would be a fun project to make together.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars miss illustrations, July 5, 2002

By 

J. Blum (Medford, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Miss Happiness and Miss Flower (Paperback)

I loved this book as a child, even using the plans to make a dollshouse of my own (albeit out of cardboard). Unfortunately the new paperback lacks the delicate illustrations gracing my cherished edition (circa late 1960s?). Hope that future versions will oblige.