Opal: The Journal of an Understanding Heart [Hardcover]

Opal Whiteley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 26, 1995

A lyrical, lovely, and deeply touching adaptation of an authentic journal kept by an orphaned six-year-old girl--later believed to be a French princess--living in an Oregon lumber camp at the turn of the century. 24 black-and-white photographs.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This turn-of-the-century six-year-old's diary presents a vivid portrait of the girl's life: it became a sensation upon its discovery in 1920 and today offers new YA readers a classic. The poetic-appearing structure of the lines may throw readers who take one look and expect verse; but the special presentation shouldn't detract from its strong message. -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

A lyrical, lovely, and deeply touching adaptation of an authentic journal kept by an orphaned six-year-old girl--later believed to be a French princess--living in an Oregon lumber camp at the turn of the century. 24 black-and-white photographs.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 186 pages
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter; 1 edition (September 26, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517702614
• ISBN-13: 978-0517702611
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,346,365 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A FRESH, MOVING VIEW OF OUR WORLD, June 23, 2001

By 

Larry L. Looney (Austin, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Opal: The Journal of an Understanding Heart (Paperback)

I'll start out by saying that I have not read the original version of Opal's diary, nor have I read the book by Benjamin Hoff on the diary that is so highly regarded. When I first began to search locally for anything by or about Opal Whiteley, this book was the only one I could obtain. It did not disappoint.

I was led to seek out this remarkable work (written by a young girl of 5-6 years just after 1900) through singer-songwriter Anne Hills. I had heard Anne perform a song called 'Brown leaves' -- words of Opal Whiteley, set to music at Anne's request by her good friend, songwriting genius Michael Smith. She explained the background of the song to the audience that night, and I was deeply touched by it -- enough so that I began to look for the book the very next day.

Orphaned before she was 5, adopted by an Oregon lumberman and his wife and transported across the country to live in nearly 20 lumber camps by the time she was 12 years old, Opal turned to the beauty of the natural world around her and saw it like no one I've read before or since I discovered this amazing journal. Not only is her keen sense of observation astounding for a girl of her age, but the unique language in which she conveys it to us allows the reader to do away with any preconceptions that might be held, revealing our world in an entirely original, glorius light. It's almost like seeing for the first time.

A brief sample: 'Now are come the days of leaves. They talk with the wind. I hear them tell of their borning days. They whisper of the hoods they wear. Today they talk of the time before their borning days. They tell how they were a part of the earth and the air before their tree-borning days. In grey days of winter they go back to earth again. But they do not die.'

This young girl was possessed of an incredible mind -- she understood what she saw in the forest around her better than most adults, and she articulated it in such a way as to make it spring to life as only the mind of a child can do.

The writings, in their original form, were made by Opal on note-paper, wrapping paper, scraps of paper bags, whatever she could lay her hands on -- in the closely-spaced, all-capitals scrawl of a girl of 5 or 6 with little or no formal education. The scraps of paper remained hidden in the Oregon woods until Opal was 20 -- it's a micacle (and a blessing to us) that they survived. When she had retrieved the scraps, it took her 9 months to reassemble them.

There are many aspects of Opal's life that are still mysteries to us -- some of these are touched upon by the introduction and afterward by Jane Boulton, who assembled this volume, and by a postscript from Opal herself.

This is one of those books that will continue to touch and affect the reader for a lifetime -- Opal Whiteley's voice is a fresh, powerful and unforgettable one. If more people could experience the pure, unadorned beauty of the world through the lens of this work, perhaps the fight to preserve and protect our fragile environment would be an easier battle to win.

As a final note, Anne Hills' recording of 'Brown leaves' can be heard on her fine cd 'Angle of the light', available through amazon.com.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars See Benjamin Hoff's version, December 12, 2004

By 

J. Jones "a reader" (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Opal: The Journal of an Understanding Heart (Paperback)

This is a presentation of a portion of the childhood diary of Opal Whitely. Included is introductory material in which it is accepted that Opal's explanation of her Bourbon geneology may be valid. Larry Looney's excellent review describes this version of events. Opal believed that she had been of royal Bourbon birth, then orphaned and adopted by a rustic family of Oregonians.

Opal's unflattering portray of her "wicked stepmother" and her assertion that she was a surviving Bourbon caused quite a stir back in her hometown. It was pointed out that the girl looked like her rustic Oregonian kinfolk. People always wondered if the diary was too good to be true. Now the cry of "Fraud!" was voiced across the land.

Hoff seems to be getting to the bottom of things as he declares it highly unlikely that Opal Whitely secured outdated crayons and paper types to write a childhood diary upon, which she then tore into thousands of pieces and then reassembled. He also thinks it highly unlikely that she was an heir to the Bourbon dynasty. Rather, Opal was different and misunderstood. "Melancholy" ran in her mother's family, and her mother was harsh with her, fostering Opal's development of a rich imaginary life.

Even if the journal was written by a committee appointed by the Pope with assistance from Goebbels it's the most beautiful thing you could ever read. People say no child could write that. I say no adult could.

I prefer Benjamin Hoff's version, though. I find his understanding of the author more penetrating. Opal was special. Under different circumstances, who knows what kind of life she could have lived. It is hard to believe it would have been ordinary.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book i hold dear to my heart, January 10, 2000

By 

Janet C (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Opal: The Journal of an Understanding Heart (Paperback)

It is amazing how such an incredibly beautiful is so little known and distributed.

I picked up this book by chance at my local library and since then have been searching for it at bookstores because not only do i want my own copy, but i want to give to my frends as gifts. However, this priceless treasure of a book is so difficult to find! One of the major bookstores here finally tracked down the last 4 copies for sale in America, and i ordered all 4 of them with my fingers crossed...but to no avail. It's been about 2 months now, and i have lost hope of ever owning my own copy...

I have never come across any book that embodies such innocence, purity and beauty as this book. This is a book which restores my faith and love of life after continual exposure to the harsher side of life. It is such a beautiful and heartwarming book. Hopefully one day i will be able to get my own copy, but for now i'll have to make do with borrowing the library's copy. (i did think of stealing their copy and then claiming it missing, but i didnt want other people to miss out on the chance of reading it)

If anyone reading this know where i can get a copy, please write to me at [e-mail] It will be much appreciated.