The Story of Holly and Ivy (Hardcover)

~ (Author), (Illustrator) "This is a story about wishing..." (more)
Key Phrases: toy shop, Miss Shepherd

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A beautiful story of wishing: of a little girl who wants a doll and a grandmother; of a doll that yearns for a child's arms around it; and of a lonely policeman's wife who wants a child in her home. Ages 5-10.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Orphaned Ivy finds her Christmas wish fulfilled with the help of a lonely couple and a doll named Holly.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Viking Juvenile (October 1, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670806226
• ISBN-13: 978-0670806225
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 10.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #981,152 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Christmas tale for all seasons, July 5, 2002

By	R. Tiedemann "Sunnye" (Bellevue, NE USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Holly is a doll who wants a little girl for Christmas -- it is her fondest wish. Ivy is a little girl who wishes for a grandmother for Christmas. Everyone has left St. Agnes's Orphanage for the holidays and she is lonely, so she decides to find her mythical grandmother. Mrs. Jones feels that Christmas needs children. "Couldn't we have a little girl?" she asks. But Mr. Jones thinks she's daft. Add a sympathetic boy and a villainous toy owl and you have a page-turner.

Rumor Godden is the author of many fine and classic books for adults like THIS HOUSE OF BREDE and THE GREENGAGE SUMMER. Her rich and sumptuous writing guides stories full of delightful characters and, in the case of HOLLY AND IVY, little twists to the tale to surprise the reader.

If you're shy about reading "kiddie lit" for fun because you're an adult, find a child to read this to. And no matter what age -- teens will love the whimsy in the story as much as smaller children.

The illustrator is Barbara Cooney, a Caldecott Medal winner who has illustrated over a hundred books. She has captured the characters, setting and holiday appeal of the story in colorful pictures on every page.

Don't wait for Christmas! This is a story -- and a book -- for all seasons.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This story is what Christmas is all about., August 17, 1999

By A Customer

Holly and Ivy was originally published in Ladies Home Journal in the 1950s. My mom clipped the story from the magazine, and read it to me and my sister every Christmas. The lonely little orphan girl Ivy and the doll Holly who wished so much to have a child for Christmas, really touched a chord with us. For me it started a life-long love for Rumer Godden, especially for her doll stories. To fully appreciate the story, you have to hear it read aloud.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential Christmas story, October 12, 2000

By	Mark Borchers (The Woodlands, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a perfect book for reading aloud to a grade school child...but my junior high school daughter still loves it as well. It is a charmingly written tale of the twists of fate that unite orphan girl Ivy with the Christmas doll Holly in the nick of time. The genius of Rumer Godden is that she writes it in a way that the adult reading the story enjoys it fully as much as the child listening. Barbara Cooney's illustrations look exactly the way the story looks in one's imagination. When I first went looking for a hardcover version of this book it was very hard to find, so order this one now. Your kids will treasure it in their library.