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Following the "life" of a wooden doll may seem like a strangely passive way of learning American history, but it turns out to be a remarkably gripping approach. In the course of her first hundred years, the peddler-carved doll Hitty travels from Boston to India, is abandoned for years in an attic, is shipwrecked in the South Seas, meets President Abe Lincoln, and at one point lives with a snake ch... More

Following the "life" of a wooden doll may seem like a strangely passive way of learning American history, but it turns out to be a remarkably gripping approach. In the course of her first hundred years, the peddler-carved doll Hitty travels from Boston to India, is abandoned for years in an attic, is shipwrecked in the South Seas, meets President Abe Lincoln, and at one point lives with a snake charmer. Seen through her hand-painted eyes, the 19th-century world is a miraculous and usually wonderful place, with some mysteries never to be fathomed. Rachel Fields wrote this Newbery Medal-winner in 1929; 70 years later Rosemary Wells and Susan Jeffers did what to some is the unthinkable: they adapted the classic. In their defense, they did a gorgeous job and did in fact give Hitty a much-needed new lease on life. As Wells says in her note to the reader, "no one I spoke to had actually read Hitty in at least thirty years, and that seemed a real shame."

Of course, as in any adaptation, something of the original is lost. Wells even makes a few significant changes to the story. But purists take note: Wells has the utmost respect for the importance of Hitty, and Susan Jeffers's richly imagined illustrations are definitely worthy of this classic. Don't let another hundred years slip by without reading this gem! (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

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