For another reading challenge:

For books from the year that you were born - Rumer Godden's Miss Happiness and Miss Flower. Nona comes to England to live with her relatives after the death of her mother in India. Godden's lovely sweet story is how Nona and her family create a home for two lovely, Japanese china dolls, Miss Happiness and Miss Flower. Great insights into Japanese culture. Trivia: Demi Moore named her daughter Rumer for this author and her other daughter, Scout for the character in To Kill a Mockingbird. The story of Babar also came out that year. I want to read a couple more titles from this year.

This is one of those books that if I had read as a child, I think I would very much have loved. The story follows two Japanese dolls sent to a lonely little girl who just moved to England from India. With the help of her cousins, she slowly constructs a home for the dolls, and at the same time finds a community for herself.
I loved dolls. I loved dollhouses. I would have desperately wanted to build this dollhouse if I was 9.
Not really so much now, but I did appreciate this sweet story. The book does run with some Japanese stereotypes and I don't know where the line is between learning about another culture from a clearly Western perspective and what is problematic. But for when it was written, not bad.

Quick little read.
A little girl had to leave her birth country and move to live with her cousins, but she feels very out of place, everything is strange and different. She gets a Japanese doll (or two of them, actually, but more about that in the book) and wants to make them feel at home, so she gets them a Japanese house - with the help of her cousins, an old book seller, and a school friend and her mother. What I find interesting is that the girl herself was not given the same courtesy she gave to the dolls. No-one ever tried to make her feel more at home, the family just expected her to adjust. Makes me kind of sad. They were nice and all, but none of the people expressed any compassion to her having missed her mother and having to live in someone else's home. And her youngest cousin was a real beast.

At last! I have found the book that has haunted me since childhood! Two Japanese dolls with thoughts and feelings; two little girls learning to deal with their own feelings; and how in learning to think about the dolls’ needs, the girls learn how to better get along and adjust to their own situations. A beautifully descriptive tale that captures a child’s belief in the sentience of their toys and encourages interest and respect for the traditions of different cultures, an attitude no doubt influenced by the author’s experience of growing up in India, just as her protagonist Nona does. The careful descriptions of Japanese traditions and customs made such an impression on me as a young girl that I have remained fascinated with Japan, and now have my own dollhouse! I searched fruitlessly for this book for years, wanting it for my daughters but having forgotten its title and author: and finally came upon its sequel this year, having recalled the name “Little Plum.” Do read that one as well: they blend together seamlessly.

For the crafty:woodworking types: a complete plan is included in the book on how to make the dollhouse described in the story!

For the less crafty- you can purchase an easy Japanese dollhouse room kit on Etsy- check out “LaserLines”!

I came across this book quite by accident as I was searching for craft books in our library system's online catalog. When I saw the author's name, I was excited because she is the author of my favorite children's Christmas book, 'The Story of Holly and Ivy.'

This delightful story is the story of a very lonely girl who feels like a complete misfit in her 'foster' family and in her school when she is sent to live in England from India by her father. The reason for his sending Nona Fell away is not disclosed; and the fact that he did send her away causes a great deal of heartache and pain for the eight-year-old.

An elderly great-aunt in the United States sends a Christmas box to England which is supposed to have three Japanese dolls inside. There are only two dolls packed in the box, so the eldest of Nona's cousins, fourteen-year-old Anne, is not given a doll. Seven-year-old Belinda and Nona each receive a doll.

Belinda is an unkind, manipulative child who begrudges Nona's appearance in her home and family. She does everything possible to make her cousin absolutely miserable. One of the things I personally enjoyed in this story was how Belinda finally learned a hard lesson about how to treat Nona and the rest of her family with respect and kindness.

Miss Happiness and Miss Flower each have their own personalities which I believe children will enjoy. There is a lot of discussion between these dolls of Japanese culture and customs.

What made this book show up in my search for 'crafts' is the fact that Nona and her eleven-year-old cousin Tom build a Japanese doll house from the ground up in order for Miss Happiness and Miss Flower to have a place to live.

Details of their challenges and problem-solving in building the doll house were intriguing to me, and I think they will capture the interest of young readers, too. A section in the back matter of the book entitled, 'NOTES', is informative about Japanese customs, traditions, festivals, and Haiku. Also included in this section are diagrams of the plans for the house that Nona and Tom built in the story. There are also stepped-out instructions so that people can make the same house if they wish. Astonishing!

This book has so much to offer readers—a touching story, social studies lessons about the culture of Japan, and plans for how to make a lovely Japanese doll house. Highly-recommended to classroom teachers, librarians, scout/youth group leaders, families, and anyone interested in building a Japanese doll house for or with children.

As mentioned earlier in this post, I borrowed this book from the local public library.

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Beautiful!
Such a sweet read.
I love how Godden uses the toys to capture the spirit of the children in the story.

Kind of like real life...

Such an odd little book. I read it to my 8yo. for school. She loved it and is suddenly interested in dolls etc.
The dolls speak but only to each other, so the rest of the human characters act normal. Nona is living with her cousins after send much of her young life in India. She has a difficult time adjusting until the dolls arrive. Nona begins to take an interest in making the perfect Japanese home for her dolls.
We loved all the things about Japan. We would look up pictures, words, customs, and maps after reading it.

Darling children's book about two Japanese dolls who help a little girl from India feel more at home in England. Nifty directions for doll house instruction too- Japanese style.

This was a sweet children’s book with a sweet message. It took me about 45 minutes to read.

Violet's 2009-2010 reading page:http://happyheartsmom.typepad.com/swe...

I love this story, and the next one, Little Plum.

In Bambole giapponesi Rumer Godden ci racconta una storia tenera e magica che, attraverso l'incontro di Fiore e Felicità, due bamboline giapponesi, e Nona, ci parla di come possa essere spaventoso e terribile sentirsi soli al mondo e di come possa essere difficile fidarsi dell'altro, soprattutto in un posto nuovo, lontano da casa.

Questo racconto, con delicata forza, celebra l'importanza dei desideri e l'impegno e il duro lavoro necessari non solo per il loro compimento, ma anche per il superamento delle proprie paure.

Trovo che un aspetto che dà valore aggiunto a questo libro sia il fatto che è sempre presente una finestra sulle tradizioni giapponesi che accompagna Nona, la protagonista, e il lettore durante tutto il racconto.