We've only read the first chapter but both Bella and Sophie were captivated from the beginning.

Utterly charming ... a happy rediscovery from my childhood.

The girls and I enjoyed this book so much, any story where the dolls thoughts are expressed in relation to their treatment by the owner are always interesting.

We read this as part of our introduction to Japanese culture. Ended up finishing it in two sittings because we all enjoyed it so much. Rumer Godden is just...yeah. No words. :)

This older book, set in England, stars two Japanese dolls that are sent to England. The girls in the family they come to include one who has been sent back to England after being raised in India (in the 50s or 60s, it seems to be) and is desperately homesick. The other girl(s) aren't very interested, but inspired by the dolls (and their silent wishes), the homesick child is inspired to try to get/make them a Japanese dollhouse and furnishings. The boy of the family does the carpentering (carpentry being a hobby of his) to make an amazing dollhouse, plans, instructions and details included in the back of the book. Getting the supplies and so forth and talking to school acquaintances lets our shy immigrant begin to expand her world. But there is trouble on the horizon: the youngest in the family is jealous of all this activity.... what will happen?

This book is so short and simple and charming. It’s kind of the little princess/secret garden, sad girl raised in India comes to England and is miserable, and in this case her caring for two little dolls helps her find her place in her new home.

I didn’t realize that this book was another key part of my lifelong japanophilia that was cultivated starting on 4th grade with a social studies block, but also this book which my sister gave me when I was 10 (it’s inscribed by her). I think you are 10 in 4th grade? Little Plum is a nice sequel since the first book is so short. Perfect reading for crappy chemotherapy days.

A little girl from India and two dolls from Japan try to feel at home with a British family. The family's son makes a real Japanese-style doll house, and the plans are in the back of the book in this edition. Good for a building unit.

Book love+doll love =Stasia love.

The utterly charming story of two Japanese dolls and the little girl who creates a proper dollhouse for them.

Flapping fantastic. A kids' novel from another time where the characters aren't boring. Especially not Belinda. I was nothing like her in elementary school, but I knew kids like her and I still don't understand them. How can you not like books? And how can you be so confident? Where is all this confidence coming from, little girl? Belinda is a tornado and she's Nona's cousin. Nona came from India to live with her aunt and uncle and cousins. She's lonely, she reads and cries and misses India and her ayah. Belinda and Nona's great aunt in America sends them a package for Christmas with two Japanese dolls inside it. Belinda doesn't care about the dolls, but Nona thinks they should live in a Japanese dollhouse and not Belinda's English, messy one. The man at the bookshop lends her some books and Nona starts researching Japanese homes. Her cousin Tom, in vivid detail and with diagrams in case you might want to construct your own (you can!), helps her build a Japanese dollhouse for Miss Happiness and Miss Flower. Belinda isn't happy. She doesn't give a rip about Miss Happiness and Miss Flower. She wants the doll their great aunt didn't send, Little Peach.

This is a lovely book for young chapter book readers, full of gentle wit, imagination, detail, bossiness and information about traditional Japan and England and India at the end of the colonial era. Rumer Godden wrote dozens of books for children and adults and this is one of her finest. Miss Happiness and Miss Flower has a sequel, Little Plum.

This is the most adorable book ever. I think it is so positive and cute and when i read this it made me smile. Sometimes when i am sad i think of this book.

This book was gifted to me on my 12th birthday ( i think) and I remember making powerful connections with the character Nona. I could connect with her feelings of loneliness and insecurity. The book went missing from my father's bookshelf and a friend of mine , James Askew, bought it from me from England. As I was reading it again, I was struck by this amazing coincidence...the fact that I am currently working in Japan. The book is all about the Japanese culture. Nona, the main character, receives the two dolls as a gift. She is motivated to read all about the Japanese culture and decides to build them a doll's house. She pays attention to details and in the process we learn all about this beautiful culture.
I would love to read this book aloud to my students next year , and maybe , with some help, we too could build a Japanese house. The earlier edition of the book had a blueprint of Nona's house. This one does not.