Entertaining and educational! Godden embeds definitions of words right in the story to be sure the reader knows what she is talking about. In figuring out how to make a Japanese house for two miniature dolls:
“How would you raise it?”
“Make a plinth,” said Tom. “like a box upside down,” he explained quickly to Belinda before she could ask him what a plinth was.

“They wore thin cotton kimonos - a kimono is like a dressing-gown with wide-cut sleeves…”
Sweet story with a moral.Nice illustrations.
*the front flap summary states that the plans for the house are in the back of the book in case a little girl and her dolls might have a “willing . . .boy or a father” who could make one.This dates itself (1960 publication) because we avoid gender stereotypes today. A girl, woman, mother could surely make the house herself.

A lovely story of finding your feet... I have read this 5+ times and would definitely recommend

For nostalgia

I too felt a real affinity for this utterly charming book . My dad was a dr and in the early 60’s worked with a lovely fellow doctor who was Japanese. He and his wife gave the little me a set of dolls just like Miss Happiness and Miss Flower .
I am pretty certain that my mum first read this to me ( I was around 6 or so )
I remember how much I adored the story . I cried during this reading ; thinking back .
Rumar Godden really understood children. I love how she gets into the characters so well , especially of the jealous little one, Belinda. Oh and, the culture of the time, late 50's early 60's ; parents were rather hands off, to be honest . Anyone who grew up in those days will concur. We children basically raised ourselves and I THINK were stronger for it.... (no helicopter parents !)

A lovely lovely book ❤️

Miss Happiness and Miss Flower are Japanese dolls that are given to two little girls living in England. The book is told from the point of view of the dolls. Nona, a lonely little girl who just moved to England from India loves the dolls and wants to build them a proper Japanese dollhouse. The other little girl is Nona’s cousin, whom she now lives with. Belinda is not very understanding of Nona’s loneliness and often mocks her. Though as the dollhouse gets built, with some help from her cousins, Nona learns about friendship both within and outside of her family.

This is a delightful book that will engage readers today as it did over 40 years ago when it was first published. The author does a good job of capturing the feelings of the girls as well as the feelings of the dolls. The story introduces facts about Japanese culture and traditions by weaving them into the story. There is even a plan for the reader to construct her own dollhouse at the end of the book. Godden’s descriptions of the dollhouse were so vivid that I actually thought I remembered illustrations in the book that weren’t there.

I read this book years ago in elementary school, and it started my interest in Japanese dolls. It is a beautifully written story that makes me almost want to live in early 1960's England! The characters seem so real and the author really makes you care about them. I prefer the edition with jean Primrose's exquisite illustrations, though.

This book was so lighthearted and beautiful! Belinda annoys the ever-living daylights out of me, but the story was so full of hope and goodness that by the end she can't help but catch it. I don't really think, though, that all of her emotional issues stemmed from jealousy of Nona and the dolls; most of it just seems like Belinda is a real piece of work, made even more volatile by Nona's arrival.

What I appreciated was that Miss Happiness and Miss Flower didn't become objectified Japanese signifiers; Nona says several times that the Japanese must be very brave people, and treats their way of life like an artform and not a quaint cutesy fantasy. Everyone who helps does so with research and respect. In the end, the dollhouse brings them together, and even teaches Belinda how not to be a little rotter.

I loved this book when I was a child, and read it many times, I'm sure. I believe I have also read it as an adult, although I can't remember exactly when.

Miss Happiness and Miss Flower is an odd little story in some ways. It's got a very conventional and predictable plot once the particulars are established -- young, motherless Nona has come to England from India (A Little Princess, anyone? or The Secret Garden? -- although, in fairness, this was a common true-life scenario in the first half or so of the 20th century) and is terribly unhappy, missing her Ayah (Indian nursemaid commonly hired by Europeans for their children while in India) and father.

Nona lives with her aunt and uncle and their 3 children, Anne, Tom, and Belinda. Belinda is a year younger than Nona and jealous of the attention Nona gets.

Two Japanese dolls come in the mail, and Tom ultimately begins to build a Japanese-style doll house for them. What's unique about the book is the number of end-notes (about Japanese habits, festivals, and buildings), including full specifications and a shopping list for the doll-house! I'm sure that as a child I wished I could build such a house, but my predominant memory is the dolls themselves. I was enchanted, and still am. Miss Happiness and Miss Flower have their own wishes and dreams, and they speak to each other. From the cover's front flap:

Miss Happiness and Miss Flower -- as the dolls were named long before by Great-Aunt Lucy, who had sent them -- changed Nona's whoe life. Dolls can't move alone, nor can they speak, but they can feel and, above all, they can wish; and, as Rumer Godden's young readers know, wishes can sometimes accompish miracles.

The bulk of the illustrations in the original edition, by Jean Primrose, are quite charming black and white drawings with some blue pigment, along with many Japanese-style stencils, I guess I'd call them. Those are on just about every other two-page spread. Then there are 6 exquisite full-page watercolors; I can't imagine an edition without them!

beautiful story..

A delight to read.

October 2009 review:

This was a very enjoyable book to read; it reminded me of something Frances Burnett would write. It was a lot like The Secret Garden, or The Little Princess. Miss Happiness and Miss Flower are two little Japanese dolls that are sent to Nona Fell, a little girl from India, now living in England with some cousins. The dolls were sent to Anne and Belinda, Nona’s cousins, but Anne says she is too old for dolls and Belinda is not interested in them, so Nona takes them in. When Nona decides to make a proper Japanese doll house for Miss Happiness and Miss Flower, she needs to enlist the help of her other cousin Tom who can do carpentry and build. When Nona goes to the bookstore to find a book on Japanese houses, she makes a new friend in the grouchy old bookkeeper. Soon, everyone in the family is interested in Nona’s doll house and Belinda begins to feel jealous of her. Belinda wishes that Nona would go back to India, but most of all she longs for Little Peach, a doll that was mentioned in the letter that came with Miss Happiness and Miss Flower, but was never sent. The doll house is built with success and in the end, Belinda receives Little Peach, whom Nona sent for for Belinda. End notes: In the back of the book, it has instructions on how to make your own Japanese doll house. This is an awesome book!!!

I'm not even a doll person but I immediately fell in love with this book! Even now I'm hard pressed to say who captivated me more, the adorable little dolls named in the title who speak (only to the reader of course!) throughout this children's-book-for-adults or lonely Nora suddenly finding herself a stranger in her aunt's home in cold England after growing up wild and warm in India. And then there were her cousins, staunch Tom who coaxes and challenges Nora right from the start, wise and kind Anne or devilish, little Belinda whose daily delight lies in vexing her shyer relative. Other characters include a school chum and an eccentric bookshop owner as well as Nora's aunt and uncle.

How Nora learns to feel at home in her new country comes through the fascinating process of creating a proper Japanese home for Miss Happiness and Miss Flower. Many of the intricacies of detail were lost on me, but were charming none the less.

As I was reading, I kept thinking of so many doll-y and dollhouse types who would recognize familiar territory in all the tiny perfections so painstakingly described by the author.

A treat! Very soon I'd like to read The Dolls' House by the same author. Going through some of my daughter's old books which I don't remember. Such fun!