What do You think about Little Plum (2007)?
One of the first of Godden's "Doll Stories" that I checked out of the library at about age 10. I remember long car trips across the Midwest with my older siblings bickering and sometimes coming to blows, while I buried myself in a book to escape. One day I had this book along, and suddenly my mother asked me to read it aloud. This meant I got to sit in the front seat instead of in back between the fighters (as the youngest and shortest, I always had to sit in the middle on the axle bump). I started where I was, and was told, "No, wait, go back to the beginning." I did. It held their attention all the way to our destination, and all the way back. (By that time it was night, and I was reading by the light of a flashlight.)No one got bored or complained or fought.I was surprised that my sister aged 13 and brother aged 15 could be interested in a "kid's story" about dolls, but they were. Perhaps because Belinda is a real child, who makes mistakes, fights with a new girl she's never spoken to, acts without thinking, and is selfish and totally unlike her obedient, "perfect" siblings and cousin Nona, who apparently can make anything she likes, no matter how miniature or difficult. Tom too is capable of building a Japanese doll's house, while sister Anne plays the violin (just like my older sister, also a Little Miss Perfect.) Belinda is untidy, clumsy, blunt and blissfully unaware of her bumptious personality until she meets the Tiffany-Joneses, the upperclass family who move in next door. ("Gem Tiffany- Jones", hyphen and all...ugh. Overkill. But for a "perfect" princess with private ballet lessons and her own grand piano and pony, I guess it fits.)The book got me interested in Japan, and established the custom of me reading aloud on car trips. Thanks to Little Plum, our frequent road trips were much more peaceful and we discovered a lot of very good writers. From there it was a short step to Dickens, Austen and co. Thank you, Ms. Godden.
—Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all)
It's been a year since Nona moved in with her Aunt, Uncle and Cousins. Nona and Belinda now get along and are great friends. But it seems the House Next Door that has been empty for a very long time, is now being lived in. A girl who is about nine years old is living there with her family and she has a Japanese doll! Belinda wants to make friends, but due to the girl's Aunt, she hasn't been able to. And soon it turns into a war between Belinda and the new girl next door.Like the first, it is a cute book. It's a bit longer than the first and I think Belinda plays an even bigger part in this one as she tries to make friends with the neighbor girl. It's a bit crazy at times because of the lengths that Belinda goes to so she can get the neighbor girl's attention. But it's a good book.
—Eden
