Sara Masarik
Tag: Book Review
Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey tells an imaginary tale of a doll made from a hickory branch with a hickory nut for a head who lives a cozy life in a lilac tree outside of a family home. The story promises charm and whimsy as Miss Hickory lives her life across the seasons and with the woodland creatures in her midst. Each chapter is a vignette that builds one upon the next.
Diane and I are reading through as many early chapter books as we can as we work on a project related to easy-entry stories for the earliest independent readers. We saw this one on many lists and decided to consider it. As I dove in, however, I realized that there are some vignettes which parents and librarians may wish to preview before handing off to young children.
One chapter introduces a fawn who wanders off from his mother and gets lost. He hears a terrible crash sound. As he tries to find the doe, he finds a little red berry in the snow. When he paws at it, however, it disappears. “He discovers more of the round red spots in the snow… And although Fawn looked for Doe until sunset, blind with the tears in his great dark eyes, he did not find her… Doe must have gone looking for him, following him, watching over him, when he had heard the crashing gunfire. He came back home and lay down in their cellar hole, cold, shaking with sorrow and fear, all alone.” Since this book is under 100 pages, this may be too heavy a topic for tender readers who were still reading Dick and Jane not too long ago.
Next, in the middle of the book, there is a chapter centered around Christmas. In it, Squirrel tells Miss Hickory that every year on Christmas Eve, the animals come down from Temple Mountain and look at a baby in the barn. Miss Hickory doesn’t believe him, but on Christmas Eve, she is awakened in the middle of the night by a white “crow” followed by a parade of birds and animals of every kind who are heading into the barn. They are all following the Christmas star. Miss Hickory joins the parade. She notices that the animals are not afraid, and that even Doe (who is dead) is in the parade.
When they get to the barn, the Christmas Star is over Wild Heifer’s stall but it is never confirmed who or what is in there. And there are no people mentioned as being present. So, even if it is the Christ Child, there is no Mary and Joseph. For me, the scene was confusing, and Miss Hickory herself ends the chapter “sad and confused” because she had been hard-headed and never saw into the manger.
Finally, there’s a chapter involving a congress of crows where one is referred to in a notably aggressive manner:
“‘Undoubtedly a gangster,’ Miss Hickory decided after she had watched him every day of Old Crow Week. ‘He ought to be shot, but they’ll never catch him. He’s too wary.’”
The casual mention of shooting the crow feels inappropriate and unnecessarily dark for a children’s book of this level.
Ultimately, while Miss Hickory has the potential to be a sweet and charming story, it is overwhelmed by an edgy tone that doesn’t seem ideal for our youngest readers.
Alternatively, this book reminds me of three excellent and lovely stories that would be worthy choices for our young readers.
TWIG by Elizabeth Orton Jones, republished by Purple House Press, is delightful, wholesome, and oh so lovely.
Mister Deedle’s Treehouse by Margaret Morrison Roeth has the same backyard themes and adventures at the same reading level, but is entirely hopeful and charming.
Dooryard Stories by Clara Pierson Dillingham is written for the same age group and focuses on the animals around the dooryard and their doings. Dooryard Stories, however, blends the natural world and whimsy with perfection.