Waterstones Miss Happiness and Miss Flower
155 ratings
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Price: £5.99
Brand: Waterstones
Description: A beautifully illustrated cover edition of Rumer Godden's classic story about friendship and family, Miss Happiness and Miss Flower. When little Nona is sent from her sunny home in India to live with her relatives in chilly England, she is miserable. Then a box arrives for her in the post and inside, wrapped up in tissue paper, are two little Japanese dolls. A slip of paper says their names are Miss Happiness and Miss Flower. Nona thinks that they must feel lonely too, so far away from home. Then Nona has an idea - she will build her dolls the perfect house! It will be just like a Japanese home in every way. It will even have a tiny Japanese garden. And as she begins to make Miss Happiness and Miss Flower happy, Nona finds that she is happier too.
Category: Books
Merchant: Waterstones
Product ID: 9781447292746
Delivery cost: 2.99
ISBN: 9781447292746
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Author: Llewelyn LaVista
Rating: 5
Review: Eight-year-old Nona Fell has lived in India with her father (her mother is deceased) and elderly Indian nanny (nannies were called nurses then) all of her life, until suddenly she is sent to live with her aunt, uncle and cousins in England. 14-year-old Anne is the sensible one who plays piano, 11-year-old Tom is a keen carpenter, and seven-year-old Belinda is a spoilt little cow. Nona is desperately sad and homesick, and life in England is harsh and unforgiving; she is not used to English ways and her family are not used to her ways; she has lived a sheltered life by comparison. She is a very timid child with considerable social anxiety. Belinda being the youngest is used to being the centre of attention, so she resents her family having another girl as a guest. Nona is cheered up a bit when a package arrives in the post for her and her female cousins, in the form of two Japanese dolls whose names are Miss Happiness and Miss Flower - they are a gift from their great aunt Lucy in America. Belinda, being spoilt and typically Western, doesn't truly appreciate them, whereas Nona does, having lived in the East most of her life. She knows that Belinda's ordinary dolls' house won't do, and she's that Tom is into making things, so she sets about making a special Japanese house for the dolls. For this she does a lot of research. Over time, everyone she knows does their bit and contributes to the production of this Japanese dolls' house, and she herself starts to slowly develop the confidence to do more and more. Mr Twilfit the bookshop owner seems like a nasty, grumpy old sod at first, but he turns out to be quite a nice guy underneath it all. Starting school in England is yet another nightmarish new world, full of new people, for Nona, but she comes around to it in the end; she and her teacher Miss Lane get to know each other a bit more, and she makes a new friend called Melly. It even seems that the dolls have sort of become her muses. Belinda continues to kick up a fuss in the hope of getting her own way, but in the end she realises how harsh and selfish she has been, and that both dolls belong in the Japanese dolls' house. You can also see it her way though; because everyone has been concentrating on Nona's Japanese dolls' house, Belinda has felt pushed out somewhat. Nona is so glad that Belinda has changed her mind about the dolls that they finally hug and bond, and Belinda starts to have a better attitude and behave better. She even gets a surprise of her own at the end. I imagine this book will be relatable to a child, especially a girl, who knows what it is like to be a foreigner. Nona is ironically a foreigner in her family's country of origin, having lived somewhere else most of her life. The book will also be of interest to a child who is interested in all things Japanese. Although, I might add, it was published in the early '60s when there were no tablets, computers or smartphones, and attitudes about certain things were less understanding. There is even a plan for how to make the Japanese dolls' house at the back of the book; it's very complicated, so it would be best left to someone who is a keen and experienced carpenter, like Tom in the story. The story carries a message about attitudes and compromise. Although the dolls were intended for the girls to share, Belinda realises that they belong in the Japanese dolls' house and not her English one. Once Belinda changes her attitude and thinks of others, she finds she is happier and gets on with her family better. A lot of teamwork has gone into creating the Japanese dolls' house too, on almost everybody's part. Nona learns to come gradually further out of her comfort zone too and becomes more independent, going to the shops herself and doing her bit in making the Japanese dolls' house. She even feels bad that Belinda didn't get the dolls in the end, but she does get a surprise of her own at the end, which is Nona's idea. Nona also learns the value of things when she is pulled up about swapping her silver bangles for Melly's pencil box. She makes friends with Melly and her mum, and is gifted an identical pencil box and other things that she wouldn't have acquired if she hadn't given school a chance or made friends with Melly. The Japanese dolls' house would probably never have been made if she hadn't been brave enough to venture to Mr Twilfit's shop. Belinda realises her cousin is not so bad after all when she gives *her* a chance. All in all, the Japanese dolls' house is a project that has brought everyone together and built bridges between them all. All's well that ends well, as the saying goes.
Author: Ingaret Ward
Rating: 4
Review: I loved this book as a child and it was lovely to find it once more. The paper cover was missing which was a shame but the book itself was in good condition so I am happy with it. I would recommend this book to children perhaps 9 and over and to anyone who has ever lost someone or needs to make an adjustment to a new country.
