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Hitty, Her First Hundred Years | September 17, 2014

by Rachel Field (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, 1930)

Hitty, Her First Hundred Years is told through the voice of a charming, resilient little doll named Hitty. Made from sturdy mountain-ash wood, she has survived all manner of dangers and has now decided to recall them in her memoirs.

She begins her life in the state of Maine, with the family of a whaling captain. Soon enough she finds herself on a whaling ship in the South Seas, then shipwrecked on a Caribbean island. But that’s only the beginning! As she shifts from owner to owner, Hitty finds herself with missionaries in India, Quakers in Philadelphia, the high society of New York City and the old world of the deep South. Eventually she is bought from an antique shop and returns, by extreme coincidence, to her original home in Maine. With each adventure neatly told within a chapter, Hitty makes for a perfect read-aloud. It’s also fun to catch the references to historical events, people and customs.

Unfortunately, this 1930 Newberry-award winning book is also full of casual racism and dated stereotypes. That’s not to say that Hitty cannot be enjoyed. But if giving this book to children, a few of her adventures should be tempered with a discussion of race, injustice, and a fuller picture of American history!

 

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