Honey Bunch: Her First Trip on the Great Lakes (1930)

Honey Bunch and two of her girl friends are sailing little toy boats in china platters filled with water to represent the Great Lakes when Norman comes to show off his new dog, Waggy. Naturally, Waggy makes a mess and Mrs. Miller the washerwoman is provoked. I dare say that Norman's mother was, too, because (unlike Honey Bunch's cat, Lady Clare), Waggy doesn't stick around for the rest of the series. At least our little heroine's friends get to find out about her next trip.

Before the Mortons take off again, Honey Bunch manages to get lost in a department store. I was interested in the fact that the store showed films to children 12 years old and younger. They used a sheet for the screen. It's 1930. Talking movies exist, but the kids are watching silents. The store even provides a young man to play the piano for the films. The little girl who tells Honey Bunch about them usually calls them 'motion pictures', by at one point she says 'movies'. It's in leaving this makeshift theater that Honey Bunch gets lost, meets a few people, and is reunited with her mother.

The taxi to the train has to take a detour, but the Mortons make it just in time, My eyes opened a bit wider when a porter to the conductor while Mr. Morton is helping Mrs. Morton up the platform and the taxi driver is flinging their two suitcases. Good thing the conductor caught the girl.

Would a Honey Bunch adventure be complete without a bad child to provide contrast to the well-mannered little girl? Of course not! This book's brat is named Albert Groves. His first trick draws a little blood. Obnoxious as the bully is, readers will probably enjoy what gave Honey Bunch the last laugh in chapter 12. I did.

Besides the description of the places Honey Bunch sees (such as Niagara Falls and Charles Lindbergh's birthplace), and the friends she makes, there are more problems than just Albert. One involves the loss of Honey Bunch's birthstone ring. Another is finding a poor abandoned dog. Let's not forget the big storm.

Honey Bunch's way with words provides some amusement. I liked her reaction to hearing someone being called a 'book-worm'. (I also like finding out about older spellings of words.)

In chapter 8 a deck steward teaches Honey Bunch how to use a watch as a compass. It wouldn't work with a digital watch, but if your watch has an old-fashioned clock face, you might want to try it. Just point the hour hand to the sun. The point between the hour hand and the 7 is south.

One of the persons Honey Bunch meets teaches her a Native American word. I hope Norman was impressed.

As usual, I enjoyed the descriptions of places. If I don't think this entry rises above the series' formula, it's still a nice book. ( )