Miss Rumphius (1982)

What a pretty book! Cute story, too, and I liked the fact that Miss Rumphius was a librarian. :-) Lovely illustrations and a nice lesson. ( )

Growing up, Alice Rumphius dreamt of seeing the world, and then settling down in a little house by the sea. Confiding in her beloved grandfather - an artist like herself - Alice is told that she must do one additional thing: she must make the world a more beautiful place. Many years later, having lived her dreams, Alice sets out to fulfill her promise to her grandfather. But what can she do to make the world more beautiful...?

This was a sweet story - and the illustrations were simply gorgeous! - but I confess that I wasn't as impressed as I expected to be, given the number of goodreads friends who have awarded it four or five stars. The two main criticisms I have seen of Miss Rumphius - that planting lupines all over the place (the beautification project chosen by our heroine) is actually an ecologically unsound idea, as they are quite invasive, and will destroy indigenous flora; and that the wooden cigar Indians carved by Alice's grandfather are offensive, and should not have been included in a book first published in 1982 - don't really explain my lack of enthusiasm. (not that they aren't true)

I guess the truth is that I'm leery of the notion that beauty - finding it, creating it, being it - is the purpose of life. Of course, we all find our own purpose, and for an artist, beauty must surely come into it. But there is this way, in our culture, that girls and women are shepherded toward the ideal of beauty, persuaded that our highest calling is somehow entangled with it, whether in a personal way (being physically beautiful ourselves) or a practical one (creating beauty in our homes and work). And my response to that is: No. No, I don't think making the world a more beautiful place - as it is defined here - is the highest (or only) goal. I want to help make the world a more just place.

In any case, I don't want to go overboard here. As a tale of giving something back, rather than just living for oneself alone, I think Miss Rumphius has merit, and I understand why it is so beloved by other readers. But I simply can't agree with those reviewers (and there seem to be many of them) who perceive it as some kind of guide to life. A hint, perhaps - one of many... ( )

Miss Rumphius, as a little girl set 3 goals for herself, one goal was set by her father. After traveling the world its time to achieve her final and third goal... Does she have the opportunity to complete it? Read the story to find out. The reason I love this book is because its surrounding the message of giving back but also traveling, and the illustrations are absolutely wonderful in watercolor. This book is great for children of ages 7 to 10.

Miss Rumphius is the story of a young girls who tells of her aunt and the legacy she is leaving behind. As a child, her aunt was told to do something to make the world beautiful, and so after living a full life, she sows lupine seeds all along the countryside. The little girl then promises her aunt that when she grows up, she too will do something to make the world more beautiful.
This story would work well for teaching point-of-view, as the story is told from the perspective of the little girl. It would also work well when talking about the use of art in a story, as the art does a wonderful job of depicting the ideas which the author conveys. ( )

A lavishly illustrated picture book, this lovely story details the life of a child's spinster great-aunt, seen through the eyes of imagination. Miss Alice Rumphius is shown working in a library, traveling to distant lands, and, finally, making her home by the sea shore. The theme, however, is obviously beauty: Alice is given the charge by her grandfather to make the world more beautiful. In the end, the beauty is not simply told but SHOWN through the illustrations on the last five or six pages in the book: glorious lupines! I think children ages 4-8 would enjoy this story. ( )