Copyright date: 1929…Odd to think that my mother might have run across this book as a little girl and read it….I remember reading it myself as a little girl. Like many of the older Newbery books, it is a vision into the past, a little trip into life for kids before TV and computers and IPods. Hitty is a wooden doll made in the early 1800’s. Her underpants are embroidered with her name and along the way she becomes the most literate of dolls. One girl after another owns her, though her painted features fade and her various dresses come and go. She has a series of exciting adventures: she lands in a tree, in a shipwrecked, on a deserted island worshipped as an idol (!), on a steamship, under the cushion of an old couch, in an exhibition, and, finally, in an antique store. She manages to survive all her adventures with her dignity intact, finding a way to take pleasure in even the least interesting of her situations. ( )

Rachel Field was the first woman to win the Newbery Medal, for her book Hitty: Her First Hundred Years. This book combines two popular genres of children's literature: the toy story and historic fiction. This is the tale of a doll named Hitty as she tells her story of the first hundred years of her life. The other doll story to win the Newbery Medal, Miss Hickory, is also historic fiction, and teaches young readers what life was like in the 19th century. The story's writing is lovely; however, the story lacks the strong conflicts and universal themes that today’s young readers enjoy, so the book seems out of date. ( )

This was an enjoyable book to read. It was unique in that the narrator is timeless and so is looking at things from a unique perspective. The fact that Hitty was passed around so much and yet somehow ended back where she started at the beginning of the book was a little contrived, but it made for fun reading anyhow. ( )

This is the dramatic story of a doll who ends up on a whole host of adventures. She is lost at sea and found, worshipped as an idol on an island, used by a snake charmer in India, kept as part of a museum, and owned by a variety of little girls. All this is from the doll's perspective, with a definite opinion and point of view. I'm not into talking doll books, but this might get interest because the doll was on so many adventures. ( )

This is the neat story of a doll, carved from Mountain Ash wood in the early part of the 18th century, and the many owners and adventures she has in her first hundred years. The doll narrates the story and has such a lovely way of speaking, you are always rooting for her and admiring her patience in difficult situations. I wish I knew where her antique store is: I'd buy her and give her more adventures! ( )