Dorothea Warren Fox (1914–1999)

Originally published in 1966, and then reprinted in this 2002 Purple House Press edition, Miss Twiggley's Tree is the tale, told in rhyming verse, of an eccentric woman, her canine companion, and her arboreal home. "Funny Miss Twiggley / Lived in a tree / With a dog named Puss / And a color TV," the story begins, going on to relate how Miss Twiggley, a shy spinster with a tendency to hide from visitors, overcame her social trepidation when a hurricane threatened the area, and learned to show more interact with her neighbors. The townspeople, on the other hand (including the rather officious mayor's wife), learned that eccentricity doesn't have to be a bad thing, and that living in a tree has its advantages...

This is a sweet little tale, one with a good message about learning to accept differences, and look beneath the surface, and it boasts its creator's lovely artwork, which has a charming vintage feeling to it. Dorothea Warren Fox was a well-known illustrator in her day, whose work appeared in many magazines, as well as in Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care. I don't think I was quite as blown away by this one, as the friend who recommended it to me (although I thank her for making me aware of it!), but I did appreciate the humor to be found in both story and artwork, and the heartwarming conclusion. Recommended to young readers who enjoy rhyming tales, and to anyone with a taste for vintage picture-books. show less

"Funny Miss Twiggley lived in a tree
with a dog named Puss and a color TV.
She did what she liked
and she liked what she did.
But when company came...Miss Twiggley hid."

With that poetic beginning, Dorothea Warren Fox takes young readers through Miss Twiggley's evolution from a kindly, shy eccentric to local hero, with some lessons on treating others as you would be treated.

When Miss Twiggley's town is flooded from "a wild hurricane," people and pets take to boats made of whatever floats by. They show more end up at Miss Twiggley's large willow tree. Twiggley, her dog and visiting bears get to work outfitting her tree house by stringing up hammocks, cooking stew and making the land-livers feel welcome--even the busy-body mayor's wife, who had previously made it her business to talk smack about the tree-dwelling heroine. (It occurs to me that FEMA could instill some of Miss Twiggley's ethic into its mission!)

Some would find this 1966 publication outdated. There is no ethnic or cultural diversity in the town (unless you count Twiggley and her arboreal habitat). And the rhyming style for young children's books that was all the rage when I was a kid in the 1960s is seldom used anymore. Yet Twiggley is strong and self reliant, not the hapless, helpless female so often portrayed back then. This is a sweet, endearing story with subtle lessons about kindness and compassion. Kids love the marvelous illustrations of the tree house, complete with damp-but-happy townsfolk and critters alike. This book is a classic, and a favorite of my youth. My kids love it, too. Give this gem as a gift to youngsters, and pass Miss Twiggley on to a new generation! show less

Shy Miss Twiggley keeps to herself living with a dog, a cat, and some bears in a treehouse on the edge of town, but the mayor's wife thinks this kind of nonconformity is unacceptable. But then a natural disaster shows the value of thinking (and living) outside the box.

The cliched plot and bland moral didn't do much for me. Putting the story into verse didn't help much either.

This was lovely, and a nice story about a quirky woman and her more predictable neighbors coming to appreciate each other.