Chapter One Synopsis of Discussion

Week of July 8, 2007

Chapter 1 – Crow Makes A Call

Chapter 1 starts off with a great picture of Miss Hickory’s little house. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to shrink down and go inside for a visit? The house looks so cozy and comfortable (at least for twig person). The outside is adorable nestled among the lilac tree, with the mushrooms growing out front and the little rock pathway leading up to the house.

I like the relationship between Crow and Miss Hickory. Crow is a bit of a blusterer and obviously enjoys his own company and self-importance, but I believe he genuinely cares for Miss Hickory and she cares for him. He respects her for her ancestry, once being part of a tree. Miss Hickory tries to act like she doesn’t care about Crow, but then she gives herself away by hauling out a few kernels of corn from her apron for him. She must have been keeping them handy for when he showed up for a visit.

Poor Miss Hickory. The news Crow had for her was not good. Her little house would be closed for the winter. Where does one go? What does one do? Miss Hickory went through a range of emotions during that visit: stunned at the news; disbelief that Great-granny Brown would do such a thing; distress; where to move; love and fear as she looked around her beloved home; stubbornness when she would not listen to Crow’s idea for a future home; anger, believing Crow’s news to be just gossip and then tossing Crow out of her little home, and refusing to move; then as the news started sinking in, the tears came and she still wouldn’t (or couldn’t) believe the news was true and that it was only a bad dream.
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Well--I can certainly tell right from the very start that Miss Hickory has neither the patience nor the kindness that Hitty has! She is rather short with Crow.....but then, he did bring some rather bad news, and I suppose it could have been shock that made her kick him out. Crow obviously had no hard feelings towards her for it, as it says "...in certain ways they were alike." and he has respect for her. And we did see that she had the last few kernels of corn in her pocket for him when he got there!
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The book starts off with the news that Miss Hickory has been abandoned by her family. She can't believe Crow when he gives her the news. Hitty starts out alone in the antique shop writing her memoirs. Both dolls seem to show a certain independent spirit.
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I like the way Chapter One of the book introduces us to Miss Hickory, you get a real feel for her personality, slightly prickly but with a good heart.
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I didn't participate in the read-through of Hitty (other than to admire everyone’s contributions), so I had to go back today and read Chapter 1 for a refresher, before I commented on all the differences between Hitty and Miss Hickory.

Both are dolls - we know how Hitty was made, but we don't know how MH began life. We do know she had spent at least one winter in the house, where a child brought things for her house. However, they are "alive" in very different ways. Hitty is self-aware, but others are not aware of her "life," not even the animals around her. MH must have sat still while she was in the house, but after being moved outside for the summer, she moves freely, and communicated with the animals. She speaks several times of the sap running through her body. Hitty perceives herself as a doll - MH perceives herself as a person.

Another major difference in the two books is that Hitty is a biography (we won't quibble over how she can hold a pen, but can't walk), while MH is written by the "outside observer" who describes her and her surroundings.

Of course, the language of the books is very different. Hitty "speaks" in the language of her early life, only at the end of the book becoming aware of the 1920s, but MH, written in 1946, uses much more modern language, and is a "country person."

The descriptions of MH, her clothes, her house, and the interactions with Crow are very clear, and provide pictures for us, even if we did not have the great lithographs. Her personality comes through clearly, too - rather full of herself, a little sharp, house-proud - but with a sneaking fondness for Crow. We know what the problem is; now we get to see how MH copes with her trials. She certainly has more control over her "destiny" than Hitty ever did!
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We have a lovely lilac bush in the front yard. We have to agree with Miss Hickory in the book that under a lilac bush is a wonderful place for a house.

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