The Racketty-Packetty House
Week of May 26, 2008

Block 1:

This story is told by a Fairy named Queen Crosspatch who, in her introduction, informs the reader that when one is not looking at their dolls, they can do anything they choose. They can move about and talk. If anyone looks, they stop. Fairies know this, of course, and they are particular. They will only visit with agreeable dolls and will not associate with dolls which are not nice. “If you are conceited or ill-tempered yourself, you will never know a Fairy as long as you live.”

Tidy Castle has come to the nursery as a gift to Cynthia on her seventh birthday. Once Cynthia sees this beautiful big doll castle, completely furnished with the most elegant of interior items, she decides that her old dolls’ house, which originally belonged to her Grandmamma, is much too shabby and old fashioned to stand near the new and shiny Tidy Castle. The old untidy Racketty-Packetty House must be hidden behind the nursery door and out of sight. That is how the dolls’ house got its name; as once it was pushed into this “unfashionable neighborhood” behind the door, it became, ever afterward, Racketty-Packetty house. This is the story about the charming little family who occupies the rather shabby, dilapidated Racketty-Packetty house.

DISCUSSION:

A nice, short intro to the book--and I especially like that it is told to us by a fairy, Queen Crosspatch. Cynthia sounds as if she is going to be a not-so-nice dolly Mom, to be ashamed of her own dolls and dolls’ house when a new one comes in! Poor house, to be the favored, and then, suddenly, with the arrival of a spanking new one, to be given the name Racketty-Packetty House!
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This story reminds me of the Christmas when Santa left me two doll houses--one at my Grandmother’s house (we spent the night and it was there when I got up) and the other doll house at home. The one at Grandma’s was a sort of cardboard lithographed house with wooden furniture. It was beautiful and I loved it dearly. My parents made me leave it at Grandma’s house to play with when I was there.

They had an ulterior motive of course. When we got home there was a much grander doll house waiting for me with fancy stylist plastic furniture and fuzzy rug floors. It was very nice, but I loved my lithographed one more. I can still see it in my mind. Cynthia has been dazzled but hopefully, she will come to her senses.
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Yes--dazzled! That is the perfect word for it. Poor RP dollies, though! So often children are lured by the flashy and can't always see that the underneath may not be as lovely as the dazzle (as with Marchpane).
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I think that whatever charms the imagination is what becomes precious to us. I built a dollhouse from a kit and it is very nice and boring. It has pre-made dollhouse furniture that I picked out. But the houses that I made from make-do items are the ones I love. I spend a lot of time hunting down objects that I can remake into something in a dollhouse. So my houses are not perfectly in scale, nor are they exceptionally beautiful, but they capture my imagination. When I was a child, I loved making doll furniture from matchboxes and toothpicks and cardboard boxes.
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I am so emotionally caught up in the poor little folks of the Racketty-Packetty House. I know I have posted before about not having the opportunity to receive many new toys as a child. One at Christmas was it. Someone else's throw outs always came our way from those that knew our family. I want to jump right onto those pages and rescue them right this minute! Every dolly deserves to be loved (except Marchpane, but we'll not regress)! It doesn't take a fairy to tell me that there is magic in that little house. I can hardly wait for the next block to be posted! Cynthia better wake up and see what a precious treasure she has, and it's not found in Tidy Castle either. Those dollies have a history, and it makes them so much more "soulful."
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Cynthia sounds like a little girl who needs a good lesson in values. The poor members of the Racketty-Packetty House. I find the illustrations adorable. Sometimes the best parts of children's books are the illustrations.
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I wonder what the new dolls will be like. Will they be friendly, or snotty?
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I love the concept that the dolls can do whatever they want when the people aren't looking. Cynthia seems rather spoiled, but it is realistic that she puts aside her old dolls to play with the new ones. Most children would do that. Stories like this one teach children to appreciate dolls, and by extension people, for their inner qualities and not their outward appearance. The reader is immediately drawn to the older dolls even though they are described as worn and no longer beautiful. I feel like I want to make new clothes for them and repaint Ridiklis so she is beautiful again because they seem so nice.
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Ah, yes--we are drawn to the older, discarded dolls! We feel sorry for them, and want to comfort and mother them. Of course, the new dolls might be very friendly--perhaps they will all live together in the new dollhouse?
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I have always been drawn to stories where the dolls have a life of their own when the humans are not around. The first I ever read were the Raggedy Ann stories and my mom read those to me. I wonder if the new dolls will be friendly.
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Now why would the Queen of the Fairies (the local flutter of fairies, I presume, not High Queen over all Fairies) have a name such as "Crosspatch". I know not all fairy folk are kind, but why a name that reminds me of being woken from a pleasant nap as a child? Any of you likewise been accused of being a crosspatch?
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Yes, it does sound like that! I like the name--but I hope she is a friendly fairy!
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Oh my, yes...why ever would a fairy ill tempered? Hmmmm...maybe that is part of the story? And yes, I have four children who have called me a crosspatch on more than one occasion! Of course, that was YEARS ago. I am old, sweet and harmless now...and I don't even complain!
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Because her feet hurt in those tiny fairy shoes! They would make a crosspatch of anyone. The Elves only make one size you see and poor Crosspatch has big feet for a fairy. I sympathize with her for I am a 10WW myself.
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Did I miss the photo of Crosspatch's big feet? Yes, pinching shoes do make a crosspatch of a civilized person, don't they?

We have a family fairy. Pardon me, but I would never write this except for the recent discussion on the "Cat Back-side", "Butt-kicking Fairy". She is the tiniest of fairies, hardly visible, but with one enormous boot which she reluctantly applies if you are being exceptionally foolish, cross, or otherwise anti-social. We don't see much of her these days, thankfully. I do know she has taken on employment in other homes as well as ours. The BK Fairy never applied more than a gentle prod to one's posterior, never discriminated as to age or family position and served often to lighten a sour mood. I never inquired as to her cobbler.
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Well, now, we do remember Tinkerbell's little snit, don't we? And fairies' propensity for stealing children and replacing them with a changeling?

Still, since Queen Crosspatch has declared that her fairies do not call at the homes of dolls that are disagreeable: "They will not associate, though, with dolls who are not nice. They never call or leave their cards at a dolls' house where the dolls are proud or bad tempered. They are very particular. If you are conceited or ill-tempered yourself, you will never know a fairy as long as you live." I suppose that means she puts a high value on sweet tempers and good manners and exhibits those qualities herself.
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Funny, the first thing I thought of with the name Crosspatch was that she is the one in charge of fairy needlework - her name might be shortened from cross-stitching and patchwork. Maybe even the muse that affects all needleworkers.
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I don't get the name Queen Crosspatch at all. It seems if she were in charge of fairy needlework (which one could imagine from this name), she wouldn't be the one telling the story. Not that there is anything wrong with a fairy in charge of needlework telling a story, but I would think it would be more of a town crier type of fairy or a historian type of fairy or keeper of the dolls fairy.

The name Crosspatch also might lead someone to believe that it means a cross/mean/angry person/fairy. Yet she tells us herself that fairies will not associate with dolls who are not nice. So maybe there is nothing in the name Crosspatch after all and it is just a name. I think the author should have used a different name for this fairy.

Cynthia seems to be a spoiled little rich girl. When I read about how easily she discarded the RP house, it caused me to think back to my childhood. I never had a big wooden dollhouse, but I did have a tin one that I spent many hours playing with. But that disappeared from my life as did all the dolls I ever owned. So maybe I am as bad in some ways as Cynthia. I do remember, though, taking very good care of my doll clothes. Maybe when I outgrew them, Mom gave them away (sure, the blame it on Mom scenario) or just tossed them, or maybe I did. I can't remember. I wish I had them now!!

When I compare Emily and Charlotte of The Dolls' House with Cynthia of this story, it's quite a different situation. The other girls are older, but they cared for The Dolls' House and cleaned and fixed it up. As soon as Cynthia saw Tidy Castle, she was ashamed of the Racketty-Packetty House and its shabby appearance. It seems she never cared enough for the dolls' house to keep it and the dolls in good condition. One can only imagine what will happen with Tidy Castle after Cynthia has had it for awhile.
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At this point I don't like Cynthia very much. She certainly did not take good care of her dollies or their house. As for Queen Crosspatch, I thought the name may have come from her clothing. I imagined a dress made of patches of beautiful material, silks and velvets in beautiful colors, sewn with silver thread or spider web silk (more fairy-ish). A crosspatch dress -- not a crosspatch personality?
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I just love your theory about Queen Crosspatch. It's very pleasant to think of her dressed as you described, flitting around hither and yon, all rainbow-y, goodness and light. THAT'S the way Fairy queens should look. Thank you for describing a lovely image for me to keep in mind!
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My book shows what I believe is Queen Crosspatch with long blonde hair and a beautiful dress. The picture depicts her in a white or a light colored flowing full dress. (Can't tell the color because the pictures are all tones of brown/beige/white.) Your definition of Crosspatch sounds lovely.
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As a child since I was very near sighted and always stumbling (bad ankles), I spent a lot of time doing needlework. So, in my fairy world it was always the chief needle worker fairy in charge, as after all they can mend everything and fix anything, and are the ones who sew the flowers and butterfly wings. And since I had a lot of needlework "instruction" from older ladies in my neighborhood, I just knew that needle workers were kind, gentle, encouraging, and all that was good in my world, never fighting or arguing -- and if they had run the real world, everything would be better.

So in my fairy world they did run it all, which is why there were never any wars or fights. The needlework queens from different areas always figured out a way to settle disputes peacefully. I remember at one time when there was real world talk of fighting (no idea now what specific incident it was), I imagined that the needle worker fairies would simply get together with needle and thread and while mending everything in sight would talk it over and figure out a way to make everyone happy -- so they had a competition as to which side could make the most butterfly wings. And of course no one who sews wings can stay mad at someone else; they are too beautiful, so the fairy world looked even prettier and peace came again without any destruction.
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I was never in to fairies (ever), but since this book, I have fallen in love. They are so cute, and it's a nice feeling to think, pretend, and/or believe that there are wonderful little fairies floating around in your dollhouses having lots of fun with the dolls!! I'm definitely regressing back to childhood - although if you ask my daughter, I have been there for some time!!! Now I ask you, just what is wrong with that!!!

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