Miss Hickory is a Newbery winning Fantasy by Carolyn Bailey. It talks about a doll named Miss Hickory who has sticks for limbs and a hickory nut for a head. Miss Hickory lives in a corn cob house beside her owner’s farm, but she had to move away because her owner’s family decided to spend the Winter somewhere else. The story follows Miss Hickory as she tries to find a home she feels comfortable in, while facing many challenges and interesting events. She meets new people and goes on adventures on her quest to find the perfect home. In the end, her head gets eaten by Squirrel, and she finally settles down on top of an apple tree, freed of her past life, and helps the tree bloom. This humorous book not only explores the concept of a home, but also shows us how Miss Hickory’s personality gradually changed. In this book review, these themes will be further examined, and the reason why Miss Hickory deserves a Newbery Award will be clear.
The first step in delving into the concept of a home is defining what a home is and why people want it. The exact definition of a home is not thought about often, as everyone has a home in everyday life. A home is where someone feels comfortable, where someone has a sense of belonging. One always wants to find a place where one belongs to, and one always wants to find a group where one belongs to. A suitable home needs to make you feel a sense of belonging to the corresponding group. A home is more than a shelter, it offers both safety and a group to belong to. In the story, Miss Hickory tried several homes that she wanted to inhabit. She used Robin’s nest, which was comfortable enough but Robin kicked her out after finding she took his home without permission. Miss Hickory tried Squirrel’s home, but Squirrel was annoyed at her and so he ate her head (literally). Finally, Miss Hickory found that the ideal home for her was the top of an apple tree. This actually makes sense if one thinks about it. Although the previous houses were all safe and warm, none of them were truly suitable for Miss Hickory. Miss Hickory was created with parts of a tree, a nut and some twigs. Thus, the place she feels most suitable is where she came from, a tree. That’s why Miss Hickory felt the most comfortable staying part of a tree. A home is where we feel a sense of belonging with our group.
In order to truly belong in one’s group, one has to contribute to its society. In an ideal society where everyone feels a sense of belonging, there should be constant interactions between each other. This means exchange in cooperations and help overcome each other’s challenges. In the ideal society, everyone can contribute to making the group better, and everyone feels involved and has some sort of responsibility. One cannot be in one’s ideal home if he or she doesn’t help others in the group and contribute actively. In the story, Miss Hickory constantly helps other animals, and other animals help Miss Hickory and each other. Miss Hickory helped create the Hen’s Ladies Aid Society, as well as pulling Bull Frog out of the pond and motivating others to give Ground Hog some food. Crow helped Miss Hickory relocate to another home. Wild-Heifer took in Fawn as a brother and shared her food with him, as he lost his mother to hunters. From all of these examples, we can see that Miss Hickory clearly contributes to the animals in the wilderness. By helping others overcome challenges, she showed that she was suitable in the wilderness society, even if her home didn’t fit her. However, it is still important that often, a home and the society are closely linked. Helping others in a group is crucial for a sense of belonging.
There is a significant change of attitude as the story progresses. Sometimes a person can be stubborn and not willing to accept change and new things. He or she doesn’t want help from others and it can be hard to change ideals. However, if one simply tries to embrace change and accept help from others, one can become more spiritually flexible and more acceptable. This makes others want to interact with one, helping the sensation of belonging in a group, as well as opening up and helping the community. In the beginning of the story, Miss Hickory didn’t believe Squirrel when he told about the Christmas celebration, and ignored Mr Willard the cat when he said there were interesting things in the barn. These were all new things. Overtime, she began to accept help from others and contribute more to the community, making her more acceptable and open. Miss Hickory was originally hardheaded, but she changed herself to become more flexible with new things. She participated in the community more, and became less stubborn to others. This way, Miss Hickory helped boost her sense of belonging, as well as helping her become more involved with the local society. By accepting change and accepting help from others, one can become more flexible and involved with the community.
In conclusion, Miss Hickory is a Fantasy about a doll who has to find a new suitable home for her, while engaging in adventures and meeting new people along the way. One crucial theme for this book is defining the concept of a home. A home is where someone feels a sense of belonging, where someone feels comfortable and suitable to the corresponding group. Throughout the story, Miss Hickory tries to find the perfect home for her, which was ultimately being part of an apple tree, where she came from. In order to feel a sense of belonging, one has to participate and help others in the community. Miss Hickory constantly helps other animals in the local area and other animals constantly help each other and Miss Hickory, meaning Miss Hickory has found the right group. In the beginning, Miss Hickory was hard headed and didn’t want to accept change nor help from others. However, she gradually learned to accept new things and receive help from the other animals, boosting her sense of belonging and mental flexibility. This book was humorous, with deep themes that wouldn’t be truly seen without deep analysis. It truly deserves its Newbery Medal, and I highly recommend it.
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