Betty Brock (1923–2003)

I would have loved this when I was a child. I think it still has value, perhaps as a family read together, or a chapter at bedtime. (But don't miss the illustrations!) Since this was written our children's books about unexpected magic have gotten more sophisticated, but imo there's plenty here for a young child. Who doesn't want to fly, have a tiny talking dog as nanny, a rich lonely woman as guardian? Who doesn't come to realize that family is most important, no matter exactly what that family looks like?

What's interesting is how deceptively simple this is. We're not given big back-stories on the characters, or long-winded descriptions of the house, grounds, clothing, foods. We are given the essentials that point to the plot, and to the aspects of the characters that are integral to the themes. And yet, despite the focus on the themes, it's not preachy. It's just a nice story.

It's not quite a four-star read, but I am sufficiently charmed to round my rating up.

Btw, I love the new cover. I read the old, which is fine because I'm old, but the new is perfectly apt.… (more)

I'm indexing all the books my family owns on LibraryThing and had taken this one off the shelf to review today, leaving it on the kitchen counter. My wife recognized it as one of her childhood favorites that she hadn't looked at in years and despite protesting she was just going to look at it for a minute, she ended up reading the whole book through over lunch.

It seemed short, so I thought I'd give it a go too as I took a walk this afternoon, and I was quickly swept up in a gentle but still exciting tale of a little girl and her magical talking dog who come to the house of a stern old rich woman with a collection of expensive wind-up toys. Though she has no love for children, Mrs. Vancourt invites them in because she covets the little dog since it is about the same size as her toys and can do amazing tricks. Things are odd but mostly fine at first, but the dog is keeping secrets about the girl's parents and one of the wind-up toys does something unexpected one stormy day.

The story gets more magical and more engrossing as it slowly unfolds. The ending is a bit abrupt and too neat -- I would have loved one more chapter -- but it is still quite satisfying.

A happy little find from our own bookshelves! Treasures are everywhere!… (more)