Maida's Little Shop

Maida #1

by Inez Haynes Gillmore

Maida's Little Shop is a gentle story with a delightful little girl heroine and lovable characters. Inez Haynes Irwin used the pseudonym Inez Haynes Gilmore. She was a feminist writer and was a member of the National Women's Party. Maida is a sweet little girl whose father is one of the richest men in America. She is pale, listless and lame. Her father buys her a small shop in Charlestown, Massachusetts in the hope that this will give her an interest and help restore her health. His only requirement is that she not tell anyone who she is or who her father is. Maida makes friends for the first time in her life who see her as an ordinary girl.

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, Classics, Historical, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult

168 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1909

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

A charming book from 1909 about a sickly, very rich, little girl whose father buys out a small toy and sweet shop after she expresses an interest in shop keeping and sets her up in charge of it. I guess every child has a strong interest in "playing store," and this little fantasy could not be more satisfactorily realized than it is in this book, which I would have adored had I read it as a child. As it is, I quite liked it, and was intrigued to learn from a friend that some of the settings in this series are based on real places.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young Maida Westabrook had almost everything that a little girl could desire, from a doting father and kind care-givers, to every luxury - toys, books, exotic pets, her very own automobile - that money could buy. A chronic invalid who had only recently learned to walk, what she lacked was good health, a sense of purpose and/or enthusiasm, and companions of her own age. Hoping to address this, her father, millionaire Jerome "Buffalo" Westabrook, bought her the tiny candy and toy shop that she had admired in passing, and set her up as its proprietress. Now the wealthy Beacon Hill girl found herself living - under the careful supervision of Granny Flynn, her Irish nurse, and of newspaperman Billy Potter, a close confidante of her father - in the working-class area of Boston known as Charlestown. Here she made her first real friends, from lame Dicky Dore, who needed help with his reading, to wild Rosie Brine, who loved animals and hated bullies. Even those for whom she initially had little friendly feeling - snobby Laura Lathrop, sullen Arthur Duncan - eventually come into her circle of influence...

Originally published in 1910, Maida's Little Shop is the first entry in Inez Haynes Irwin's fifteen-volume series chronicling the adventures of the eponymous Maida Westabrook and her friends. With a charming heroine, an engaging cast of secondary figures - I particularly loved Rosie, as well as naughty toddler Betsy Hale - and an unusual and entertaining premise that allows for a mix of characters that might not otherwise have been possible, it was a pleasant story to read. I will definitely be searching out subsequent installments in the series! As a friend noted in her own online review this is the common childhood fantasy of "playing shop" writ large. It is also a fascinating social document, offering a snapshot of both progressive and paternalistic notions about socio-economic class abroad in the culture at the time of its publication. I found myself thinking, as I read along, that those readers who objected to the "poverty tourism" in Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America would undoubtedly have a field day here, in the unlikely event that they were ever to pick this book up. For my part, I thought Irwin's depiction of cross-cultural and cross-class friendships was unusually sensitive, especially when compared to some of the other children's literature available at the time, and in earlier years. One of the few sour notes for me, in Louisa May Alcott's classic Little Women (a personal favorite), was the brief reference to the March girls being "enemies" with all the local Irish children, who are clearly seen as interlopers. There is no sense of that here, as Maida becomes intimate friends with the children of Primrose Court, many of whom are of Irish extraction. I was also impressed by the fact that Maida's relationship with her new friends is reciprocal - that Maida gets as much out of the bargain as she puts in. There is no "rich-girl getting to be the good-fairy" here, as Maida herself discovers when she offers her shop to the members of the WMNT club for their fair, only to realize that they will not accept because they don't wish to be beholden to her. Although poor, these children have their pride, and Maida's realization that this is something to be respected, is an important step toward equality, rather than kindly meant but paternalistic (maternalistic?) benevolence.

I'm curious to see what happens next with these characters, and whether Irwin continues to offer such an unusually nuanced depiction of her working class (and upper class) characters! On to Maida's Little House !

[Katherine Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mother kept all of the Maida books she read as a child, so they were on our bookshelf at home when I was growing up. I read them as a child and loved them. Now I decided to re-read them, beginning with this, the first in the series. Strange, I remember that as a child --- while I loved ALL the Maida books--- this first one was never my favorite. But now, as an adult, I can appreciate it so much more! It is a delightful book; so charming and full of adorable and lovable characters. It's so interesting to read a book that is set in a period of time I'm little acquainted with (and though the publication date says 1909, I was surprised at how modern their world was back then!). It's a perfect balance of old-world charm and modern fairy tale. But what really strikes me is how well-written it is. I've recently re-read some other favorite series from my childhood (later books, published later in the 20th century, but still "old" compared to books that were actually published in my lifetime), and I was quite disappointed in most of those books, finding the writing overly simplistic for an adult to be able to enjoy. But not this book! The language is rich, and the words are absolutely enticing. I had determined to read only this first one, then re-read the others intermittently, but Maida's Little Shop was so good, it made me want to keep reading! Consequently, I've now begun re-reading Maida's Little House.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reads like the second in a series but it's actually the first.
We're never told how old Maida actually is, but her mother died when she was 8 and that was "a long time ago" so she must be at least 10, but having led a very sheltered life as a very wealthy invalid she's a very young 10. Daddy gives her everything she might even imagine she wants, and of course she wants none of the "things." She probably just wants her father around instead of always off somewhere doing millionaire type business. She has plenty of adult companionship: a nanny, a doctor, and the mysterious Billy Potter, an ageless journalist--but those aren't her own people. Daddy's too busy to save his daughter's life by spending it with her, so Billy comes to the rescue by "finding something for her to do"--something to occupy her interest as well as her time. 1909 was way before effective child labour laws, so it's OK for Maida to set up a little toy/stationery shop and run it herself six days a week. Besides, Daddy Big Bucks bought the building for her to play house and store in. He turns up a whole three times in the course of several months and stays a few hours; no wonder Maida was listless and depressed at the beginning of the book. Billy spends a great deal more time with her than her own parent.
Curious how Maida's birth deformity is echoed in another child in the neighbourhood, and how quickly another child gets over a life-threatening bout of diphtheria--one minute she's being held up to the window and manages a weak wave to her friends, and just a week or ten days later she's out running and playing! And this before the days of even aspirin. I think a real convalescence from such a serious illness would probably take longer than a week--unless of course it's in the interests of the plot.
One of the things that made me chuckle was Maida's reaction to the neighbourhood kids' natural disbelief in her rich-kid stories of ponies, birthday parties and her very own auto and train car. She forgets she's masquerading as her nanny's grandchild, and is shocked that people don't believe what she says just because she says it. The neighbourhood the shop is in isn't sordid, but there are apparently a lot of kids who are so poor they can't afford even the two for a penny toys she sells.
Maida is repeatedly described as wearing a white "tire", but an Internet search of the term came up empty.

Thanks to Gutenberg for a gentle evening read.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maida was a little girl who had a problem. She was sick and lame. Despite the fact that her father was wealthy, no one had been able to cure Maida. She was listless and seemed to be losing interest in life. One day, while on a drive with her father (her mother was dead by the way), Maida discovered a little toy store that quite caught her fancy. She saw all the little boys and girls gathered around the shop, saw the little toys and baubles within, and her imagination was fired up. She decided that she wanted to run this little shop. The shopkeeper was only too glad to sell out. Maida's father installed Maida's "Granny" in an upstairs apartment and left her and Maida to run this little toy shop, with only the stipulation that no one should know whose daughter she was, and that she had to make the shop pay.
This is a nice old-fashioned little story with some really good morals in it. Maida gets to know the children of the neighborhood and all of them learn much from each other. And with this new interest in life, Maida's healing begins.

[Gina House · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartwarming in every way!! A new favorite for my vintage middle grade children’s book list. Maida and her family are such a joy to read about, especially since the book takes place near Boston, a city I’ve always lived close to.

Maida’s Little Shop is filled with cozy domestic details and lovely descriptions of weather and people. Although the story has a moral theme, I did not find it preachy or saccharine. People make mistakes, but they learn from them in a believable way.

Maida is one of those naturally caring, thoughtful and intelligent people who it’s a joy to read about. I loved every single page. My favorite sections had to be the Halloween party and the Christmas celebration. I can’t even express how much I enjoyed this book!

I am planning to read the next one ASAP! Highly recommended for all ages! 🥰❤️

[Carolynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wealthy "Buffalo" Westabrook buys a shop in Charlestown, MA, for his daughter Maida, recovering from an unnamed but incapacitating illness. It gives her a new lease on life as she organizes the little shop and meets all the neighborhood children, whose lives are intertwined with hers from then on.
If you liked _Dandelion Cottage_ by Carroll Watson Rankin or _Two Are Better Than One_ by Carol Ryrie Brink you'll love this.

[Tim Jarrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don’t @ me. I was reminded of this book, which I read in my grandmother’s original hardback when I was a kid, and found to my surprise that it’s available on the Apple Books store for 99 cents. And what I remember as a cute story with occasionally impenetrable turn of the century expressions, turns out to be a fable of self transformation and feminine agency, along with a healthy dose of sentimentality. And it turns out that the Internet Archive has at least one of the sequels.

[Jennifer E. Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was the perfect book to read while being under quarantine!! To read of life in a simpler time with the same everyday joys and sorrows that we all face was a breath of fresh air and a reminder that God always was and still is in control!!

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I utterly adored this book as a child. I had my mother's copy, as I don't think it was in print then.

[J. Boo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Available on Gutenberg

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17530

[Luisa Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a sweet, old fashioned story! Sure to be a favorite with tween girls as the main girl sets up the cutest little shop ever and makes dear friends out of the neighborhood children.

This series is best read in order.

Cleanliness: Someone says "Mother of God" and "Lordee." The is an entire chapter about a Halloween party (it is old-fashioned and not very much like a Halloween party). Uses of “good gracious” “goodness” “gee” and the like. Uses the word "negro" once. Fairies, goblins and a witch are referenced when children are imagining or telling a fairy tale story. One little girl is not very nice to her mother but later learns a lesson about being appreciative and respectful and repents. A girl thinks it might be nice to be naughty as it would be cute (she admires a baby that often runs often and gets into mischief).

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So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! And be sure to check out my bio page to learn a little about me and the Picture Book/Chapter Book Calendars I sell on Etsy!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started Maida’s Little Shop on a whim, following a Goodreads reviewer whose taste I especially like. Such an enchanting book! Published in 1910, six years before my own grandmother’s birth, it combines an early 20th century setting with characters and scenarios that feel timeless.

That the innocence and sweetness are never saccharine comes down to the author, Inez Haynes Irwin, who has a fascinating backstory of her own. A writer and suffragist, member of the National Women’s Party, and president of the Authors Guild—how lucky for us that she focused so much of her talent on children’s literature!

Haynes Irwin imbues Maida and her friends with something hard to pin down that keeps them readable more than 100 years later. Perhaps this description helps to explain: “Irwin was a ‘rebellious and daring woman,’ but referred to herself as ‘the most timid of created beings.’” That combination of bravery and awe, courage and utterly delight full the pages and make this a very special book (even for an adult).

[Susan Berger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given the Maida series for my 8th birthday. I adored it. So did my brother. When he had a daughter, it was the first series he gave her. Maida's little House is the second book. The series was written from 1909 to 1958. I was eight in 1951, so I was unaware of the last three books. I would love to read them, but they are very rare and prohibitively expensive. I cannot tell you how many times I have read these books.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, my goodness! Through Goodreads, I rediscovered the name of this series I've been seeking for years! I read these books at a friend's house and the characters and sweet stories made a big impression on me.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read many of the Maida books as a child. This was one of the best. I remember loving the way she reaches out to the kids in the neighborhood through her shop and becomes friends with them—like an early feminist model of a socially-conscious business...

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's time to admit that while this is a pleasant book I would have enjoyed in my childhood, I'm just not getting much enjoyment out of it as an adult.

I should note that while there is little to nothing in terms of usual content concerns, there is an odd bit about communist gatherings from a child's perspective from which the conclusion is that it's only okay to steal things from other people once you're a grown up. Great conversation starter if your younger readers read this book!

[Doris]

I loved these books when I read them as a child. The copies I had were old even in the early 1960s. One thing I remember was that Maida sold dulse in her shop. I never knew what that was until I saw it sold in a health food store about 50 years later. How interesting that seaweed was a treat back then.

[Mellanie C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when I was a kid, then re-read it a few years ago.

[Angie Kaelberer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this series of books as a child.

[Amy Bush]

Such a sweet little book from my grandmother. So so so special to me!

[Hartley Blessing · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet piece of escapism literature. Very little plot, but it's unmistakably charming.

[Lisanne Louwerse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing much happens, but it's a very sweet story. Perfect before bedtime.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The “Maida” books were my favorite series when I was a kid. Decided to reread them and this first one in the series was as delightful and engaging as I remembered.

[Dawn Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Childhood reading memories. Read this book of my mother's multiple times as a young girl. Gave it to my granddaughter to read too.

[Sarah McShane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read a young adult book from the early 1900s, top that for the randomness! Such a super cute book, I will give these books to my daughter when she’s older.

[Miz Lizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in 1910, the print-on-demand copy I read might as well have been an electronic copy for the lack of joy it added to the reading experience. I imagine an old copy (even a reprint) of the book, no doubt illustrated, would greatly contribute to the enjoyment of this old-fashioned tale. Maida is a poor little rich girl whose tycoon father buys her a little shop in the hopes of reviving her interest in life after a surgery that has finally allowed her to learn to walk. She makes her first friends, learns how to play like a little girl, and acts as Lady Bountiful for the children of the poor neighborhood she lives and works in incognito. My adult brain did have a hard time believing that Maida was indeed able to make the shop pay for itself (as her father admonished her it must and the text claims that it did) when she was always giving things away. For a modern adult reader there are some problematic bits on how disabilities and the poor are dealt with -- though not at all out of place for the children's literature of the time. Nonetheless, the story has a delightful fairy tale quality (and includes the telling of an original fairy tale as well) and a sweetness and innocence that would have thoroughly won me over as a child and continues to appeal to my heart as an adult (despite the more critical and cynical voice in the back of my head). I'm intrigued by how much the idea of a little girl running her own little shop (full of the kind of inexpensive candy and toys that poor school children could buy with their own pennies on their way to and from school) snags my imagination even now. I am reminded how I was similarly snagged as a child by the idea of Daisy's child-size wood-burning iron oven in Louisa May Alcott's Little Men. This is a wonderful little piece of lesser known vintage children's literature that I am happy to have made become familiar with.

Book Pairings:
I was introduced to this book through The Radiant Road by Katherine Catmull as it is mentioned as an inspiration for an image (from the told fairy tale in Maida's Little Shop in the author's notes.
Other natural pairings would be those other old-fashioned favorite books and authors of my youth: Louisa May Alcott (Little Women, Little Men, Rose in Bloom, etc.), L. M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables, etc.), and Margaret Sidney (Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. etc..

[Larry Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Maida series of books were my spouse's favorites when she was growing up. This is the first of the series and was published in 1909 (well, my book says 1909, the wikipedia says 1910). Maida is a sick, little rich girl and her father, doctor and friend decide that she might be made well if only she could engage in something that truly interested her. She gets all excited by an old shop and they buy it and let her set it up (in Charlestown, MA). She makes her first real friends whilst the proprietress of the shop and over time regains her health.

I suppose that Maida painted a more-or-less rosy, but at least partially realistic picture of society some hundred years ago. Much seemed familiar to the things I read as a child. Some of the game were unfamiliar. Overall, it's a nice enough book with a basically cheerful, uplifting message. Good reading for kids and ok for us old folks who want to indulge into a bit of nostalgia.

I was interested to find out that the Maida series was written over a considerable period of time, four or five decades, and that the author, Inez Haynes Irwin was an ardent feminist. The feminism isn't overt in this book, but my spouse, who has read all the books in the series many times, tells me that it comes through in that boys and girls are treated more-or-less as equals in the series.

[Kathryn McCary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book 47 years ago, in fifth grade, and was glad to have the opportunity to renew the acquaintance through the Project Gutenberg version.

Maida, the child of a fabulously wealthy father, has recently been cured of the lameness she suffered from birth, but needs something to perk her spirits up--so her father buys her a little candy and sundries shop in a poor neighborhood, tells her she must make a success of it, and takes off for Wall Street leaving her under the protection of her old nurse and his good friend the newspaperman. Whether she makes a success of it financially is not something the author troubles her head about, but Maida befriends all the children of the neighborhood, using kindness and honesty to bring even the most recalcitrant around, and becomes (we are not surprised to learn) univerally beloved. A fairy-tale ending, of course.

The fascinating thing about this turn-of-the-nineteenth-century book, though, was that the author was a feminist, suffragist, and political and social activist. While the Fabian Society quality of the solutions to social problems embodied in the book is a trifle irritating, it nonetheless has a moral core that makes it a tolerable read still.

[Whistler's Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Charles Dickens and Louisa May Alcott had a love child this would be the results.

When I was growing up in the 1950's I had three of the "Maida's Little" books and loved them. MAIDA"S LITTLE SHOP is the precursor of this popular series and was written many years before the ones I owned. The main characters are the same (with some variations) but the tone is far different.

In the later books, Maida and seven friends (the "Big Eight") live on her father's estate. They're taught by an energetic, personable young married couple (Bunny and Robin Hood) and the story
lines always have a mystery attached. The fact that Maida and Dicky are former invalids is mentioned, but downplayed. The setting is post-WWII and the emphasis is on adventure, with the four girls very active participants.

This book is more in keeping with 19th century children's books and more similar to LITTLE WOMEN or even Dickens' children than to the more modern versions of Maida and her friends. It's interesting to me to see the evolution of this series. I doubt if any child today would read it, but it's a lovely period piece for us old folks.