Kindred Spirits discussion

Discussion Date: Friday, February 26th

Annabel Tippens seems like an ordinary little girl, with short blond hair and very good manners. But Annabel is actually quite unusual. Instead of parents, she has Gloria, a tiny white dog who talks and wears a gold collar. Annabel never wonders why her life is different, until one day a cat named Belinda tells her the truth -- she′s not just a little girl, she′s half fairy! But now that she knows the truth, will her whole life have to change?



This is a childhood favorite of mine, and I've been wanting to reread it for ages. It's a sweet and funny little book, and if you love small animals and little girls who run into magic, you'll love this.

Meet us here to chat about the book on the last Friday in February!

Those illustrations by William Tripp so remind me of Charlotte's Web. So lovely.

Agreed! I love Garth Williams' illustrations, and you're right, these do have a similar feel.

I'm excited to get a hold of this book and read it. I've never heard of it!

I'm waiting for my copy to arrive in the post. Looking forward to it!

Hooray Heather and Katie! I hope your copies get in soon.

PS, Heather, I peeked at your profile--is this your first time reading LITTLE HOUSE?

Wendy Darling wrote: "Hooray Heather and Katie! I hope your copies get in soon.

PS, Heather, I peeked at your profile--is this your first time reading LITTLE HOUSE?"

Yes it is! I've been so deprived as a child haha I finished it last night and loved it!

Oh, how wonderful! *beams* You have so many more books to look forward to! We read FARMER BOY as part of our classics series a couple of years ago, so that series is definitely a favorite of mine, too. I'm so glad you finally got to book one!

My copy of No Flying in the House has arrived on this snowy Monday! It has the older cover in Wendy's initial post!

Lovely! I'm very fond of the original cover, I actually have three battered copies of that edition. (I buy extra copies of favorites that I slip into packages sometimes if I think friends will enjoy them.)

I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this one! It's kind of an obscure book--I've never met anyone else who'd ever even heard of it--but it's heartening that it's still in print. So someone is reading this other than just us!

Wendy Darling wrote: "Lovely! I'm very fond of the original cover, I actually have three battered copies of that edition. (I buy extra copies of favorites that I slip into packages sometimes if I think friends will enjo..."

When I saw the publication date, I wasn't holding out much hope, but they do have copies in my library system, so yay!

I had not heard of this book before but I've just ordered it and I'm looking forward to reading it. The cover pictured above is adorable.

My copy has been ordered and should arrive soon! This book sounds absolutely adorable.

I cant wait to read this book. i have never heard of it either.

Im new to wendys discussions, i tired to do the mary poppins discussion, but didnt know how. i think this new format will be much easier.

Dichotomy Girl--I'm as surprised as you are! Hah. Kudos to your library system.

Indiana, Catie--no one I know has ever heard of this book! I hope you guys enjoy it. Feel free to leave reactions as you go along if you like, or we can just meet back here on the last Friday of the month.

Anna--oh, good! I'm glad this format is better for you to participate. We thought it would be easier to facilitate this stuff on GoodReads as well. :)

(Thanks for the feedback, btw.)

Wendy Darling wrote: "Dichotomy Girl--I'm as surprised as you are! Hah. Kudos to your library system.

Indiana, Catie--no one I know has ever heard of this book! I hope you guys enjoy it. Feel free to leave reactions as..."

Wendy - My library system is full of small old badly funded libraries, and they therefore hold onto their books forever. This is great in some respects, but I also pay for an out of county library card for a nearby metro area. BTW -I managed to get all the Ginny books that I've been wanting to read for so long...except for "Ginnie and the New Girl" which has been hanging in the queue for 3 months. (I've been meaning to send you a PM and ask for a quick synopsis so I can go ahead and read the rest of the series)

Dichotomy Girl--oh, that book is the basis of her friendship with Geneva! So pretty important to read. Or at least read these in order:

Ginnie and Geneva
Ginnie Joins In
Ginnie and the New Girl

I suppose if necessary,

Ginnie and Her Juniors
Ginnie and the Cooking Contest
Ginnie and the Wedding Bells

could be read without reading NEW GIRL, since they could be sort of standalones.

Honestly, the mystery ones aren't very good, so you could skip over those altogether without missing much. I think the author tried her hand at it since mysteries were so popular at the time, but I wasn't the biggest fan.

I'm so excited you're going to read them, though!

And I'm starting NO FLYING IN THE HOUSE tonight! I hope it holds up. *bites nails*

Wendy Darling wrote: "Dichotomy Girl--oh, that book is the basis of her friendship with Geneva! So pretty important to read. Or at least read these in order:

Ginnie and Geneva
Ginnie Joins In
Ginnie and the New Girl

I..."

I finished Ginnie & Geneva and Ginnie Joins In. But my request finally timed out on Ginnie and the New Girl, which means it is extinct. I've been reading a lot of Middle Grade lately. (I'm working my way through the Animorph's series too).

So anyway, I guess I'll skip to the next 3 that you mentioned, skip the mystery ones and hope that sometime in my future I can get my hands on book #3.

I am also going to start No Flying tonight or tomorrow. :)

Ah, Kim headed up an Animorphs readalong for us awhile back--we read the first three books, which were fantastic! She started some readalongs for the follow up books as well, but I'm not sure where they are now.

I hope you find NEW GIRL, but the more standalone-ish ones are great either way. My favorite of the whole series is COOKING CONTEST, and then JUNIORS. :) Hope you enjoy them! You're gonna crave pickles and homemade bread.

Okay! I just finished. I loved this book to pieces as a kid, but I was a teeny bit afraid of whether it would hold up as an adult, since it's been awhile since I read this. But I'm still just as charmed as I was before, probably more so, since I now notice the skill with which the story is told as well.

I thought I'd just jot down some general thoughts/reactions, and everyone else can do add theirs and respond to whatever he/she likes? It would be more convenient if these answers were threaded, but perhaps we can use short quotes from thoughts we might be responding to. (So, precisely what I didn't do in my response to Dichotomy Girl above, oops.) I'll come back and respond to other reactions/add more as well, of course.

First of all, I think pretty much all little girls would love this book. Who hasn't dreamed about having magical powers? And secretly being a princess, or something special? I wish I knew a little girl right now to give this to, my nieces are too old.

I didn't remember Annabel being this young; I thought she was a little bit older than six, so I'm even more impressed that the author writes her character to show how smart and resourceful she is, in a very believable-to-her-age way. I do think it's a little odd that we aren't told what, if anything, she remembers from the time before she comes to live at the mansion, but that's one of the very few questions/quibbles I have with the logic.

What did you think of Mrs. Vancourt? She doesn't change very much outwardly throughout the course of the book, but I think we grow to understand her much better at the end.

I have to confess: I LOVE that awful little cat Belinda. She's horrible! And wicked! And rude! But so hilarious and ridiculous. My favorite illustrations in the book were all the ones with her where she's literally spitting mad. What a terrible creature.

I really liked how Gloria pushes a resolution to the story, and how matter-of-factly Annabel makes her choice once she knows what's going on. It's a sweet little book, but it's not written in an overly sentimental, gushy, heart-on-your-sleeve kind of way.

And how lovely is Annabel's mother?! The floaty dress and silver cobweb of a handkerchief. So dreamy. I've always wished for a little bit more of a follow up to this story, but I suppose it's also nice to think of the whole family living happily ever after.

Ok, for the record, I thought the book was adorable, and I really enjoyed reading it, and wasn't surprised by (and even smiled at) the HEA when I read it last night. But the more I think about it today, the more I kind of get mad at the parents.

We don't get a lot of details about what happened to them, only that the King didn't like their marriage and exiled them to an island forever. For all we know it was a perfectly respectable place to spend the rest of your days. The mother in me, just can't fathom sending my child away and basically guilting her into mortality just because I don't like where I live!

Ok, now that I got that out of my system....I think Gloria was my favorite character, because who doesn't want a talking dog that sits on their shoulder?

My favorite scene was with the broken swan, when Annabel first meets Belinda. (It definitely gave Belinda the little devil on your shoulder, vibe)

Wendy- "I didn't remember Annabel being this young" Yes, this is the one thing about the book that really surprised me. I think the cover on my edition just made me think she was older, well until I got further into the story. Mrs. Vancourt was interesting, I didn't like her at first. Mostly because she appeared to be more interested in the tricks that Gloria could perform and showing her off. I kept looking for her to hug Annabel at the end. But such a sweet story. It really has that classic, timeless feel to it. And that illustration of Belinda, steaming mad was my favorite.

Dichotomy Girl- I really wished that the piece about the parents exile by the King was explained better. Like why did he stipulate that she must become mortal? Why wouldn't he want her to be a fairy? Curious. And I adored Gloria. She undertakes a huge sacrifice when she becomes a statue. It really made me wonder what was going to happen next.

Yeah, I wish we'd gotten to know a bit more about the exile period, too. As a child, what was presented was okay, I suppose because I was solely putting myself in Annabel's place--and perhaps that's why the author chose to omit those details as well?

I can't imagine sending your child away like that, either. And it is curious that Annabel expressed no anger or hurt over this, though again, perhaps because it skews for younger middle grade readers and is a fairy tale/fantasy type story. In traditional fairy tales, kings and queens often seem to banish people, and children are left alone, without too much explanation/back story--the author might've quite intentionally made this a fairy tale with a contemporary setting.

The same logic follows, I think, for why Tommy so easily came back into the fold, without expressing any complicated feelings towards his mother.

Belinda is a devil, heh. Such fury steaming out of her.

I liked Gloria so much, too. How comforting to have someone to look out for you, always.

Mrs. Vancourt does seem to be like a lot of society ladies, mostly concerned about social standing and so on. I don't mind so much that she didn't soften that much or change too terribly (because people don't in real life, necessarily, and I think it's okay to show kids that), but I'm glad we got to see that underneath all the harumphing she did have feelings, even if she wouldn't show them.

But yes, timeless, classic! And like Brenda says, such great illustrations. More people should read this.

My copy has not yet arrived so I am behind and unable to contribute at this time. But based on the comments here it sounds like it will be a sweet read. Looking forward to it.

What a sweet little book! Something very nice to lift my spirits!

Wendy- Maybe Annabell didn't show anger or hurt because she was just so happy to finally have parents. Her one wish finally came true.

When i began the book, I believed Annabel to be a small toddler, this age difference later on in the book surprised me. She was described as so young, but her thoughts and reasoning were way beyond a small child. I absolutely loved Gloria!! I was teary eyed when she went away and Annabel had to experience the loss of another parent figure. I would have loved to read how Gloria felt leaving Annabel.

I think the main theme i got from this book, is sacrifice for love. There are so many decisions we make based on the fact, we love someone, we want whats best for them, or we simply put out love for them above all else.

Wendy Darling wrote: "Yeah, I wish we'd gotten to know a bit more about the exile period, too. As a child, what was presented was okay, I suppose because I was solely putting myself in Annabel's place--and perhaps that'..."

I was also waiting to find out more about the exile period! I wonder if Annabel's preoccupation with Gloria as a mother figure just didn't leave room for her to feel anger?!? Not as likely, but it is interesting the author didn't choose to explore that.

Annabel's mother was lovely!

And I can relate, Wendy, to your fascination with Belinda--I actually wanted her to return at the end and know more about her history. It was rather sad when Gloria had to leave temporarily, but Annabel and her flying--she just had to go through all that grief!

Mrs. Vancourt was interesting in that she appeared, as you said, to be rather grumpy, etc. but she did have feelings and I loved discovering that she was Annabel's grandmother! Betty Brock really did tie quite a few things together, but I would have loved to know more about the parents' history, and what the future for them would entail.

This was a quick and enjoyable read and I appreciated the illustrations. Definitely love this style of children's book! I'm interested to know more about other books this author wrote.

Oooh I want to see this sequel.... Annabel's now a moody teenager, Belinda comes back and says there is a loophole, that Annabel can become a fairy if she'll come and spend 30 days in Fairyland. Spoiler...she doesn't tell her that she'll lose her mortal side and all her mortal connections if she does. Gloria, along with Annabel's half-fae little brother go off on a quest to bring Annabel back before it's too late!

I really enjoyed this cute little read. As I went along and many things still were a mystery I got concerned because I was quickly running out of book. But the author did tie everything up quite nicely in the end. I would agree with most others in that it would have been nice to get a little more backstory on the parents and their exile, Gloria's place in the fairy world a little more flushed out, and Belinda's reasons for being the way she was, like why she cares if Annabel is one way or the other. However, I think children who would fit in this reading age wouldn't be overly concerned with these missing things, but would rather be enchanted by the idea of a small talking dog, magical talking cat, and a little girl who just happens to be a fairy.

This was a thoroughly adorable book and I can't wait to buy it for my nieces. Thanks for introducing it Wendy!

I can understand your apprehension at rereading an old favourite, especially one from childhood. I adored the book Heidi as a girl and even though I bought myself the gorgeous Puffin in Bloom edition I'm still afraid to read it again in case the magic is ruined.

I agree with Liz, in terms of the book's targeted age group this book is perfectly enchanting and I'm not sure kids will be looking too deeply for backstory and explanations. I think the more I read children's books as an adult, even though I can find them enjoyable, there is always a part of me that finds some too neatly wrapped up and simplistic but I have to remind myself this book is for a 7 year old and the length and content is perfect for them.

For some reason, I can't come to terms with the name Belinda for an evil fairy - I feel like she should have a magical name along the lines of Malificent, not an everyday common earth name. Other than that, she was a great character and having her be a cat is perfectly matched.

Heather wrote: "For some reason, I can't come to terms with the name Belinda for an evil fairy."
I can't either, to close to Brenda for my liking :) But a cat seems like the best choice and that image of her hissing is spot on.

My copy just arrived today so I'm looking forward to starting it tonight. I was flipping through the pictures and they are adorable! Annabel and I had the same hair style in the early 1970s :)

Indiana--I'm glad your copy finally came! No worries on lateness, it's easy enough to see when new comments have come in so we can all pop back in to see reactions. Aren't those illustrations darling? I'm curious if the artist did other books.

Anna--yes, it was Annabel's dearest wish come true! The sacrifice for love theme is important, too--it's interesting how Gloria chooses to do this, as Annabel's surrogate mother, in much the way Annabel's parents do.

Katie--as a kid, it totally surprised me that Mrs. Vancourt was Annabel's grandmother--I still get a kick out of remembering how delighted I felt. And as far as I know, I think the author only wrote one other book called The Shades, which I tracked down on Alibris or eBay ages ago. I remembered enjoying it, but not as much as this one. It's a shame she wasn't more prolific, and that we know pretty much nothing about her.

Dichotomy Girl--oh goodness, spare us from the half-fae moody teenager, hah. I wonder if there is any workaround to that curse.

Liz--yes! I think as adults we're questioning all these details about backstory, but I read it so many times as a child and those parts just didn't matter to me. There is something about seeing this story pretty much solely through Annabel's eyes that I really like--even the things we can infer about Mrs. Vancourt's regret and emotions are very brief, and register almost out like it's out of the corner of our eyes, much like a child absorbs random details and only later understands their impact or meaning. Books are often written now with an eye towards adult readers, and occasionally with an overabundance of explanation and logic. There can be a great deal of joy in the unknown, and in magic, and in not knowing. (I'm sure someone will remind me of this the next time I complain about a logic gap in a YA book, hah.)

Heather--I'm so happy you enjoyed it! I'm always a little nervous recommending a more obscure book, and doubly so when I know you all had to hunt it down a bit. I actually have that same fear as you about HEIDI--I remember liking it a child, and I want to reread it because everyone tells me there is delicious food porn in it, but I'm a little afraid it won't hold up. One of these days, I suppose we must find out! I have that same Puffin in Bloom edition, they're so gorgeous.

Belinda, Brenda...hee hee.

Brenda, Katie, Indiana--I just looked up Wallace Tripp, and he did the Amelia Bedelia books! And his family owned Pawprints, a greeting card company from long ago, so the style of illustration is very familiar.

His artwork here is definitely my favorite of what I've seen, though. Forever charmed.

Wendy Darling wrote: "Brenda, Katie, Indiana--I just looked up Wallace Tripp, and he did the Amelia Bedelia books! And his family owned Pawprints, a greeting card company from long ago, so the style of ill..."
Just looked at his website and learned a bit more about him. Those Pawprints illustrations do look familiar. Looks like his heydays of children's book illustrations was in the 70s. Wished he had done more as the ones he did for this book are so excellent. Probably my favorite part of the book.

Indiana--yes, I read that Tripp has had Parkinson's for awhile, which is very sad. I was surprised but pleased to find any information on him at all, as it's so hard to dig up facts on a lot of those authors and illustrators from back in the day.

Matthew! I'm so glad that you and Sigourney enjoyed the book. It's a lovely one to read together at bedtime tucked under your father's arm for sure. <3

I agree with you--I wonder about some of the missing pieces a bit, but I still feel wholly satisfied with the story we got.

Okay I finished this book this weekend. I absolutely adored Gloria. I was thinking this was just a light and easy read till that moment when she turned herself into that little figurine and then my heart wrenched and I felt a little sob well up within me and a little tear form in my eye as I really thought she was under some curse because she had failed in her duty and was banished/frozen. And any book that makes you feel such things really isn't that light after all.

If I was dissatisfied with anything it was how Gloria just disappears like that and we never to see the resolution occur with her being reunited with Annabel. It's sort of like Annabel has her parents now, bye bye Gloria! But to the extent it was Gloria who was there for all those years for Annabel, the happier ending (for me) after the parents showing up would have been the return of Gloria.

I've already said it above but I love the pictures in this book. That little picture of Gloria when she is skiing down the staircase - every time I passed that picture I'd think "Wheeee!" to myself. And the one of Gloria in the cabinet next to the pig...*sob*

Indiana wrote: "Okay I finished this book this weekend. I absolutely adored Gloria. I was thinking this was just a light and easy read till that moment when she turned herself into that little figurine and then my..."

Oh my goodness yes, that moment when Gloria is in the cabinet, tears. And would have loved a little family reunion with Gloria too.

Indiana wrote: "Okay I finished this book this weekend. I absolutely adored Gloria. I was thinking this was just a light and easy read till that moment when she turned herself into that little figurine and then my..."

I agree, Indiana. Maybe Gloria needs her own sequel! It just isn't fair to cast Gloria aside now that Annabel is reunited with her parents.

I'm a little late to the game, but is just finished reading this with my daughter a couple of nights ago and loved it!! What a cute and wonderful story and what little girl can't relate to dreaming of being a fairy and being able to fly around the house!! I think my favorite character was Gloria - I can't imagine a dog being only three inches tall!! Overall, this was a great find - I'm just sad that I hadn't read this as a child...my seven or eight year old self would have loved it!!!

I'm always interested about how children enjoy these books, I know I would've loved them as a kid.

Me too!! I wish I had kept track of the books I read soon - there are so many that I can't remember now. I enjoy reading most children's books as an adult as well as when I was younger, but I definitetly notice things now that I didn't as a child!

I didn't have a chance to read this book with you, but I will look for it in used book stores. I loved the Mary Poppins stories when I was a little girl. Then I got to read them to my daughters and enjoyed them just as much. I liked the Doctor Dolittle stories too.

Great to hear!! I haven't read either Mary Poppins or the Doctor Dolittle stories, but they are both on my list!

There are so many books I'm reading now in my 30s that I wished my young self could have enjoyed. Including this book - what a charming tale!

I'm also glad to hear Mary Poppins and Doctor Dolittle are still enjoyable to read as an adult. They are on my list. Maybe they can be a future group read?

That would be fun.

Indiana and Trisha--I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed the book! Gloria is a wonderful creature, and I agree, even a sentence or two more telling us what became of her would've been kind. OH, or what if the author had done a companion book, but it was Gloria helping another child/in her next stage of life?

It's definitely a book most kids would love, I think. Incidentally, I posted this photo of my cat last week on Twitter, which totally reminded me of the last illustration of Belinda when she's trapped in the cookie jar and she's SPITTING MAD.



My cat wasn't angry, just yawning, but still. She looks demonic, hee hee.

I'll add Dr. DOLITTLE and MARY POPPINS to the bookshelf! We just read MARY together in December for our last classics discussion there, but someone could totally host another one here. As I was saying on another thread, I'd love to read the books after that here if anyone else ends up being interested.

Wendy,
I would read the other Mary Poppins books as well. I remember being enchanted by them as a young reader!

And I love this picture and think it needs to be on a t-shirt...LOL.

Great picture Wendy!!

Oh good, Katie--if people read MARY POPPINS here (I still need to add it to our shelves), we can piggyback on that and keep reading the rest. :) Or we can dive right in when we feel like it, and other people can read MP separately, we'll see!

And hah, thanks ladies. I thought it was funny, especially in how much she looks like Belinda.