The House in the Tree

And Other Tales of Places, People, and Things

By Fredrika Shumway Smith 
Illustrations by Salcia Bahnc 
Copyright 1941

This old book of poetry for children is full of verses that speak right to a child’s heart. They are simple poems about everyday things that children understand. I picked up this book while straightening up after Christmas, and it fell open to this little poem.

The Cotton Doll 
My dolls are very pretty,
Except one tiny thing,
For she is made of cotton,
Tied with a yellow string.

She is my favorite dolly
Although she’s old and worn;
Some dolls I know are thrown away,
And other ones are torn.

I always keep my dolls with me,
When I am well or ill,
And when I’m big and all grown up
I’ll love them better still.

Wouldn’t you know, sitting right next to this book of poetry was my dear little doll, Thumbelina. Thumbelina was my own favorite dolly, old and worn, although I suppose she looked a bit less worn before I took to her blond hair with my scissors! She was out on the shelf because, on Christmas day, I brought her out to show-and-tell about an adventure she had one day, long, long ago.  

You’ll have to know that in my opinion, one of the best things about Thumbelina was the string attached to her back that I could pull to make her do a cute little wiggling motion. I say was, because that string has been gone for quite a long time. One day, when I was probably about 4 or 5 years old, my sister thought I would enjoy seeing Thumbelina fly.  Of course, according to a 10-year-old, the way to make Thumbelina fly was to grab her by the string and vigorously swing her around and around over her head. Thumbelina flew, all right! She flew all the way across the room, while the string remained firmly in my sister’s grasp! The look on Amy’s face was shock, but I think a remember a bit of stifled laughter too. I’m sure she apologized, and I know I got over it, but I will never, ever forget it! So, although I’m big and all grown up, I still keep Thumbelina around, and I’ll forever tell the story of her wild ride.

Funny thing is, as I was putting my doll away, I noticed a resemblance between Thumbelina and a sweet little girl I know. Perhaps in a year or two, this little girl will enjoy playing with Thumbelina as much as I did! I promise, I will keep my scissors away from her hair!