The Story of Holly and Ivy Paperback – May 1, 2017

Beautiful artwork, inspiring story. And came well packed.

Sweet story about Christmas wishes. Great for a well-attached child. It is not the best choice, however, for a child with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) or their parent/caregiver. The main character is an orphan, who seems to show a lot of RAD symptoms (e.g., lying, living in an alternate version of reality, disobedience, manipulating strangers, sneaking, no concern for the future, forgetfulness of belongings, lack of concern about hygiene, no self-control, and little to no concern for others and their feelings). She is only concerned about getting what she wants. And she somehow gets what she wants. For those who live with children like this, it’s a bit triggering. It could also reinforce the wrong messages in the child with RAD. For example, some of the messages are that it’s okay to take off from where you’re supposed to be without telling anyone, hide from policemen, break into others’ properties (because you’re cold and “needed to”—because you disobeyed and never arrived when/where you were expected), engage in “parent/family shopping”, and—somehow—everything will magically work out for you. You’ll not only get your way on everything (with no repercussions)—you’ll also get the toy you’d been coveting. For those hoping to instill in their children that Jesus is the reason for the season, this book is in no way religious. It’s about Christmas wishes and the magic of getting what you want for Christmas. The new maternal figure for this little girl had a lot of love for her (& tears), as she had been longing for a little girl. The little girl did not seem terribly attached to the maternal figure. She just didn’t want to stay at the Infants’ Home for Christmas... and she wanted the “stuff” the woman could give her. She had window-shopped for a house with the right Christmas decorations and a woman in it with no other children to attend to. She picked that one for those reasons... and because breakfast was ready and she was hungry. But first she had to go stare at the doll she saw as “hers” that was in the closed, locked toy store.Again, for those who have well-attached, normal children, it’s a sweet little story. For those who have adopted children with trauma/RAD, it’s a little bit triggering....

I first came across the story of Holly and Ivy as a child in the school library. Nearly 40 years later, I was delighted to find it again. It is one of those stories that stays with you and it is one that I was delighted to give to my daughter.On the surface, it's a story of simple wish-fulfillment: doll gets girl; girl gets doll and family. I realized, reading it this time, that it also Rumer Godden's revision of Hans Christian Andersen's beautiful awful tale of the Little Match Girl. In this version, though, the orphaned Ivy doesn't freeze to death and her wishes, despite all the rational reasons for them not to, come true. Godden's writing is exquisite here--balanced between the beautiful fantasy of Christmas wishes and dolls who think and the quiet, half-hidden awareness that this is just a story and that the ending could have turned out very differently. As a child, I loved it; as an adult, its poignancy surprised me by bringing me close to tears.The illustrations are well-matched--both simple in line, but full of the pertinent details that children listening to a story love to find. Just a really nice match of story and artist.It is a long book for reading aloud (though there are natural breaks). I've read it twice to my seven-year-old and the tension of the story is such that I didn't end up taking breaks reading it. Because of the language, it's more of a reading-aloud than reading-alone book for the younger reader set. I wouldn't give it to a child who wasn't fairly comfortable with chapter books unless I knew there was another willing reader in the house.It is very much a doll story. A child who liked Dare Wright's The Lonely Doll would grow into this one. And if the child likes Holly and Ivy, I recommend Rumer Godden's Miss Flower and Miss Happiness and its sequel, Little Plum.

The illustrations are beautiful, and it's wonderfully written. I bought this for my 6 yr old so maybe it's an age thing, but she does find it a bit long and loses interest. We have to read it in installments. I do like the story, though. Would recommend.

Broke my heart - although I was just a little bit disappointed that the you-know-what between you-know-who wasn't actually written about but happened "off-stage". I was on tenterhooks all through the book just waiting for the 'big reveal' (don't want to spoil the ending for those who've not yet read this tender story) and was all ready to sob my heart out when it was imminent ... but it was a bit of a non-event. I swear Rumer Godden must've been a toy herself - if not a doll then definitely a toy elephant - she voices their emotions and feelings and desires so eloquently. "I want to be squeezed" - heck, I cried for 10 minutes after reading that little sentence right at the beginning of the book. And I'm 63 ...The illustrations are absolutely exquisite too. A true joy of a book. Now I need to go and buy a little toy elephant and a doll. For myself.

Enter into the world of Holly and Ivy. A girl and a doll living in two different worlds both wanting the same thing...to be loved. Their wishes transcend the pages flowing back and forth setting the stage for their imminent meeting. But with the store closed and no money, how can their wishes ever come true?This story is told with true mastery of character development at a level that children can follow. My daughters ages 10 and 7 were truly captivated to the point that we sat and read the book in its entirety even though this allows them way past their bedtime! (Perhaps that was part of the magic) This is quite possibly the best Christmas book we have placed on our shelf. I'm so glad I added it and you will be too!

This is an absolutely enchanting and extremely moving Christmas tale for children. It centres on a little orphan girl, called Ivy, who is shunted off on Christmas Eve to the Infants’ Home, as there is nobody to look after her. Stubbornly, Ivy declares she will go to her ‘grandmother’ but she has no grandmother and so Miss Shepherd puts her on the train. However, Ivy gets off and goes in hunt of the home that must belong to her.In the toyshop, a pretty doll called Holly is dressed for Christmas and longs for a little girl of her own to love her. When Ivy sees her through the window, they both know they belong together – but Ivy has no money and the glass separates them and then the shop closes…Meanwhile, a lady called Mrs Jones puts up her Christmas tree and waits for her policeman husband to return from his beat. Mr Jones scoffs kindly at her preparations, but knows that she longs for a little girl of her own. The way that Rumer Goden brings together these three characters is absolutely masterly. This is story telling at its best, which will undoubtedly leave you feeling a little wrung out, but absolutely cheering at the end! If you read one story to your children at Christmas which absolutely invokes the spirit of the season, this should be it. At under 100 pages it is ideal to be read aloud to children of 4+.

This is without doubt my favourite children's Christmas story. As it says right at the beginning, "This is a story about wishing", and it tells how a little orphan girl named Ivy wishes for a doll to hold and a family to love her at Christmas, and of a Christmas doll named Holly who wishes for a child to own her, but remains unsold when the toy shop closes on Christmas Eve. There is also a woman with no children of her own who would love a little girl to look after. How the three wishes interact is told delightfully in this enchanting book. I used to read it to my daughters when they were children, and more recently to my granddaughter. But I sometimes read it to myself, as I enjoy it so much.

This is such a lovely story and a real Christmas classic. I read it with my daughter when she was about 8-9 years old and she LOVED it! The story captivated her imagination and stimulated lots of discussion.If you have a little girls of this age I would def recc it, but is a lovely story to read aloud to to a slightly younger girl too (prob though recc for junior age group). We borrowed our copy from the library but just ordered it now so we can enjoy it all over again this Christmas with her little sister! Enjoy!

Exactly as described. A wonderful gift for my beautiful granddaughter. She has enjoyed other books by this greatly missed author and I hope she enjoys this one. So lovely to have stories for children that you don’t have to vet first, and themes that are as relevant today as when first printed. What’s not to love.

My very favourite Christmas story ever. I would like to have found it on paper, but got the Kindle version is great for books that are out of print or hard to get. I read it every Christmas and get into the spirit.