Hitty is a wooden doll made of mountain ash for a little girl in rural New England in the early 1800's.  Over the next ten decades, the doll has many adventures, including meeting Charles Dickens when he visits America. Hitty is a real doll and is considered a museum piece today.  Her adventures, while fictional, were based upon the reality of the time.  (MH) 

  1931  Coatsworth, Elizabeth. The Cat Who Went to Heaven.  New York: Macmillan, 1930. 

When an artist is commissioned to paint the Buddha for a sacred temple, a cat shows up and manages to work its way into the painting.  Since any object included in the temple’s painting is considered to be sacred, the cat is assigned a place in heaven. A must read for cat lovers.  (MH) 

  1932  Armer, Laura  Adams.  Waterless Mountain.  New York: Longmans, 1931. 

Rich in Navaho folklore, this mystical story describes Younger Brother, who is learning how to be a medicine man and who is also learning about the white man’s world. (MK) 

  1933  Lewis, Elizabeth.  Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze.  New York: Winston, 1932. 

In the city of Chungking, Young Fu is an apprentice to the coppersmith Tang.  There are so many wonderful things to learn.  Tang teaches him how to mold the metal.  The teacher shows him how to read and write.  And on his own, Young Fu figures out a way to put out a fire, to outsmart river bandits, and to make his mother proud.  (MK) 

  1934  Meigs, Cornelia.  Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women.  Boston: Little, Brown, 1933. 

Learn all about Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women.  Read about her beloved sisters, how she nursed soldiers during the Civil War, and how she pursued her writing career. (MK) 

  1935  Shannon, Monica.  Dobry.  New York: Viking, 1934. 

In a mountainous village, young Dobry happily tends the animals and the fields that have been in his family for hundreds of years.  With each new day, he finds a new adventure.  Dobry has a special artistic talent and a longing to become an artist.  He must find a way to balance the love he has for his family and the land with his desire to leave the village and study art in the city. (CRG) 

  1936  Brink, Carol Ryrie.  Caddie Woodlawn.  New York: Macmillan, 1935. 

Caddie Woodlawn is based upon the childhood experiences of the author's grandmother whose family lived a pioneering life in the western Wisconsin woods.  Caddie is a tomboy and delights in being a pioneer and an American. Her escapades are many; the book is often used as supplementary classroom reading when studying American pioneers. (MH) 

  1937  Sawyer, Ruth.   Roller Skates.   New York: Viking, 1936. 

Set in 1890's New York City, ten-year-old Lucinda is left with two very proper spinster aunts while her parents go off to Europe. She roller skates around the city and makes friends with a variety of ordinary folks—the Italian fruit stand man, the policeman on the beat, and even the trash collector. All of this is accomplished without the knowledge of the aunts and thanks to her roller skates.  (MH) 

  1938  Seredy, Kate.  The White Stag.  New York: Viking, 1937. 

Attila the Hun and his tribes move westward, always following The White Stag, a ghost horse, until they reach the Hungarian plains.  (JD) 

  1939  Enright, Elizabeth.  Thimble Summer.  New York: Holt, 1938. 

It is a miserable, rainless summer until Garnet finds a silver thimble in the parched riverbed.  Now there is rain to water the crops, there is money to build a new barn, and her pig wins first place at the state fair! Garnet has many adventures during this magical thimble summer. (SF)