bluecastle | 28 Books -- Day 14

Maida's Little Shop by Inez Haynes Gillmore (1909)

"Opposite the school was a big, wide court. Shaded with beautiful trees—maples beginning to flame, horse-chestnuts a little browned, it was lined with wooden toy houses, set back of fenced-in yards and veiled by climbing vines. Pigeons were flying about, alighting now and then to peck at the ground or to preen their green and purple necks. Boys were spinning tops. Girls were jumping rope. The dust they kicked up had a sweet, earthy smell in Maida’s nostrils. As she stared, charmed with the picture, a little girl in a scarlet cape and a scarlet hat came climbing up over one of the fences. Quick, active as a squirrel, she disappeared into the next yard.

“Primrose Court!” Dr. Pierce exclaimed. “Well, well, well!”

“Primrose Court,” Maida repeated. “Do primroses grow there?”

“Bless your heart, no,” Dr. Pierce laughed; “it was named after a man called Primrose who used to own a great deal of the neighborhood.”

But Maida was scarcely listening. “Oh, what a cunning little shop!” she exclaimed. “There, opposite the court. What a perfectly darling little place!”

“Good Lord! that’s Connors’,” Dr. Pierce explained. “Many a reckless penny I’ve squandered there, my dear. Connors was the funniest, old, bent, dried-up man. I wonder who keeps it now.”" (page 21)

Happy Valentine's Day!! I've been saving this series for a day of love. These books are rather like that heart shaped box of candy I've been nibbling on today. Each one different, but still in some way the same.

The first book introduces us to Maida, the daughter of rich businessman Jerome "Buffalo" Westabrook. Maida is getting over a long illness. She has just returned to America after being treated in Europe by a famous German physician. On the way to her father's Boston home, father and daughter are accompanied in their touring car by her family physician Doctor Pierce, and Billy Potter, a newspaperman who is a friend of her father's. They take a detour to visit the neighborhood where Doctor Pierce grew up, a small, mostly lower income suburb called Primrose Court. The corner shop catches Maida's eye and she is delighted to find they sell pickled limes.

While not sick any more, Maida is not fully well either, and needs something to occupy her mind as she recouperates. With a nod to hidden identities and other fairy tales, Maida's father buys that little corner shop, and installs Maida and her elderly Irish nurse Granny Flynn, to run it.

The shop, newly christened "Maida's Little Shop", is near a small schoolhouse, and she gets to know the children of the neighborhood. Arthur, Rosie, brother and sister Laura and Harold, and Dickie are the older children. The twins, Dorothy and Mable, brother and sister Mollie and Timmie, Betsy, and Dickie's baby sister Delia are the younger children.

The genius of this series though, for me anyway, is the following book Maida's Little House (1921). Near the Massachusetts shore, is Buffalo Westabrook's "big" house --with marble pillars, manicured lawns, and roaming peacocks. Not far from that is the Westabrook family home, the "little" house -- a modified New England saltbox. Maida comes back from spending the Spring in Europe and invites the Big Six, and the Little Six to spend their summer vacation at the Little House. Laura and Harold and Rosie come from families that are reasonably well off. The rest of the kids are not that fortunate, so for them it seems like a dream vacation.

The Big Six spend time in the woods, they learn to play tennis, they learn to swim and boat and they are also expected to help out around the house. The girls, who have rooms in the house, learn housekeeping -- cleaning, decorating, cooking. And the boys who are bunking in the barn for the summer work on keeping the grounds maintained -- and keeping their quarters ship shape. They have the requisite summer adventures, and when the summer is over, they are asked to stay at the Little House, which of course leads to the next book Maida's Little School (1926).

In which, the kids are schooled without realizing they are going to school. Mr. Westabrook invites an authoress, a French composer, and a historian/archeologist to stay with the kids and so they start learning English, French, Math, Science, History, Music, Art, and (in keeping with the time period) Etiquette. All by just living with interesting, well educated adults who take them on adventures, and encourage them to start writing down their experiences.

And there are many more sequels, and many more adventures. Some of them I have tracked down and read, but the later books in the series had fewer printings, and are rarer. I have never actually met anyone else who had heard of this series, but there are a few websites out there, so there are a few of us keeping this series near and dear to our hearts.

The Big Six become the Big Eight along the way when two gypsy siblings, Silva and Tyma are added to the group, along with their baby sister Nesta.

The kids are encouraged throughout to develop their strenths and interests into careers.

Arthur, the outdoorsy one, is headed towards a career as a naturalist or an archeologist. Rosie is a bit of a tomboy and encouraged to think of something active like teaching or nursing. Laura is the graceful one, and is encouraged to develop her dancing. Her brother Harold is channeled towards West Point. Dickie has musical talent and is encouraged to pursuing a career in performing or composing. Silva is an artist, and is destined to be packed of to Paris for further training. Tyma thinks maybe the Merchant Marines is where his wandering tendencies can be encouraged. And Maida decides the Business School and a job working for her Father is the way to learn to control her inheritance.

But these are great fun little folks to get to know, and their adventures are always about them getting themselves into ... and then out of trouble.

Maida’s Little Island, 1939
“Great is the joy of the Big Eight when Maida’s father takes them for a vacation to Spectacles, where exploring the island provides endless fun and many thrilling adventures.”

Maida’s Little Camp, 1940
“High in the Adirondacks the four boys and four girls of the Big Eight spend a glorious month of fun and discovery.”
Maida’s Little Village, 1942
“The Big Eight spend a happy summer restoring the beauty and quaintness of a deserted little village.”
Maida’s Little Houseboat, 1943
“When ‘The Ark,’ Maida’s houseboat, goes adrift in Massachusetts Bay, the Big Eight are shipwrecked on an adventurous island.”
Maida’s Little Theater, 1946
“Maida and her friends decide to turn an old barn into their own summer theater and learn that real life can be more exciting than the stage.”
Maida’s Little Cabins, 1947
Maida’s Little Zoo, 1949
Maida’s Little Lighthouse, 1951
Maida’s Little Hospital, 1952
Maida’s Little Farm, 1953
Maida’s Little House Party, 1954
Maida’s Little Treasure Hunt, 1955

28 Books -- Day 14

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