The Happy Orpheline

I believe I first encountered The Happy Orpheline looking for books illustrated by Garth Williams, known for illustrating such classics as Charlotte's Web and Little House in the Big Woods.  At 96 pages (with pictures), it falls into an intermediate category between a picture book and chapter book, which is just right for its target age range of 5-8 year olds.

The Happy Orpheline, written by Natalie Savage Carlson in 1957, tells the story of Brigitte, a young girl in a Parisian orphanage.  Unexpectedly, her status as an orphan (i.e., "orpheline") is not a source of pathos.  Indeed, the twenty girls at the orphanage love each other and their two caregivers, Miss Genevieve and Madame Flattot, and their greatest fear is getting adopted away from their "family."

Though the plot is not particularly important, it involves Brigitte getting separated from the group and experiencing a misadventure before being returned to her loving family at the orphanage.  However, I found the early scenes at the orphanage the most touching, and was pleasantly surprised by the Catholic culture evinced in the background of the story.  It takes place over Epiphany, and the girls set up the wise men in the Christmas creche, attend Mass, and bake the traditional Kings' Cake.  Brigitte says she needs no earthly mother, for she has her Blessed Mother in Heaven.  

This is a sweet, gentle story, especially for little girls, and there are three sequels available with further adventures.

Ages: 5-8

Rating: A