Willa and Old Miss Annie
Willa and Old Miss Annie is a novel made up of three linked animal stories. When lonely child Willa first meets Old Miss Annie she is afraid of her, and of the countryside around her new house. She is intrigued by sad sounds in her neighbour’s garden, and gradually has the courage to ask what they are. Miss Annie befriends her and together they help a goat, a Shetland pony and a fox cub. Soon Willa develops the confidence to make another friend too, a child of her own age. 7+ Highly commended for Carnegie medal.
Sadly, Willa and Old Miss Annie is no longer available, although you may be able to find secondhand copies on Amazon or elsewhere.
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Outside in a garden she heard someone else crying. It sounded like a little, lost, ghosty child.
Willa and Old Miss Annie was ‘highly commended’ for the Carnegie Medal, 1995 and shortlisted for the Sheffield Award.
‘Willa and Old Miss Annie’ contains three linked stories
The links are Willa herself, a six-year old who has moved to a country town and misses her best friend. Then there is Old Miss Annie, who helps her to see that by befriending animals she can grow out of her loneliness.
All the three animals in these country stories have been rescued from harm or danger. I actually met all three of them., and was moved to write about them when I heard their history.
Contents of ‘Willa and Old Miss Annie’
Joshua
At night, Willa hears sad wailings, and sees a white shape moving in Old Miss Annie’s garden. When she plucks up courage to ask Miss Annie what it is, she thinks she says it’s a ghost. Miss Annie introduces her to Joshua, her goat, and tells her he cries because he’s lonely, and her garden is too small for it. Together they find Joshua a new home.
I really did see a white goat in a friend’s garden one night, and thought it was a ghost. The friend was called Willa, and she had rescued the goat from starvation. Both her story and her name gave me the idea for the book.
The Boney
They come across a starving Shetland pony tied to a tree, and together they find a home for him, too. I knew a little girl called Amy who had rescued and adopted a neglected Shetland pony, and that gave me the idea for that story.
Vicky Fox
When a farmer destroys a family of foxes on his land, but one cub survives. His daughter finds and it looks after it in her bedroom, then takes it to a sanctuary. It will never survive in the wild now. Willa and Old Miss Annie offer to take it take it for walks. One day I met a lady taking a rescued fox for a walk. and that inspired that story.
The book’s illustrator Kim Lewis
Kim Lewis has written and illustrated many well-loved country books, including Floss and First Snow, and has won many awards.
She also illustrated my two Peak Dale Farm Stories, A Calf Called Valentine and Valentine’s Day.
Three linked stories told in lyrically beautiful language… they have a fairytale flavour and an appeal related to their utter simplicity and the pleasure of words that evoke the ancient storyteller.
The Weekend Australian
Maybe you could write a story about an animal that has to be saved because it is lost or hurt. Is it a domestic animal, someone’s pet? Is it a stray or has it been abandoned? Is it a wild animal that has been hunted, or caught in a trap, or injured by a car? You could write it from the point of view of the animal, or of the rescuer, or both.
Three miniature masterpieces.
Junior Bookshelf
Visit a rescue centre and see how cats, dogs, ponies, wild birds, donkeys and other animals have been rescued and cared for.
Visit a zoo and see how endangered creatures are helped to survive.
What do you think about animals being kept in a zoo or a sanctuary? Do you think it’s a good thing or a bad thing? Why?
What do you know about endangered animals? Can you name any? See how much you can find out about any of them.
Beautifully told and illustrated …a warm, happy treat.
School Librarian
Have you ever felt lonely? Perhaps when you moved house or went to a new school, or during the holidays when your friends were away? Perhaps you could write a diary about someone who is looking for a friend.
If you enjoyed reading ‘Willa and Old Miss Annie’…
You might enjoy some of my other other books about animals:
