Happy Birthday, Molly!

Title: Happy Birthday, Molly!

Author: Valerie Tripp

Summary:  Molly learns that an English girl is going to stay we her and her family until the war is over. Molly and her friends are excited about the guest and imagine her to be a princess or fancy English girl who likes tea and sandwiches every afternoon. The girls enjoy imagining the fun tea parties they will have together. As Mrs. McIntire introduces Emily to the girls, Emily is extremely quiet. She isn’t at all what the girls had imagined. Molly wonders if she will ever be able to become friends with Emily. Emily is very quiet and different from the other children at school. At home, she likes different foods and is quiet and reserved. Molly learns that English children had been living with the war on their home front for a long time and this has shaped Emily’s personality.

Molly and her friends begin to plan her birthday party; they imagine the fancy party they would love to have, yet with the war and rations, Molly admits her cake will be a plain vanilla cake without eggs, butter or milk. Molly’s family is home discussing her upcoming birthday party when an air raid siren goes off. While the rest of the family knows it is only a drill and begins to prepare for it, Emily is frightened. Molly begins to realize how difficult life was for Emily back home in England and shares with Molly the fact that her own father is over in England, and this knowledge begins to open Emily up to Molly’s friendship. As the girls’ friendship grows, Molly offers to share her birthday with Emily; together, they decide to have an English tea party as their birthday theme.  Everything seems like it will be great, until they have some problems agreeing on the party plans. Can Molly and Emily overcome their differences? Will the party work out? More importantly, can they mend their friendship?

Book Activity Ideas: Planning a Party

Molly and Emily must work together to plan the perfect birthday party. Planning a party isn’t always easy. Pretend you are a girl living in the 1940s, what type of party would you plan? See if you can come up with some great ideas for the characters in the book.  You might want to do some research to see what type of foods, drinks, games and gifts were popular during the time period. Think about the limitations of the time period, too.  Most food was rationed, so you might not be able to make everything on a fancy menu; what is a practical solution for this problem?

Here are some things you’ll want to consider for your perfect party:

I.                   Background research: Pick your time period and budget. What items are available to a girl in this time period? What type of a budget would she have?

II.                Theme: Come up with a theme for the party. Would you have an English tea party? A cowboy party? A movie star party? What else might be a fun idea for this time period?

III.             Invitations: Who would you invite to your party? What type of invitation would you design? Does it fit both the theme and the time period?

IV.             Decorations: How would you decorate for your party? Do the decorations fit with your theme? Are the items you would use to decorate available during this time period? Would you be able to afford them? Would you make them? What materials would you need to gather?

V.                Food: What type of food and drinks would you serve at your themed party? Is this something girls would eat during the time period? Could you make it with your limited rations? Perhaps you can splurge and get one really special item, what would it be?

VI.             Entertainment: How would you entertain your party guests? What games would you play? Can you connect your games to your party theme? Perhaps you’ll want a few games that involve physical activity and a few that involve “mind” activity (thinking games). Will you give prizes? If so, what types of prizes would girls give in this time period?

VII.          Dress: How will you dress for the party? What type of outfit would you wear to fit both the time period and theme?

Once you’ve planned your party, you might decide to have your party with your friends. Let them know that you’re having a themed, historical party so they can come in period appropriate costumes (and be ready to share some ideas with them if they need help!) If you can’t have the actual party, sketch it out on paper, or create one for your dolls. This is a great activity that you could try with any of the girls from the American Girl collection.