1. What are some of the advantages of having these adventures narrated from the point of view of a doll?

2. The old peddler who carves Hitty out of a piece of mountain-ash wood from Ireland believes that the wood itself brings luck and protects against witchcraft and evil. Does this superstition play an important part in the story?

3. What does Mrs. Preble mean when she says to her husband, "You were always one for extravagance—two lamps burnin' an' no ship at sea"? Can you find and explain other "sea phrases"?

4. Why does Patch, the first mate, start the mutiny aboard the Diana-Kate?

5. Have you read other stories about dolls? How does Hitty: Her First Hundred Years differ from most of them?

6. The author is rather vague about time in this story, but there are some clues to give us the approximate dates of...