Hildy and the Cuckoo Clock

by Ruth Christoffer Carlsen

1

201 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

She was born in Milwaukee, WI, on February 21, 1918 to Carl Severin and Lydia Diefenthaler Christoffer. Ruth grew up in Chicago, Mason City, and Minneapolis. She graduated from the University of Minnesota in journalism with honors and after graduation was appointed assistance to the Dean of Women and a year of post-graduate studies. She married G. Robert Carlsen on April 5, 1941 in Minneapolis, MN. They moved with their growing family to Boulder, CO, Austin, TX and Iowa City. She and her husband, Bob, were residents of Iowa City since 1958. Bob was a professor of English and Education at the University of Iowa. He died on December 13, 2003.

A noted author of eight children’s books, Ruth was included in the Iowa Writers Walk. She also assisted her husband and was an editor for one of his 8 volume highschool literature anthologies published by McGraw Hill. She was a member of Delta Gamma Sorority, P.E.O. Chapter E, Athens Book Club, National PEN WOMEN, and the Unitarian Universalist Society.

Survivors include her two sons, Christopher Carlsen and his wife Ioanna of Santa Fe, NM , and Peter Carlsen and his wife Sylvia Frank of St. Paul, MN; two daughters, Kristin Rowley of Santa Fe, and Jane Meidlinger and her husband Dr. John Meidlinger of Grand Island, NE; eight grandchildren: Clea, Tasio, Wim, Kristoffer, Robin, Michaela, Peter and Talia; and 4 great grandchildren: Michael, Finn, Kate and Atticus. Ruth was preceded in death by her husband, her brother Forton, and her sister Mildred Vogel. She is survived by her sister Alpha Mae Day.

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books from childhood! I must've taken out and read this book from my school and local library over a dozen times. As with most of her books, Ruth Christoffer Carlsen really packed a punch full of adventure and magic.

"Hildy and the Cuckoo Clock" is no exception to this rule. The story takes place in an unnamed University town in Iowa (most likely in either Des Moines or Iowa City). Hildy Fortin is a precocious nine-year-old girl with a lively imagination and no friends when the story begins. John Fortin, Hildy's dad, is an author whose most recent novel was sold to the movies. Now able to survive financially, the Fortins build their dream house on the property where this old mansion once stood.

Mrs. McQueen, who owned the property where the mansion "mysteriously burnt down", decides to sell the land to the Fortin family. She has two conditions though: 1.) to keep up the wrought-iron fence that surrounds the property; and 2.) install the old cuckoo clock she saved from the burning mansion. The Fortins agree to Mrs. McQueen's requests.

John and Lucia Fortin, Hildy's parents, want to put up the cuckoo clock where no one can see it, preferably in the rec room where their kids and their friends hang out and play. The parents guessed wrong though. When no one was around, Mrs. McQueen had the clock bolted down onto their stone wall in the living room! And the parents are none too happy about it, especially when the old bird cuckoos in the hour and falls forward on its spring. But no harm is done when the bird gets put back into the clock and time continues to tick on.

Hildy, however, thinks it's a magic cuckoo clock that grants wishes. Though she is right, her parents, her older brother Rob and their next-door neighbors Jay and Norm Evans don't believe her at first. So despite the July heat, Hildy wishes for it to snow outside--which it does. All four kids are first surprised but take advantage of the fun before the cuckoo bird chimes in the next hour, which signals the end of the fun. John Fortin phones the local newspaper to tell them about the snow which melts into ice cubes before the reporters can get there.

In the meantime, Rob and Jay--who are classmates in junior high school--become best friends and hang out in the Fortins' basement building model planes. Hildy's new best friend is Jay's 4-year-old brother Norm, who carries a pink security blanket with him everywhere he goes. Other crazy adventures follow Hildy and the three boys due to wishes made by the cuckoo clock.

One day the Fortins' house fills with bubbles that the kids can play and float on. Then on Halloween night, the Fortins' vacuum cleaner and broom start flying around, taking Hildy and Jay on a sky-sweeping adventure. Rob and Norm also take a turn though the cuckoo clock chimes in the hour just as Rob guides them to a safe landing. They and the appliances wind up caught in a tree, in which John Fortin blames neighborhood kids for doing the latter the next morning.

The Fortin family has a couple of rules in their home. Fortins' Rule No 1 is "Treat every day like an adventure--and it will be!" Rule No 2 is how "The unbelievable can be believable." Mysterious things also begin happening in their new home. The window-shades snap up and the curtains swish back and forth without any warning--plus the occasional flying object! The Fortin parents blame faulty products or a draft.

But no--it is the work of a 3-year-old ghost named Willy McQueen, Mrs. McQueen's younger brother. At age 3, Willy drowned in a nearby pond when Mrs. McQueen should've been watching him. When Jay tells Hildy and Rob about Mrs. McQueen and Willy, Rob rebuffs his friend while Hildy doesn't know what to say. The Fortins soon find out they have a lot to bargain for, especially Hildy and the three boys when Willy decides to take Norm's security blanket for himself. (Luckily, with some fast thinking and creating a Christmas fundraiser of their own, the four kids earn enough to purchase Willy a stuffed owl from the local toy store as a substitute for the blanket.)

Yet Mrs. McQueen also plays a vital part in antedating some of the four kids' adventures. Hildy, Rob, Norm and Jay can barely catch or understand what she says until after another experience starts or ends. On Halloween night, Mrs. McQueen talks about shadows--and Hildy and Norm's shadows briefly come to life on Thanksgiving night. Another time she tells Hildy not to go "popping off". In this instance, Hildy and her friends Donny and Michelle wish for the bubblers in their school to run different flavors of soda (pop) which causes a lot of confusion both at home and school. "Still," Hildy concludes, "(the bubblers running pop) had been fun."

While the Fortin parents may have their doubts about her, Mrs. McQueen has her own way about life and a rule of her own: "Don't look for the answer. Let the answer find you." Maybe Hildy and her family can adopt it as Fortins' Rule No 3. Or maybe it may be a "ghost of a chance" to do so. Just pick up this book at your local library and read it for yourself.

Like her previous book "Mr. Pudgins", Ruth Christoffer Carlsen writes an amazing children's book filled with funny and madcap adventures. I hope that a publishing company will realize and reprint these great books Ruth Christoffer Carlsen wrote. New generations will definitely enjoy reading and being read these tales as much as I once did and occasionally continue to do!

Rating: *****

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Approximate date of first read: 1982

Impressions: I'm sure the hot dog golly gee 1960s slang is a big part of why this is out of print, and that's a shame, because I found Hildy's character to be utterly charming. There wasn't much differentiation between the other characters' voices, with the exception of Hildy's dad. Overall, definitely holds up, although I won't be paying $150 for a copy of my own anytime soon.

How it warped me: I remember some strange turns of phrases (like "nary a one") that I used to use a lot as a kid, and at least once a month I drink from a bubbler and remember the scene when the water changes to pop. I remember feeling sorry that I didn't live in a family with rules like "Make every day an adventure." I also learned that excelling in school won't win you new friends, but excelling at sports might. Not that I ever applied that lesson to my own life.