The title is an alternative spelling of 'didicoy', the Angloromani term for a person of mixed ancestry. Set in England, it features an orphan traveller or Romani girl,1 seven-year-old Kizzy Lovell, who faces persecution, grief, and loss3 in a hostile, close-knit, village community. Whether you read this book with children or just for yourself, it’s a worthwhile read, and was a nice introduction for me to the work of Rumer Godden. The Diddakoi is a 1972 childrens novel by Rumer Godden. Rumer Godden is a lovely writer, and also a very honest one. The book was written for children of 4-6th grade age, and I think it would make a powerful read aloud/read together and unit of study on bullying. This is a book that looks directly at that problem, and honestly describes and deals with that issue on a number of different levels. In our world today, there is so much talk about bullying, especially in our schools. The village girls are cruel to her, as are their parents, but there are a few good people in the village that take Kizzi into their hearts and help her deal with the cruelty of prejudice. But her life changes dramatically when Gran dies and she must live in the village where she is an unwelcomed outsider. She lives with her Gran in a gypsy caravan, always traveling. Kizzy is a “diddakoi,” a half-gypsy girl. It was a lovely little book and quite convinced me to continue reading all those Rumer Godden books on the library shelf. The first of her books I chose to read is one she wrote for children, The Diddakoi. I didn’t now much about her, but kept hearing her name in the blogging world and that piqued my interest. Rumer Godden has been an author on my radar since I found that my little library down the street has a good collection of her work.
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