I’m trying to track down a book I remember reading and LOVING as a child back in the 1960s. I was probably 8 or 10 at the time. I don’t recall there being any pictures. It was about a girl and her family who migrated from place to place and lived in a tent. I remember there being detail about how they set up their tent to make it feel like home. The little girl had a shoe box of some sort that all her belongings and treasures were kept in. She may or may not have had a doll, too. I can’t recall the plot. I just recall being fascinated by a little girl living in a tent and having to move everything the family owned from place to place. Any help you can give me would be great!
I’ve searched some keywords and only found one that had a family living in a tent-“The Moon by Night” by Madeleine L’Engle. This is part of the Austin family series, and the family is on a cross-country camping trip while traveling to California. However, the main character is a 14-year-old girl, and no shoebox of toys or treasures is mentioned. At least you can eliminate this from your possibilities if it is the wrong book!
Are you possibly half-remembering “Little House on the Prairie”, by Laura Ingalls Wilder? The family travels in a covered wagon, and after they finally choose a home site, Pa builds the log walls up to a certain height and then puts the canvas wagon cover over it until he can split enough shakes for a roof. While they’re traveling, the wagon is arranged just so, with spaces for the bedding, tools, and so on, and Ma tries to make everything as similar as possible to a house.
You said you don’t recall pictures, but if you did, it’s just possible it could be Else Holmelund Minarik’s “Little Bear’s Friend” with illustrations by Maurice Sendak.
Little Bear meets Emily and her family, they are staying for the summer in a tent by the river. They do seem to be migrants, but the tent is cozy and Emily is happy living there. She does keep her toys, including her doll, in a box. She plays with Little Bear throughout the summer until her family has to move south. This may be a long shot, but it is worth looking for.
Hope this helps.
Could it have been The Velvet Room, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder? The family are migrant workers at the beginning of the book, and I think they tend to live in a tent. The story is more about how they settle down near an old mansion and the girl manages to get into the house’s library (and solve a mystery which also ends their wandering lifestyle) but it does start out, at least, with the elements you mention.
Was it Blue Willow, by Doris Gates? I remember reading it in the 60’s – it’s about the daughter of an itinerant farm worker in the depression years – I can’t recall if they lived in tents…..
Strawberry Girl, by Lois Lenski is another one with a family trying to create a home for themselves. I think they build a farmhouse while they’re living in temporary structures. I don’t remember it clearly enough to recall tents and a shoebox, but it certainly is along those lines.
I remember reading a book in the 1940’s or early ’50’s called “Judy’s Journey” by Lois Lenske. She was a migrant worker child, like Strawberry Girls. I haven’t been able to find the book, but it may be the one you are looking for. The dust cover was sort of brown, I remember. Little girl was drawn in white I think.
I think it could be “Oasis Of The Stars” by Olga Economakis. It was the very first library book I ever checked out.