Gutta Percha Willie

The story of an industrious young boy who seeks to bring goodness to the world-from the nineteenth-century Scottish author of
Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood.


While still editing the magazine
Good Words for the Young, MacDonald wrote this second "boy's novel," unconnected with but written for a similar audience as Ranald Bannerman's story. Inventive young Willie Macmichael turns everything about him to creative uses, hungrily learning from the grown-ups around him, prompting MacDonald's subtitle, "The Working Genius." Though one of MacDonald's lesser-known titles, editor Michael Phillips comments, "MacDonald's strongest and most eternal contribution to the world lies in the realm of
spiritual practicality. Willie epitomizes the
practicalityof growing into one's place in God's general business. This story therefore deserves to be considered one of MacDonald's memorable portrayals of that eternal imperative. I love this book!"
Gutta Percha Williewas MacDonald's only book published in 1873, released while he was on a lecture tour in America.